Terms of Use

Your affirmative act of using AskinsandAssociates.com demonstrates an express, or at least implicit, agreement to the following Terms of Use.  Further, by using AskinsandAssociates.com, you consent to the practices outlined in the Privacy Policy.  Your refusal to use AskinsandAssociates.com is the sole means by which to demonstrate that you do not agree to the Terms of Use and Privacy Policy applicable to this site.

Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright and/or Trademark Infringement

We respect the intellectual property of others. If you believe that your work has been copied and is accessible on AskinsandAssociates.com in a way that constitutes copyright and/or trademark infringement, please report the alleged infringement by contacting the Webmaster at webmaster@askinsandassociates.com.  All allegations of infringement will be addressed as soon as practicable.

User Responsibilities

You may use AskinsandAssociates.com for lawful purposes only.  You may not submit or transmit through AskinsandAssociates.com any material, or otherwise engage in any conduct that:

(1) violates or infringes the rights of others including, without limitation, patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, publicity or other proprietary rights;

(2) is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another’s privacy, tortious, obscene or contains explicit or graphic descriptions, or accounts of, sexual acts;

(3) victimizes, harasses, degrades, or intimidates an individual or group of individuals on the basis of religion, gender, sexual orientation, race, ethnicity, age, or disability;

(4) impersonates any person, business or entity, including AskinsandAssociates.com and its employees and agents;

(5) contains viruses or any other computer code, files or programs that interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment, or otherwise permit the unauthorized use of a computer or computer network;

(6) encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, or that gives rise to civil liability on any level;

(7) violates these Terms of Use, the Privacy Policy, or any other guidelines and policies posted on AskinsandAssociates.com; or

(8) interferes with the use of AskinsandAssociates.com by others.

You may not use AskinsandAssociates.com in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair our servers or networks, or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of AskinsandAssociates.com. You may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to any services, user accounts, computer systems or networks, through hacking, password mining or any other means. We may take any legal and technical remedies to prevent the violation of this provision and to enforce these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy.

Anti-Spamming Policy

You may not use AskinsandAssociates.com or to transmit, directly or indirectly, any unsolicited bulk communications (including comments, emails and instant messages). You may not harvest information about our users for any reason whatsoever, including for the purpose of sending, or to facilitate the sending, of unsolicited bulk communications.  You may not induce or allow others to use AskinsandAssociates.com to violate the terms of this section. We may terminate your access or use of AskinsandAssociates.com immediately and take any other necessary legal action if you, or anyone using your access to AskinsandAssociates.com, violates these provisions. We may take any technical remedies to prevent unsolicited bulk communications from entering, utilizing, or remaining with in our computer or communications networks.

Proprietary Rights

To the extent permitted by law, and subordinate to the rights of the lawful owners of proprietary information featured and/or included on AskinsandAssociates.com, we own, and reserve all property rights in, all text, messages, comments, information, software, images, audio and video published and/or featured on this site (the “Content”).  The Content is protected by international treaties, and by copyright, trademark, patent, and trade secret laws and other proprietary rights at both federal and state levels.

License to Use AskinsandAssociates.com

You may use AskinsandAssociates.com and the Content offered on it only for personal, non-commercial purposes. You may use the Content offered for downloading, such as photos and music, for personal use only and subject to the rules that accompany that particular Content. You may not use the Content in a manner that exceeds the rights granted for your use of the Content. You may not use any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools on the Content, frame any portion of AskinsandAssociates.com or Content, or reproduce, reprint, copy, store, publicly display, broadcast, transmit, modify, translate, port, publish, sublicense, assign, transfer, sell, loan, or otherwise distribute the Content without our prior written consent. You may not circumvent any mechanisms included in the Content for preventing the unauthorized reproduction or distribution of the Content.

User Content Posted Publicly

Users may post comments to certain posts and pages of AskinsandAssociates.com.  This Content can be accessed and viewed by others, including the public in general.  You may only post Content to public areas on AskinsandAssociates.com designated for the purpose of comments. You may not post Content that violates these Terms of Use. We do not claim ownership of any Content that you may post.  However, by submitting Content to public areas of AskinsandAssociates.com, you grant us,  affiliates, and distributors the irrevocable right to use, copy, display, perform, distribute, adapt, edit and promote this Content in any medium, form or fashion.

Access

You must provide, at your own expense, the equipment and Internet connections that you will need to access and fully use AskinsandAssociates.com.  You are solely responsible for any costs you incur to access AskinsandAssociates.com through any wireless or other communication service.

No Duty to Monitor

You agree that we are not liable for Content that is provided by others. We have no duty to pre-screen Content, but we have the right to refuse to post or to edit submitted all Content. We reserve the right to remove Content for any reason, but we are not responsible for any failure or delay in removing such material.

