Website Terms of Use

Website Terms of Use

Date of Last Revision: September 26, 2019 These Website Terms of Use of The Supreme Council (Mother Council of the World) of the Inspectors General Knights Commander of the House of the Temple of Solomon of the 33rd Degree of the Ancient and Accepted Scottish Rite of Free Masonry of the Southern Jurisdiction of the United States of America (“SC”) apply to your access to and use of the SC’s website, www.scottishrite.org and any software, programs, services, tools, features, databases, materials, content or information available through it or used in connection with it (collectively, the “Site”).

Warning

Please read the terms of use carefully before using this site. By using the site, you agree to be bound by these terms of use and you agree to the processing and use of your personal data in accordance with our privacy policy. If you do not agree to terms of use or the sc privacy policy, you are not granted permission to access or use the Site and are instructed to exit the Site immediately.

No access by children under 13 permitted

The Website is not directed toward children under 13 years of agE Nor does the SC knowingly collect information from children under 13. If you are under 13,please do not submit any personally identifiable information to SC. By downloading, accessing, or using the Site in order to view information and materials or submit User Content (as defined below) of any kind, you represent that you: (i) are at least 18, or between the ages of 13 and 17 and using the Site with parental or legal guardian consent and supervision; (ii) are registered to the extent required, and have not been previously restricted, suspended or terminated by SC; and (iii) are not using another authorized user’s account without his/her permission.

Changes to terms of use

Please save and/or print a copy of these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy for your future reference. We can change or update these Terms of Use from time to time. Any changes or updates will take effect upon posting. You have to check the Site periodically for changes to these Terms of Use. The date at the top of this webpage indicates when these Terms of Use were last changed. Your continued use of the Site following the posting of changes will constitute your acceptance of the changes.

Intellectual property

Unless otherwise indicated, SC or its licensors own the Site and all of its content including, but not limited to, trademarks, service marks, designs, texts, graphics, maps, images, pictures, data, software, sound files, and the selection and arrangement of all such items (together, the “Content”), and the Site and Content are protected by U.S. and international copyright, trademark and intellectual property laws. In particular, the Double Headed Eagle logo, VMAP Eagle logo, the RiteCare Scottish Rite Childhood Language Program logo, and other names, logos and slogans are trademarks of SC, its affiliated charities, its corporate partners, licensors or other owners, and may not be copied or used in whole or part without the prior written consent of SC or the applicable trademark owner. The Site’s appearance, including page headers, custom graphics, icons, and color schemes are the service mark, trademark or trade dress of SC, its affiliated charities, its corporate partners, licensors or other owners, and may not be copied or used in whole or part without the owner’s prior written consent. The SC grants you a revocable, nontransferable, nonexclusive license to access and use the Site and to display, copy, print, and download the Content solely for your personal, non-commercial use, in accordance with the Terms of Use. We can revoke the permission granted to you at any time for any reason.

Digital millennium copyright act

The SC will terminate the account of any user deemed to be infringing the intellectual property of another party in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DCMA) and as allowed by applicable law. If you believe in good faith that your copyrighted work has been reproduced on our Site without authorization in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please contact SC’s copyright agent, Jorge Franchi at [email protected] or Jorge Franchi, Chief Financial Officer, Supreme Council, 1733 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009 and provide him with the following information:
  • An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property that you believe is infringed.
  • A description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that you claim has been infringed.
  • A description of where the material you claim has been infringed is located on this Site.
  • Your address, telephone number and email address.
  • 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.
  • A statement by you under the penalty of perjury that the information provided in your notice is accurate and complete, and that you are the copyright or intellectual property owner or are its authorized agent with the right to act on its behalf.
SC may give notice of a claim of copyright infringement to our users by means of a general notice on the Site, electronic mail to a user’s email address in our records, or by written communication sent by first-class mail to a user’s address in our records.

Third party sites for convenience only and no linking without authorization

This Site may link to third party websites. These links are provided for your convenience only and do not indicate that we endorse or review such third party websites. We do not disclose personally identifiable information to those operating linked sites. You use such third party websites at your own risk. You may not frame, link or deep-link the Site to any other website without obtaining SC’s prior written permission. Any such link may not suggest or imply SC’s endorsement or approval of any product, service, or person, or portray SC in a false, misleading, derogatory or defamatory manner. No linking site can contain any illegal material, infringe any third party’s rights such as intellectual property or privacy rights, or contain any adult content. SC reserves the right to object to any such links and to require you to remove them.

