Website Terms of Use

Acceptance of Terms

Welcome to the American Board of Medical Specialties’ (“ABMS”) website. This website is owned and operated by ABMS and is subject to these Terms of Use (as defined below). These Terms of Use govern your use of the website and by accessing or using any of the functionality (the “Services”) available on the website, you agree to accept and comply with the terms, conditions and notices stated herein or as may be modified by ABMS from time-to-time with or without specific notice to you (the “Terms of Use”). These Terms of Use constitute a binding contract between ABMS and you. You are responsible for regularly reviewing the Terms of Use. You can review the most current version of the Terms of Use at any time by visiting the website at www.abms.org. If you do not wish to be bound by these Terms of Use, please do not access or use any Content (as defined below), functionality or Services accessible on the website, or immediately discontinue such use. In any event, your continued use of the website after ABMS has revised the Terms of Use will indicate your acceptance of those revised Terms of Use.

Additional terms may govern your use of certain Services, or Content accessible at ABMS websites or webpages within the website. In the event that any provision, term or guideline contained on a particular website or webpage in the ABMS websites conflicts with this Terms of Use, the particular terms of such website or webpage shall control over these Terms of Use except with respect to the General Terms set forth below, which shall at all times control.

All information, including your personal information submitted through the website is subject to the terms and conditions of the ABMS Privacy Policy, as it may be amended from time to time and which is incorporated herein by reference.

Obligations Regarding Your Account

You are solely responsible for taking any and all precautions necessary to ensure that any Content that you provide to or receive from the website is free of viruses, worms, or other malware introduced to damage, interfere with, surreptitiously intercept, or expropriate any system data or information.

Content of the ABMS Website/License Grant

The website and all of its contents including, but not limited to, all information, text, messages, images, photos, illustrations, designs, icons, video clips, sounds, files, trademarks, copyrighted material, trade dress, software, specifications, catalogs, literature, technical information, advertisements and other content or materials located on or within the website (collectively, “Content”) is owned by ABMS and/or third parties with all rights reserved unless otherwise noted. ABMS grants you a limited license to access and use the Services and Content accessible on the website solely for your individual and non-commercial purposes (including printing individual pages from the website provided any printed copy of Content displayed on ABMS websites includes all copyright and other proprietary notices contained thereon). You are strictly prohibited from downloading (other than page caching) modifying or making any other use of the Services or Content accessible at the website, except with express written consent of ABMS. You understand that all third party Content posted on, transmitted through or linked from the website is the sole responsibility of the third party originator of such Content. All Content provided through the website is provided to you AS IS, and you agree that your use of and reliance on any Services or Content is at your own risk, and that under no circumstances shall ABMS be liable for any losses of any kind suffered by you that may be proximately caused by your use of the Services or Content accessible at the website.

You acknowledge that ABMS disclaims any duty or obligation to screen or approve third-party Content accessible on the website, and that ABMS shall have the right (but not the obligation) in its sole discretion to reject, modify, delete or relocate any Services or Content that are available, or may be available, via the website, for any reason.

Use of the ABMS Website

Unless specified otherwise, ABMS offers you access to the website solely for your individual and non-commercial uses. You agree to only access or use the website for legal purposes that are permitted by these Terms of Use. Among other things, you agree not to:

except with the express written permission of ABMS, modify, copy, distribute, transmit, display, perform, reproduce, publish, license, create derivative works based upon, frame in another webpage, use on any other website, transfer or sell any information, software, lists of users, databases or other lists, products or services provided through or obtained from the website, including without limitation, engaging in the practices of “screen scraping,” “indexing”, “database scraping,” or any other activity with the purpose of obtaining lists of users or other information; such as the use of internet robot or spider software to extract data or Content from the website;
damage, disable, overburden or impair the website or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the website;
obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not made readily accessible by ABMS through the website;
attempt to gain unauthorized access to any services, accounts, computer systems or networks available through the website via hacking, password mining or any other method;
obtain or attempt to obtain any Services, Content or other materials or information through any method not intentionally made available to you through the website;
modify, copy, distribute, make or attempt to discover the source code, algorithms or processes of the website.

Except with the express written or electronic authorization of ABMS, you agree that you will not access or attempt to access password protected, secure or non-public areas of the website.

By creating a link to the website, you agree that

(a) you will not employ any technology that results in the placement of Content from the website in a frame and/or a reduced pop-up window and/or any other display mechanism which changes the appearance of the website from how it would appear if a user typed the URL in a typical browser line,

(b) your site shall not display content or link to other websites that contain content that is illegal, obscene, indecent, disparaging, discriminating or otherwise offensive,

(d) you shall not in any manner access, collect, store, disclose, transfer or use any information obtained or derived from a user’s access to or use of the website.

ABMS reserves the right to revoke your permission to create such link at any time in its sole discretion and you agree to immediately cease using the link at any time that ABMS so requests.

You agree that ABMS may in its sole discretion and at any time terminate your access to and use of the website or any part thereof, with or without notice. You further agree that use of the website and any of its Services or Content shall be immediately terminated if you violate these Terms of Use. In addition, ABMS reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to modify or discontinue the Services or access to Content, or any portion thereof, with or without notice, and without liability to you.

