Welcome to soyexcellence.org (the “Site”). The U.S. Soybean Export Council (“USSEC” or “we” or “our”) has developed this Site to facilitate employee training and continuing education activities that build the knowledge and skills to help employees overcome key challenges and operational hurdles in food and agribusiness operations. These Terms of Use (“Terms”) apply to all users (“you” or “your” or “user”) of the Site.

You do not have to be a registered End User to use our Site and the information made available on our Site. However, in order take full advantage of our Platform and Services, through which users may communicate with each other and participate in training and other educational programs via our Platform and the Services, you must register as an End User. When you complete the registration process on the Site, you will be able to fully use the Platform and Services. As part of the registration process, you must accept our End User License Agreement (“EULA”), and our Privacy Policy. The terms Platform, Services, End User and other capitalized terms not defined here, are defined in the EULA, or the Privacy Policy.

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE SITE. YOUR USE OF THE SITE IS DEEMED AN ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH THESE TERMS, PLEASE DO NOT USE THE SITE.

We update our Platform and Services offerings our Site from time to time; therefore, we may also update these Terms of Use. The most current version of these Terms will be indicated by the “Last Updated” date at the top of this document. Please check these Terms periodically to keep apprised of any changes. By continuing to use this Site after these Terms have been updated, you are agreeing to the most current version.

OWNERSHIP AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS

We are the sole owner the name and logo Soy Excellence Center Community POD™, and of the content and materials published on our Site (collectively, “Site Content”) and all intellectual property rights associated with our Site Content. Our name, logo, and Site Content is protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws. You may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, or distribute in any way our name, logo, Site Content, or any underlying software or source code.

You may download extracts of Site Content for your personal reference, but not for any commercial use. You must keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices on the Site Content you download and use, and you must include our copyright notice on any copies you make of the Site Content. You may not use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from any accompanying text.

USER CONTRIBUTIONS

The Site may contain message boards, chat rooms, personal web pages or profiles, forums, bulletin boards, and other interactive features (collectively, “Interactive Services”) that allow End Users to post, submit, publish, display or transmit to other users or other persons (hereinafter, “post”) content or materials (collectively, “User Contributions”) on or through the Site.

All User Contributions must comply with the Content Standards set out in the Terms.

Any User Contribution you post to the Site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. By providing any User Contribution on the Site, you grant us and our affiliates and service providers, each of their and our respective licensees, and the successors and assigns of all of the foregoing the right to use, reproduce, modify, perform, display, distribute and otherwise disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose.

You represent and warrant that:

  • You own or control all rights in and to the User Contributions and have the right to grant the license granted above.
  • All of your User Contributions do and will comply with the Terms.

You understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for any User Contributions you submit or contribute, and you, not USSEC, have fully responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability, accuracy and appropriateness.

We are not responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any User Contributions posted by you or any other user of the Site.

MONITORING AND ENFORCEMENT; TERMINATION

We have the right to:

  • Remove or refuse to post any User Contributions for any or no reason in our sole discretion.
  • Take any action with respect to any User Contribution that we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion, including if we believe that such User Contribution violates the Terms of Use, including the Content Standards (as defined below), infringes any intellectual property right or other right of any person or entity, threatens the personal safety of users of the Site, our employees or the public or could create liability for USSEC.
  • Disclose your identity or other information about you to any third party who claims that material posted by you violates their rights, including their intellectual property rights or their right to privacy.
  • Take appropriate legal action, including without limitation, referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Site.
  • Terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Site for any or no reason, including without limitation, any violation of the Terms.

Without limiting the foregoing, we have the right to fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity or other information of anyone posting any materials on or through the Site. YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS USSEC ANY AND ITS AFFILIATES AND THE LICENSEES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS OF THE FOREGOING FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY ANY OF THE FOREGOING PARTIES DURING OR AS A RESULT OF ITS INVESTIGATIONS AND FROM ANY ACTIONS TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY EITHER SUCH PARTIES OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.

However, we do not undertake to review all material before it is posted on the Site, and cannot ensure prompt removal of objectionable material after it has been posted. Accordingly, we assume no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications or content provided by any user or third party. We have no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or nonperformance of the activities described in this section.

CONTENT STANDARDS

These content standards (the “Content Standards”) apply to any and all User Contributions and use of Interactive Services. User Contributions must in their entirety comply with all applicable federal, state, local and international laws and regulations. Without limiting the foregoing, User Contributions must not:

  • Contain any material which is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable.
  • Promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, violence, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.
  • Infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual property or other rights of any other person.
  • Violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others or contain any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable laws or regulations or that otherwise may be in conflict with the Terms and our Privacy Policy.
  • Be likely to deceive any person.
  • Promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act.
  • Cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety or be likely to upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
  • Impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or organization.
  • Involve commercial activities or sales, such as contests, sweepstakes and other sales promotions, barter or advertising.
  • Give the impression that they emanate from or are endorsed by us or any other person or entity, if this is not the case.

