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OVERVIEW

  • The following agreement (this "Agreement") describes the terms on which the owners and operators of SpeechEase.com ("Ease Tech LLC") offers you and your school/district/organization ("Organization"), access to SpeechEase.com, notifications, and other online products and services (collectively, the "Services"). By accessing or using the Services, you agree to be bound by this Agreement, and that you are authorized to bind your Organization to this Agreement or that an authorized party has already accepted this Agreement on behalf of your Organization. If accepting on behalf of your Organization, "you" refers to both you and the Organization. If you do not agree to this Agreement, you may not access or use the Services.
  • Ease Tech LLC may amend this Agreement from time to time. The revised Agreement will be posted at https://www.SpeechEase.com/site/terms-of-use. If the revisions, in the sole opinion of Ease Tech LLC, are material, Ease Tech LLC may also notify you via email. By continuing to access or use the Services, you agree to the revised Agreement. If you do not agree to the revised Agreement, you must stop accessing and using the Services, and notify Ease Tech LLC via e-mail to terminate your account.

DEFINITIONS

  • "SpeechEase" is the speech/debate/forensics/drama tournament management service offered by SpeechEase.com, including access to the websites and services available from the domain and subdomains of https://SpeechEase.com (the "Websites").
  • "User" is any person or persons accessing SpeechEase.
  • "Tournament Manager" is the person or persons that have created a tournament on SpeechEase.
  • "Invited Entities" are the schools, organizations, or individuals that are invited to attend a tournament by the Tournament Manager.
  • "Attending Entities" are the schools, organizations, or individuals that will attend a tournament that is being managed by the Tournament Manager.
  • "Other Users" are the schools, organizations, or individuals that access SpeechEase, but are not directly invited to a tournament. These entities may include, but are not limited to, students, parents, coaches, and the general public that access the Websites to view information.
  • "Ease Tech LLC Staff" are the persons that own, are employed, or contracted by Ease Tech LLC to provide tournament management services to Tournament Managers, Invited Entities, Attending Entities, and Other Users.
  • "During the Tournament" is the period of time from 1 hour prior to the start of the first round of the tournament to 3 hours after the start of the last round of the tournament. In the case of multi-day tournaments, "During the Tournament" refers to the period of time each day that is 1 hour prior to the start of the first round of the day to 3 hours after the start of the last round of the day. In all cases, 12 AM CT to 5 AM CT is excluded from the "During the Tournament" time period.

THE SERVICES AND CONTENT OF EASE TECH LLC

  • 1.1 You acknowledge that Ease Tech LLC is a service provider that may allow Tournament Managers, Invited Entities, and Attending Entities to interact online regarding topics and content chosen by users of the service, and that users can alter the service environment on a real-time basis. Ease Tech LLC does not regulate the content of communications between Users or Users' interactions with the Service.
  • 1.2 You acknowledge that Users are allowed to communicate with Invited Entities via email, text message, or the like, sent via SpeechEase Services. Opt-out of communications is available on the My Profile page of the Websites or by contacting support AT SpeechEase.com.
  • 1.3 Fees paid to Ease Tech LLC are for the services that Ease Tech LLC Staff provide. Tournament Fees are determined by the number of competitors attending a tournament. Additional fees may apply for video conferencing capabilities (charged on a per-user, per-hour basis), technical support, custom programming, or email or SMS text notifications beyond the complimentary notification limit. Tournament Fees provide the Tournament Manager with a non-exclusive, limited, revocable license to create one tournament on SpeechEase.com. No software or other tangible or intangible property is exchanged in return for fees paid to Ease Tech LLC.
  • 1.4 SpeechEase Services are subject to scheduled and unscheduled service interruptions.
    • 1.4.1 Ease Tech LLC utilizes server infrastructure in at least three geographic locations within the United States to host its Websites. Websites will be available at least 99% of the time During the Tournament. Ease Tech LLC is not responsible for downtime caused by third-party vendors, used for services such as email and SMS text delivery. In the event that Websites are unavailable for less than 99% of the total duration During the Tournament, Tournament Managers may request a refund of fees equaling 5% of total fees for each 15 minutes of downtime, to a maximum of 50%.
    • 1.4.2 Ease Tech LLC reserves the right to interrupt Services with or without prior notice for any reason at any time, excluding the time During the Tournament. You agree that Ease Tech LLC will not be liable for any interruption of the Services, delay or failure to perform during this time.
    • 1.4.3 Ease Tech LLC has the right at any time for any reason to change or eliminate any aspect(s) of the Services as it sees fit in its sole discretion.
    • 1.4.4 Ease Tech LLC will not assist with troubleshooting connectivity to its Websites if the Websites can be accessed by an independent third-party. On-call technical support resources from the venue hosting the tournament is recommended for tournaments with high attendance or tournaments using electronic ballots or video conferencing, and will not be provided, compensated, or reimbursed by Ease Tech LLC.
    • 1.4.5 Ease Tech LLC assumes no responsibility for any error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communications line failure, theft or destruction or unauthorized access to, or alteration of, User communications. Ease Tech LLC is not responsible for any technical malfunction or other problems of any telephone network or service, computer systems, servers or providers, computer or mobile phone equipment, software, failure of email on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or at any Websites or combination thereof, including injury or damage to User's or to any other person's computer, mobile phone, or other hardware or software, related to or resulting from using or downloading materials in connection with the Web and/or in connection with the Service, including any Mobile Client software. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL EASE TECH LLC BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE, INCLUDING ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE TO ANY CONTENT OR PERSONAL INJURY OR DEATH, RESULTING FROM ANYONE'S USE OF THE SERVICE, ANY CONTENT, SOFTWARE OR CONTENT POSTED ON OR THROUGH THE SERVICES OR TRANSMITTED TO USERS, OR ANY INTERACTIONS BETWEEN USERS OF THE SERVICES, WHETHER ONLINE OR OFFLINE, EXCLUDING THE EXTENT, IF ANY, THE LOSS OR DAMAGE IS ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE GROSS NEGLIGENCE OF EASE TECH LLC.
  • 1.5 Tournament Managers agree to the posted fees for any tournament using SpeechEase Services. Payment must be received by the invoice due date. If payment is not received within 30 days of invoice due date, Ease Tech LLC reserves the right to collect an interest charge on the invoice balance at a rate of 1.5% per month or the maximum permitted by law, whichever is less. In the event Ease Tech LLC initiates collection action for outstanding balances, Ease Tech LLC will be reimbursed for such collection fees.
  • 1.6 In the event of a tournament cancellation, Ease Tech LLC will charge a prorated fee, determined by the features of SpeechEase that were actually utilized prior to the cancellation.

