Please read these Veritas Forum Coffee Chats Terms of Service (the “Agreement”) carefully. Your use of the App (as defined below) constitutes your consent to this Agreement.
This Agreement is between you and The Veritas Forum, Inc. (“Company” or “we” or “us”) concerning your use of (including any access to) the Coffee Chat application (together with any materials and services available therein, and successor application(s) thereto, the “App”). This Agreement hereby incorporates by this reference any additional terms and conditions posted by Company through the App, or otherwise made available to you by Company.
By using the App, you affirm that you are of legal age to enter into this Agreement or, if you are not, that you have obtained parental or guardian consent to enter into this Agreement.
This Agreement contains a mandatory arbitration provision that, as further set forth in Section 19 below, requires the use of arbitration on an individual basis to resolve disputes, rather than jury trials or any other court proceedings, or class actions of any kind.
We may change this Agreement from time to time by notifying you of such changes by any reasonable means, including by posting a revised Agreement through the App. Any such changes will not apply to any dispute between you and us arising prior to the date on which we posted the revised Agreement incorporating such changes, or otherwise notified you of such changes. Your use of the App following any changes to this Agreement will constitute your acceptance of such changes. The “Last Updated” legend above indicates when this Agreement was last changed. We may, at any time and without liability, modify or discontinue all or part of the App (including access to the App via any third-party links); charge, modify or waive any fees required to use the App; or offer opportunities to some or all App users.
Your submission of information through the App is governed by Company’s Privacy Policy, located at https://www.veritas.org/coffeechats/privacy (the “Privacy Policy”). You represent and warrant that any information you provide in connection with the App is and will remain accurate and complete, and that you will maintain and update such information as needed.
The App is controlled or operated (or both) from the United States, and is not intended to subject Company to any non-U.S. jurisdiction or law. The App may not be appropriate or available for use in some non-U.S. jurisdictions. Any use of the App is at your own risk, and you must comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations in doing so. We may limit the App’s availability at any time, in whole or in part, to any person, geographic area or jurisdiction that we choose.
In connection with the App, you must not, in connection with the App, or your conduct with other users of the App (including your “offline conduct”):
You are responsible for obtaining, maintaining and paying for all hardware and all telecommunications and other services needed to use the App. You are also responsible for reviewing Company’s Safety Guidelines, located at https://www.veritas.org/coffee-chats-app#safety-guidelines (“Safety Guidelines”) and following any sensible safety precautions. You acknowledge that the Safety Guidelines are provided for your convenience only, and do not guarantee safety. The Safety Guidelines are not intended as a replacement for your judgment and exercising any other sensible safety precautions.
You may need to register to use all or part of the App. We may reject, or require that you change, any user name, password or other information that you provide to us in registering. Your user name and password are for your personal use only and should be kept confidential; you, and not Company, are responsible for any use or misuse of your user name or password, and you must promptly notify us of any confidentiality breach or unauthorized use of your user name or password, or your App account.
Additionally, by creating an account and using the App, you represent and warrant that:
App visitors may make available certain materials (each, a “Submission”) through or in connection with the App, including on profile pages or on the App’s interactive services, such as message boards and other forums, and chatting, commenting and other messaging functionality. Company has no control over and is not responsible for any use or misuse (including any distribution) by any third party of Submissions. If you choose to make any of your personally identifiable or other information publicly available through the App, you do so at your own risk.
For purposes of clarity, you retain ownership of your Submissions. For each Submission, you hereby grant to us a worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, non-exclusive, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable and fully sublicensable (through multiple tiers) license, without additional consideration to you or any third party, to reproduce, distribute, perform and display (publicly or otherwise), create derivative works of, adapt, modify and otherwise use, analyze and exploit such Submission, in any format or media now known or hereafter developed, and for any purpose (including promotional purposes, such as testimonials).
In addition, if you provide to us any ideas, proposals, suggestions or other materials (“Feedback”), whether related to the App or otherwise, such Feedback will be deemed a Submission, and you hereby acknowledge and agree that such Feedback is not confidential, and that your provision of such Feedback is gratuitous, unsolicited and without restriction, and does not place Company under any fiduciary or other obligation.
You represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to grant the licenses granted in this section, and that your Submissions, and your provision thereof through and in connection with the App, are complete and accurate, and are not fraudulent, tortious or otherwise in violation of any applicable law or any right of any third party. You further irrevocably waive any “moral rights” or other rights with respect to attribution of authorship or integrity of materials regarding each Submission that you may have under any applicable law under any legal theory.
We may (but have no obligation to) monitor, evaluate, alter or remove Submissions before or after they appear on the App, or analyze your access to or use of the App. We may disclose information regarding your access to and use of the App, and the circumstances surrounding such access and use, to anyone for any reason or purpose.
The App is licensed (not sold) to end users. Subject to your compliance with this Agreement, and solely for so long as you are permitted by Company to use the App, we hereby permit you, on a limited, non-exclusive, revocable, non-transferable, non-sublicensable basis, to install and use the App on a mobile device that you own or control, solely for your personal, non-commercial use. If you fail to comply with any of the terms or conditions of this Agreement, you must immediately cease using the App and remove (that is, uninstall and delete) the App from your mobile device.
We and our suppliers own the App, which is protected by proprietary rights and laws. Our trade names, trademarks and service marks include The Veritas Forum, Veritas Forum, Veritas Forum Academy, Veritas Forum Institute, Veritas Institute, Veritas Voices, Veritas Coffee Chats, Veritas Chats and Veritas Forum Coffee Chats and any associated logos. All trade names, trademarks, service marks and logos on the App not owned by us are the property of their respective owners. You may not use our trade names, trademarks, service marks or logos in connection with any product or service that is not ours, or in any manner that is likely to cause confusion. Nothing contained on the App should be construed as granting any right to use any trade names, trademarks, service marks or logos without the express prior written consent of the owner.
Certain App functionality may make available access to information, products, services and other materials made available by third parties, including Submissions (“Third Party Materials”), or allow for the routing or transmission of such Third Party Materials, including via links. By using such functionality, you are directing us to access, route and transmit to you the applicable Third Party Materials.
We neither control nor endorse, nor are we responsible for, any Third Party Materials, including the accuracy, validity, timeliness, completeness, reliability, integrity, quality, legality, usefulness or safety of Third Party Materials, or any intellectual property rights therein. Certain Third Party Materials may, among other things, be inaccurate, misleading or deceptive. Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to be a representation or warranty by Company with respect to any Third Party Materials. We have no obligation to monitor Third Party Materials, and we may block or disable access to any Third Party Materials (in whole or part) through the App at any time. In addition, the availability of any Third Party Materials through the App does not imply our endorsement of, or our affiliation with, any provider of such Third Party Materials, nor does such availability create any legal relationship between you and any such provider.
Your use of Third Party Materials is at your own risk and is subject to any additional terms, conditions and policies applicable to such Third Party Materials (such as terms of service or privacy policies of the providers of such Third Party Materials).
Any sweepstakes, contests, raffles, surveys, games or similar promotions (collectively, “Promotions”) made available through the App may be governed by rules that are separate from this Agreement. If you participate in any Promotions, please review the applicable rules as well as our Privacy Policy. If the rules for a Promotion conflict with this Agreement, the Promotion rules will govern.
To the fullest extent permitted under applicable law: (a) the App and any Products and Third Party Materials are made available to you on an “As Is,” “Where Is” and “Where Available” basis, without any warranties or conditions of any kind, whether express, implied or statutory; and (b) Company disclaims all warranties with respect to the App and any Products and Third Party Materials, including the warranties of satisfactory quality, merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, non-infringement and title. All disclaimers of any kind (including in this section and elsewhere in this Agreement) are made for the benefit of both Company and its affiliates and their respective shareholders, directors, officers, employees, affiliates, agents, representatives, licensors, suppliers and service providers (collectively, the “Affiliated Entities”), and their respective successors and assigns.
