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Terms of Access to E-Learning

The Agriculture & Food Systems Institute’s (“AFSI”) e-learning system (the “System”) consists of a series of courses designed to provide information about practical aspects of environmental risk assessment of genetically modified crops. YOUR USE OF THE SYSTEM CONSTITUTES YOUR AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS RELATED TO THE ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SYSTEM.

Permitted Uses

AFSI authorizes you to access and use the System and the information contained within it for informational, educational, academic and not-for-profit personal use only. Under these terms of use, you acknowledge and agree that your access and use of the System is solely for academic and not-for-profit use. You also agree that any copy of documents that you generate by using the System shall retain and display all copyright and other proprietary notices contained herein. AFSI makes no representations or warranties for any purpose about the suitability, accuracy, or completeness of the information contained or published in the System.

Prohibited Conduct

As a condition of your use of the System, you are prohibited to:

  • Break into, access, trespass, use or attempt to break into, access, trespass, or use any other parts of the server(s) which host the System, and/or any data areas for which you have not been authorized by AFSI;
  • Inhibit or restrict any other user from accessing or using the System;
  • Post or transmit any fraudulent, defamatory, libelous, pornographic, obscene, profane, threatening, abusive, hateful, offensive, unlawful, or otherwise objectionable or unreasonable information of any kind, including but not limited to any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would give rise to civil liability, constitute a criminal offense, or otherwise violate any local, state, national or foreign law, regulation, or rule, infringe any intellectual property right, proprietary rights or confidentiality obligations of third parties;
  • Post or transmit any software or information which contains a virus, worm, Trojan horse, or other harmful component;
  • Post or transmit any solicitations, advertisements, pyramid schemes, chain letters, investment opportunities or schemes or other unsolicited commercial communication, or engage in flooding or spamming;
  • Post, publish, transmit, reproduce, distribute or make any use of any information obtained through the System for commercial purposes without AFSI’s prior written permission (unless otherwise specified by AFSI in the System or pursuant to separate license granted by AFSI); or
  • Post, transmit, publish, upload, reproduce, or distribute in any way, any component of the System itself or any Information obtained from the System which is protected by copyright, or  other proprietary right, or create derivative works with respect to works of authorship contained in the System, without AFSI’s prior written permission.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

ALL INFORMATION PROVIDED IN THE SYSTEM IS PROVIDED “AS-IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SYSTEM IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. NO WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION IS MADE, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, THAT THE INFORMATION CONTAINED OR REFERENCED HEREIN IS ACCURATE, CURRENT, OR COMPLETE. FURTHERMORE, AFSI SHALL NOT BE LIABLE IN ANY MANNER WHATSOEVER FOR DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGE RESULTING FROM THE USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, ANY OF THE INFORMATION CONTAINED OR REFERENCED IN THE SYSTEM OR ANY INFORMATION THAT IS PROVIDED THROUGH LINKED WEBSITES.

Third-Party Information and Websites

The System may contain information supplied by third parties, which may be marked with the name of the source. AFSI does not separately verify the information provided by such third parties. Moreover, such third party information does not necessarily represent the views or opinions of AFSI. AFSI takes no responsibility whatsoever for such information. The System may also contain links to other websites which permit you to leave AFSI’s website. AFSI provides such links only as a convenience and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by AFSI of the third-party website or the content or information provided therein. AFSI does not have any knowledge of or control over the information contained in such other websites. AFSI does not take any responsibility whatsoever for information or content contained on other websites, links contained on other websites or changes to such websites.

Information Collected and Stored

The System automatically collects and stores the following information about visitors in order to improve usability of the site:

  • The internet domain (for example, “abc.com” if you use a private Internet access account, or “your university.edu” if you connect from a university’s domain) and Internet protocol (IP) address (an IP address is a number automatically assigned to a computer whenever it is used to browse the Internet) from which you access our website.
  • The type of browser and operating system used to access the website;
  • The date and time of the visit;
  • The pages visited; and
  • If you search the website, your search queries may be recorded.

In addition, you may provide certain personally identifiable information (such as your name, email address, role as teacher or student, institution name, telephone number, IP address, assessment title and scores and learning objects viewed, or grade, to AFSI when setting up your account, by you or by an administrator, and also by choosing to participate in various activities on the System (such as taking quizzes, responding to surveys, or subscribing to newsletters or other mailing list).

If you or your administrator submits personally identifiable information to us through the System, then AFSI will use your personal information to operate, maintain, and provide to you the features and functionality of the System to support the educational purpose. AFSI does not share personally identifiable information with third parties for any purpose other than supporting the education purpose of the System.

Testimonial Release

By requesting access to the eLearning platform, you have delivered to the Agriculture and Food Systems Institute (“AFSI”) a statement or set of statements about why you wish to access AFSI’s resources. Such statement(s), may include text, names, likenesses, artwork, images, works of authorship, and the like (collectively referred to herein as the “Testimonial”).

Grant of Permission. You hereby grant permission to the AFSI, and to all legal or natural persons acting on AFSI’s behalf, full rights to use, reproduce, modify, and publish your Testimonial for the purpose of promoting AFSI and its activities, services, programs, or resources. Without limitation, AFSI has your permission to use your Testimonial for:

  • Direct mail campaigns sent to AFSI website users and users of AFSI’s distance learning programs;
  • All kinds of print advertisements;
  • Video promotions and advertisements; and
  • Promotion on the AFSI website (afsi.org) and in AFSI email campaigns.

Means, Methods, and Technologies of Use. AFSI may use your Testimonial by any means, methods, and technologies now known or hereafter discovered.

Waiver. You irrevocably waive all rights and release AFSI and those acting on its behalf from, and shall neither sue nor bring any proceeding against any such parties for any claim, whether now known or unknown, for any right based upon or relating to the use and utilization of the Testimonial.

Representations/Indemnity. You represent and warrant to AFSI that: (i) you have the power and authority to enter into this Agreement and to perform its obligations; and (ii) the Testimonial or any related materials will not violate the rights of any third party and will not give rise to any claim of violation of any right based upon or relating to the use of the Testimonial. You indemnify and hold harmless AFSI from any damage or cost (including reasonable attorneys’ fees), arising out of the use or distribution of the Testimonial.

Construction/Miscellaneous. This Agreement represents our entire agreement regarding the subject matter hereof and supersedes all previous representations, understandings or agreements between the parties. No waiver, modification or cancellation of any term or condition of this Release shall be effective unless signed in writing by both parties. This Agreement shall be governed, construed, interpreted, and enforced in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia, USA, without regard to its conflicts of laws principles. If any part of this Release is found to be invalid, such invalidity shall not affect the remainder of this Release. You and AFSI agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement will be resolved exclusively through litigation in a court located in the District of Columbia, USA. Each party hereby consents to venue and personal jurisdiction in the District of Columbia, USA.

Changes to eLearning System

AFSI reserves the right to alter the content of the System in any way, at any time and for any reason, with or without prior notification, and will not be liable in any way for possible consequences of such changes or for inaccuracies, typographical errors or omissions in the contents hereof.

Intellectual Property

All copyright, trademarks, design rights, patents and other intellectual property rights (registered and unregistered) and all content located in the System shall remain vested in AFSI. You must abide by all copyright notices and restrictions contained in the System. Unless otherwise specifically stated, you may not copy, reproduce, republish, disassemble, decompile, download, post, broadcast, transmit, or make available to the public any training material portion, file, content, or information from the System. Nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring by implication, estoppel or otherwise any license or right under any patent, trademark or other intellectual property of AFSI or any third party. Except as expressly provided above, nothing contained herein shall be construed as conferring any right or license under any AFSI copyrights.