User prohibitions

If you access or use this Site, you agree not to:
  • Use or access the Site for any fraudulent or unlawful purpose or to impersonate any person or entity.
  • Interfere with or disrupt the operation of the Site or access to it.
  • Transmit or otherwise make available in connection with the Site or access to it any virus, worm, Trojan horse, time bomb, spyware, malware, ransomware or other harmful computer code, file or program (collectively or individually, “Viruses”).
  • Restrict or inhibit the ability of any other person to access or use the Site unless you have proper legal authority to do so, such as a legal guardian of a minor.
  • Make any commercial use of, resell or redistribute the Site or the Content; publicly perform or display any of the Content; or make any derivative use of the Content or the Site.
  • Test the vulnerability of the Site or any network connected to the Site, or breach the security or authentication measures on the Site or any network connected to the Site.
  • Reverse look-up, trace, or seek to trace any information on any other authorized user of or visitor to the Site.
  • Take any action that imposes too large of a load on the infrastructure of the Site or on the systems or networks of SC or networks connected to the Site.
  • Modify, adapt or translate any portion of the Site.
  • Remove, obscure, or modify any copyright, trademark, service mark or other proprietary rights notice from the Site.

No warranties or representations

The site depends on the proper functioning of the internet and other third-party equipment and services. Sc does not guarantee the functioning of the internet or such third-party equipment and services and will not be liable for any non-function of those items. Your use of the site, the content or any goods or services provided on or through the site (the “services”) is at your own risk and is provided “as is” without warranties or representations of any kind, express or implied, including the warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability and non-infringement of third party rights. To the fullest extent allowed by law, sc expressly disclaims any and all such warranties, representations, conditions and other terms, whether express, implied, statutory or otherwise, including the warranties of fitness for a particular purpose, merchantability and non-infringement of third party rights. Sc does not represent or warrant that the site, its content, or any services or goods provided on or through the site are accurate, complete, reliable, current or error-free or that this site or its servers are free of viruses or other harmful components. You should use industry-recognized software to detect and disinfect viruses from any download or from access to the site. Sc is not responsible for any typographical errors or omissions. Any reference to any products, services, programs, or other information, by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, supplier or otherwise, does not imply sc’s endorsement, sponsorship, affiliation with or recommendation of such person, entity or matter.

Limitations of liability

In no event shall sc, any other party (whether or not involved in creating, producing, maintaining or delivering the site), and/or the officers, directors, employees, shareholders or agents of any of them, be liabile for any direct, incidential , special, punitive or consequential damages of any kind, including, without limitation, loss of use, loss of income, loss of actual or anticipated profits, loss of business, loss of contracts, loss of goodwill or reputation, loss of anticipated savings, loss of, damage to or corruption of data, whether in an action in contract, tort (including but not limited to negligence) or otherwise, arising out of or in any way connected with the use of the site, the services, the content or the materials contained in or accessed through the site, including without limitation any damages caused by or resulting from reliance by the user on any information obtained from sc, or that result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files or email, errors, defects, viruses, delays in operation or transmission or any failure of performance, whether or not resulting from acts of god, communications failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access to sc’s records, programs or services. In no event shall the aggregate liability of sc, whether in contract, warranty, tort (including negligence, whether active, passive or imputed), product liability, strict liability or other theory, arising out of or relating to the use of the site exceed $50.00.

User content in interactive areas

You understand, acknowledge, and agree that the operation of certain programs, services, tools, materials, or information in the site requires the submission, use and dissemination of personal identifying information, and you agree that your use of the site will constitute acceptance of the personal identifying information collection and use practices contained in the privacy policy. The Site may contain comment areas, questionnaires, tools, and other interactive features where you can share and display content, information, postings, materials, including without limitation, statements, photographs, video and other images, discussion forums, user generated content or other interactive areas or services (“Interactive Areas”), including message boards, online hosting or storage services, or other areas or services in which you or other users create, post or store any content, messages, materials, data, information, text, music, sound, photos, video, graphics, code or other items or materials on the Site (“User Content”). You are solely responsible for your use of such Interactive Areas and use them at your own risk. Please be aware that you have no reasonable expectation of privacy while using the Interactive Areas. The SC cannot guarantee the confidentiality of any communication or material transmitted to/from the Interactive Areas over the Internet or other global communication network and SC is not responsible for the security of any information transmitted via the Internet, the accuracy of the information, or for the consequences of any reliance on such information. By using any Interactive Areas, you agree not to post, upload to, transmit, distribute, store, create or otherwise publish through the Site any of the following:
  • User Content that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, suggestive, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, fraudulent or otherwise objectionable.
  • User Content that would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law.
  • User Content that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party, and by posting any User Content, you represent and warrant that you have the lawful right to distribute and reproduce such User Content.
  • User Content that impersonates any person or entity or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity or User Content that are or that contain promotions, advertising or solicitations.
  • User Content that, in SC’s sole judgment, may endanger or otherwise affect SC’s or its affiliated charities’ tax-exempt status, including but not limited to content on behalf of (or in opposition to) any candidate for public office, and content that contains propaganda or that otherwise attempts to influence legislation.
  • Private information of any third party, including, without limitation, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers and credit card numbers.
  • Viruses, corrupted data or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files.

