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Terms of Use

SpeechWire Tournament Services ("SpeechWire") provides a web-based forensics tournament service that people across the United States can use to register entries, schedule, tabulate, and post results and other information from debate, speech (individual events), and congress tournaments, as well as gain information about these tournaments, all subject to these terms of use ("Terms of Use") and other applicable agreements.

These terms of use specified herein govern speechwire.com ("Website"), the services provided through the Website ("Website Services"), and all other websites, suites of features and services offered through SpeechWire (collectively, "SpeechWire Services"). Please read these Terms of Use carefully before using any of the diverse SpeechWire Services or obtaining any content, information, materials or services therefrom.

Your privacy is very important to us. We designed our accompanying Privacy and Security Policy to provide important disclosures about how you can use SpeechWire Services to share with others and how we collect and can use your contact and personal information. We encourage you to read our Privacy and Security Policy and to use it to help make informed decisions. This Terms of Use expressly incorporates our Privacy and Security Policy as part of the Terms of Use.

By visiting the Website and/or using any of the SpeechWire Services, you affirm that you have read, agree and consent to all of the Terms of Use specified herein and further agree to be bound by them. As such, these Terms of Use represent a binding, legal agreement between you and SpeechWire.

1.            Definitions

1.1         "Consumer" or "Customer" means any individual or entity that uses any of the SpeechWire Services. Where applicable, the term "Consumer" shall encompass all customers.

1.2         "Content" means all material, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, on or through any of the SpeechWire Services, its Website, or its Website Services, and is inclusive of User Content as well as other material.

1.3         "Software" means any necessary software used in connection with the SpeechWire Services.

1.4         "SpeechWire Services" means the suite of features and services offered through SpeechWire, the Website, and the Website Services.

1.5         "SpeechWire Trademarks" means any trademarks, tradenames, logos, and other commercial designs of SpeechWire or licensed to SpeechWire, whether or not formal registration exists including, but not limited to, SpeechWire.

1.6         "Strategic Partners" means those trusted partners that SpeechWire employs, engages, or retains to perform functions and/or provide services on its behalf.

1.7         "Tournament Managers" are people who have placed an order or have otherwise expressed their desire to manage their tournament using SpeechWire Services and who have received access to the Services to complete management tasks, as well as access to information about their tournament provided by coaches and other Website users.

1.8         "Tournament Staff" are any people or entities that a Tournament Manager may work with to facilitate operation of an event, and as such, Tournament Staff may receive access to SpeechWire Services to complete management tasks, as well as access to information provided by coaches and other Website users.

1.9         "User Content" means all material, whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, that Customers upload, post, broadcast, email, transmit, or otherwise make available on or through any of the SpeechWire Services, its Website, or its Website Services.

1.10       "Username" means the valid email address provided by each Customer or other identifiers that are used as username or login identification.

1.11       "Website" means all of the information and content (in any format whatsoever) accessible through the World Wide Web at the address speechwire.com and other websites operated by SpeechWire to provide its services.

1.12       "Website Services" means the services provided by SpeechWire through speechwire.com and other websites operated by SpeechWire to provide its services.

2.            General.

2.1         By entering the Website and/or using any of the SpeechWire Services (including creating any Content and/or User Content), you agree that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by the Terms of Use.

2.2         All parties explicitly agree that the use of the Website and SpeechWire Services shall be pursuant to these Terms of Use. SpeechWire shall not be bound by any additional or different terms provided by any Consumer or Customer.

2.3         The Terms of Use shall be considered and construed as a binding agreement between you and SpeechWire.

2.4         The Terms of Use comprises the entire agreement between you and SpeechWire, superseding any prior agreements. Please note that you may be subject to additional rules and regulations that may apply when you apply for and use specific App Services, Website Services, or SpeechWire Services. Any such additional rules and regulations shall be explicitly referenced herein and considered as incorporated within the Terms of Use.

2.5         These Terms of Use contain disclaimers (including Sections 12, 13, and 14) as well as exclusive remedy provisions (including Section 14).

3.            Modifications to Terms of Use.

3.1         Because the Internet remains a dynamic communications forum and the law on Internet and online commerce remains just as dynamic, the Parties understand that SpeechWire may alter, amend, change, waive, terminate or modify any term contained within its Terms of Use at any time provided that:

3.1.1      Should SpeechWire alter, amend, change, waive, terminate or modify any term contained within these Terms of Use, it shall provide notice by:

(a)          Posting the new Terms of Use to the Website; or

(b)          electronic mail (where available and applicable), or a message viewable by the user upon logging into their account, or other means pursuant to these Terms of Use; or

(c) as otherwise required by law.

3.1.2      Upon Notice, any Customer may elect to terminate use of any of the SpeechWire Services. Should a Customer continue to use any of the SpeechWire Services, such continued use shall constitute acceptance of the altered, amended, changed, waived, terminated or modified Terms of Use.

3.1.3      Should the Customer accept the altered, amended, changed, waived, terminated or modified Terms of Use, the Customer's use of the SpeechWire Services shall proceed under the new Terms of Use.

