NBPTS Main Site General Terms

1. GENERAL
The effective date of this Agreement is September 7, 2007.

The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards its affiliates and subsidiaries (the “National Board,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) welcomes you to NBPTS.org. The following rules govern the use by you of NBPTS.org.

BY USING AND/OR VISITING THIS WEB SITE (collectively, including all Content available through the NBPTS.org domain name, the “Site,” or “the National Board Site”), YOU SIGNIFY YOUR ASSENT TO BOTH THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS (the “Terms of Use”) AND THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THE NATIONAL BOARD PRIVACY POLICY, WHICH ARE INCORPORATED HEREIN BY REFERENCE. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS, THEN DO NOT USE AND/OR VISIT THE SITE OR PARTICIPATE IN ANY ACTIVITIES HOSTED ON THIS SITE.

2. SCOPE OF USE
No material from the Site may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, or distributed in any way, except that the National Board hereby grants you the limited right and license to view, use and download a single copy of the information contained in this Site for your informational, non-commercial home use only, provided that you keep intact all copyright, trademark and other proprietary rights notices.

The use of any such aforementioned material on any other Web site or networked computer environment is prohibited. You may not distribute, sell, rent or lease the information contained in this Site to third parties without the prior written consent of the National Board.
You agree to use the Site, including without limitation, any services made available to you by the National Board Site, only for lawful purposes in accordance with these Terms of Use. You agree not to post on or otherwise transmit through the Site: any explicit or obscene language; language which infringes anyone else’s intellectual property rights; discussions of illegal topics; personal attacks on other individuals; personal information about any minors; or other information that we, in our sole discretion, deem to be inappropriate for the Site. You agree that the National Board has the right, but not the responsibility to monitor your communications hereunder and may edit or delete any of your communications that violate this Agreement, as well as block your access to the Site for your failure to comply with this section.

3. NO WARRANTIES
ALL CONTENT, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES ON THIS SITE ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN “AS IS,” “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, DATA ACCURACY, QUIET ENJOYMENT AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE NATIONAL BOARD MAKES NO WARRANTY AS TO THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENCY, OR RELIABILITY OF ANY CONTENT, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS SITE, OR REGARDING THE TIMELINESS OF TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION BETWEEN ANY USERS OF THIS SITE, OR BETWEEN USERS OF THIS SITE AND THE NATIONAL BOARD.
THE NATIONAL BOARD MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT USE OF THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE. YOU ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR TAKING ALL PRECAUTIONS NECESSARY TO ENSURE THAT ANY CONTENT YOU MAY OBTAIN FROM THE SITE IS FREE OF VIRUSES.

4. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
THE NATIONAL BOARD SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, ANY AND ALL LIABILITY, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR SPECIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE SITE, EVEN IF THE NATIONAL BOARD HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO RELIANCE BY ANY PARTY ON ANY CONTENT, INFORMATION, PRODUCTS OR SERVICES OBTAINED THROUGH USE OF THIS SITE, OR THAT ARISES IN CONNECTION WITH MISTAKES OR OMISSIONS IN, OR DELAYS IN TRANSMISSION OF, INFORMATION TO OR FROM THE USER OR BETWEEN USERS, INTERRUPTIONS IN TELECOMMUNICATIONS CONNECTIONS TO THE SITE OR VIRUSES, WHETHER CAUSED IN WHOLE OR IN PART BY NEGLIGENCE, ACTS OF GOD, TELECOMMUNICATIONS FAILURE, THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OF, OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO THE SITE OR RELATED INFORMATION.

Without limiting any of the foregoing, if the National Board, or any of its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, contractors or suppliers is found liable to you for any claims or matters arising under or in connection with this Agreement, the National Board’s and such parties’ aggregate and maximum liability for all such matters and claims in any calendar year shall not exceed the amounts paid by you to the National Board for the specific Service or product giving rise to such liability. The limitation of liability contained herein shall be enforced even if all other remedies fail of their essential purpose.

5. INDEMNITY AND BREACH
You agree to indemnify and hold us and our subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, agents, and employees, harmless from any liability for any claims, demands and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of this Site, breach of these Terms of Use, or your violation of any law or the rights of a third party or arising out of any materials submitted by you.

Without limiting our other remedies, we may immediately issue a warning, temporarily suspend, indefinitely suspend or terminate your access to the Site if you breach these Terms of Use, or our Privacy Policy, or if we believe that your actions may cause legal liability for you, our other users or the National Board.

6. EMAIL AND ELECTRONIC TRANSMISSION OF INFORMATION
You understand that the Internet is public and that e-mail communications and electronic transmission of information between you and the National Board, or between you and any other user via this Site are subject to the risk of being viewed by other parties. You understand that federal postal regulations do not protect electronic mail. You are aware that some administrative personnel of the National Board may, in the course of their regular duties, have access to communications for technical or operational purposes. Accordingly, you agree not to transmit confidential or proprietary information relating to you or your business to the National Board or to other users via e-mail.
The National Board may also disclose any communications to the extent permitted or required by law.

