terms of use and privacy policy

Policy

Terms of Use

These Terms of Use are effective as of May 10, 2018.

Please read carefully these terms of use (“Terms”), which apply to your use of the Rhetoric Society of America website (“Website”), including the products and services provided through the Website. By using the Website you signify that you have read, understood, and agreed to be bound by these Terms, which constitute a legal agreement between you and the Rhetoric Society of America, (“RSA,” “us,” “our,” or “we”). From time to time, we may modify this agreement by posting updated Terms on this web page. Your continued use of the Website after such modifications are implemented indicates that you have read, understood, and agreed to the modified Terms.

Our Privacy Statement is incorporated in these Terms of Service.

Please note the arbitration provision set forth below, requiring you to arbitrate any claims you may have against RSA on an individual basis. Arbitration on an individual basis means that you will not have, and you waive, the right for a judge or jury to decide your claims, and that you may not proceed in a class, consolidated, or representative capacity.

1. Copyright and Reprints

The content on the Website, including but not limited to text, photographs, images, videos, audio files, and software, (collectively, the “Content”) is protected by United States and international copyright laws and other intellectual property laws. It is intended for your personal, noncommercial use. You may not duplicate, modify, publish, reproduce, distribute, or in any way exploit the Content, in whole or in part, without the express written consent of the copyright holder(s) of the respective work. If you wish to inquire about permission to reprint, translate, or excerpt an article, notify us at ExecutiveDirector@rhetoricsociety.org.

2. Liability for the Content

You acknowledge that RSA does not make any representations or warranties about the Content, including without limitation, about its accuracy, integrity, or quality. You understand that by using the Website, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent, or objectionable. Under no circumstances is RSA liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to: any infringing Content, any errors or omissions in Content, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, transmitted to, linked to, or otherwise accessible or made available via the Website.

3. Trademark Rights

The names, trademarks, service marks, and logos of RSA belong exclusively to RSA and are protected from reproduction, imitation, dilution or confusing or misleading uses under national and international trademark and copyright laws. Any other trademarks, service marks, and logos (including third-party product names) are the property of their respective owners. The use or misuse of these trademarks is expressly prohibited and nothing stated or implied on the Website confers on you any license or right under any trademark of RSA or any third party.

4. Age Limitation

The Website is not intended for use by persons under the age of 13. RSA does not knowingly collect information from visitors under the age of 13 and, in the event that we learn that a person under the age of 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete such personal information.

5. Submissions to RSA

By submitting Content to the Website, including but not limited to essays, articles, and photographs, as well as user-generated content such as topical reading lists and Rhetorics for All (collectively, “Submissions”), you are consenting to its display and publication on the Website, and to its transmission and republication in other forms. You acknowledge that your Submissions may be edited and modified by RSA, and you waive any rights you may have in having the Content altered or changed in a manner not agreeable to you. You grant RSA a perpetual, nonexclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to the Submissions, which includes without limitation the right for RSA to use, copy, transmit, excerpt, publish, distribute, creative derivative works of, host, index, cache, tag, encode, modify, and adapt your Submissions with no further compensation to you.

You may only submit Content to the Website that you have the right to submit. This means that you can only submit Content that you yourself create, that is in the public domain, or that you have been expressly granted the right to submit. You warrant that no Submission violates or infringes upon the rights of any third party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary rights, or contains libelous, defamatory, or otherwise unlawful material. RSA may, but is not obligated to, review your Submissions and may delete or remove (without notice) any Content that RSA, in its sole discretion, determines violates the Terms or that may be offensive, illegal, or that might violate the rights, harm or threaten the safety of others. RSA does not endorse or support any Content posted by you or any other third party on or through the Website. You alone are responsible for creating backup copies of your Submissions. You may request the removal of your Content from the Website at any time, and we will take reasonable steps to promptly remove such Content.

6. Privacy Statement

This Privacy Statement is effective as of November 30, 2017.

The Rhetoric Society of America (“RSA” “us,” “our,” or “we”), is committed to handling responsibly the information and data we collect about you. This Privacy Statement applies to the RSA website (“Website”), including the services provided through the Website, email, and U.S. Postal Service. By using the Website you signify that you have read, understood and agreed to be bound by this Privacy Statement, which is incorporated into our Terms of Use. If you do not agree to the terms and conditions of this Privacy Statement, please do not use the Website. We encourage you to periodically review this Privacy Statement to keep up to date on how we are handling your personal information. Please direct questions regarding this statement to ExecutiveDirector@rhetoricsociety.org.