3.1.4      Further, should the Customer accept the altered, amended, changed, waived, terminated or modified Terms of Use, the Customer shall execute any document presented to the Customer memorializing such acceptance. However, the absence of such a document shall not affect the enforceability of, and SpeechWire's reliance upon, Customer's acceptance.

3.2         You agree to review the Terms of Use and the relevant rules and regulations periodically to be updated of any such changes.

3.3         The act of placing a web page (URL) into a temporary file on your browser so that you may return to that page at a future date directly, without passing through certain preceding pages ("bookmarking"), may under certain circumstances result in the bypass of links to the Terms of Use. You hereby agree that any use of such bookmarks or bookmarking to bypass any web pages to enter into the Website and Website Services constitutes acceptance of the Terms of Use and our Privacy and Security Policy.

3.4         Please note again that your continued use of the SpeechWire Services following the changes of the Terms of Use constitutes acceptance of all such changes.

4.            SpeechWire Services.

4.1         Description of SpeechWire Services. SpeechWire provides a web-based forensics tournament service that people across the United States can use to register entries, schedule, tabulate, and post results and other information from debate, speech (individual events), and congress tournaments, as well as gain information about these tournaments.

4.2         Email/Text (SMS) Message Subscription Service.  Some Tournament Managers may elect to distribute information regarding their tournament via email or text messages sent through SpeechWire Services. Even if a Tournament Manager elects to use this service, tournament participants should always be aware of the location of tournament postings at the local tournament site, if available, in case of technology problems with email/SMS text or late updates to the tournament schedule after the delivery of email/SMS text messages. Standard messaging and data fees may apply. Check with your cellular carrier for details on specific fees and charges. The email/SMS text feature is contingent on the delivery of SpeechWire's messages by the message recipient's cellular/mobile carrier, Wi-Fi at the tournament location, recipient's email service, or other means of conveyance of information, and SpeechWire Tournament Services is not responsible for messages blocked or not delivered for any reason (spam filtering, outages, etc.) to a message recipient.

4.3         Cellular Phone Contact Policy. By providing a telephone number for a cellular phone or other wireless device, you are expressly consenting to receiving communications at that number, including, but not limited to, prerecorded or artificial voice message calls, text messages, and calls made by an automatic telephone dialing system from SpeechWire Tournament Services, which may be sent or initiated by SpeechWire staff or by Tournament Managers or Tournament Staff. Additionally, SpeechWire collects phone numbers from users that are shared with Tournament Managers and Tournament Staff to facilitate the operation of tournaments. By providing a phone number to SpeechWire, you consent to the sharing of this phone number with Tournament Managers and Tournament Staff, as well as any contact they may make with you in facilitating their operations. Phone numbers provided by Tournament Managers to SpeechWire may also be posted publicly on the Website so that people may contact them for more information about tournaments. This Express Consent applies to each such telephone number that you provide to us now or in the future and permits such calls regardless of their purpose. These calls and messages may incur access fees from your cellular provider.

4.4         Email Contact Policy. By providing an email address, you are expressly consenting to receiving communications at that email address from SpeechWire, which may be sent by SpeechWire staff or by Tournament Managers or Tournament Staff. Additionally, SpeechWire collects email addresses from users that are shared with Tournament Managers and Tournament Staff to facilitate the operation of tournaments. By providing an email address to SpeechWire, you consent to the sharing of this email address with Tournament Managers and Tournament Staff, as well as any contact they may make with you in facilitating their operations. Email addresses provided by Tournament Managers to SpeechWire may also be posted publicly on the website so that people may contact them for more information about tournaments. This Express Consent applies to each such email address that you provide to us now or in the future and permits such email messages regardless of their purpose. These messages may incur access fees from your email service provider.

4.5         General.

4.5.1      By providing a phone number or email address, you indicate and declare that you are the owner or legal designated user of that phone number or email address, you are at least 13 years of age, and you are legally allowed to provide the phone number or email address. If you, in the normal course of using SpeechWire Services to register information about your team's coaches, judges, students, or other personnel, provide other people's phone numbers or email addresses to SpeechWire, you indicate and declare that you have permission and are legally allowed to provide the phone number(s) or email address(es) that you provide and that you and they understand that their information may be shared pursuant to sections 4.2, 4.3 and 4.4 above.

4.5.2      You agree to hold SpeechWire and its personnel harmless for any errors in information sent by SpeechWire to any phone number or email address you provide as well as errors in Content on SpeechWire Services or a SpeechWire Website. You agree that you accept responsibility or liability for injury or loss to any person or property relating to your subscription to email/SMS text messages sent through SpeechWire, the email/SMS text messages sent through SpeechWire, and any use of or Content on SpeechWire Services or a SpeechWire Website. You agree that SpeechWire, its owner, and its personnel will accept no responsibility or liability for injury or loss to any person or property relating to your subscription to email/SMS text messages sent through SpeechWire, the email/SMS text messages sent through SpeechWire, or any use of or Content on SpeechWire Services or a SpeechWire Website.

4.5.3      You are solely responsible for any fees of any kind charged by any party to any party incurred by your provision of a phone number or email address to SpeechWire.

4.5.4      You agree to allow SpeechWire to share via its management interface any email addresses or phone numbers that you provide with Tournament Managers who are using SpeechWire Services to run their tournaments and Tournament Staff.

