Terms of Use

Welcome to watchdognews.org (“Website”).  The following are the terms and conditions which govern your use of our Website and the products or services provided through or in connection with the website (“Terms”).  We reserve the right to make changes to the Website and these Terms at any time.  The changes will be posted here and enforced from the date of the revision posting forward without further notice to you.  The posted Privacy Policy describes our collection and use of all information provided by you through our website and incorporated by reference.  We are located in the United States of America and your use of our Website is governed by the laws of the United States.  The information provided may not be appropriate or available for use in other jurisdictions.  If you access or use our Website from other jurisdictions, then you do so by your own volition and are solely responsible for compliance with local law.

Section 12 of these Terms contain an agreement to arbitrate all claims and restrict class action participation.  Please review this section carefully as it affects your rights in the event of a dispute between us.

  1. LEGAL AGREEMENT.

YOU ARE ENTERING INTO A LEGAL AGREEMENT SO PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS CAREFULLY.  IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THE TERMS OR THE POSTED PRIVACY POLICY THEN PLEASE DO NOT USE OUR WEBSITE, DO NOT PROVIDE ANY INFORMATION TO US, OR USE THE SERVICES OR PRODUCTS LINKED THROUGH OUT WEBSITE.  YOU MUST BE 18 YEARS OF AGE TO USE THIS WEBSITE. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THESE TERMS ARE SUPPORTED BY REASONABLE AND VALUABLE CONSIDERATION INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, YOUR ABILITY TO VISIT, USE OR SUBMIT INFORMATION TO ACQUIRE INFORMATION AND SERVICES THROUGH OUT THE WEBSITE.

  1. SERVICES.

We are an information hub and marketing agency only.  The products and services identified on or through our Website are the property of third parties with whom we have a financial connection.  This financial connection may affect where the products are placed on our Website.  We do not recommend or endorse any of the third-party advertisers which appear on our Website or throughout the content of our Website.

All of our Content is of a general opinion nature and does not address the circumstances of any particular individual.  We do not guaranty the accuracy or timeliness of any information posted in the opinion pieces on our website.  It is not intended and does not provide professional and/or financial advice, nor does any information on our Website constitute a comprehensive or complete analysis of the matters discussed or the law relating thereto.  We are not a fiduciary by virtue of any person’s use of or access to our Website and its Content.  You alone assume the sole responsibility of evaluating the merits and risks associated with the use of any information provided on our Website.  We strongly recommend that before making any decisions based on such information on our Website you consult the appropriate professional.

  1. CHANGES TO WEBSITE, TERMS AND POLICIES.

We reserve the right to change any information, feature, or functions of our Website without prior notice.  We may deny you access for any reason without prior notice if you engage in any conduct or activities that we determine, in our sole discretion, violate these Terms, our legal rights or the legal rights of any third-party or are otherwise inappropriate.  We are not responsible for any errors in our Website or technical problems in our system.

We reserve the right to make changes to this Agreement and the posted Privacy Policy.  Any changes made will be effective from the date of such posting without further notice to you.  As such, the Privacy Policy and Terms of Use posted at the time you register on our Website will govern our relationship for that registration and referral request.

  1. 4. PROHIBITED USER CONDUCT.

You are prohibited from any conduct that, in our sole discretion, restricts or inhibits any other user from using or enjoying our Website or any linked website.  You are prohibited from accessing or attempting to access private areas of the Website or any other user’s information.  You are prohibited from impersonating any person or entity or otherwise falsely stating or misrepresenting your affiliation with a person or entity.  You are prohibited from providing false or inaccurate information to us either during the registration process or customer service inquiries.

You are prohibited from using any data, content, and any information provided or used on our Website which will infringe or facilitate infringement on any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or other proprietary, publicity, or privacy rights of any person or entity, including third parties.  You are prohibited from using any data, content or information which contains or promotes any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs or other computer programming or code that is designed or intended to damage, destroy, intercept, download, interfere, manipulate, or otherwise interrupt or expropriate our Website, data, personal information, software, equipment, servers or content or facilitate or promote hacking or similar conduct.  You are prohibited from harvesting, sweeping, or use any other means, to collect information about users of the Website; Use automated means, including spiders, robots, bots, scripts, crawlers, or the like, in connection with any activity on the Website; Resell, assign, sublicense, otherwise transfer, or delegate your rights or obligations under these Terms and Conditions without the prior express written authorization of Company; Modify, publish, transmit, transfer or sell, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, link, display or in any way exploit any Website content; or except as otherwise expressly permitted on our Website, use any information you may obtain from our Website including without limitation, user information to send any other person unsolicited messages, commercial or otherwise, by electronic, telephonic, postal or other means.

  1. MARKETING MATERIALS.

By registering on our Website, you are giving your consent to receive newsletters, promotions, or other emails of a commercial nature from us.  If you do not wish to receive these emails, you may request to be removed by using the opt-out mechanism listed in the email messages you receive.

