TERMS OF SERVICE OF PTSD AUTHORITY

Last Updated December 11, 2019

ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS OF SERVICE

BY ACCESSING AND USING THIS WEBSITE, YOU ARE AGREEING TO BE LEGALLY BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF SERVICE, INCLUDING ALL AMENDMENTS MADE AFTER SEPTEMBER 2017. IF ANY OF THESE TERMS OF SERVICE IS UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THIS WEBSITE.

GENERAL TERMS OF SERVICE

PTSD Authority is provided as an informational public service by PTSD Recovery Foundation of America, Inc., which together with certain of its subsidiaries, affiliates, subcontractors, and other partners, and their respective officers, directors, principals, employees, agents, attorneys, partners, and/or volunteers (collectively, the “Administrator”) is the operator or administrator of this website (the “Website”).

By accessing and using the Website, you are indicating that you are at least 18 years old and have the legal capacity to accept these terms of service, and you are agreeing to be bound by all these Terms of Service. You may print and keep a copy of these Terms of Service, but the Administrator may change any of these terms at any time without notice to you. Any changes to these terms will appear in this document. Your use of this Website after any changes have been posted will constitute your agreement to the modified Terms of Service. Therefore, you should read these Terms of Service from time to time. If you do not agree to be bound by these Terms of Service or any changes thereto, you should not use or should discontinue use of this Website.

NO MEDICAL ADVICE

THIS WEBSITE, INCLUDING ITS ASK AN EXPERT AND FORUM FEATURES, DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE and should not be used as a substitute for medical advice from a qualified healthcare provider. This Website and all its content (the “Content”), including text, graphics, images, and videos, whether posted by the Administrator, Contributors to the Website (as defined herein), including any Contributor labeled an “Expert”, or by third-party users, is meant to be informational only. The Website should not be used for diagnosis or treatment of any condition or to replace proper diagnosis and treatment by a qualified healthcare provider.

IF YOU ARE EXPERIENCING A MEDICAL EMERGENCY OR CRISIS CALL 911 OR CONTACT A HEALTHCARE PROFESSIONAL IMMEDIATELY.

This Website does not endorse any particular medical procedures, practitioners, companies, services, products, treatments, diagnoses, or opinions. Any descriptions of such or links thereto on the Website are informational only.

The Administrator strives to ensure that any Content other than Contributed Information (as defined herein) and user-submitted content is unbiased so as to promote education and discussion of issues surrounding PTSD. If you discover that any such Content is factually inaccurate or misleading please contact us to report the issue.

USE OF THE WEBSITE

Subject to these Terms of Service, the Administrator grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited, freely revocable license for personal, non-commercial use of the Website. Absent express written authorization from the Administrator, any other use shall be an unauthorized use and can lead to termination of your license by the Administrator.

The Website, including any content contained thereon and source code therefor are proprietary to PTSD Authority. You agree not to copy, reproduce, display, publish, transmit, distribute, perform, sell, modify, or prepare derivative works from any part of the Website.

You further agree not to compile any data from the Website. You agree not to crawl, scrape, or otherwise retrieve data from the Website in ways other than use of the user features provided on the Website. You agree not to copy data from the treatment center database. You agree not to cause a load on our infrastructure not in line with normal, personal use of the Website and features thereof. You agree not to bypass or attempt to bypass any security measures designed to protect data or limit access to any part of the Website. You agree not to use the Website for any unlawful purpose.

CONTRIBUTORS

The Website may contain and/or display information (“Contributed Information”), such as blog posts, forum posts, articles, papers, images, graphics, videos, data, URLs, or text written, created, and/or submitted by individuals or companies (“Contributors”), which may or may not have affiliations with the Administrator. Contributors may include individuals or companies labeled as experts on the Website. Contributed Information may be requested or solicited by the Administrator. Any opinions presented by Contributors to the Website are the opinions of the Contributors only and are not endorsed by the Administrator.

FORWARD-LOOKING STATEMENTS

This Website may contain statements, including forward-looking statements, evaluations, and/or analyses regarding research, developments, innovations, projects, development plans, the success or failure of projects, and/or financial outlooks of the Administrator or of third-party companies, organizations, institutions, projects, or products. Any statement regarding projections, expectations, beliefs, and/or goals, financial or otherwise, is a forward-looking statement, which is subject to uncertainty and risk and may involve assumptions.  Although forward-looking statements are formed in good faith by the Administrator, such forward-looking statements should not be relied upon.