4.5.5      You agree that SpeechWire Tournament Services will accept no responsibility or liability for any accidental and/or unintentional dissemination of the phone number or email address that you provide.

4.5.6      SpeechWire Tournament Services reserves the right to stop providing email/SMS text message subscription service to any person or device at any time for any reason with or without notice.

4.6         Changes to Service. 

4.6.1      SpeechWire reserves the right at any time to modify or discontinue, whether temporarily or permanently, the Website and SpeechWire Services. Any modifications to any of the SpeechWire Services, including the releases of new features, tools or resources, shall be subject to these Terms of Use and other applicable policies. Changes may occur from time to time. Notice of any changes or modifications will be provided by posting on the Website, and/or pursuant to Section 3.1.1. Absence of any notice of changes on the Website shall not affect the enforceability of the Terms of Use.

4.6.2      SpeechWire Tournament Services reserves the right to stop providing any of its services to any person at any time for any reason with or without notice, and reserves the right to suspend or terminate the account of any person at any time for any reason with or without notice.

4.6.3      For changes to pricing, please see Section 5.

4.7         You have the opportunity to share your information to third parties, including the public, by affirmatively providing them access to such information. However, simply by providing information via SpeechWire Services, you acknowledge that it may be shared with Tournament Managers, League or Association administrators, Tournament Staff, and/or SpeechWire's Strategic Partners without your further consent. You should be aware that SpeechWire cannot control what such third parties do with your information or access thereto. Consequently, you accept all responsibility for the use of, or access to, your information by third parties to whom you provide your information or access thereto.

5.            Charges, Billing and Payments

5.1         Pricing. SpeechWire publishes its pricing information on its website at https://www.speechwire.com/p-pricing.php.  Pricing is on a per-tournament basis.  Prices remain subject to change without notice.  SpeechWire reserves the right to change the prices for any of the SpeechWire Services. Prices are non-negotiable and SpeechWire Services are provided on a one-off, per-tournament basis.

5.2         Payments.  By completing the order form through the SpeechWire Website, you affirm that you have provided correct information and agree to remit payment for the amount owed according to the then-current pricing at the conclusion of the tournament.

5.2.1      SpeechWire reserves the right to choose the forms of payment accepted for SpeechWire Services, to refuse select forms of payment, and to refuse service to anyone.

5.3         Additional Charges.

5.3.1      Third Party Charges. All fees are exclusive of taxes, levies, withholdings or duties imposed by taxing authorities or other applicable third parties. You shall be responsible for the payment of all such taxes, levies, withholdings or duties in addition to the fees.

5.4         Insufficient Funds and Chargebacks. Please note that should payments to SpeechWire go through a third party, Customers may be responsible for various charges and/or penalties implemented by these third parties for any insufficient funds or chargebacks.

6.            Consumer Conduct.

6.1         SpeechWire Services shall be used for lawful purposes only.

6.2         You agree to provide SpeechWire with true, accurate and current information as requested when registering for SpeechWire Services and/or purchasing services from SpeechWire. Failure to do so shall constitute a breach of these Terms of Use.

6.3         At time of registration, users establishing coach accounts or requesting Website Services to administer a tournament must specify an email address ("Username") to access SpeechWire Services, or they must specify an email address at which they will receive other login information with which to access SpeechWire Services.

6.4         Please note that you may not use or submit a Username or email address that is a Username or email address of another person to create your own account for using SpeechWire services; that is violating a third party's intellectual property rights; or, that is offensive or inappropriate, as determined by SpeechWire in its sole discretion.

6.5         You shall be solely and entirely responsible for any and all use of the SpeechWire Services through your Customer Account.

6.6         As a Customer, if you choose to share your Customer Account, Username and/or password with any other person or entity, you assume all risks stemming from their access to or use of your Customer Account. You indicate that they will use your Customer Account only for the lawful and intended purposes of SpeechWire Services, and further indicate that you understand that they may gain access to information that you have added to or with your Customer Account.  You agree to hold harmless SpeechWire for any damages resulting from your sharing of your Customer Account in this way.

6.7         You must promptly inform SpeechWire of any apparent breach of security, such as loss, theft, or unauthorized disclosure or use of a Username or password.

6.8         The SpeechWire Services shall not be used for any of the following:

-              Intentionally or unintentionally violating any applicable local, state, national, or international law, or any rules or regulations thereunder;

-              Intentionally or unintentionally violating any intellectual property rights of a third party;

-              Disseminating or posting harmful content including, without limitation, viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, or any other computer programming routines that may damage, interfere with, secretly intercept, or seize any system, program, data, or personal information;

-              Disseminating materials that are lewd, offensive, inflammatory, harassing, threatening, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable as determined by SpeechWire in its sole discretion;

-              Posting or transmitting, or causing to be posted or transmitted, via the SpeechWire Services any spam (which never includes communications from Tournament Managers or Tournament Staff regarding their tournaments to Website users or persons who have an SMS/email subscription to information about their tournaments);

-              Posting or transmitting, or causing to be posted or transmitted, via SpeechWire Services any materials advertising any business other than SpeechWire or a tournament being administered on SpeechWire Services;

-              Seeking to obtain private financial information from any Consumer;

-              Impersonating any other individual;

-              Providing any false information;

-              Registering or attempting to register an account with SpeechWire without SpeechWire's express authorization after having been terminated or suspended by SpeechWire for any reason; and/or

-              Attempting to interfere with SpeechWire's security measures.