No liability for interactive areas

SC takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any User Content posted, stored or uploaded by you or any third party, or for any loss or damage thereto, nor is SC liable for any mistakes, defamation, slander, libel, omissions, falsehoods, obscenity, pornography or profanity you may encounter. Your use of Interactive Areas is at your own risk. As a provider of interactive services, SC is not liable for any statements, representations or User Content provided by its users in any public forum, personal home page or other Interactive Area. Although SC has no obligation to screen, edit or monitor any of the Content posted in any Interactive Area, SC reserves the right, and has absolute discretion, to remove, screen or edit any User Content posted or stored on the Site at any time and for any reason without notice, and you are solely responsible for creating backup copies of and replacing any User Content you post or store on the Site at your sole cost and expense. Any use of the Interactive Areas or other portions of the Site in violation of the foregoing violates these Terms of Use and may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your rights to use the Interactive Areas and/or the Site.

User representations of authority and license to sc

By submitting User Content to the Site, you warrant that you have all necessary rights to grant, and automatically grant to SC and its affiliates, corporate partners, and licensors, a royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive and fully sub-licensable right and license to use, license, produce derivative works from, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, publicly display, publicly perform, translate, and distribute such User Content (in whole or in part) and/or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media or technology now known or developed in the future, all without compensation to you or any other party submitting the User Content for you. You also permit any other users of the Site to access, view, store, or reproduce your User Content for that user’s personal, non-commercial use. SC will not be required to treat any User Content as confidential. Notwithstanding the right and license, by merely permitting your User Content to appear on the Site, SC is not a publisher of such User Content, and is merely functioning as an intermediary to enable you to provide and display User Content. In consideration of your use of the Site, if you create any account on the Site, you agree:
  • To provide accurate, current and complete information about you as may be prompted by any registration forms on the Site and update it promptly (“Registration Credentials”).
  • That you are not allowed to share or give your Registration Credentials to anyone else and that you are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your password and identification.
  • To accept all risks of unauthorized access to the Registration Credentials and any other information you provide to SC.
  • Not to use another person’s Registration.
  • To notify SC immediately if your user name or password has been compromised or misappropriated.
You acknowledge and agree that you shall have no ownership or other property interest in your account and/or user name, and you further acknowledge and agree that all rights in and to your user name and account are and shall forever be owned by and inure to the benefit of SC. Failure to comply with the foregoing shall constitute a breach of the Terms of Use, which may result in immediate suspension or termination of your Registration Credentials. SC will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with these obligations. SC reserves the right to delete or change Registration Credentials (with notice) at any time and for any reason.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold SC, and its affiliates, independent contractors, service providers, suppliers, licensors and consultants, and their respective its officers, directors, employees, and agents (the “Indemnified Parties”), harmless from and against any claims, damages, costs, actions, demands, liabilities, and settlements and expenses (including without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to your violation of these Terms of Use, any User Content you post, store or otherwise transmit on or through the Site, or your use of or inability to use the Site, including without limitation any actual or threatened suit, demand or claim made against the Indemnified Parties, arising out of or relating to the Content, your conduct, or your violation of the rights of any third party. Notwithstanding any of these Terms of Use, SC reserves the right, without notice and in its sole discretion, to discontinue the Site or any services offered through the Site and to terminate your license to use and block your access to the Site at any time without notice. In addition, SC reserves the right to delete, edit or modify any and all User Content contained in the Site and any services offered through the Site at any time without notice.

Miscellaneous legal matters

These Terms of Use and your use of the Site are governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia, applicable to agreements made and to be entirely performed in the District of Columbia, without resort to its conflict of law provisions. You agree that any action at law or in equity arising or in any way relating to these Terms of Use shall be filed only in the state and federal courts located in the District of Columbia and you hereby irrevocably and unconditionally consent and submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of such courts over any suit, action or proceeding arising out of these Terms of Use. These Terms of Use shall not be governed by the 1980 U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. The Terms of Service along with the Privacy Policy constitutes the entire understanding and agreement between SC and you with respect to the Site and any transactions contemplated in these Terms of Use and supersedes all prior or contemporaneous oral or written communications with respect to the subject matter of the Terms of Use, all of which are merged in the Terms of Use. You may not modify, amend or alter in any way the Terms of Use. In the event any provision of these Terms of Use is found invalid or unenforceable pursuant to judicial decree, the remainder of the Terms of Use will remain valid and enforceable according to its terms. Any failure by SC to strictly enforce any provision of the Terms of Use will not operate as a waiver of that provision or any subsequent breach of that provision. The disclaimers and limitations of liability will survive any termination or expiration of the Terms of Use. It is expressly understood and agreed that in the event any remedy here under is determined to have failed of its essential purpose, all limitations of liability and exclusions of damages will remain in effect. Any questions related to this Site or these Terms of Use should be sent to Jorge Franchi, Chief Financial Officer, at jfranchi@scottishrite.org or Jorge Franchi, Chief Financial Officer, Supreme Council, 1733 16th Street, NW, Washington, DC 20009.