CHANGES; DISCONTINUANCE OF SITE

We endeavor to regularly update our Site and the Site Content, but we are under no obligation to do so. The look, structure, functionality, and Site Content may be changed from time to time. We may suspend your access to the Site or portions of the Site, and/or to the Platform and Services. We may discontinue the Site, Platform, and some or all Services at any time as we deem necessary in our sole and absolute discretion.

Prohibited Uses

You may use our Site only for lawful purposes. You may not use our Site:

  • in any way that breaches any applicable law or regulations;
  • in any way that is unlawful or fraudulent, or has unlawful or fraudulent purpose or effect;
  • for the purpose of harming or attempting to harm any other user or third party in any way;
  • to use or re-use any Site Content in violation of these Terms;
  • to cause us liability, damages, or reputational harm;
  • to introduce any viruses, trojans, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful;
  • in any way that interferes with, damages, or disrupts any part of our Site, any equipment or network on which our Site is stored, any software used in the provision of our Site, or any equipment or network or software of any third party.

WARRANTY DISCLAIMERS

THE SITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND. YOUR USE OF THE SITE, SITE CONTENT, PLATFORM AND SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD PARTY RIGHTS, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONALITY OF THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ANY PART OF THE SITE, THE PLATFORM, SERVICES, OR THE SERVERS ON WHICH THE SITE IS HOSTED ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. WE DO NOT MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES CONCERNING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, OR TIMELINESS OF THE SITE CONTENT. SOME JURISDICTIONS MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO SOME OF THE FOREGOING EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. CHECK YOUR LOCAL LAWS FOR RESTRICTIONS OR LIMITATIONS REGARDING THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL WE BE LIABLE TO YOU, ANY END USER, OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, COMPUTER VIRUSES, TECHNICAL, HARDWARE OR SOFTWARE FAILURES, OR LOST OR UNAVAILABLE NETWORK CONNECTIONS, ARISING FROM YOUR USE OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE, PLATFORM, SERVICES, OR SITE CONTENT WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL FOUNDATION, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SITE. TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE REMEDIES STATED FOR YOU IN THESE TERMS ARE EXCLUSIVE AND ARE LIMITED TO THOSE EXPRESSLY PROVIDED FOR HEREIN.

PRIVACY POLICY

As noted above, in accordance with our Privacy Policy, we collect and use certain information from visitors to our Site and from registered End Users. Please review the terms of our Privacy Policy before using our Site. By using our Site, you consent to such collection and processing of your information as described in our Privacy Policy.

LINKS TO THIRD PARTY SITE

Our Site may contain links to other Site and resources provided by third parties (“Third Party Resources”). We provide these links as a convenience to our Site users and End Users for convenience and informational purposes. When you click on any of these links, you will leave our Site and connect to the third party’s website (“Third Party Site”). We have not reviewed the content on any Third Party Site. We have no control over the content displayed on any Third Party Site, and we accept no responsibility for the content or accessibility of any Third Party Site, or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use of any Third Party Site or any content displayed on them or links from them. We do not endorse or make any warranties or representations about any Third Party Site or any information, software or other products or materials found there, or any results that may be obtained from using them. We do not guarantee that your use of services from any third party or their Third Party Site will provide you educational materials, or personal benefits. If you decide to access any of the Third Party Site, you do this entirely at your own risk.

GOVERNING LAW AND JURISDICTION

All matters relating to the Site and the Terms, and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of Missouri without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State of Missouri or any other jurisdiction).

Any legal suit, action or proceeding arising out of, or related to, the Terms or the Site shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States or the courts of the State of Missouri although we retain the right to bring any suit, action or proceeding against you for breach of the Terms in your country of residence or any other relevant country. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by all such courts and to venue in all such courts.

ARBITRATION

At our sole discretion, we may require you to submit any disputes arising from the Terms or use of the Site, including disputes arising from or concerning their interpretation, violation, invalidity, non-performance, or termination, to final and binding arbitration under the Rules of Arbitration of the American Arbitration Association applying Missouri law.

LIMITATION ON TIME TO FILE CLAIMS

ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OR THE SITE MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES; OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

WAIVER AND SEVERABILITY

No waiver by us of any term or condition set forth in the Terms shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or a waiver of any other term or condition, and any failure of USSEC to assert a right or provision under the Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

If any provision of the Terms is held by a court, arbitrator or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms will continue in full force and effect.

ENTIRE AGREEMENT

The Terms, our Privacy Policy, and the EULA, when applicable, constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and USSEC with respect to the Site and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to the Site.

YOUR COMMENTS AND CONCERNS

The Site is operated by USSEC, 16305 Swingley Ridge Rd. Suite 200, Chesterfield, MO, 63017.

All notices of copyright infringement claims should be sent to [email protected]

All other feedback, comments, requests for technical support and other communications relating to the Site should be directed to: [email protected].