6.9         SpeechWire does not endorse Content provided by Customers that is made available via SpeechWire Services.

6.10       SpeechWire reserves the right, but not the obligation, to delete Content (including but not limited to User Content) that it believes, in its sole discretion, violate these Terms of Use. The failure of SpeechWire to delete any Content or User Content does not constitute SpeechWire's endorsement of any such Content.

6.11       SpeechWire is not responsible for any false, defamatory, libelous, or slanderous Content posted by its Customers.

6.12       Should any Consumer believe that another individual has violated any of the foregoing terms and conditions, the Customer should immediately notify SpeechWire via support@speechwire.com.

6.13       Upon learning of any error, omission or violation of the Terms of Use by any other third party, a Customer shall immediately notify SpeechWire via support@speechwire.com.

7.            Cancellation and Termination of Customer Account.

7.1         Cancellation of Account. 

7.1.1      You may cancel your Customer Account at any time. Before doing so, SpeechWire recommends you review these Terms of Use carefully so you understand what will occur upon cancellation. To effectively cancel your Customer Account, please contact support@speechwire.com for assistance. 

7.1.2      Upon cancellation, all of your Content may be deleted permanently. SpeechWire shall not be responsible for the loss of any Content or User Content due to the cancellation (or termination) of a Customer Account.  However, SpeechWire is not responsible should a Customer Account remain active after cancellation.

7.2         Termination of Customer Account.

7.2.1      SpeechWire reserves the right to refuse its SpeechWire Services to anyone should it believe that the SpeechWire Services have been abused. For a non-exclusive list of what SpeechWire considers abuse, you should refer to Section 6.8 above. Though specific prohibited items have been listed, SpeechWire reserves the right to consider any action or conduct inconsistent with the intended use of SpeechWire Services to constitute abuse.

7.2.2      SpeechWire reserves the right to refuse its SpeechWire Services to anyone should it believe that the SpeechWire Services have been, will be or are being used for any unlawful purpose and/or used in violation of any of these Terms of Use or any other SpeechWire agreement or policy.

7.2.3      SpeechWire reserves the right to take any further action as permitted by law should it believe that the SpeechWire Services have been or are being abused, used for any unlawful purpose and/or used in violation of any of these Terms of Use or any other SpeechWire agreement or policy.

7.2.4      In particular, SpeechWire may terminate an account immediately should a party abuse the SpeechWire Services, use the SpeechWire Services for unlawful purposes, or use the SpeechWire Services in violation of any of these Terms of Use or any other SpeechWire agreement or policy.

7.2.5      SpeechWire also reserves the right to suspend or terminate a Customer Account should SpeechWire become involved in pending litigation or other similar dispute with the Customer, in relation to the Customer Account, or for any other reason. Should the Customer become involved in litigation or other similar dispute in relation to the Customer Account, SpeechWire also may suspend or terminate the Customer Account immediately and without notice.

7.2.6      Consequences of Termination.

(a)          Should your account become terminated, SpeechWire may, in our sole discretion and without liability to you, remove and discard any information associated with your account including, but not limited to, any Content or User Content.

(b)          Should your account become terminated, you will remain solely responsible for all liabilities that may have arisen or arise from your Customer Account and/or the termination thereof.

(c)           SpeechWire shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your use of the Website or SpeechWire Services.

(d)          Any Customer whose account has been terminated by SpeechWire may not access the SpeechWire Services without the prior express written permission of SpeechWire.

(e)          There shall be no refunds for any use terminated as a result of a breach of the Terms of Use.

(f)           SpeechWire may also refuse registration, terminate an account, and/or refuse SpeechWire Services to any person who registers or attempts to register an account with SpeechWire without authorization after having had an account previously suspended or terminated by SpeechWire. In particular, should SpeechWire identify this person by any means (including, but not limited to IP addresses), it reserves the right to refuse or terminate registration.

(g)          Should the SpeechWire Services become terminated, all Customer Accounts shall be terminated immediately, without any prior notifications by SpeechWire.

8.            Intellectual Property Rights

8.1         You acknowledge and agree that the SpeechWire Services and any necessary software used in connection with the SpeechWire Services ("Software") contain proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. You agree that SpeechWire or its licensor holds all rights, title and interest in all Software and all intellectual property, including other rights related to intangible property, unless otherwise indicated. You acknowledge that no title or interest in such intellectual property rights is being transferred to you and you agree to make no claim of interest in any such Software. You further acknowledge and agree that content presented to you through the SpeechWire Services may be protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly authorized by SpeechWire, you agree not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on the Website, Website Services, SpeechWire Services, or the Software, in whole or in part.

8.2         Copyright.

8.2.1      SpeechWire shall possess and retain all copyrights to material and Content created and/or produced through the SpeechWire Services.

8.2.2      Customers may link to the Website from their own websites and other third-party websites, if such link is otherwise in accordance with the Customer's use of the SpeechWire Services and these Terms of Use.

