Terms of Use

Website Terms of Use

Last revised: 4 May 2022

PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING CAREFULLY. THIS IS A LEGALLY BINDING AGREEMENT BETWEEN YOU AS AN END USER (AS DEFINED BELOW) (“END USER,” “YOU,” or “YOUR”) AND SOKA GAKKAI INTERNATIONAL OFFICE FOR UN AFFAIRS CORPORATION (“SGI OUNA,” “US,” “WE,” “OUR,” OR “OURS”). THESE WEBSITE TERMS OF USE, COLLECTIVELY WITH ALL SGI OUNA RULES AND POLICIES, INCLUDING THE SGI OUNA PRIVACY POLICY, CONSTITUTE THE “AGREEMENT” BETWEEN YOU AND SGI OUNA REGARDING YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SGI OUNA WEBSITE (“WEBSITE”). BY ACCESSING OR USING THE WEBSITE, YOU SIGNIFY THAT YOU HAVE READ THE AGREEMENT AND THAT YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE AGREEMENT.

THIS AGREEMENT COVERS IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT THE WEBSITE. THE AGREEMENT INCLUDES INFORMATION ABOUT FUTURE CHANGES TO THE AGREEMENT, LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY, PRIVACY INFORMATION, AND A CLASS ACTION WAIVER.

IF YOU HAVE NOT READ THE AGREEMENT, DO NOT UNDERSTAND OR AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE AGREEMENT, OR ARE NOT ABLE TO CONSENT TO BE BOUND BY THE AGREEMENT (E.G., IF YOU ARE NOT OLD ENOUGH TO ENTER INTO A BINDING LEGAL CONTRACT), DO NOT USE OUR WEBSITE.

1. Scope and Acceptance

Anyone who accesses or uses our Website is an “End User.” The Agreement sets forth your rights and obligations as an End User with respect to your access to and use of the Website and use of any and all information or data of any kind arising from access to, or use of, the Website, including, without limitation, any text, graphics, images, art work, sound recordings, audio, video, and software.

We reserve the right, in our sole discretion, to change this Agreement (including the Privacy Policy) from time to time, without prior notice. You are responsible for reviewing the Agreement regularly. Your access to any part of the Website is deemed to be your acceptance of this Agreement, and any changes thereto.

If you are accessing or using any part of the Website on behalf of any business, organization, or other entity of any kind, you represent and warrant that you are authorized (a) to accept these terms on its behalf, and (b) to bind such business, organization, or entity to the Agreement.

2. Privacy Policy

Please see our Privacy Policy for a detailed description of how we collect, use, and disclose information about our End Users.

3. Operation

The specific features and functionality of the Website are dynamic and may change from time to time. We reserve complete discretion with respect to the operation of the Website. We also reserve the right to withdraw, suspend, or discontinue any functionality or feature of the Website at any time.

4. Inaccuracies

We make great efforts to provide accurate information on the Website. However, we disclaim—and you release us from any liability regarding—errors, inaccuracies, and omissions of the Website. We reserve the right to correct any errors, inaccuracies, or omissions and to change or update information at any time without prior notice. SGI OUNA makes no guarantees whatsoever as to the completeness, timeliness, correctness, or accuracy of the materials or data available through the Website. If you believe any portion of the Website includes an error or inaccuracy, please notify us.

5. Permitted Use

Certain SGI OUNA materials provided through the Website are protected by intellectual property laws, including but not limited to U.S. copyright laws. You expressly acknowledge and agree that the content accessible through the Website is the property of SGI OUNA and its content providers, and SGI OUNA and its content providers retain all right, title, and interest in the content. You agree to use the Website only for lawful and authorized purposes. You are prohibited from any use of the Website that would constitute an illegal offense, give rise to liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national, or international law or regulation.

Subject to the terms of this Agreement, you are granted a limited, personal, non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, non-assignable, non-transferable, and revocable license to access and use the Website and related materials solely for your own non-commercial use. Except as expressly provided, all rights are reserved. Nothing contained in this Agreement or on the Website shall be construed as conferring by implication, estoppels or otherwise any license or right under any patent or trademark of SGI OUNA or any third party.

