Terms & Conditions Brief Encounters Terms of Service LAST MODIFIED: May 8, 2004 Welcome to Brief Encounters and www.briefencounters.com, the official website of Brief Encounters (the "Website"). The following Terms of Services ("TOS") apply to your use of the Website and the offerings and services of Brief Encounters (the "Services"), including without limitation, all Brief Encounters sponsored events (the "Events"). Other terms and conditions may apply to your use of the Services or participation in the Events and in the event of a conflict between such other terms and conditions and these TOS, such other terms and conditions shall govern. You must read the TOS carefully and agree to the TOS before using or accessing the Website, or participating in or receiving any of the Services. By using or accessing the Website or the Services, you signify your agreement to the TOS. Your use of and access to the Website and the Services is also subject to all applicable laws and regulations. If you do not agree to any of the terms or conditions in the TOS, you should not use or access the Website or the Services. Your use of or access to the Website and the Services is also governed by our Privacy Statement, which is available through a link on our home page at www.briefencounters.com/privacy.asp and is hereby incorporated into the TOS. 1. USER PASSWORD AND SECURITY You will receive a password upon completing the registration process for use of the specific Services that require registration. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password. Brief Encounters cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this Section 1 and you shall indemnify Brief Encounters with respect to any claims against Brief Encounters resulting from any such loss or damage. 2. MODIFICATIONS TO WEBSITE OR THE SERVICES Brief Encounters reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Website or the Services (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that Brief Encounters shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Website or the Services; provided that Brief Encounters may provide a refund with respect to cancelled Events as provided under Brief Encounters's then applicable refund policy. 3. MODIFICATIONS TO TOS Brief Encounters may amend the TOS from time to time without notice to you, but if it does so, it will post the amended TOS on the Website. The TOS may be accessed through our home page at www.briefencounters.com. We encourage you to review the TOS from time to time for possible changes. Your continued use of or access to the Website and the Services after any amendment of the TOS signifies your agreement to the amended TOS. In addition, when using or accessing any Services or participating in any Event, you will be subject to any additional posted guidelines or rules applicable to such Services or Event. All such additional guidelines and rules are hereby incorporated by reference into the TOS. This TOS may be modified by Brief Encounters at any time and for any reason. 4. USER CONDUCT You agree that in connection with your use of the Website, the Services, and your participation in any Events you will not: a. upload, post, E-mail or otherwise transmit any content that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of anyone's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable; b. harm or attempt to harm minors in any way; c. impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; d. upload, post, E-mail or otherwise transmit any content that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information or proprietary or confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements); e. upload, post, E-mail or otherwise transmit any content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual property right of any party; f. upload, post, E-mail or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," "spam," "chain letters," "pyramid schemes" or any other form of solicitation; g. upload, post, E-mail or otherwise transmit any material 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; h. interfere with or disrupt the Website or the Services or servers or networks connected to the Website, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Website; or i. intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law. 5. PARTICIPATION IN EVENTS AND USE OF WEBSITE You must be at least twenty-one years old to register for Events and use the Website. By using this Website and/or participating in Events, you represent and warrant that you have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into the agreement reflected by the TOS and to abide by all of the terms and conditions contained in the TOS. 6. ACCESS TO WEBSITE AND SERVICES In order to use the Website or particular Services, you must obtain access to the World Wide Web and pay any access fees which are associated with such access. In addition, you must provide all equipment necessary to make such connection to the World Wide Web, including a computer and modem or other access device. In order to use some of the Services, you may be required to register with Brief Encounters by providing certain information about yourself, including your name and e-mail address. In consideration of your use of the Services which require registration, you agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as requested in connection with the provision of and/or registration for any of the Services, subject to all applicable laws. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, incomplete or not current, or if Brief Encounters has reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, incomplete or not current, Brief Encounters has the right to suspend or terminate your password and refuse any and all current or future use of the Services. You may not use this site or its contents for any resale or commercial use; any collection and use of any product listings, descriptions, or prices; any derivative use of this site or its contents; any downloading or copying of account information for the benefit of another merchant; or any use of data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools. 7. THIRD-PARTY MATERIALS, SERVICES AND EXTERNAL LINKS The Website and/or the Services may offer, or third parties may provide, links to other World Wide Web sites or resources. Because Brief Encounters has no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that Brief Encounters is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources and do not endorse and are not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that Brief Encounters shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by, or in connection with, use of or reliance on any such content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource. You further understand and acknowledge that in some cases, it may be necessary or desirable to use third-party services, software, technology, data, and/or other content (collectively, "Third-Party Materials") either independently or in connection with various programs, features or functions available through the Website and/or the Services. Such Third-Party Materials may be downloaded to and/or stored on your computer or otherwise employed in connection with the functions and features of the Website and the Services, and you may or may not be notified of the same. Your use of Third-Party Services may be subject to terms of use other than these TOS and as may be set forth by third-party providers, as applicable. In any event, you agree and acknowledge that Brief Encounters assumes no liability with respect to your use of such Third-Party Materials whether you are aware of their use or not and whether or not the use of such Third-Party Materials are endorsed or recommended for use by Brief Encounters. 8. PROPRIETARY RIGHTS The content of this website is the property of Brief Encounters, its affiliates, and/or various third-party providers and distributors. All title, ownership and intellectual property rights, including the rights to copyrights, trademarks, service marks and logos (collectively, the "Intellectual Property') used on the Website are vested in Brief Encounters, its affiliates and/or various third parties. Nothing contained on this Website should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any of the Intellectual Property without the written permission of Brief Encounters. You may not modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works from, transfer, or sell any information, products, services or any portion of any material obtained from this Website, nor may you use any of the Intellectual Property in connection with any other service without the express written consent of Brief Encounters, its business partners and/or their third-party providers and distributors. No link to the Website may be "framed" to the extent such frame contains any sponsorship, advertising or other commercial text or graphics. All links to the Website must be to www.briefencounters.com, the Website home page. "Deep Linking" to internal pages of the Website is expressly prohibited. 9. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT: a. YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE AND THE SERVICES, AND ANY THIRD-PARTY MATERIALS IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES, AND ANY THIRD PARTY MATERIALS ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT AND THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. b. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT (i) THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES, OR THE THIRD-PARTY MATERIALS WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (ii) THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES, OR THE THIRD-PARTY MATERIALS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE OR ERROR-FREE, (iii) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES, OR THE THIRD-PARTY MATERIALS WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, (iv) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS, OR (v) ANY ERRORS IN THE SOFTWARE OPERATING ON THE WEBSITE WILL BE CORRECTED. c. ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVICES IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL. d. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM THE WEBSITE OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICES SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE TOS. 10. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT BRIEF ENCOUNTERS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF BRIEF ENCOUNTERS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), IN CONTRACT, TORT OR ANY OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION, RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES, OR THE THIRD-PARTY MATERIALS; (ii) THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES RESULTING FROM ANY GOODS, DATA, INFORMATION OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED OR MESSAGES RECEIVED OR TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH OR FROM THE WEBSITE OR THE SERVICES; (iii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iv) STATEMENTS POSTED BY, OR THE CONDUCT OF, ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES OR IN THE CONTENT, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE POSTING OR TRANSMISSION BY THIRD PARTIES OF DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL MATERIAL; OR (v) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE WEBSITE, THE SERVICES, OR THE THIRD-PARTY MATERIALS. THIS LIMITATION OF LIABILITY APPLIES, WITHOUT LIMITATION, TO ANY DAMAGES OR INJURY CAUSED BY ANY ERROR, OMISSION OR OTHER FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE BY BRIEF ENCOUNTERS, ITS AFFILIATES AND BUSINESS PARTNERS; ANY INTERRUPTION, DEFECT OR DELAY IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, INCLUDING COMMUNICATION LINE FAILURE; ANY COMPUTER VIRUS; AND ANY THEFT, DESTRUCTION OR ALTERATION OF, OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR USE OF, ANY ELECTRONIC RECORDS. 