This Website does not provide any investment advice, tax advice, legal advice, or other professional advice by providing this Website or any content thereon, and the Administrator does not sponsor, recommend, or endorse the purchase or sale of any security or investment. Before engaging in any investment activity, you should consult a qualified professional.

THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES

This Website may link to other websites, including without limitation social media platforms, company websites, and medical treatment center websites, operated by third parties and/or having content provided by third parties, and such other websites may link to this Website. The Administrator has no control over any such other websites or their contents and will have no liability arising out of or related to such websites or their respective content. The existence of any such links does not constitute an endorsement of such websites, the content of the websites, or the operators of the websites. The Administrator shall have no liability to viewers of the Website arising out of any other linked website owned and/or operated by the Administrator. These Terms of Service apply to this Website only.

DONATIONS

Your donations go directly to PTSD Recovery Foundation of America, Inc., a 501(c)(3) tax-exempt entity recognized by the Internal Revenue Service (EIN: 84-3481395). Donations may qualify for tax deductions under IRC Section 170. Your donations are effective immediately. PTSD Recovery Foundation of America, Inc. can refund or cancel your donation upon request to [email protected] within forty-eight (48) hours of the donation. PTSD Recovery Foundation of America, Inc. is currently registered and or/able to solicit donations in the following U.S. states: NY, CT, DE, IA, ID, IN, MN, NE, SD, VT, WY, TX, & AZ. Unfortunately we cannot yet actively request donations from residents of other states. Any attempted large donations, generally greater than USD 250, submitted as a result of a solicitation from a state where we are not yet registered may be declined or may result in a delay in processing so that we can take the necessary steps to accept the donation. If you reside in another state and would like to learn more about supporting us, please email [email protected]. Please consult a qualified tax professional regarding any donation you make to PTSD Recovery Foundation of America, Inc. Upon email request, PTSD Recovery Foundation of America, Inc. can send you a 501(c)(3) tax-compliant donation receipt.

SUBMISSIONS TO PTSD AUTHORITY

The Administrator does not agree to obligations of confidentiality or non-disclosure with regard to information you voluntarily submit via this Website, including, without limitation, any submission made by email, contact form, or through the forum. By submitting information or materials to PTSD Authority or the Administrator, its principals, employees, attorneys, and/or agents, you or anyone acting on your behalf, agrees that any such information or materials will not be considered confidential or proprietary.

COPYRIGHT POLICY

This Website complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). If you believe that content contained on the Website infringes your copyright please contact us at [email protected] and provide the following information in writing:

(1) identification of the copyrighted work you believe is infringed;

(2) identification of the allegedly infringing content and the section of the website, including the URL, where it appears;

(3) your contact information, including your full name, mailing address, telephone number, and email address;

(4) a declaration that you hold a good faith belief that the use of the allegedly infringing content in the manner that is the subject of the complaint is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;

(5) a declaration that the information you submit is accurate;

(6) a declaration that you are the owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the allegedly infringed copyright; and

(7) your physical or electronic signature.

The above steps are designed to ensure compliance with the DMCA and do not constitute legal advice. The Administrator will review your copyright infringement notification and will take all reasonable steps to investigate the alleged infringement and/or remove the allegedly infringing content from the Website.

PROPRIETARY AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

PTSD Authority (whether registered or unregistered) (the “Mark”) is a proprietary mark protected by applicable trademark laws. Nothing contained in this Website should be construed as granting any license or right to use to the Mark in any form displayed here without the express written permission of the Administrator. Any unauthorized use of the Mark is strictly prohibited.