Except as expressly permitted by the Agreement, in connection with the use of the Website, you may not:

  • alter or modify the Website, or make any electronic reproduction, adaptation, distribution, performance, or display of the Website, or any portion thereof, except to the extent required for the limited purpose of reviewing material on the Website; or
  • sell, rent, lease, transfer, distribute, broadcast, display, provide, or otherwise assign to any third party any rights to the Website, or related materials; or
  • remove or modify any proprietary notice or labels on the Website, or related materials, including author attribution and copyright notices, or use any of our trademarks as meta-tags on any other website; or
  • copy, modify, erase, or damage any information contained on computer servers used or controlled by SGI OUNA or any third party; or
  • use the Website to violate any legal right of any third party, including any publicity or privacy right, copyright, or other intellectual property right, or to take any action that is harassing, libelous, defamatory, abusive, tortious, threatening, harmful, or otherwise objectionable; or
  • access or use any password-protected, secure, or non-public areas of the Website, or access data on the Website not intended for you, except as specifically authorized by SGI OUNA; or
  • use any automated means to access or use the Website, including scripts, bots, scrapers, data miners, or similar software, or display the Website, or portions thereof, in things (e.g., framing, scraping, etc.), without our express written permission; or
  • attempt to or actually disrupt, impair, or interfere with the Website, or any information, data, or materials posted and/or displayed by SGI OUNA; or
  • attempt to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of the Website or breach any implemented security or authentication measures, regardless of your motives or intent; or
  • attempt to interfere with or disrupt access to or use of the Website by any user, processor, host, or network, including, without limitation, by submitting a virus, worm, Trojan horse, or other malicious code; or
  • post any content to the Website that: (i) includes any profane, obscene, defamatory, discriminatory, threatening, menacing, harassing, or violent content; (ii) promotes hatred, including against members of a protected group under federal, state, or local law (such as, for example, a group defined by race, gender, or national origin); (iii) depicts or suggests presently occurring illegal activity; (iv) includes unlicensed proprietary content of a third party, including, e.g., third-party content protected by copyright or trademark for which you do not have a license; (v) breaches any duty of confidentiality you may have to a third party (e.g., discloses private information about a third party without consent); or (vi) is contrary to the Agreement.

6. Third Party Properties Referred to on the Website

Our Website may refer to physical venues, geographical sites, websites on the Internet, and/or products or services that are not under the control of or maintained by SGI OUNA (“Third Party Properties”). Unless expressly stated to the contrary, such references do not constitute an affiliation with or endorsement by SGI OUNA of any such Third Party Properties. You acknowledge that SGI OUNA is providing any references to such Third Party Properties to you solely as a convenience to you, and you agree that SGI OUNA is not responsible for any injury, harm, damages, or negative experience you may encounter by accessing, visiting, or using such Third Party Properties. SGI OUNA does not endorse or make any representations about any Third Party Properties. If you access, visit, or use any Third Party Properties referred to on our Website, you do so at your own risk.

7. Availability of the Website

It is not possible to operate our Website with 100% guaranteed uptime. SGI OUNA will make reasonable efforts to keep our Website operational. However, certain technical difficulties, routine site maintenance and upgrades, and other events may, from time to time, result in interruptions to or outages of our Website. You agree that SGI OUNA shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any direct or indirect consequence of any modification, suspension, discontinuance of, or interruption to our Website.

8. Disclaimers

THE WEBSITE IS PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND AN “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY PROVIDED, SGI OUNA DOES NOT MAKE, AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS, ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES, INCLUDING EXPRESS, IMPLIED, AND STATUTORY WARRANTIES, REGARDING (A) THE WEBSITE; AND (B) ANY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED THROUGH THE WEBSITE, INCLUDING (WITHOUT LIMITATION) IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING BY COURSE OF DEALING OR CUSTOM OF TRADE.