Third-Party Sites and Advertisers

AskinsandAssociates.com may include links to third-party websites and/or advertisements of such third parties and their products or services.  We may include links provided as automated search results. Some of these sites, products or services may contain materials that are objectionable, unlawful, or inaccurate. The inclusion of such third-party links, products or services on the AskinsandAssociates.com websites does not constitute an official endorsement of these third party sites or services. You acknowledge and agree that we are not responsible or liable for any Content or other materials on these third party sites. Any dealings that you have with advertisers found on AskinsandAssociates.com are between you and the advertiser and you acknowledge and agree that we are not liable for any loss or claim you may have against an advertiser.

Use of Embedded Software

We may embed software from third parties in connection with the display or feature of audio and/or video. Such software will be subject to the terms of the license agreement made available by such third parties.  AskinsandAssociates.com is not liable for any loss or claim that you may have against a third party, the software of which has been embedded on the AskinsandAssociates.com website.

Limitation of Liability

Your sole and exclusive remedy for any dispute with us is to discontinue your use of AskinsandAssociates.com.

We shall not be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, consequential or exemplary damages arising from your use of, inability to use, or reliance upon AskinsandAssociates.com.  This limitation applies to any claims for lost profits, lost data, loss of goodwill, work stoppage, computer failure or malfunction, or any other commercial damages or losses, even if we knew or should have known of the possibility of such damages.

To the extent that the law of a state or jurisdiction does not allow the exclusion or the limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages, our liability shall be limited to the fullest extent permitted by law.

Disclaimer of Warranties

AskinsandAssociates.com is provided and presented “as is”, “with all faults” and “as available.”  We, nor any party affiliated with us, make no express warranties or guarantees about AskinsandAssociates.com.  To the extent permitted by law, we and our affiliates disclaim any and all implied warranties that AskinsandAssociates.com is merchantable, of satisfactory quality, accurate, timely, fit for a particular purpose or need, or non-infringing.  We make no guarantee that AskinsandAssociates.com will meet your expected requirements, is error-free, reliable, without service interruption or available at all times.  We do not guarantee or ensure that users will receive any anticipated result from the use of AskinsandAssociates.com.  We do not guarantee that users will be able to access AskinsandAssociates.com or use it at times or locations of their choosing.  No oral or written information from AskinsandAssociates.com will, in any way, constitute or create a warranty.  This disclaimer and these terms are subject to, and in no way restrict or limit, those rights under local and federal laws that cannot be so restricted or limited.

Indemnification

Upon request by us, you agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless us, and our respective employees, contractors, officers, directors, and agents from all liabilities, claims, and expenses, including attorney’s fees that arise from your use or misuse of AskinsandAssociates.com.  We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will cooperate with us in asserting any available defenses.

International Use

We make no representation that Content on AskinsandAssociates.com is appropriate or available for use in locations outside the United States, and accessing it from territories where the Content is illegal is prohibited. If you choose to access AskinsandAssociates.com from a location outside the U.S., you do so on your own initiative and you are responsible for compliance with local laws.

Choice of Law and Dispute Resolution

You agree that the laws of the State of Maryland govern this contract and any claim or dispute that you may have against us, without regard to Maryland’s conflict of laws rules, and that the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods shall have no applicability. You further agree that any disputes or claims that you may have against us will be resolved by binding arbitration in the State of Maryland.

Please note that by agreeing to these Terms of Use, you are:

(1) waiving claims that you might otherwise have against us based on the laws of other jurisdictions, including your own;

(2) irrevocably consenting to the exclusive jurisdiction of, and venue in, the State of Maryland and the binding arbitration of matters therein over any disputes or claims you may have against us; and

(3) submitting yourself to the personal jurisdiction of the courts located in the State of Maryland for the purpose of resolving any such disputes or claims.

Termination of Rights

Your right to use AskinsandAssociates.com automatically terminates if you violate these Terms of Use or any other rules or guidelines posted in connection with AskinsandAssociates.com. We also reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to terminate your access to all or part of AskinsandAssociates.com, for any reason, with or without notice.

Severability and Integration

This agreement and any supplemental terms, policies, rules and guidelines posted on AskinsandAssociates.com constitute the entire agreement between you and us and supersede all previous written or oral agreements.  If any part of these Terms of Use is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion shall be construed in a manner consistent with applicable law to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intentions of the parties, and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect.

Privacy Policy

Our Privacy Policy explains the practices that apply to the collection and/or use of your information when you use AskinsandAssociates.com.  Your continued use of AskinsandAssociates.com is deemed an acceptance of the information practices disclosed in our Privacy Policy . You can review the Privacy Policy by clicking on the “Privacy Policy” link located on the home page of AskinsandAssociates.com

Changes to AskinsandAssociates.com

We may discontinue or change any section, concept, service or feature of AskinsandAssociates.com at any time and without notice.

Changes to the Terms of Use

These Terms of Use may be amended at any time.  You are responsible for checking these terms periodically for changes.  Any such amendment will be reflected on this page.  The effective date below will reflect the date of the most modification to these terms.  Your continued use of AskinsandAssociates.com on or after that effective date will be deemed an acceptance of the modified Terms of Use.

Effective Date: November 1, 2009.

Any questions about these Terms of Use may be directed to the Webmaster at webmaster@askinsandassociates.com.