Terms & Conditions

Last Updated: Oct. 6, 2010

1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF SERVICE (the "Terms") ARE A LEGAL AND BINDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AND Better Government Association (its affiliates, subsidiaries, and partners, collectively, "BGA," "we," "us," and "our") governing your use of this Site, http://www.bettergov.org. Please review the Terms fully before you continue to use the Site. By using the Site, you agree to be bound by the Terms. You shall also be subject to any additional terms posted with respect to individual sections of the Site. If you do not agree, please discontinue using the Site immediately. BGA reserves the right to change the Terms at any time without prior notice. Your continued access or use of the Site after such changes indicates your acceptance of the Terms as modified. It is your responsibility to review the Terms regularly. Your use and browsing of the Site is at your risk. If you are dissatisfied with any of the materials contained in the Site or with these Terms, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue accessing and using the Site.

2. INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE

We may ask you for certain information in order to receive BGA information, become a member of BGA or give a donation. By providing information on our Site, such as in conjunction with a membership registration, you agree to provide accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted (such information being the "User Data") and maintain and promptly update your User Data to keep it accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or BGA has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is inaccurate, not current or incomplete, BGA may deny you access to areas of the Site or any products or services offered by BGA, at its sole discretion.
When you provide us with User Data, you may receive certain commercial communications from BGA related to content found on the Site. You may opt out of receiving these communications at any time by sending an email to info@bettergov.org.

3. PRIVACY POLICY

Your User Data, as well as information that you may provide at other times during your use of the Site, is subject to our Privacy Policy, which is incorporated by reference into these Terms.

4. ACCOUNT PASSWORD AND SECURITY - CONFIRM THIS IS PROCESS FOR BGA

The Site may contain features that require registration ("Restricted Areas"). You are not required to register to use the Site, but may not be able to access some content without registration. At the time of registration, you will select a Username and Password to be used in conjunction with your account. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your Password, and are fully responsible for all uses of your Password, whether by you or others. You agree to (a) keep your Password confidential and not share them with anyone else; (b) immediately notify BGA of any unauthorized use of your Password or account or any other breach of security; and (c) use only your Password to access the Site's Restricted Areas. BGA cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this Section.
You acknowledge and agree that BGA is authorized to act on instructions received through use of your Password, and that BGA may, but is not obligated to, deny access or block any transaction made through use of your Password without prior notice if we believe your Password is being used by someone other than you, or for any other reason.
You acknowledge, consent and agree that BGA may access, preserve and disclose your account information and content if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access, preservation, or disclosure is reasonably necessary: (i) to comply with legal process; (ii) to enforce the Terms; (iii) to respond to claims that any content violates the rights of third parties; (iv) to respond to your requests for customer service; or (v) to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of BGA, its users and the public.

5. NON-COMMERCIAL USE

By using the Site, you acknowledge and agree that the Site is for personal use only. You may copy information from the Site for personal use, such as to view, print, or email the information, but you warrant that you will not, under any other conditions, reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, trade, resell, modify, distribute, decompile, disassemble, or reverse engineer any portion of the Site.

6. MODIFICATIONS TO SERVICE

BGA reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Site (or any part thereof), including the Restricted Areas, with or without notice. You agree that BGA shall not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Site.

7. TERMINATION

You agree that BGA may, in its sole and absolute discretion and without notice or liability to you or any third party, immediately terminate your access to the Site or the Restricted Areas. Grounds for such termination shall include, but not be limited to, (a) breaches or violations of the Terms or other agreements or guidelines, (b) requests by law enforcement or government agencies, (c) a request by you (self-initiated account deletions), (d) discontinuance or material modification of the Site (or any part thereof), (e) unexpected technical or security issues or problems, and (f) extended periods of inactivity. Termination of your account(s) may include (a) removal of access to all offerings within the Site’s Restricted Areas, (b) at BGA 's sole discretion, the deletion of all of your Site account information and other content associated with your Site account (or any part thereof), and (c) barring further use of the Site Restricted Areas.

8. DEALINGS WITH ADVERTISERS AND OTHER USERS

Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers and other third parties found on or through the Site, including payment for and delivery of related goods and services, and any other Terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such third party. You agree that BGA shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers or third parties on the Site.

9. LINKS

The Site may provide links to other World Wide Web sites or resources. Because BGA has no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that BGA is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that BGA shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource.