TERMINATION

The Administrator may discontinue, terminate, suspend, or change any aspect of this Website, or its availability to you, at any time without notice. In addition, upon violation of any of these terms of service, the Administrator has the right to terminate your access to all or any portion of the Website immediately and without notice. Your right to use this Website is subject to any limits established by the Administrator in its sole discretion.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES AND LIABILITY

THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED TO YOU “AS IS.” NEITHER THE ADMINISTRATOR NOR ANY OF ITS AGENTS WARRANT THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, CURRENTNESS, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OF THE WEBSITE. NEITHER THE ADMINISTRATOR NOR ANY OF ITS AGENTS SHALL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY LOSS OR INJURY RESULTING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM USE OF THE WEBSITE CAUSED IN WHOLE OR PART BY ANY INACCURACIES, INCOMPLETENESS, ERRORS OR OMISSIONS ARISING FROM THE ADMINISTRATOR’S NEGLIGENCE OR CONTINGENCIES BEYOND ITS CONTROL. IN NO EVENT WILL THE ADMINISTRATOR OR ANY OF ITS RESPECTIVE AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DECISION MADE OR ACTION TAKEN BY YOU IN RELIANCE ON THE WEBSITE. NEITHER THE ADMINISTRATOR NOR ANY OF ITS AGENTS SHALL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANYONE ELSE FOR ANY DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, OR SIMILAR DAMAGES) EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

INDEMNITY

You agree to indemnify and hold the Administrator harmless from any loss, liability, claim, or demand, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the Website any/or any of its features, including the Forum, in violation of the Terms of Services, arising from a breach of the Terms of Service or any breach of your representations and warranties set forth in the Terms of Service, or any Contributed Information or User Content that you submit and/or post to or in connection with the Website.

COOKIES AND TRACKING

This Website may use cookies and other tracking technologies to analyze use of this Website. Cookies are small data files that are created when a user visits a website. They collect Internet log information and user behavior (like preferences or other settings), which can help websites run more efficiently. By using this Website you agree that the Administrator may use cookies and/or other tracking technologies to collect information about your use of this Website. Information collected through cookies or other tracking technologies may be transmitted to a third party analytics provider for use only by the Administrator.

ADDITIONAL FORUM TERMS OF SERVICE

The PTSD Authority Forum (accessible at https://ptsdauthority.com/forum/) (the “Forum”) is provided as a public service to visitors of the PTSD Authority website (the “Website”). The Forum is intended only to facilitate discussion of issues related to PTSD.

FORUM USER ACCOUNTS

You must register a user account (“User Account”) in order to participate in the Forum. You may be asked to provide account information, such as your name, username, email address, other personally identifiable information, and/or a password. You agree to provide accurate information in connection with your User Account. You further agree that you will protect and supervise your account information and accept responsibility for any use of your User Account by any party other than yourself.

FORUM USER CONTENT

You shall retain ownership of any videos, images, text, or other data that you post through the Forum (“User Content”) of which you are the lawful owner. By posting User Content on the Website, you affirm that you are the lawful owner of or are otherwise authorized to post that User Content.

By posting User Content on the Website you grant PTSD Authority and/or the Administrator a non-exclusive, transferable, perpetual, sub-licensable, royalty-free, worldwide license to your User Content and any intellectual property associated therewith, including the rights to reproduce, display, distribute, adapt, prepare derivative works of, and translate your User Content.

Neither PTSD Authority nor the Administrator endorses any User Content posted on the Website, such as in the Forum.

If you delete any User Content, the Administrator will use reasonable efforts to remove it from the Forum and/or the Website. However, you acknowledge that cached versions or references to the User Content may exist after deletion of the User Content.

The Administrator has the right (though not the obligation), in its sole discretion, (i) to refuse or remove any content that, in its reasonable opinion, violates any law, policy, any of the terms of service, or is in any way harmful or objectionable, and/or (ii) to terminate or deny access to and/or use of the Forum and/or the Website to any individual or entity for any reason, including deleting, freezing, and/or blocking any User Account or email address and/or blocking related IP addresses.

You agree not to post any User Content that violates the User Content Guidelines presented below.

FORUM USER CONTENT GUIDELINES

You agree to abide by the following User Content Guidelines, which govern the posting or other submission of User Content to the Website:

•   No posting of any unlawful User Content or content that encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national, or international law.

•   No posting of inappropriate User Content, including, any content deemed pornographic, lewd, hate-filled, highly offensive, bigoted, indecent, harassing, threatening, or links to third-party websites relating to any of the foregoing.

•   No posting of promotional User Content, absent a business agreement with PTSD Authority authorizing the use of promotional content.

•   No posting of User Content that infringes any intellectual property rights, including any patent, trademark, trade secret, or copyright of any party or that violates any confidentiality obligations you may have.