A. Information Collected

“Personal information” refers to any information relating directly or indirectly to an identified or identifiable natural person. We collect (i) personal information voluntarily supplied by you when you use the Website, and (ii) other non-personal information collected as you navigate the Website. In particular, we collect the following information from and about you:

Name and email address. When joining or renewing your membership, we ask for your name, shipping and billing addresses, telephone number, and your credit card number and expiration date. This information is necessary for us to process your membership, regardless of method of joining or renewing. We also may ask for voluntary demographic information so that we may better tailor RSA services to specific subsets of our membership. We will not share any of this personal information without your consent, except as specifically stated in our general policy above. On the initial registration page, we ask for identifying information associated with your membership, as well as an email address and a password, in order to link your membership to your website access level. On subsequent visits, your email and password are required to sign in and access content on rhetoricsociety.org.
Payment information. When you donate money, in addition to your name and email address, we collect your billing address and payment information. Note that all payment transactions are handled thru Authorize.net – a leading payment gateway since 1996, to accept credit cards and electronic check payments safely and securely for our members/customers. The Authorize.Net Payment Gateway manages the complex routing of sensitive customer information through the electronic check and credit card processing networks. See an online payments diagram to see how it works. The company adheres to strict industry standards for payment processing, including:: 128-bit Secure Sockets Layer (SSL) technology for secure Internet Protocol (IP) transactions; Industry leading encryption hardware and software methods and security protocols to protect customer information; and Compliance with the Payment Card Industry Data Security Standard (PCI DSS). For additional information regarding the privacy of your sensitive cardholder data, please read the Authorize.Net Privacy Policy.
University, institution or location. When you create a registered user account, you may provide your university or institution affiliation or location.
Rhetorics For All. You may create a Rhetorics for All project where you can voluntarily post personal information for public viewing. The information that you submit is posted by you at your discretion and subject to the Terms of Use.
Usage information. When you access and interact with the Website, our servers (which may be hosted by a third party service provider, in the United States or anywhere in the world) may collect information indirectly and automatically (through, for example, the use of your “IP address”) about your activities while visiting the Website and information about the browser and device you are using. We do not link browsing information or information from our server logs to the other personal information you submit to us.
Cookies, web beacons and similar technologies. Cookies are small text files placed on your device that uniquely identify your device and which a website can transfer to a consumer’s hard drive to keep records of his or her visit to a website. Web beacons are small pieces of information that are embedded in images in the pages of websites. The Website may include code that enables third parties to use cookies, web beacons, and similar technologies to collect or receive information from the Website and elsewhere on the internet and use that information to provide measurement services and targeted ads. Please see section 2 below for more information.

B. Cookies and Similar Technologies

We use, and allow certain third parties to use, cookies and other similar technologies to provide our services and to help collect data. We, or third parties, may use session cookies or persistent cookies. Session cookies only last for the specific duration of your visit and are deleted when you close your browser. Persistent cookies remain on your device’s hard drive until you delete them or they expire. Different cookies are used to perform different functions, which we explain below:

Essential. Some cookies are essential in order to enable you to move around your websites and use their features, such as accessing secure areas of the Website. Without these cookies, we cannot enable appropriate content based on the type of device you are using.
Browsing and functionality. These cookies allow us to remember choices you make on the Website, such as your preferred language and the country from which you are visiting, and provide enhanced, more personalized features.
Performance and analytics. We use our own cookies and/or third party cookies to see how you use our Website and services in order to enhance their performance and develop them according to your preferences. We use Google Analytics, for example, to track website usage and activity. You can opt-out of the Google Analytics Advertising Features we use by indicating your preference using the interest-based opt-out link here. Google also provides a complete privacy policy and instructions on opting-out of Google Analytics here.