8.2.3      Customers and Consumers may not frame any elements of the Website within any other website.

8.2.4      SpeechWire may use content obtained from third party sources. All rights  to such third-party content remains with the owners of such third-party content.

8.2.5      The use by any Customer or Consumer of any third-party software or content obtained through the SpeechWire Services does not transfer to such Customer or Consumer any rights, title or interest in or to the third- party software or content. Further, you agree that you shall not use any third-party software or content made available to you through the SpeechWire Services except as expressly authorized under the applicable third-party provider's terms of use or license, which are incorporated by reference herein for the benefit of such third-party providers. If you do not agree to the third-party providers' terms of use or license agreement, do not download the third-party software or content.

8.3         Trademarks.

8.3.1      You agree to not use SpeechWire Trademarks or any mark that is confusingly similar to such trademarks.

8.3.2      Nothing on the Website or through the SpeechWire Services should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any of SpeechWire Trademarks displayed on the Website or through the SpeechWire Services without SpeechWire's prior express written permission.

8.3.3      All goodwill generated from SpeechWire Trademarks will inure solely to SpeechWire's benefit.

8.3.4      All other companies' names, brand names and product names are trademarks or trade names of their respective owners who may or may not endorse, be affiliated with or connected to SpeechWire.

8.3.5      SpeechWire reserves the right to restrict the use of its name, system, logo, and trademarks. You agree to comply with any and all such restrictions.

8.4         Destruction of Materials. Should any Customer or Consumer violate these terms regarding intellectual property, such Customer or Consumer must delete any materials obtained in violation of these Terms of Use immediately upon notice or upon realizing possession of such materials violate these Terms of Use, whichever is earlier.

8.5         Limited License. All content on the Website and available through the SpeechWire Services is the proprietary property of SpeechWire and/or its licensors, with all rights reserved. No SpeechWire Content may be modified, copied, distributed, framed, reproduced, republished, downloaded, scraped, displayed, posted, transmitted, or sold in any form or by any means, in whole or in part, without SpeechWire's prior written permission. Provided that you are eligible for use of SpeechWire Services, you are granted a limited license to access and use the SpeechWire Services and the SpeechWire Content and to download or print a copy of any portion of the site Content to which you have properly gained access solely for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you retain all copyright or other proprietary notices intact. Except for User Content, you may not upload or republish SpeechWire Content on any Internet, Intranet or Extranet site or incorporate the information in any other database or compilation. This limited license is subject to the Terms of Use and does not permit use of any data mining, robots, scraping or similar data gathering or extraction methods. Any use of the SpeechWire Services or SpeechWire Content without the prior written permission of SpeechWire, other than as specifically authorized herein, is strictly prohibited and shall immediately terminate the license granted herein. Such unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws including copyright and trademark laws and applicable communications regulations and statutes. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these Terms of Use shall be construed as conferring any license to intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise. This license is revocable at any time without notice and with or without cause.

9.            DMCA Policy.

9.1         SpeechWire respects the intellectual property rights of others and prohibits anyone from uploading, posting or otherwise transmitting on the Website or through SpeechWire Services any materials that violate another party's intellectual property rights. When SpeechWire receives proper Notification of Alleged Copyright Infringement as described herein, it promptly removes or disables access to the allegedly infringing material and terminates the accounts associated therewith as described herein in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA").

9.2         If you believe that any material on the Website or through the SpeechWire Services infringes upon any copyright which you own or control, you may send a written Notification of Alleged Copyright Infringement to our designated DMCA Agent identified below.

9.3         If you believe that your own copyrighted work is accessible on the Website or through the SpeechWire Services in violation of your intellectual property rights, you may provide our designated DMCA Agent with a Notification of Alleged Copyright Infringement as set forth in the DMCA that contains substantially the following information:

(a)          Identify in sufficient detail the copyrighted work or intellectual property that you claim has been infringed so that SpeechWire can locate the material;

(b)          Identify the URL or other specific location on the Website or SpeechWire Services that contains the material that you claim infringes your copyright described in Item 9.3(a) above;

(c)           Provide the electronic or physical signature of the owner of the copyright or a person authorized to act on the owner's behalf;

(d)          Include 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;

(e)          Include a statement by you that the information contained in your notice is accurate and that you attest under the penalty of perjury that you are the copyright owner or that you are authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf; and,

(f)           Include your name, mailing address, telephone number and email address.

9.4         You may send your Notification of Alleged Copyright Infringement to our designated DMCA Agent by fax, mail, or E-Mail as set forth below:

SpeechWire Tournament Services
c/o Mudd Law Offices
3114 West Irving Park Road
Suite 1W
Chicago, Illinois 60618
Attention: NOTICES
email: dmcanotices@muddlaw.com
Fax to: 773.588.5440

9.5         SpeechWire has adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances and at its sole discretion, members who are deemed to be repeat infringers. SpeechWire may also in its sole discretion limit access to the Website and Website Services and/or terminate the use thereof by anyone who infringes any intellectual property rights of others, whether or not there is any repeat infringement.