SGI OUNA MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTY THAT ANY MATERIAL OR CONTENT DISPLAYED ON OR OFFERED THROUGH THE WEBSITE IS ACCURATE, COMPLETE, APPROPRIATE, RELIABLE, OR TIMELY. SGI OUNA ALSO MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES THAT THE WEBSITE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, OR THAT YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE WEBSITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, FREE OF VIRUSES, MALICIOUS CODE, OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR OTHERWISE WILL BE SECURE.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF CERTAIN WARRANTIES. ACCORDINGLY, SOME OF THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

9. Limitation of Liability and Release

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS AGREEMENT, IN NO EVENT SHALL SGI OUNA OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES OR SUPPLIERS (INCLUDING ANY OF ITS OR THEIR PARTNERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, SUCCESSORS, OR ASSIGNEES) BE LIABLE TO YOU (INCLUDING ANY OF YOUR PARTNERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, SUCCESSORS, OR ASSIGNEES) FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, WHETHER ARISING IN CONTRACT, EQUITY, INTENDED CONDUCT, TORT, OR OTHERWISE (INCLUDING BREACH OF WARRANTY, NEGLIGENCE, AND STRICT LIABILITY IN TORT), NOR FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING FROM DELAY, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF OR DAMAGE TO DATA, INTERRUPTION IN USE OR AVAILABILITY OF DATA, LOSS OF USE OF MONEY OR USE OF PRODUCTS, LOST PROFITS, REVENUE OR SAVINGS (ACTUAL OR ANTICIPATED), OR OTHER ECONOMIC LOSS ENSUING FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE EXISTENCE, ACCESS TO, USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE OR RELATING TO ANY MATERIALS, INFORMATION, QUALIFICATION, OR RECOMMENDATIONS ON THE WEBSITE, EVEN IF SGI OUNA OR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES OR SUPPLIERS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THESE LIMITATIONS SHALL APPLY NOTWITHSTANDING THE FAILURE OF THE ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OF ANY LIMITED REMEDY.

YOU EXPRESSLY WAIVE AND RELEASE ANY AND ALL RIGHTS AND BENEFITS UNDER SECTION 1542 OF THE CIVIL CODE OF THE STATE OF CALIFORNIA (OR ANY ANALOGOUS LAW OF ANY OTHER STATE), WHICH READS AS FOLLOWS: “A GENERAL RELEASE DOES NOT EXTEND TO CLAIMS WHICH THE CREDITOR DOES NOT KNOW OR SUSPECT TO EXIST IN HIS FAVOR AT THE TIME OF EXECUTING THE RELEASE, WHICH, IF KNOWN BY HIM, MUST HAVE MATERIALLY AFFECTED HIS SETTLEMENT WITH THE DEBTOR.”

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE ENTIRE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF SGI OUNA AND ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES OR SUPPLIERS (INCLUDING ANY OF ITS OR THEIR PARTNERS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, SUCCESSORS, OR ASSIGNEES) FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES, AND CAUSES OF ACTION (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE] EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU, IF ANY, FOR ACCESS TO THE WEBSITE.

10. Indemnity

YOU AGREE TO INDEMNIFY, DEFEND, AND HOLD HARMLESS SGI OUNA, ITS PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AND AFFILIATES, AND ITS AND THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, PARTNERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, CONTRACTORS, SUCCESSORS, AND ASSIGNS FROM AND AGAINST ALL CLAIMS, DEMANDS, LAWSUITS, DAMAGES, LIABILITIES, LOSSES, COSTS, OR EXPENSES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, REASONABLE FEES AND DISBURSEMENTS OF COUNSEL AND COURT COSTS), JUDGMENTS, SETTLEMENTS, AND PENALTIES OF EVERY KIND ARISING FROM OR RELATING TO YOUR VIOLATION OF THIS AGREEMENT AND ANY ACTIVITY RELATED TO YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR THE INFORMATION CONTAINED ON THE WEBSITE.

11. Termination

You agree that SGI OUNA may, to the extent feasible, in its sole discretion, and without prior notice, terminate your access to or use of any portion of our Website at any time and for any reason, with or without cause.

12. Intellectual Property Infringement Complaints

SGI OUNA has adopted the following policy toward copyright infringement in accordance with the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. If you believe a work protected by a U.S. copyright you own has been posted on the Website without authorization, you may submit a notification (“DMCA Takedown Notice”) to our copyright agent, and provide the following information:

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

(b) identification of the copyrighted work or works claimed to have been infringed;

(c) a detailed description of the material you claim is infringing, together with information sufficient to enable us to locate it, including the URL or other description of where the infringing material appears;

(d) your name, mailing address, telephone number, and e-mail address;

(e) a statement by you that you believe in good faith that the copyrighted material identified is being used in a manner that is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and

(f) a statement by you that the above information is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright allegedly infringed.