Targeted advertising. We may receive audience based data (such as pixel traffic and conversion data) from social media platform providers, including Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram and LinkedIn, based on information such as IP addresses. We use this information to serve ads to you and enable marketing tracking. To block or limit this activity, please visit the sites below:
- Facebook: You should see a link to the opt-out when you select “Why am I seeing this?” when using Facebook. You can also select “Hide all from this advertiser” within Facebook to stop seeing our ads. More information can be found on Facebook’s site.
- X (Twitter): See “Your privacy controls for personalized ads.”
- Instagram: Your choices in your Facebook ad preferences and ads settings determine your settings for Instagram.
- LinkedIn: See “Manage advertising preferences.”
Third party advertising and social media. We may allow other third parties to place cookies on our Website to allow them to show you advertisements off our Website that are more relevant and useful to you. These advertisers and other third parties (including the ad networks, ad-serving companies and other service providers they may use) may assume that users who interact with or click on a personalized ad or content are part of the group that the ad or content is directed toward.

There are several ways to manage cookies. You can instruct your browser to refuse all cookies or to indicate when a cookie is being sent. The Help feature on most browsers provide information on how to accept cookies, disable cookies or to notify you when receiving a new cookie. Please note, however, that by blocking or deleting cookies which are “strictly necessary,” you will not be able to access certain features of our Website.

In the U.S., the Network Advertising Initiative also offers a means to opt-out of a number of advertising cookies. Please visit the Networkadvertising.org to learn more. Note that opting-out does not mean you will no longer receive online advertising. It does mean that the company or companies from which you opted-out will no longer deliver ads tailored to your preferences and usage patterns.

C. Use of Information Collected

We use the personal information collected from and about you primarily for the following purposes:

To provide our Website and services to you;
To send you communications about RSA and our programs;
To deliver personalized content you may find relevant and interesting;
To ensure security and prevent fraud;
To provide you with effective technical support in case of problems related to your use of the Website;
To comply with applicable laws or legal process and/or respond to requests from public and government authorities;
For other legitimate business reasons.

D. Legal Basis for Processing

We process personal information per applicable law and with transparency and fairness. Our processing activities are conducted:

With your consent;
In order to fulfill our contractual obligations to you;
For the legitimate purpose of operating our business, including to improve and develop our services, for fraud prevention purposes, and to improve user experience;
As otherwise in compliance with the law.

E. Collection and Use of Information from Children

We do not knowingly collect any information from children under the age of 13. In the event that we learn that a person under the age of 13 has provided us with personal information, we will delete such personal information.

F. Sharing and Disclosure of Information Collected

We may share or disclose your personal information in the following instances and to the following parties:

With our contractors and service providers in order to maintain, enhance, or add to the functionality of the Website, or to communicate with you on social media platforms as described above;
With collaborators or co-sponsors of events and programs of RSA so that they may help us notify you of those events and programs;
With our email marketing provider, MailChimp, and with our social media providers — Facebook, X (Twitter), Instagram, BlueSky and LinkedIn — in order to communicate with you on those platforms, including through the use of targeted ads;
With third parties which may be the result of any mergers, acquisitions, asset sales, joint ventures, etc.;
With third parties in a good faith belief that such disclosure is reasonably necessary to (a) take action regarding suspected illegal activities; (b) enforce or apply our Terms; (c) comply with legal process, such as a search warrant, subpoena, statute, or court order; or (d) protect our rights, reputation, and property, or that of our users, affiliates, or the public.

G. International Data Transfers

If you choose to provide us with personal information, it will be stored in the United States and may be stored in other jurisdictions. RSA may transfer that information to its affiliates and subsidiaries, across borders, and from your country or jurisdiction to other countries or jurisdictions around the world. If you are visiting the Website from the European Union or other regions with laws governing data collection and use, please note that your personal data is transferred to the United States and may be transferred to other jurisdictions. The United States does not and these other jurisdictions may not have the same data protection laws as the European Union and may not afford many of the rights conferred upon data subjects in the European Union. By providing your personal information you consent to:

The use of your personal information for the uses identified above in accordance with this Privacy Statement; and
The transfer of your personal information to the United States as indicated above.
Any dispute over privacy or the terms contained in this privacy statement will be governed by the laws of Illinois, United States, in accordance with our Terms of Use.