10.         Resale of Service.

10.1       Unless otherwise agreed to in writing by SpeechWire, you agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell, outsource, reverse engineer or exploit any portion of the Website or SpeechWire Services; use of the Website or SpeechWire Services; or access to the Website or SpeechWire Services.

11.         Indemnification.

11.1       You agree to indemnify and hold SpeechWire, its owners and operators, as well as their subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, agents, co-branders or other partners, and employees, harmless from any claim, demand, or expense, including reasonable legal fees (including but not limited to attorney's fees, paralegal fees, costs and expenses), made by any third party against SpeechWire due to or arising out of your use of and/or connection to the Website and/or SpeechWire Services; information you sent, submitted, electronically received, viewed, printed, downloaded, or transmitted through the Website; your sharing of any Content obtained through use of the Website or SpeechWire Services to any third party; the use of any Content downloaded from the Website or SpeechWire Services to your computer and/or servers; your violation of the Terms of Use; or your violation of any rights of another, whether you are a registered user or not. You are responsible for your actions when using the Website and/or SpeechWire Services, including, but not limited to, costs incurred for Internet access.

12.         Disclaimer of Warranties.

12.1       The Website and SpeechWire Services are provided to you “as is,” “with all faults,” “as available,” without warranty of any kind, either express or implied, to the fullest extent possible under applicable law.

12.2       SpeechWire specifically disclaims any and all warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, the following:

12.2.1    Any warranties concerning the availability, accuracy, reliability, completeness, capabilities, security, timeliness, usefulness and/or content of:

-              The Website/Website Services;

-              SpeechWire Services; and

-              The ability of the Website and/or SpeechWire Services to interoperate or integrate with any third-party products such as software or hardware;

12.2.2    Any warranties resulting from a course of dealing or usage of trade;

12.2.3    Any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose;

12.2.4    Any warranties of non-infringement; and

12.2.5    Any warranties regarding the rights and title of SpeechWire in the website and/or SpeechWire Services, or any warranty that the Website and/or SpeechWire Services do not infringe the intellectual property rights of a third-party.

12.3       SpeechWire is not liable for any information, software or other products that are downloaded from the Website and/or SpeechWire Services by you or installed on your computer. As such, SpeechWire is not responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from the download of any such material.

12.4       No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained through or from the SpeechWire Services shall create any warranty not expressly stated in the terms. 

12.5       SpeechWire makes no warranty that the website, SpeechWire Services and/or Content thereon will be error-free, available without interruption, timely, or meet your expectation.

12.6       We will make reasonable efforts to maintain the SpeechWire Services, however we are not responsible for any damage; loss of data, customer information or vendor data; loss of revenue; or other harm to business arising out of delays. We are also not responsible for misdelivery or non-delivery of information, restriction or loss of access, bugs or other errors, unauthorized use due to your sharing of access to the SpeechWire Services, or other interaction with the SpeechWire Services.  You are responsible for maintaining and backing-up your data and information that may reside on the SpeechWire Services. We do not warrant that (a) the SpeechWire Services will meet your specific requirements, (b) the SpeechWire Services will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free, (c) the results that may be obtained from the use of the SpeechWire Services will be accurate or reliable, (d) the quality of any products, services, information, or other material purchased or obtained by you through the SpeechWire Services will meet your expectations, and (e) any errors in the software underlying the SpeechWire Services will be corrected.

12.7       These disclaimers apply to all Content sent to and/or from the Website, Website Services, and/or SpeechWire Services.

13.         Third-Party Links and Products.

13.1       In connection with the SpeechWire Services, SpeechWire may provide you with links to third-party websites.

13.2       SpeechWire neither monitors nor has any control over such third-party websites or over third-party products and services.

13.3       SpeechWire is not responsible for and does not endorse (a) the content of such third-party websites, (b) the products or services offered by such third-parties, (c) the use of or reliance upon such content, products, or services, and/or (d) the privacy and other practices of such third-parties.

13.4       Any correspondence or business transactions between you and such third-parties are solely between you and any such third-party.

13.5       SpeechWire specifically disclaims all warranties, express or implied, relating to third-party products and services, including, but not limited to, all implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement, except as otherwise specified in this agreement or where such disclaimers are held to be legally invalid.

13.6       Such third-party websites may solicit personal information and send cookies. The inclusion of a link to a third-party website on this website does not imply endorsement of the linked third-party website.

13.7       SpeechWire is not responsible for the availability of such websites or products or services offered by such third-parties. Further, SpeechWire is not responsible for any loss or damage arising from any communications and/or transactions between you and third-parties.

13.8       You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use affiliate or other services provided by SpeechWire, third-party content or third-party software. SpeechWire specifically disclaims any liability for its consumers and customers failing to abide by third-party websites’ policies and terms.

14.         Limitation of Liability.

14.1       In no event will SpeechWire, its officers, directors, employees, shareholders, agents, representatives, licensors, successors or assigns – or the same of its subsidiaries or suppliers – be liable to you or to any third-party whatsoever for any damage including, but not limited to, indirect, direct, special, punitive, exemplary, incidental or consequential damages (including, but not limited to, damages for loss of business profits, business interruption, loss or vandalism or theft of programs or information, loss of reputation, violation of privacy, loss of use or data, and any other kind of damage or intangible loss), or any other damages arising in connection with or in any way out of the availability or use of, reliance on, inability to use, or any other matter relating to the Website or the SpeechWire Services, even if SpeechWire was advised of the possibility of such damage, and regardless of the form of action whether in contract, tort, equity or otherwise.