The Services or Content provided through the website may also be located on third party websites or applications, via a link, click-through advertising, or otherwise. Nothing contained in any of these Services or Content is an offer or promise by ABMS to sell a specific product for a specific price or that any provider or advertiser will sell any product or service for any purpose or price or on any specific terms. In addition, ABMS does not make any representations or warranties with respect to such third party Services or Content, and is not responsible for their accuracy, sufficiency, veracity, completeness or timeliness. You are responsible for confirming the sufficiency and reliability of any third party Services and you hereby release ABMS from any and all claims, demands, liability and damages (actual or consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, suspected or unsuspected, disclosed or undisclosed, arising out of or in any way connected with your use of such Services or Content. Please note that you may be subject to additional and/or different terms, conditions and privacy policies when you use third party services, content (as defined below), software or sites.

General Terms

Applicable Law

This Terms of Use is governed by the laws of the State of Illinois, U.S.A. without regard to conflicts of laws principles. You hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of federal or state courts sitting in the city of Chicago, County of Cook, State of Illinois in all disputes arising out of or relating to accessing or using of the website. Access or use of the website is unauthorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these terms and conditions, including without limitation this paragraph.

You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment or agency relationship exists between you and ABMS as a result of the Terms of Use or accessing or using the website, Services or Content. ABMS’ performance under the Terms of Use is subject to existing laws and legal process, and nothing contained in the Terms of Use is in derogation of ABMS’ right to comply with governmental, court and law enforcement requests or requirements relating to your access or use of the website or information provided to or gathered by ABMS with respect to such use.

Severability/Entire Agreement

If any part of the Terms of Use is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations contained herein, 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 Terms of Use shall continue in effect. Unless otherwise specified herein (or in any other definitive written agreement between you and ABMS), the Terms of Use constitutes the entire agreement between you and ABMS with respect to your access to and use of the website, Services and Content available on the website and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between you and ABMS with respect to the website.

Disclaimer of Warranties

You expressly understand and agree that: your use of and reliance upon the website, any and all of ABMS websites, Services and/or Content is at your sole risk and is made available on an “as is” and “as available” basis. ABMS makes no express or implied representations, warranties, or guarantees with regard to the appropriateness, accuracy, sufficiency, correctness, veracity, value, completeness, or timeliness of the website, the ABMS websites, Services and/or Content and expressly disclaims all representations or warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including, but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose and non-infringement. You expressly agree that your use of the website is at your sole risk.

Indemnification of ABMS by User

You agree to indemnify and hold ABMS, its third-party vendors, member medical specialty boards, corporate parents, subsidiaries, affiliates and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents harmless from any and all claims and demands, including, but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ fees and litigation expenses, made by any third-party due to or arising out of any Content, submitted, posted, or otherwise provided by you to the website and/or ABMS and/or its third party advertisers, or any breach by you or your affiliates, employees, agents and representatives of these Terms of Use.

ABMS Limitation of Liability

In no event shall ABMS, its third-party vendors, member medical specialty boards, corporate parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, and their respective directors, officers, employees and agents be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential damages or any damages whatsoever including, without limitation, damages for loss of use, data or profits, arising out of or in any way connected with the use or performance of the website, with the delay or inability to access or use the website or related Services, the provision of or failure to provide Services, or for any Content, software, products and services made available or obtained through the website, or otherwise arising out of the use of the website, whether based on contract, tort, negligence, strict liability or otherwise, even if ABMS has been advised of the possibility of such damages. Any Services or Content made available or obtained through the use of the website, and all other use of the website is done at your own discretion and risk and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results therefrom.

If you are dissatisfied with any portion of the website or with any of these Terms of Use, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the website.

Links to Other Websites

This website may contain links to Internet sites not owned, operated or otherwise affiliated with ABMS. ABMS has no control over the content or links that appear on these sites. By using the website to link to third party sites, you acknowledge and agree that ABMS is not accountable for any damage or loss that may occur in connection with linking to, or the content found in, third party sites.

We do not monitor the policies of any third party sites and are not responsible for their privacy policies. We recommend that you carefully review the privacy policies of any third party sites before providing your personal information and to contact them with any questions.

Copyright Notice

All materials on the website (as well as the organization and layout of the website) are owned and copyrighted or licensed by ABMS, its corporate affiliates, subsidiaries or third parties. You may copy information from the website for your individual or educational use only, provided that each copy includes any copyright or trademark notice or attribution as they appear on the pages copied. The materials may not otherwise be copied, displayed, distributed, downloaded, licensed, modified, published, reposted, reproduced, reused, sold, transmitted, used to create a derivative work or otherwise used for public or commercial purposes, except as provided in these Terms of Use without the express written permission of ABMS. You may not use any Content contained in the materials in any manner that may give a false or misleading impression or statement. Nothing on the website shall be construed as conferring any license of any intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise.

ABMS Trademarks

The website includes the display of various trademarks, service marks and/or registered trademarks of the American Board of Medical Specialties, the Multi-Specialty Portfolio Approval Program, ABMS Research and Education Foundation and the ABMS Member Boards (collectively the “Marks”) and such Marks are either owned or used by ABMS with permission. Address any inquiries concerning usage of the Marks to: ABMS Legal Department, American Board of Medical Specialties, 353 North Clark Street, Suite 1400, Chicago, Illinois 60654.

Waiver

Any failure by ABMS to strictly enforce a provision of these Terms of Use shall in no event be considered a waiver of any part of such provision and no waiver by ABMS of any breach by of these Terms of Use shall operate as a waiver of any succeeding breach. If you have any questions or comments regarding these Terms of Use, contact the ABMS legal department at (312) 436-2600.