  1. LINKED WEBSITES.

We provide hyperlinks in our content which belong to websites operated by third parties.  When you select and use these hyperlinks, you will be leaving our Website and going to the third-party’s website.  We have no control over these websites or their content and are not responsible for their availability or their content.  We do not adopt, endorse, or claim responsibility or liability for any such website or their content including advertising, products, or services available through such website.  We do not review or monitor the content on such sites and as such shall not be responsible or liable for any links from those websites to any other website, or for any content, advertising, products or services available on or through such other websites for any loss or damages incurred in connection therewith.

YOUR USE OF THIRD-PARTY WEBSITES AND CONTENT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, YOUR USE OF ANY INFORMATION, DATA, ADVERTISING, PRODUCTS, OR OTHER MATERIALS ON OR AVAILABLE THROUGH SUCH WEB SITES, IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND IS SUBJECT TO THEIR TERMS OF USE AND PRIVACY NOTICES.

  1. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS.

You are permitted to use our Website and the Content thereon for your personal, non-commercial use only.  The Website and Content are and shall remain our property and is protected by copyright, trademark, patent, and/or other intellectual property, proprietary, work product rights and laws.  You may use the Website and Content for your personal, noncommercial use, provided that you keep intact all copyright, trademark, patent and other proprietary notices.  Except as expressly authorized in advance by us in writing, you agree not to reproduce, modify or create derivative works based on, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute, publish, publicly perform or display, reverse engineer, de-compile or dissemble, all or any part of the Website or Content.

Our trade names, trademarks and service marks including, without limitation, any associated logos are owned by us.  All trademarks and service marks on the Website not owned by us are the property of their respective owners.  Nothing contained on our Website may be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any of the trade names, trademarks, or service marks without our express prior written consent.

  1. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES.

Except as expressly set forth herein, we are not responsible for any incorrect or inaccurate information or entry of information, whether caused by a user of our Website or by any of the equipment or programming associated with or utilized in connection with our Website or products or services provided on or through our Website, or by any technical or human error which may occur in the processing of information received by us.  We assume not responsibly for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or authorized access to, or alteration of, information received or submitted in connection with our Website.  We are not responsible for any problems, errors or technical malfunction of any telephone network or lines, computer on-line systems, servers or providers, computer equipment, or software, or any failure of email on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at our Website or combination thereof, including injury or damage to participants or to any other person’s computer related to or resulting from use of our Website or Website Content.

THE CONTENT AND ALL SERVICES ASSOCIATED WITH OUR SERVICES ARE PROVIDED TO YOU ON AN “AS-IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS.  WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE OPERATION OF OUR SERVICES OR THE ACCURANCY INFORMATION, CONTENT, MATERIALS, SERVICES INCLUDED ON OR ASSOCIATED WITH OUR SERVICES. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF OUR SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

WE DO NOT MAKE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM, ANY REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE ACCURACY, CORRECTNESS, OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENT OR THE SERVICES OR THE SAFETY, RELIABILITY, TITLE, TIMELINESS, COMPLETENESS, MERCHANTABILITY, CONFORMITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OF THE CONTENT OR THE SERVICES AND PRODUCTS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR SERVICES.  IT IS YOUR SOLE RESPONSIBILITY TO INDEPENDENTLY EVALUATE THE ACCURACY, CORRECTNESS OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENT AND THE SERVICES AND PRODUCTS ASSOCIATED WITH OUR SERVICES.  WE MAKE NO REPRESENTATION, WARRANTY OR GUARANTEE THAT THE CONTENT OF OUR WEBSITE MAY BE AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOADING FROM OUR SERVICES IS FREE OF INFECTION FROM ANY VIRUSES, WORMS, TROJAN HORSES, TRAP DOORS, BACK DOORS, EASTER EGGS, TIME BOMBS, CANCELBOTS OR OTHER CODE OR COMPUTER PROGRAMMING ROUTINES THAT CONTAIN CONTAMINATING OR DESTRUCTIVE PROPERTIES OR THAT ARE INTENDED TO DAMAGE, DETRIMENTALLY INTERFERE WITH, SURREPTITIOUSLY INTERCEPT OR EXPROPRIATE ANY SYSTEM, DATA OR PERSONAL INFORMATION.  WE DO NOT MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS, WARRANTIES OR GUARANTEES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING ANY QUOTES OR OFFERS PROVIDED ON OR THROUGH OUR SERVICES.

  1. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

IN NO EVENT WILL WE, OUR PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, PARTNERS, AGENTS, AFFILIATES, LICENSORS, SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, AND EMPLOYEES AND SHAREHOLDERS BE LIABLE TO ANY PARTY: (i) FOR ANY INDIRECT, DIRECT, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF BUSINESS PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF PROGRAMS OR INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE), OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES ARISING IN ANY WAY OUT OF THE AVAILABILITY, USE, RELIANCE ON, OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE OR WEBSITE CONTENT, EVEN IF ALL SUCH PARTIES SHALL HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF ACTION, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE; OR (ii) FOR ANY CLAIM ATTRIBUTABLE TO ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN, OR DESTRUCTIVE PROPERTIES OF THE WEBSITE OR THE WEBSITE CONTENT.  YOU AND WE AGREE THAT ANY CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO OUR SERVICE MUST COMMENCE WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES. OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

  1. EXCLUSIONS AND LIMITATIONS.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY FOR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES.  ACCORDINGLY, OUR LIABILITY IN SUCH JURISDICTION SHALL BE LIMITED TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

  1. INDEMNITY.

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold us, our parents, subsidiaries, partners, agents, affiliates, licensors, advertisers, successors and assigns and their respective officers, directors, employees and shareholders harmless from any and all claims, liabilities, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, arising in any way from, in connection with or as a result of your use or inability to use our Website and or Content, any information provided to you through our Website, or any violation of this Agreement by you.