The Company is not responsible for the conduct of any user on or off of the App. You agree to use caution in all interactions with other users, particularly if you decide to communicate off the App or meet in person. You agree to review and follow the Safety Guidelines in addition to exercising your own best judgment. You agree that you will not provide your financial information (for example, your credit card or bank account information), or wire or otherwise send money to other users. You understand that the Company has no obligation to conduct criminal or other background checks on its users. The Company has no obligation to inquire into the backgrounds of its users or attempt to verify any statements of its users. The Company makes no representations or warranties as to the conduct of any users or their compatibility with any current or future users. The Company reserves the right to conduct any criminal background check or other screenings (such as sex offender registration searches) at any time and to use available public records for any purpose.
While we try to maintain the timeliness, integrity and security of the App, we do not guarantee that the App is or will remain updated, complete, correct or secure, or that access to the App will be uninterrupted. The App may include inaccuracies, errors and materials that violate or conflict with this Agreement. Additionally, third parties may make unauthorized alterations to the App. If you become aware of any such alteration, contact us at coffeeadmin@veritas.org with a description of such alteration and its location on the App.
To the fullest extent permitted under applicable law: (a) Company will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary or punitive damages of any kind, under any contract, tort (including negligence), strict liability (e.g., liability imposed as a matter of law without regard to negligence intent) or other theory, including damages for loss of profits, use or data, loss of other intangibles, loss of security of Submissions (including unauthorized interception by third parties of any Submissions), even if advised in advance of the possibility of such damages or losses; (b) without limiting the foregoing, Company will not be liable for damages of any kind resulting from your use of or inability to use the App or from any Products or Third Party Materials, including from any Virus that may be transmitted in connection therewith; (c) your sole and exclusive remedy for dissatisfaction with the App or any Products or Third Party Materials is to stop using the App; and (d) the maximum aggregate liability of Company for all damages, losses and causes of action, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise, shall be the greater of (a) total amount, if any, paid by you to Company to use the App or (b) ten U.S. Dollars. All limitations of liability of any kind (including in this section and elsewhere in this Agreement) are made for the benefit of both Company and the Affiliated Entities, and their respective successors and assigns.
You agree to, and hereby do, Company and the Affiliated Entities and their respective successors and assigns from any claims, demands, losses, damages, rights, and actions of any kind, including personal injuries, death and property damage, that either directly or indirectly arise from your interactions with or conduct of other users of the App. If you are a California resident, you hereby waive California Civil Code Section 1542, which states, “A general release does not extend to claims that the creditor or releasing party does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release and that, if known by him or her, would have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor or released party.”
To the fullest extent permitted under applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Company and the Affiliated Entities, and their respective successors and assigns, from and against all claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses and fees (including attorneys’ fees) of any kind, including personal injuries, death and property damage, arising out of or relating to (a) your use of, or activities in connection with, the App (including all Submissions) and interactions with other users; and (b) any violation or alleged violation of this Agreement by you.
This Agreement is effective until terminated. Company may terminate or suspend your use of the App at any time and without prior notice, for any or no reason, including if Company believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of this Agreement. Upon any such termination or suspension, your right to use the App will immediately cease, and Company may, without liability to you or any third party, immediately deactivate or delete your user name, password and account, and all associated materials, without any obligation to provide any further access to such materials. Sections 2–8 and 10–24 shall survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement.
The terms of this Agreement are governed by the laws of the United States (including federal arbitration law) and the State of Massachusetts, U.S.A., without regard to its principles of conflicts of law, and regardless of your location. The choice of governing law and arbitration as a means of dispute resolution shall not have the result of depriving you of the protection afforded to you in your capacity as a consumer by provisions that cannot be derogated from by agreement by virtue of the laws applicable where you habitually reside, to the fullest extent permitted by law. Except for disputes that qualify for small claims court, all disputes arising out of or related to this Agreement or any aspect of the relationship between you and Company, whether based in contract, tort, statute, fraud, misrepresentation or any other legal theory, will be resolved through final and binding arbitration, except as permitted otherwise in accordance with the preceding sentence, before a neutral arbitrator instead of in a court by a judge or jury and you agree that Company and you are each waiving the right to trial by a jury. Such disputes include, without limitation, disputes arising out of or relating to interpretation or application of this arbitration provision, including the enforceability, revocability or validity of the arbitration provision or any portion of the arbitration provision. All such matters shall be decided by an arbitrator and not by a court or judge.