11. 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, SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF SECTIONS 9 AND 10 MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. 12. EVENTS AND RELATED LIABILITY LIMITATIONS YOU HEREBY UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT BY USING THIS WEBSITE AND PARTICIPATING IN EVENTS THAT YOUR E-MAIL ADDRESS, FIRST NAME AND CERTAIN OTHER PROFILING INFORMATION THAT YOU PROVIDE MAY BE PROVIDED TO CERTAIN OTHER PARTICIPANTS. NEITHER BRIEF ENCOUNTERS NOR ANY OF ITS BUSINESS PARTNERS HAVE CONDUCTED OR WILL CONDUCT ANY RESEARCH OR VERIFICATION WITH RESPECT TO THE BACKGROUNDS OF ANY OF THE PARTICIPANTS IN THE EVENTS (INCLUDING ANY PERSONAL DATA SUCH AS MARITAL STATUS SUPPLIED BY SUCH PARTICIPANTS) OR VISITORS TO THE WEBSITE, AND YOU AGREE TO RELEASE BRIEF ENCOUNTERS AND ITS BUSINESS PARTNERS FROM ANY LIABILITY AND ASSUME THE FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK WITH RESPECT TO ANY PERSON YOU MEET AT AN EVENT OR THROUGH THIS WEBSITE. YOU RELEASE BRIEF ENCOUNTERS FROM ANY CLAIMS OR INJURIES ARISING FROM YOUR PARTICIPATION IN OR AFTER ANY EVENT AS A RESULT OF PARTIES MEETING EACH OTHER DURING THE EVENT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY ACTIONS, CONDUCT OR BEHAVIOR OF THE PARTICIPANTS OR ACTS BY THE PARTICIPANTS AFFECTING OTHER PARTICIPANTS. SUCH DAMAGES INCLUDE, WITHOUT LIMITATION, PHYSICAL DAMAGES, BODILY INJURY AND OR EMOTIONAL DISTRESS AND DISCOMFORT. PARTICIPANTS REGISTERING FOR EVENTS VERIFY THAT THEY HAVE READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND STATE THAT THEY ARE SINGLE; HOWEVER, BRIEF ENCOUNTERS DOES NOT VERIFY THIS INFORMATION. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU ACCEPT RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR OWN CONDUCT DURING THE COURSE OF THE EVENT AS WELL AS AFTER THE EVENT. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS ASSUMES NO RESPONSIBILITY OR LIABILITY FOR ANY OF THE DATES OR OUTCOMES OF THE DATES, WHICH RESULT FROM ANY EVENT OR FROM THE USE OF THIS WEBSITE. BRIEF ENCOUNTERS RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE ADMISSION TO ANY EVENT AND/OR DENY ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE TO ANY INDIVIDUAL WHO HAS NOT CONDUCTED THEMSELVES IN A PROPER MANNER IN THE SOLE DISCRETION OF BRIEF ENCOUNTERS, WHO WE HAVE RECEIVED COMPLAINTS ABOUT DURING AN EVENT, OR WHO HAS MISREPRESENTED THEMSELVES IN ANY WAY. 13. COPYRIGHTS It is Brief Encounters's policy to respect the intellectual property rights of others. In connection with this policy, Brief Encounters will not knowingly post content or other works of authorship that infringe the copyright rights of others. If you believe that your copyrighted work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by providing our copyright agent with the following information: (i) the electronic or physical signature of the owner of the copyright or the person authorized to act on the owner's behalf; (ii)a description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; (iii) a description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on the site including the URL or other specific information sufficient to allow us to locate the material; (iv) your name, address, telephone number, and E-mail address; (v) a statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (vi) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf. Our agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement on this site can be reached as follows: By mail: Brief Encounters P.O. Box 50267 Arlington, VA 22205 By phone: (703) 346-2318 14. INDEMNITY You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Brief Encounters and its respective officers, directors, governors, owners, other officials, partners, partnerships, principals, employees, affiliates and other related entities, servants, agents, representatives, successors and assigns from and against any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of your use of the Website or the Services, your participation in Events, your connection to the Website or the Services, your violation of the TOS or your violation of any rights of another. 15. GOVERNING LAW This Agreement and its performance is governed by the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia without regard to its conflict of laws provisions. You consent and submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia located in Fairfax County and the Federal District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in all matters arising out of your use of this Website, your use of the Services and your participation in any Events. 16. CANCELLATION POLICY If you cancel 72 hours prior to the event, we will gladly credit your credit card for the amount of the event minus a $10 processing fee. If you cancel within the 72-hour period or do not attend the event, we regret that we cannot offer you a refund or a credit.
Privacy Statement | Terms & Conditions | Contact Us © Copyright 2000-2004, Brief Encounters