14.2       SpeechWire shall be excused for any delay or failure to perform due to any cause beyond its reasonable control, including, but not limited to, acts of government, natural catastrophes, force majeure, acts of God, internet disruptions or unavailability, failure of operating systems, unavailable network connections, imperfect computer transmissions, labor disputes, power outages, loss of data, or similar occurrences.

14.3       SpeechWire shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of the SpeechWire services. Similarly, SpeechWire shall not be liable to you or any third-party should updates to the software or code require the installation of other third-party software.

14.4       You expressly understand and agree that we shall not be liable for any injury, loss, claim, damage or any special, exemplary, punitive, indirect, incidental or consequential damages of any kind (including without limitation lost profits or lost savings), whether based in contract, tort, strict liability or otherwise, including, but not limited to, damages to or viruses that may infect your computer software, equipment or other property, damages for loss of profits, goodwill, use, data or other intangible losses (even if we have been advised of the possibility of such damages), that arises out of or is in any way connected with:

(a)          the use or the inability to use the SpeechWire Services;
(b)          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 SpeechWire Services;
(c)           unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data;
(d)          statements or conduct of any third-party on the SpeechWire Services; or
(e)          any other matter relating to the SpeechWire Services.

14.5       SpeechWire shall not be liable for any damages.

14.6       If you are dissatisfied with the Website, Website Services, and/or the SpeechWire Services, or Content created thereon or therefrom, or you have any dispute with SpeechWire in connection with the same or these terms of use, then your sole and exclusive remedy is to cease using the Website and/or the SpeechWire Services, and/or the Content created thereon.

14.7       These disclaimers of liability apply to any damages or injury caused to you or to any third-party including, without limitation, as a result of any failure of performance, bug, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, virus, communication line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, alteration, inaccessibility or loss of, or use of data, information and/or records.

14.8       We specifically do not warrant or guarantee (1) that the Website and/or SpeechWire Services or any portion thereof will be free of infection by viruses, or anything else manifesting contaminating or destructive properties, or (2) that the functions performed by the Website and/or the SpeechWire Services will be uninterrupted or error-free or that defects in the Website and/or the SpeechWire Services will be corrected.

14.9       It is your sole responsibility to execute anti-contamination virus software and otherwise take steps to ensure that the Website and SpeechWire Services, if contaminated or infected, will not damage your information or system.

14.10     These disclaimers of liability apply to all claims and/or causes of action, whether for or based upon breach of contract, tort, negligence, strict liability or under any other claim or cause of action.

14.11     SpeechWire shall not be held liable for any special, indirect, incidental or consequential damages arising out of or connected with these terms of use or with any of the services provided hereunder, regardless of whether caused by SpeechWire, its agents, employees, subsidiaries, representatives, assigns or otherwise.

14.12     SpeechWire shall not be liable for any damages resulting from the use of any Content obtained through and/or downloaded from the Website.

14.13     SpeechWire shall not be liable for any misuse of content found on or through the Website and/or SpeechWire Services.

14.14     The SMS feature relies on the delivery of messages by the recipient’s cellular or mobile carrier. SpeechWire is not responsible for and shall not be liable for messages blocked or undelivered due to third-party technical issues, spam filtering, outages, or any other reason associated with carriers of either SpeechWire or recipients. 

14.15     The foregoing limitations of liability shall also expressly apply to any damages, injuries, or claims (of any kind) caused by and/or emanating from the disclosure of any party’s identity or identifying information.

15.         Exclusions and Limitations.        

15.1       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 11, 12, 13 and 14 may not apply to you.

16.         General Provisions

16.1       Acknowledgement. You acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agreed to all terms contained herein.

16.2       Applicable Law. The Terms of Use shall be construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois without regard to its conflicts of laws provisions. Similarly, the laws of the State of Illinois (again without regard to its conflicts of laws provisions) shall also govern any dispute arising between you and SpeechWire. You agree to submit to the personal and subject matter jurisdiction of the courts located within Cook or Lake counties in the State of Illinois. You also agree the venue for any action, dispute or proceeding with respect to this Agreement or any dispute between you and SpeechWire shall be the State of Illinois. You further waive all defenses to the contrary including, but not limited to, lack of personal jurisdiction or forum non conveniens.

16.3       Arbitration Clause. Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of the Terms of Use, the Website and/or SpeechWire Services will be settled by arbitration in Chicago, Illinois. Such arbitration shall be conducted in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association or then-existing equivalent. The party requesting arbitration shall serve upon the other party a notice demanding arbitration and a description of the issue or issues to be arbitrated. Any award issued as a result of the arbitration may be entered as a final judgment or order in any court of competent jurisdiction and enforced accordingly. All costs and expenses of the arbitration, including reasonable legal fees (including, but not limited to, attorney's fees, paralegal fees, etc.), shall be allocated among the parties as determined by the arbitrator.