You agree that any arbitration under this Agreement will take place on an individual basis; class arbitrations and class actions are not permitted and you are agreeing to give up the ability to participate in a class action.
The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Consumer Arbitration Rules, as amended by this Agreement. The Consumer Arbitration Rules are available online at https://www.adr.org/sites/default/files/Consumer%20Rules.pdf. The arbitrator will conduct hearings, if any, by teleconference or videoconference, rather than by personal appearances, unless the arbitrator determines upon request by you or by us that an in-person hearing is appropriate. Any in-person appearances will be held at a location which is reasonably convenient to both parties with due consideration of their ability to travel and other pertinent circumstances. If the parties are unable to agree on a location, such determination should be made by the AAA or by the arbitrator. The arbitrator’s decision will follow the terms of this Agreement and will be final and binding. The arbitrator will have authority to award temporary, interim or permanent injunctive relief or relief providing for specific performance of this Agreement, but only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by the individual claim before the arbitrator. The award rendered by the arbitrator may be confirmed and enforced in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in this Agreement will preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state or local agencies and, if the law allows, they can seek relief against us for you.
We hereby notify you that parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software or filtering services) are commercially available that may assist you in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. Information identifying current providers of such protections is available from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_content-control_software_and_providers. Please note that Company does not endorse any of the products or services listed on such site.
If you have a question or complaint regarding the App, please send an e-mail to coffeeadmin@veritas.org. You may also contact us by writing to PO Box 380807, Cambridge, Massachusetts 02238, or by calling us at +1 617-491-2055. Please note that e-mail communications will not necessarily be secure; accordingly you should not include credit card information or other sensitive information in your e-mail correspondence with us. California residents may reach the Complaint Assistance Unit of the Division of Consumer Services of the California Department of Consumer Affairs by mail at 1625 North Market Blvd., Sacramento, CA 95834, or by telephone at (916) 445-1254 or (800) 952-5210.
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law. If you believe in good faith that materials available on the App infringe your copyright, you (or your agent) may send to Company a written notice by mail or e-mail, requesting that Company remove such material or block access to it. If you believe in good faith that someone has wrongly filed a notice of copyright infringement against you, the DMCA permits you to send to Company a counter-notice. Notices and counter-notices must meet the then-current statutory requirements imposed by the DMCA. See http://www.copyright.gov/ for details. Notices and counter-notices must be sent in writing to the DMCA Agent as follows: By mail to DMCA Agent, PO Box 380807, Cambridge, MA 02238; or by e-mail to andrew@veritas.org. The DMCA Agent’s phone number is 617-491-2055.
We suggest that you consult your legal advisor before filing a DMCA notice or counter-notice.
You are responsible for complying with United States export controls and Sanctions regimes for any violation of such controls, including any United States embargoes or other federal rules and regulations restricting exports. You represent, warrant and covenant that you are not (a) located in, or a resident or a national of, any country subject to a U.S. government embargo or other restriction, or that has been designated by the U.S. government as a “terrorist supporting” country; or (b) on any of the U.S. government lists of restricted end users.
This Agreement does not, and shall not be construed to, create any partnership, joint venture, employer-employee, agency or franchisor-franchisee relationship between you and Company. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, that provision will be deemed severable from this Agreement and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provision. You may not assign, transfer or sublicense any or all of your rights or obligations under this Agreement without our express prior written consent. We may assign, transfer or sublicense any or all of our rights or obligations under this Agreement without restriction. No waiver by either party of any breach or default under this Agreement will be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default. Any heading, caption or section title contained herein is for convenience only, and in no way defines or explains any section or provision. All terms defined in the singular shall have the same meanings when used in the plural, where appropriate and unless otherwise specified. Any use of the term “including” or variations thereof in this Agreement shall be construed as if followed by the phrase “without limitation.” This Agreement, including any terms and conditions incorporated herein, is the entire agreement between you and Company relating to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes any and all prior or contemporaneous written or oral agreements or understandings between you and Company relating to such subject matter. Notices to you (including notices of changes to this Agreement) may be made via posting to the App or by e-mail (including in each case via links), or by regular mail. Without limitation, a printed version of this Agreement and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this Agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. Company will not be responsible for any failure to fulfill any obligation due to any cause beyond its control. If a court find part of this contract illegal, the rest will continue in force.