•   No posting or uploading of any viruses, worms, Trojan horses, or other forms of harmful computer code.

•   No posting of private information of any other person or entity, including his/her/its full name, address, contact information, financial information, and health information.

•   You should never post any protected health information, as defined by the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act of 1996 (“HIPAA”).

The Administrator may remove any content it deems, in its sole discretion, to violate these User Content Guidelines or otherwise be objectionable, and may terminate the offending user’s access to the Forum and/or the Website.

PRIVACY POLICY

The Administrator may collect personal information from visitors to this site.

This information may include certain information that is automatically collected by our systems and/or analytics systems provider when visiting this Website, including the type of software used to access the site (browser, operating system), the address of the external or internal page that referred the visitor, the visitor’s IP address and/or domain name, and/or search filter selections. This information may be recorded even if the visitor is not logged into an account.

This Website may permit you to contact us via email or via an online contact form. Whenever you send an email via an email link or through a contact form on the Website, you may be providing us with your name, email address, and any information you choose to include in the text of your message. For example, you may choose to provide your mailing address or other information necessary or helpful for us to address your query or other concern.

This Website may include a forum to foster community discussions. Any posts or other information you submit to the Forum is stored and displayed to visitors to this Website, whether registered or not to use the Forum. Your posts are displayed in connection with your username for your forum User Account.

This privacy policy only covers this Website. Websites linked to and/or from this Website are not covered by this policy.

The Administrator reserves the right to change this policy to meet the changing needs of the Website.

ADDITIONAL TERMS

If any provision in these Terms of Service is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect. These Terms of Service, your rights and obligations, and all actions contemplated by this agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York, as if these Terms are a contract wholly entered into and wholly performed within the State of New York. These Terms of Service constitute the entire agreement between you and the Administrator relating to the Website, and they supersede any and all other agreements, oral or in writing, with respect to the Website. The failure of the Administrator to insist upon strict compliance with any term or provision shall not be construed as a waiver with regard to any subsequent failure to comply with such term or provision.

Any controversy, claim, or dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service or the breach thereof shall be settled solely and exclusively by binding arbitration held in New York, New York and administered by JAMS. Such arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the then prevailing JAMS Streamlined Arbitration Rules & Procedures, with the following exceptions to such rules if in conflict:

1. one arbitrator shall be chosen by JAMS;
2. each party to the arbitration will pay an equal share of the expenses and fees of the arbitrator, together with other expenses of the arbitration incurred or approved by the arbitrator; and
3. arbitration may proceed in the absence of any party if written notice (pursuant to the JAMS’ rules and regulations) of the proceedings has been given to such party. Each party shall bear its own attorney’s fees, costs, and expenses. The parties agree to abide by all decisions and awards rendered in such proceedings. Such decisions and awards rendered by the arbitrator shall be final and conclusive. All such controversies, claims, or disputes shall be settled in this manner in lieu of any action at law or equity; provided, however, that nothing in this subsection shall be construed as precluding the bringing of an action for injunctive relief as in the preceding paragraph of this section. IF FOR ANY REASON THIS ARBITRATION CLAUSE BECOMES NOT APPLICABLE OR IF THE PARTIES ARE SEEKING INJUNCTIVE OR EQUITABLE RELIEF AS PROVIDED ABOVE, THEN EACH PARTY,
   1. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVES ALL RIGHT TO TRIAL BY JURY AS TO ANY ISSUE RELATING HERETO IN ANY ACTION, PROCEEDING, OR COUNTERCLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR ANY OTHER MATTER INVOLVING THE PARTIES HERETO, AND
   2. SUBMITS TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION AND VENUE OF THE FEDERAL OR STATE COURTS LOCATED IN NEW YORK COUNTY, NEW YORK AND EACH PARTY HERETO AGREES NOT TO INSTITUTE ANY SUCH ACTION OR PROCEEDING IN ANY OTHER COURT IN ANY OTHER JURISDICTION.

Each party irrevocably and unconditionally waives any objection that it may now or hereafter have to the laying of venue of any action or proceeding arising out of or relating to these Terms of Service in the courts referred to in this section.

QUESTIONS

If you have any questions or would like more information about PTSD Authority, please feel free to contact us at [email protected].