To submit a DMCA Takedown Notice, please contact:

By E-Mail: dataprotection@sgi-ouna.org

By Mail: 777 United Nations Plaza, Suite 3-D New York, NY 10017

13. General

13.1 Modifications

At any time, and in SGI OUNA’S sole discretion, we may add, delete, or modify the Agreement. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to publish any revised portion of the Agreement, for example, by publishing the latest version of these terms and conditions at this URL. Should you deem any such addition, deletion, or modification to the Agreement unacceptable, you shall stop accessing and using the Website. All changes to the Agreement shall be effective immediately.

13.2 Access and Use Where Prohibited

Access to and use of our Website are unauthorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of the Agreement, including without limitation this provision.

13.3 Operation of the Website from the United States of America

By accessing and using the Website, you acknowledge and agree that SGI OUNA controls and operates all parts of the Website from its offices in the United States of America. If you access the Website from outside the United States, you should be aware that your information may be transferred to and maintained on computers and servers located outside of your state, province, country, or other governmental jurisdiction where the privacy laws may not be as protective of your rights as those in your jurisdiction. For individuals who are located in the EU/UK details of our privacy can be found here.

SGI OUNA reserves the right to limit, discontinue, cease, or suspend in its sole discretion, the provision and quantity of any feature, product, or service to any person or geographic area. Any offer for any feature, product, or service made on or through the Website is void where prohibited by law. Other countries may have laws and regulatory requirements that differ from those in the United State of America. If you access or use the Service from a location outside the United States, you are responsible for compliance with applicable laws including local laws. You may not use any portion of the Website in violation of applicable export laws and regulations.

13.4 Applicable Law and Venue; No Class Action

Any action related to the Agreement will be governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to the choice or conflicts of law provisions of any jurisdiction. You and SGI OUNA agree and consent that jurisdiction, proper venue, and the most convenient forums for all claims, actions, and proceedings of any kind relating to our Website or the Agreement will be exclusively in the federal or state courts of New York. You agree that you will not bring or be a party to any class-action lawsuit against SGI OUNA.

13.5 Unsolicited Materials and End User’s Grant of Limited Licensed

In operating our Website, SGI OUNA does not solicit nor does it wish to receive any confidential, secret or proprietary information or other material from you through the Website, our mail and e-mail addresses, or in any other way. Any information or material submitted or sent to SGI OUNA (including, but not limited to, comments, questions, feedback, data, suggestions, ideas and the like) will be deemed to be not confidential or secret. By submitting or sending information or other material to SGI OUNA, you represent and warrant that the information is original to you and that no other party has any rights to the material.

By communicating with SGI OUNA, including submitting or sending content to us, you grant SGI OUNA the royalty-free, unrestricted, world-wide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, and fully sublicensable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such content (in whole or part), including any information, suggestions, ideas, drawings or concepts contained in such content, worldwide and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed. Such license includes incorporating the content, in whole or in part, into SGI OUNA materials. You will remain responsible for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality, decency, or any other aspect of such submitted material, including any content or part thereof, or other communication to SGI OUNA. You also warrant that any "moral rights" in such content are waived.

13.6 Severability

If any part of the Agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of the Agreement shall continue in effect.

13.7 Miscellaneous

No failure or delay in enforcing any provision, exercising any option, or requiring performance, shall be construed to be a waiver of that or any other right in connection with the Agreement.

No action arising out of this Agreement or your access to or use of our Website, regardless of form or the basis of the claim, may be brought by you more than one (1) year after the cause of action has arisen (or if multiple causes, from the date the first such cause arose) and you hereby waive any longer statute of limitations that may be permitted by law.

If SGI OUNA does take any legal action against you as a result of your violation of the Agreement, SGI OUNA will be entitled to recover from you, and you agree to pay, all reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of such action, in addition to any other relief granted to SGI OUNA. You agree that SGI OUNA will not be liable to you or to any third party for termination of your access to, or use of, any of our Website as a result of any violation of the Agreement or for any reason at all.

You may not assign, by operation of law or otherwise, any rights or delegate any duties under the Agreement to any third party without prior written consent by SGI OUNA. Any purported assignment lacking such consent will be void at its inception. SGI OUNA may assign all or part of its rights and/or delegate all or part of its duties under the Agreement to any party, at any time, and in its sole discretion, upon notice of assignment by posting such notice on our Website.