In addition to your agreement with the foregoing terms and conditions, and notwithstanding anything to the contrary herein, the following provisions apply with respect to your use of any version of the App compatible with the iOS operating system of Apple Inc. (“Apple”). Apple is not a party to this Agreement and does not own and is not responsible for the App. Apple is not providing any warranty for the App except, if applicable, to refund the purchase price for it. Apple is not responsible for maintenance or other support services for the App and shall not be responsible for any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs or expenses with respect to the App, including any third-party product liability claims, claims that the App fails to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement, claims arising under consumer protection or similar legislation, and claims with respect to intellectual property infringement. Any inquiries or complaints relating to the use of the App, including those pertaining to intellectual property rights, must be directed to Company in accordance with the “Information or Complaints” section above. The license you have been granted herein is limited to a non-transferable license to use the App on an Apple-branded product that runs Apple’s iOS operating system and is owned or controlled by you, or as otherwise permitted by the Usage Rules set forth in Apple’s App Store Terms of Service, except that the App may also be accessed and used by other accounts associated with you via Apple’s Family Sharing or volume purchasing programs. In addition, you must comply with the terms of any third-party agreement applicable to you when using the App, such as your wireless data service agreement. Apple and Apple’s subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of this Agreement and, upon your acceptance of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce this Agreement against you as a third-party beneficiary thereof; notwithstanding the foregoing, Company’s right to enter into, rescind or terminate any variation, waiver or settlement under this Agreement is not subject to the consent of any third party.
The following terms and conditions apply with respect to certain Third Party Materials, to the extent set forth below:
The App may make available certain mapping or directions functionality. Company and its service providers are not responsible or liable for any mapping or directions functionality, or for any damages that may arise from following any maps or directions available through the website. Your use of this real time route guidance application is at your sole risk. Location data may not be accurate. All such maps and directions are considered Third Party Material. Without limiting the foregoing, Company and its service providers are not, and will not be, responsible for your use of (or inability to use, or any inaccuracies or limitations of) any such mapping or directions functionality. You must exercise caution in using any available maps or directions, and you must independently evaluate the accuracy and safety of any such maps or directions. Such maps and directions may not reflect current conditions. In particular, the App may include Google Maps features and content. You hereby agree that your use of the Google Maps functionality accessible to you through the App is governed by and subject to the Google Maps/Google Earth Additional Terms of Service, currently available at https://maps.google.com/help/terms_maps.html; and the Google Privacy Policy, currently available at https://www.google.com/policies/privacy.
You agree that your use of Google Cloud platform functionality accessible to you through the App is governed and subject to the Google Cloud Platform Terms of Service, currently available at https://cloud.google.com/terms. Specifically, you may not: (a) copy, modify, or create a derivative work of the Services; (b) reverse engineer, decompile, translate, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to extract any or all of the source code of, the Services (except to the extent such restriction is expressly prohibited by applicable law); (c) sell, resell, sublicense, transfer, or distribute any or all of the Services; or (d) access or use the Services (i) for High Risk Activities; (ii) in violation of the AUP; (iii) in a manner intended to avoid incurring Fees or to circumvent Service-specific usage limits or quotas; (iv) to engage in cryptocurrency mining without Google's prior written approval; (v) to operate or enable any telecommunications service or in connection with any Customer Application that allows you to place calls or to receive calls from any public switched telephone network, unless otherwise described in the Service Specific Terms; (vi) for materials or activities that are subject to the International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR) maintained by the United States Department of State; (vii) in a manner that breaches, or causes the breach of, Export Control Laws; or (viii) to transmit, store, or process health information subject to United States HIPAA regulations except as permitted by an executed HIPAA BAA. For clarity, any capitalized terms used in this Section 24.2 are defined in the Google Cloud Platform Terms of Service, currently available at https://cloud.google.com/terms.
App © 2022 The Veritas Forum, Inc. unless otherwise noted. All rights reserved.