H. Your Rights

For residents of the European Union, you have the right to:

Obtain confirmation as to whether or not your personal information exists and to be informed of its content and source, verify its accuracy and request its completion, update or amendment;
Request the deletion, anonymization or restriction of the processing of your personal information processed in breach of the applicable law;
Object to the processing, in all cases, of your personal information for legitimate reasons;
Receive an electronic copy of your personal information, if you would like such a copy for yourself or to port your personal information to a different provider;
Lodge a complaint with the relevant data protection supervisory authority.

I. Opt-Out

We communicate with users who subscribe to our services on a regular basis via email. For example, we may use your email address to send you a thank you for your donation, information about changes to our services and other disclosures as required by law. Generally, users cannot opt-out of these communications, but they will be primarily informational in nature rather than promotional.

We do provide you with the opportunity to opt-out of marketing communications from us, such as emails or updates regarding information about RSA programs, awards, and conference information, by clicking the “unsubscribe” link within the text of the email or by contacting us at ExecutiveDirector@rhetoricsociety.org. We will process your unsubscribe as soon as possible, but please be aware that in some circumstances, you may receive a few more messages before the unsubscribe is processed.

J. Third-Party Websites

This Privacy Statement applies solely to information collected on the Website. The Website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of these other websites. If you have any questions about how these other websites use your information, you should review their policies and/or contact them directly.

K. Security of Personal Information and Retention

We have implemented reasonable measures to protect against unauthorized access to and unlawful interception or processing of personal information that we store and control. However, no website can fully eliminate security risks. Third parties may circumvent our security measures to unlawfully intercept or access transmissions or private communications. We will post a reasonably prominent notice to the Website if we are aware of any such security breach. Depending on where you live, you may a legal right to receive notice of a security breach in writing.

We will retain your personal information for the period necessary to fulfill the purposes outlined in this Privacy Statement unless a longer retention period is required or permitted by law.

L. Assignment

In the event that all or part of our assets are sold or acquired by another party, or in the event of a merger, you grant us the right to assign your personal information collected via the Website.

M. Changes to this Privacy Statement

We reserve the right to amend this Privacy Statement from time to time. We will notify you of material changes to this Privacy Statement by posting a notice on our home page for a reasonable period of time and changing the “effective” date above. Your continued use of our Website following the posting of changes will constitute your acceptance of the changed terms.

N. Contact Us

Any questions or concerns you have about this Privacy Statement can be sent to ExecutiveDirector@rhetoricsociety.org. All information you provide in any written communication will also be covered by this Privacy Statement.

7. User Conduct

By using the Website, you agree not to:

a. Post or transmit Content that you do not have the right to post or use, for example, under intellectual property, confidentiality, privacy, or other applicable laws;
b. Post or transmit unsolicited or unauthorized Content, including advertising or promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of unsolicited or unwelcome solicitation or advertising;
c. Post or transmit Content that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs designed to interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment or otherwise interfere with or disrupt the Website or servers or networks connected to the Website, or that disobeys any requirements, procedures, policies, or regulations of networks connected to the Website;
d. Post or transmit Content that is harmful, offensive, obscene, abusive, invasive of privacy, defamatory, hateful or otherwise discriminatory, false and misleading, incites an illegal act, or is otherwise in breach of your obligations to any person or contrary to any applicable laws and regulations;
e. Intimidate or harass another;
f. Use or attempt to use another’s account, service, or personal information;
g. Remove, circumvent, disable, damage, or otherwise interfere with any security-related features that enforce limitations on the use of the Website;
h. Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Website, other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Website, through hacking password mining or any other means or interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Website or any activities conducted through the Website;
i. Use any means to bypass or ignore robots.txt, or other measures we use to restrict access or use of the Website;
j. Impersonate another person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; or
k. Post or transmit any personally identifiable information about persons under 13 years of age.

By registering for an account on the Website, you warrant that you are the age of majority in your jurisdiction, or are over the age of 13 and have the express permission of a legal guardian to become a registered user and use services made available to registered users, and you further agree to abide by all the Terms. You agree to (a) provide accurate, current, and complete information about you, if and as may be prompted by the registration process on the Website, (b) maintain the security of your password and identification, (c) maintain and promptly update your registration information and any other information you provide to RSA, and to keep it accurate and complete, and (d) be fully responsible for all use of your account and for any actions that take place using your account.