16.4       Class Actions Waived. You expressly waive any right to participate in any class action against SpeechWire for any claims related to the Website and/or SpeechWire Services. In fact, by using the Website and/or SpeechWire Services and agreeing to these Terms of Use, you expressly agree that you shall not be permitted to resolve any claims through class actions against SpeechWire.

16.5       Entire Agreement. The Parties agree that the Terms of Use as it shall be modified from time to time constitutes the full and complete understanding among them with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes and preempts any prior understandings, agreements, or representations by or among the Parties, written or oral, which may have related to the subject matter hereof in any way. You may not rely on any other statements, promises, or agreements by any party, whether written or oral, that alters or contradicts the terms of this Terms of Use.

16.6       Incorporation Clause. This Terms of Use expressly incorporates the terms provided for in SpeechWire's Privacy and Security Policy.

16.7       Independent Parties. You and SpeechWire are independent parties and nothing contained in this Terms of Use shall be construed or implied to create any agency or partnership between you and SpeechWire. At no time shall you or SpeechWire act as an agent for or make commitments for or in the name of the other party.

16.8       Jury Trial Waived. As provided in the Arbitration Clause above, you acknowledge that all disputes with SpeechWire shall be resolved through arbitration. Should any arbitration or court find such restriction unenforceable and/or should any dispute appear before a court, you expressly waive any right to a jury trial in any action against SpeechWire for any claims related to the Website and/or SpeechWire Services. In fact, by using the Website and/or SpeechWire Services and agreeing to these Terms of Use, you expressly agree that you shall not be permitted to obtain a jury trial in any action against SpeechWire.

16.9       Paragraph and Section Headings. Paragraph and Section headings are for convenience only and shall not be used to construe the Terms of Use or otherwise be given any legal effect.

16.10     Reasonableness. The Parties have read each of the terms in the Terms of Use and consider each of them, including all subparts, to be reasonable.

16.11     Savings Clause. In the event that any provision of the Terms of Use is held to be void or unenforceable by a Court of competent jurisdiction, the remaining provisions of the Terms of Use shall nevertheless be binding upon the Parties with the same effect as though the void or unenforceable part had been deleted. Further, any provision held to be void or unenforceable by a Court of competent jurisdiction shall be construed, if possible, to give effect to the Parties' intent. The Parties agree that any such provision, in its forms modified by the court, shall then be enforceable and shall be enforced.

16.12     Waiver.

16.12.1 No waiver of any breach of any provision of this Terms of Use shall constitute a waiver of any prior, concurrent or subsequent breach of the same or any other provisions hereof, and no waiver shall be effective unless made in writing and signed by an authorized representative of the waiving party.

16.12.2 The failure of SpeechWire to insist, in any one or more instances, upon the performance of any of the terms of this Terms of Use or to exercise any right hereunder, shall not be construed as a waiver of the future performance of any such term or the future exercise of such right.

16.12.3 No employee, agent or representative, including without limitation a customer service representative, of SpeechWire shall be entitled to waive any term of the Terms of Use or any other SpeechWire agreement or policy.

16.13     Notices. Notices by SpeechWire to you for any reason (including changes to this Agreement, the SpeechWire Services, the fees, or other similar matters) may be provided by a general posting on the Website at speechwire.com. Notices by you to SpeechWire may be given through electronic mail to support@speechwire.com unless otherwise specified in these Terms of Use. Without receiving a confirmation email back from SpeechWire, you may not assume that your notice has been received.

16.14     Restricted Locations.

16.14.1 The Website, Website Services, and/or SpeechWire Services may not be accessed, viewed, downloaded or otherwise received in any country or location in which doing so would, or could be deemed a violation of any law, regulation, rule, ordinance, edict or custom.

16.14.2 The Website may not be used by and is not directed at any country or region currently embargoed by the United States. By using the Website, Website Services, and/or SpeechWire Services, you agree to the foregoing and you warrant that you are not located in, or under the control of, or a national or resident of any such country or region.

16.14.3 You agree to comply with all local rules regarding online conduct and what SpeechWire deems, in its sole discretion, acceptable content. For examples of prohibited content and conduct, refer to Section 6.8 above.

16.14.4 You agree to comply with all applicable laws regarding the transmission of technical data exported from the United States or the country in which you reside.

17.         Revisions to Terms of Use.

17.1       SpeechWire reserves the right to revise, amend, or modify this Terms of Use, our Privacy and Security Policy, and other online policies and agreements at any time and in any manner.

17.2       SpeechWire shall provide notice of such changes by posting the revised policies to its Website and/or the applicable SpeechWire owned websites and/or by either (a) providing you a message the next time you log into your account or (b) sending you electronic mail to the email address you provided when creating your account.

17.3       With respect to this Terms of Use, you should visit the Website at SpeechWire.com from time to time to review the then-current terms. At any time, the current-posted policies govern and shall be binding.

17.4       You acknowledge and agree that the form and nature of the services that SpeechWire provides may change from time to time without prior notice to you. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any new feature that augments or enhances the current Website, Website Services and/or any SpeechWire Services shall be subject to these Terms.

SpeechWire Tournament Services - Copyright 2004-2024 Ben Stewart. All Rights Reserved. Terms of use - Privacy and Security Policy
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