10. INDEMNITY

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold BGA and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, employees, agents, co-branders and other partners, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the Site, any transaction resulting from use of the Site, your connection to the Site, your violation of these Terms, your submission, posting, or transmission of personally identifiable information or other data to the Site, and/or your violation of any rights of another.

11. OUR PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

The Site is owned in its entirety by BGA. All of the content featured or displayed on the Site, including, but not limited to, still images, text, pictorial works, video images, still images of video, graphic designs, audio recordings, multimedia combinations, and computer programs, including web-based programs ("Content") is owned or licensed by BGA. Advertisements for third-party entities are not considered Content for the purposes of this Section. However, these advertisements are owned or licensed by their respective third-party entities and are subject to protections similar to those set forth in these Terms. You acknowledge and agree that the Site contains proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. Except as expressly authorized by BGA, you agree not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on the Site, in whole or in part, or based upon any materials found on the Site.

12. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:
YOUR USE OF THE SITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. BGA EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ACCURACY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. BGA DOES NOT WARRANT THE ACCURACY, CURRENCY, OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY INFORMATION RELATING TO PRICES OR AVAILABILITY. BGA ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE TIMELINESS, DELETION, MIS-DELIVERY OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE ANY CONTENT OR TO STORE ANY PERSONALIZED SETTINGS OR USER MATERIALS
ANY CONTENT DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE SITE IS DOWNLOADED AND USED AT YOUR SOLE DISCRETION AND RISK AND YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OR USE OF ANY SUCH CONTENT.
NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM BGA OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE TERMS.

13. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT BGA SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF BGA HAD BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE SITE; (ii) THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES RESULTING FROM ANY GOODS, DATA, INFORMATION OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED OR MESSAGES RECEIVED OR TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH OR FROM THE SITE; (iii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iv) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE BGA SITE; OR (v) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SITE.

14. EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES. ACCORDINGLY, SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

15. TRADEMARK INFORMATION [Confirm Trademarks]

Attached at the link to BGA TRADEMARKS are trademarks and service marks belonging to BGA (the "BGA Marks"). You agree that you will not use or display the BGA Marks in any manner, without the prior written permission of BGA.

16. CHOICE OF LAW

The Terms and the relationship between you and BGA shall be governed by the laws of the State of Illinois without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

17. NO THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARIES

You agree that, except as otherwise expressly provided in the Terms, there shall be no third party beneficiaries to these Terms.

18. ARBITRATION

Any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms, with the exception of those controversies or claims specifically excluded below, shall be settled by binding arbitration in accordance with the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") Commercial Arbitration Rules ("AAA Rules"), and, where appropriate, the AAA's Supplementary Procedures for Consumer Related Disputes ("AAA Consumer Rules"). The determination of whether a dispute is subject to arbitration shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act and determined by a court rather than an arbitrator. Your arbitration fees and your share of arbitrator compensation shall be governed by the AAA Rules and, where appropriate, limited by the AAA Consumer Rules.
You and BGA agree that any arbitration shall be limited to the dispute between BGA and you individually. To the full extent permitted by law, (1) no arbitration shall be joined with any other; (2) there is no right or authority for any dispute to be arbitrated on a class-action basis or to utilize class action procedures; and (3) there is not right or authority for any dispute to be brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of the general public or any other persons.
You and BGA agree that the following disputes are not subject to this binding arbitration provision: (1) any disputes seeking to enforce or protect, or concerning the validity of, any of your or BGA 's intellectual property rights; and (2) any claim for injunctive relief.
For any dispute not subject to arbitration, or where no election to arbitrate has been made, you agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in Chicago, Illinois. You further agree to accept service of process by mail, and hereby waive any and all jurisdictional and venue defenses otherwise available. BGA controls the Site from its offices within the United States of America, and the Site is intended for use only in the United States of America. BGA does not represent that the materials on this Site are appropriate or made available for use outside of the United States of America.

19. GENERAL INFORMATION

Entire Agreement. The Terms constitutes the entire agreement between you and BGA with respect to the Site and supersedes any prior agreements, oral or written, between you and BGA.
Waiver and Severability of Terms. The failure of BGA to exercise or enforce any right or provision of the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of the Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties' intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Terms remain in full force and effect.
Statute of Limitations. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action arising out of or related to the use of the Site or the Terms must be filed within one (1) year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.
Section Titles. The section titles in the Terms are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.

20. VIOLATIONS

You agree that you will report any violations of the Terms to info@bettergov.org.