  1. DISPUTE RESOLUTION AND RELINQUISHING OF CLASS ACTION PARTICIPATION RIGHTS.
  2. Binding Arbitration.

These Terms will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, without giving effect to any conflict of laws rules or provisions.  Any controversy, claim, or dispute arising out of or related to these Terms (or the interpretation, performance, or breach of them), the Site, including but not limited to alleged violations of state or federal statutory or common law rights or duties (a “Dispute”) shall be solely and exclusively resolved according to the procedures set forth in this Section 12.  If we are unable to resolve any Dispute through informal means, either party may initiate binding arbitration of such Dispute.  The arbitration shall be initiated and conducted according to the JAMS Comprehensive Arbitration Rules and Procedures in effect as of the date of such dispute, including the Optional Appeal Procedure provided for in such rules (the “Arbitration Rules”).  The arbitration shall be conducted in Los Angeles, California before a single neutral arbitrator appointed in accordance with the Arbitration Rules.  The arbitrator’s decision shall be controlled by these Terms and any of the other agreements, including any applicable Additional Terms. No Disputes may be arbitrated on a class or representative basis; arbitration can decide only the individual Dispute and the arbitrator may not consolidate or join the claims of other persons or parties who may be similarly situated.  BY ENTERING INTO THESE TERMS, YOU HEREBY IRREVOCABLY WAIVE ANY RIGHT YOU MAY HAVE TO JOIN CLAIMS WITH THOSE OF OTHERS IN THE FORM OF A CLASS ACTION OR SIMILAR PROCEDURAL DEVICE. ANY CLAIMS ARISING OUT OF, RELATING TO, OR CONNECTED WITH THESE TERMS MUST BE ASSERTED INDIVIDUALLY.  The arbitrator shall not have the power to award punitive damages against any party.

  1. Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief.

YOU AND WE AGREE THAT EACH OF US MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING.  UNLESS BOTH YOU AND US AGREE OTHERWISE, THE ARBITRATOR MAY NOT CONSOLIDATE OR JOIN MORE THAN ONE PERSON’S OR PARTY’S CLAIMS, AND MAY NOT OTHERWISE PRESIDE OVER ANY FORM OF A CONSOLIDATED, REPRESENTATIVE, OR CLASS PROCEEDING. ALSO, THE ARBITRATOR MAY AWARD RELIEF (INCLUDING MONETARY, INJUNCTIVE, AND DECLARATORY RELIEF) ONLY IN FAVOR OF THE INDIVIDUAL PARTY SEEKING RELIEF AND ONLY TO THE EXTENT NECESSARY TO PROVIDE RELIEF NECESSITATED BY THAT PARTY’S INDIVIDUAL CLAIM(S). ANY RELIEF AWARDED CANNOT AFFECT OUR OTHER USERS.

  1. Severability.

With the exception of “Prohibition of Class and Representative Actions and Non-Individualized Relief”, if an arbitrator or court decides that any part of this Agreement to Arbitrate is invalid or unenforceable, the other parts of this Agreement to Arbitrate shall still apply.  If an arbitrator or court decides that any of the provisions in Section 12 of these Terms is invalid or unenforceable, then the entirety of this Agreement to Arbitrate shall be null and void.  The remainder of the Agreement and its Legal Disputes Section will continue to apply and that jurisdiction over and venue of any suit shall be exclusively in the state and federal courts sitting in Delaware.

THESE TERMS PROVIDE THAT ALL DISPUTES BETWEEN US WILL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING ARBITRATION.  YOU GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO GO TO COURT TO ASSERT OR DEFEND YOUR RIGHTS. YOU ALSO GIVE UP YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN OR BRING CLASS ACTIONS.  YOUR RIGHTS WILL BE DETERMINED BY NEUTRAL ARBITRATORS AND NOT A JUDGE OR JURY.

  1. WAIVER AND SEVERABILITY OF TERMS.

The failure by us to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.  If any provision of these Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavor to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the Agreement remain in full force and effect.

  1. ENTIRE AGREEMENT.

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and us and governs your use of the Website and Service, superseding any prior agreements.  If any part of these Terms is determined unenforceable pursuant to applicable law, then the invalid and unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid and enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of these Terms shall remain in effect.

  1. ELECTRONIC COMMUNICATIONS.

When you visit our Website or send email to us, you are communicating with us electronically.  You consent to receive communications from us electronically.  Although we may choose to communicate with you by regular mail, we may also choose to communicate with you by email or by posting notices.  You agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.