7. PROHIBITION AGAINST ROGUE PROGRAMMING
You shall not post, transmit or make available in any way through the Site any software or other materials which contain a computer virus, trojan horse, timebomb, worm, cross-site request forgery or other rogue programming (“Rogue Programming”). The National Board has no obligation to detect the presence of any Rogue Programming. Any downloading of software or other materials or any other use of the Information on the Site is at your risk, and you are advised to take adequate precautions to minimize any loss to your system caused by Rogue Programming, including use of anti-virus programs and proper backup of files.

8. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS
This Site and all content contained herein, including any and all Standards, are proprietary to, and are the sole property of the National Board or its licensors. Unauthorized use of any of the National Board’s trademarks, service marks, certification marks or logos may be a violation of federal and state trademark laws. All title to the National Board Site and the information and ideas contained herein, and all rights in any copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, trade names, patents and other intellectual property rights in or in connection with the Site (including but not limited to, any images, photographs, animations, video, audio, music, text, and “applets” incorporated therein) are and will remain the property of the National Board or its licensors. The National Board Site is protected by U.S. and international copyright and other proprietary rights laws. You may not copy, modify, reproduce, perform, display, distribute or create derivative versions of: (a) content on this Site (other than as expressly permitted in these Terms of Use), (b) the design or layout of the Site or individual sections of the design or layout of the Site or (c) the National Board trademarks, service marks, certification marks or logos, without the National Board’s prior written permission.

9. VIOLATION OF RULES AND REGULATIONS
The National Board reserves the right to seek all remedies available at law and in equity for violations of the rules and regulations set forth in this Site, including the right to block access from a particular Internet address to the Site.

10. LINKED INTERNET SITES
THERE ARE LINKS IN THIS SITE WHICH LET YOU LEAVE THE NATIONAL BOARD’S SITE. THE LINKED SITES ARE NOT UNDER THE CONTROL OF THE NATIONAL BOARD, AND THE CONTENT AVAILABLE ON THE INTERNET SITES LINKED TO THIS SITE DO NOT NECESSARILY REFLECT THE OPINION OF THE NATIONAL BOARD OR IMPLY THE NATIONAL BOARD’S ENDORSEMENT OF SUCH CONTENT. THE NATIONAL BOARD IS PROVIDING THESE LINKS TO OTHER INTERNET SITES AS A CONVENIENCE TO YOU, AND ACCESS TO ANY OTHER INTERNET SITES LINKED TO THIS SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND THE NATIONAL BOARD DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY WITH REGARD TO YOUR ACCESS OF SUCH LINKED SITES. THE NATIONAL BOARD ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR, OR ANY OBLIGATION TO MONITOR, THE CONTENT OF SUCH LINKED INTERNET SITES. THE INCLUSION OF ANY LINK DOES NOT IMPLY A RECOMMENDATION OR ENDORSEMENT BY THE NATIONAL BOARD OF THE LINKED SITE.

11. ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
This project is funded in part with grants from the U.S. Department of Education and the National Science Foundation. Through September 2006, NBPTS has been appropriated federal funds of $159.0 million, of which $146.4 million was expended. Such amount represents approximately 34 percent of the National Board Certification project. Approximately $276.8 million (66 percent) of the project’s cost was financed by non-federal sources.

The contents of this Web site were developed under a grant from the Department of Education. However, those contents do not necessarily represent the policy of the Department of Education, and you should not assume endorsement by the Federal Government.

12. CHANGES TO AGREEMENT
We may amend this Agreement at any time by posting an amended Agreement on this Site. The amended Agreement will be automatically effective five (5) days after it is initially posted on this Site. Your continued use of the National Board Site indicates your continued agreement to be bound by this Agreement, as changed from time to time. You should view this Agreement often to stay informed of changes that may affect you. The National Board may also make changes to the Site, including discontinuing any service or provision of any content, or otherwise restricting access and use. We reserve the right to do so without prior notice to you. The National Board reserves the right to change or add any fees or charges for access to or use of the Site at any time during the term of this Agreement.

13. GOVERNING LAW AND GENERAL PROVISIONS
This Site is operated by the National Board from the Commonwealth of Virginia within the United States of America. The National Board makes no representation that the information in the Site is appropriate or available for use in other locations, and access to the Site from territories where the contents of the Site may be illegal is prohibited. Those who choose to access this Site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with applicable local laws. Any claims relating to the information available on this Site will be governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia excluding the application of its conflicts of law rules. You hereby consent to exclusive personal jurisdiction in the courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia with regard to any proceeding arising out of or related to these Terms of Use or you use of or access to the Site. If any provision of these Terms of Use is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck and the remaining provisions shall be enforced. Headings are for reference purposes only and in no way define, limit, construe or describe the scope or extent of such section. Our failure to act with respect to a breach by you or others does not waive our right to act with respect to subsequent or similar breaches. These Terms of Use set forth the entire understanding and agreement between us with respect to the subject matter hereof. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the National Board may post supplemental terms and conditions regarding privacy and user information on this Site, which shall become binding upon users if and when such additional terms and conditions are posted.