RSA reserves the right to modify or discontinue the accounts of registered users and related services at any time. RSA disclaims any and all liability to registered users and third parties in the event RSA exercises its right to modify or discontinue user accounts or related services. In addition, RSA may, at any time: (a) modify, suspend, or terminate the operation of or access to your user account for any reason; (b) modify or change the Website and any applicable Terms and policies governing your user account and the related Website for any reason; and (c) interrupt user accounts and the related Website for any reason, all as RSA deems appropriate in its discretion. Your access to your account, and use of the related Website may be terminated by you or by RSA at any time and for any reason whatsoever, without notice. In addition, we reserve the right to delete and purge any account and all Content associated therewith following any prolonged period of inactivity, all as may be determined by RSA in its complete discretion.

8. Copyright Complaints; DMCA Compliance

We abide by the federal Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and will respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the DMCA and other applicable laws. As part of our response, we may remove or disable access to material residing on the Website that is claimed to be infringing, in which case we will make a good-faith attempt to contact the person who submitted the affected material so that they may make a counter notification, also in accordance with the DMCA.

We do not control content hosted on third party websites, and cannot remove content from sites we do not own or control. If you are the copyright owner of content hosted on a third party site, and you have not authorized the use of your content, please contact the administrator of that website directly to have the content removed.

Before serving either a Notice of Infringing Material or Counter-Notification, you may wish to contact a lawyer to better understand your rights and obligations under the DMCA and other applicable laws. The following notice requirements are intended to comply with RSA’s rights and obligations under the DMCA and do not constitute legal advice.

To file a notice of infringing material on the Website, please provide a notification containing the following details:

a. Reasonably sufficient details to enable us to identify the work claimed to be infringed or, if multiple works are claimed to be infringed, a representative list of such works (for example: title, author, URL);
b. Reasonably sufficient detail to enable us to identify and locate the material that is claimed to be infringing (for example a link to the page that contains the material);
c. Your contact information so that we can contact you (for example, your address, telephone number, email address);
d. A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use of the material identified in (b) is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
e. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is alleged to be infringed.
f. Your physical or electronic signature.

Then send this notice to: ExecutiveDirector@rhetoricsociety.org.

If material that you have posted to the Website has been taken down, you may file a counter-notification that contains the following details:

a. Identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or disabled;
b. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material in question;
c. Your name, address and telephone number;
d. A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court in which your address is located or, if your address is outside of the USA, for any judicial district in which RSA may be found and that you will accept service of process from the person who submitted a notice in compliance with the section (c)(1)(C) of the DMCA, as generally described above;
e. Your physical or electronic signature.

Then send this notice to: ExecutiveDirector@rhetoricsociety.org.

9. Disclaimer of Warranties

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY THE APPLICABLE LAW, RSA OFFERS THE WEBSITE AS-IS AND MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND CONCERNING THE WEBSITE, EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NONINFRINGEMENT. RSA DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS OR CONTENT CONTAINED ON THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT OUR SERVERS ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. RSA DOES NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATION REGARDING USE OR THE RESULT OF USE OF THE CONTENT IN TERMS OF ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE.

10. Limitation of Liability

EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT REQUIRED BY APPLICABLE LAW AND THEN ONLY TO THAT EXTENT, IN NO EVENT WILL RSA, ITS EMPLOYEES, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AFFILIATES OR AGENTS (“THE RSA PARTIES”) BE LIABLE TO YOU ON ANY LEGAL THEORY FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, ACTUAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR OTHER DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF REVENUE OR INCOME, LOST PROFITS, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, OR SIMILAR DAMAGES SUFFERED OR INCURRED BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY THAT ARISE IN CONNECTION WITH THE WEBSITE OR SERVICES (OR THE TERMINATION THEREOF FOR ANY REASON), EVEN IF THE RSA PARTIES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

THE RSA PARTIES SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE WHATSOEVER IN ANY MANNER FOR ANY CONTENT POSTED ON THE WEBSITE (INCLUDING CLAIMS OF INFRINGEMENT RELATING TO CONTENT POSTED ON THE WEBSITE, FOR YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, OR FOR THE CONDUCT OF THIRD PARTIES ON THE WEBSITE).

YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY DISPUTE WITH RSA IS TO DISCONTINUE YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE. IN NO EVENT SHALL OUR LIABILITY, OR THE LIABILITY OF THE RSA PARTIES, FOR ANY AND ALL CLAIMS RELATING TO THE USE OF THE WEBSITE EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT, IF ANY, PAID BY YOU TO RSA TO ACCESS AND USE THE WEBSITE.

11. Indemnification for Breach of Terms of Use

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the RSA Parties from and against any and all loss, expenses, damages, and costs, including without limitation reasonable attorneys fees, resulting, whether directly or indirectly, from your violation of the Terms. You also agree to indemnify and hold harmless the RSA Parties from and against any and all claims brought by third parties arising out of your use of any of the Website and the Content you make available via the Website by any means, including without limitation through a posting, a link, reference to Content, or otherwise.

12. Links to External Sites

The Website may contain links to other websites. We are not responsible for the availability of these external sites nor do we endorse the activities or services provided by these websites. Under no circumstances shall we be held responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage caused or alleged to have been caused to a user in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services available on such external websites.

13. Dispute Resolution

By using the Website, you and RSA agree that, if there is any controversy, claim, action, or dispute arising out of or related to your use of the Website, or the breach, enforcement, interpretation, or validity of these Terms or any part of them, other than disputes related to or involving RSA’s intellectual property (“Dispute”), both parties shall first try in good faith to settle such Dispute by providing written notice to the other party describing the facts and circumstances of the Dispute and allowing the receiving party thirty (30) days in which to respond to or settle the Dispute.

Notice shall be sent to: ExecutiveDirector@rhetoricsociety.org or You at the contact information on file with RSA.

Both you and RSA agree that this dispute resolution procedure is a condition precedent that must be satisfied before initiating any litigation or filing any claim against the other party. IF ANY DISPUTE CANNOT BE RESOLVED BY THE ABOVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION PROCEDURE, YOU AGREE THAT THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION FOR SUCH DISPUTE WILL BE DECIDED BY BINDING ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS. ARBITRATION ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS MEANS THAT YOU WILL NOT HAVE, AND YOU WAIVE, THE RIGHT FOR A JUDGE OR JURY TO DECIDE YOUR CLAIMS, AND THAT YOU MAY NOT PROCEED IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY. Other rights that you and we would have in court will not be available or will be more limited in arbitration, including discovery and appeal rights. Any such Dispute will occur in Illinois, before an arbitrator to be mutually agreed upon by both parties.

The arbitrator, and not any federal, state, or local court or agency, shall have exclusive authority to resolve any dispute arising under or relating to the interpretation, applicability, enforceability, or formation of these Terms, including any claim that all or any part of these Terms is void or voidable.

14. Choice of Law

You agree that the laws of the State of Illinois govern this contract and any claim or dispute that you may have against us, without regard to any conflict of laws rules. The parties acknowledge that these Terms evidence a transaction involving interstate commerce. Notwithstanding the provision in the preceding paragraph with respect to applicable substantive law, any arbitration conducted pursuant to the terms of these Terms of Use shall be governed by the Federal Arbitration Act (9 U.S.C., Secs. 1-16).

15. Choice of Forum

You further agree that any disputes or claims not subject to the arbitration provision discussed above shall be resolved by a court located in the State of Illinois and you agree and submit to the exercise of personal jurisdiction of such courts for the purpose of litigating any such claim or action. PLEASE NOTE THAT BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS OF USE, YOU ARE: (1) WAIVING CLAIMS THAT YOU MIGHT OTHERWISE HAVE AGAINST US BASED ON THE LAWS OF OTHER JURISDICTIONS, INCLUDING YOUR OWN; (2) IRREVOCABLY CONSENTING TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF, AND VENUE IN, STATE OR FEDERAL COURTS IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS FOR ANY DISPUTES OR CLAIMS BROUGHT UNDER THIS PROVISION; AND (3) SUBMITTING YOURSELF TO THE PERSONAL JURISDICTION OF COURTS LOCATED IN THE STATE OF ILLINOIS FOR THE PURPOSE OF RESOLVING ANY SUCH DISPUTES OR CLAIMS.

16. Contact Us

If you have any questions or concerns regarding the Website or these Terms, please contact us by email at: ExecutiveDirector@rhetoricsociety.org.

Attribution

These Terms are adapted from the Terms of Use of the Creative Commons Corporation. They are used under the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.