ACCOUNT REGISTRATION AND REQUIREMENTS

  • 2.1 You must establish an account with SpeechEase.com (your "Account") to use the Services, except for those portions of the Websites to which Ease Tech LLC allows access without registration. You agree to provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself, your Organization, and your students. Ease Tech LLC reserves all rights to pursue legal action against all persons who misrepresent information or are otherwise untruthful about their identity or affiliation with Organizations, and to suspend or cancel Accounts registered with inaccurate or incomplete information. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you acknowledge that Ease Tech LLC cannot guarantee the accuracy of any information submitted by any user of the Services, nor any identity information about any user.
  • 2.2 You must be 13 years of age or older to access SpeechEase Websites or register for an account. Users who are minors in the jurisdiction in which they reside must have the permission of their parent or guardian to use SpeechEase Services. If you are a minor, your parent or guardian must read and agree to this Agreement prior to you using SpeechEase Services.
  • 2.3 You must be affiliated with a school or organization that manages or participates in tournaments that use or may use SpeechEase Services.
  • 2.4 You must provide accurate information about your school or organization, contestants, and any other information provided.
  • 2.5 Ease Tech LLC may suspend or terminate your account at any time, without refund or obligation to you.
  • 2.6 You are responsible for your own Internet access. Ease Tech LLC does not provide Internet access, and you are responsible for all fees associated with your Internet connection.
  • 2.7 You agree to comply with all applicable laws, respect the rights of others, to not abuse or harm yourself or others, and to not abuse, harm, interfere with, or disrupt the Services.
  • 2.8 Organizations may contact SpeechEase via email to anonymize their participants' results and/or to delete accounts for users with an email address under the control of the Organization.

LICENSE TERMS AND OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY TERMS

  • 3.1 You have a non-exclusive, limited, revocable license to use SpeechEase Services while you are in compliance with the Agreement.
    • 3.1.1 Subject to the terms of this Agreement, Ease Tech LLC grants to you a non-exclusive, limited, fully revocable license to use the Services during the time you are in full compliance with the Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement, or on SpeechEase.com, shall be construed as granting you any other rights or privileges of any kind with respect to the Services or to any Content. You acknowledge that your participation in the Services, including your creation or uploading of Content in the Services, does not make you an Ease Tech LLC Staff member and that you do not expect to be, and will not be, compensated by Ease Tech LLC for such activities.
  • 3.2 In exchange for Ease Tech LLC enabling your contribution of Content, when you contribute Content, you expressly grant to Ease Tech LLC a non-exclusive, perpetual, royalty-free, worldwide, and complete right to quote, re-post, use, reproduce, modify, create derivative works from, syndicate, license, print, sublicense, distribute, transmit, broadcast, and otherwise communicate, and publicly display and perform the Content, or any portion thereof, in any manner or form and in any medium or forum, whether now known or hereafter devised, without notice, payment or attribution of any kind to you or any third party. You grant Ease Tech LLC all licenses, consents and clearances to enable Ease Tech LLC to use such Content for such purposes. You may revoke this license by deleting your Content from the Services, after which, the Content will no longer be accessible via the Services.
    • 3.2.1 You further understand and agree that: (i) you are solely responsible for understanding all copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret and other intellectual property or other laws that may apply to your Content hereunder; (ii) you are solely responsible for, and Ease Tech LLC will have no liability in connection with, the legal consequences of any actions or failures to act on your part while using the Services, including without limitation, any legal consequences relating to intellectual property rights; and (iii) Ease Tech LLC's acknowledgement hereunder of your intellectual property rights in your Content does not constitute a legal opinion or legal advice, but is intended solely as an expression of Ease Tech LLC's intention to require users of the Services to comply by the terms of this Agreement.

RELEASES, DISCLAIMERS OF WARRANTY, LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, AND INDEMNITY

  • 4.1 All data on Ease Tech LLC servers are subject to deletion, alteration or transfer.
    • 4.1.1 When using the Services, you may accumulate Content or other value or status indicators that reside as data on Ease Tech LLC servers. THESE DATA, AND ANY OTHER DATA, ACCOUNT HISTORY AND ACCOUNT NAMES RESIDING ON EASE TECH LLC SERVERS, MAY BE DELETED, ALTERED, MOVED OR TRANSFERRED AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON IN EASE TECH LLC'S SOLE DISCRETION.
    • 4.1.2 YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT, NOTWITHSTANDING ANY COPYRIGHT OR OTHER RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE WITH RESPECT TO ITEMS YOU CREATE USING THE SERVICE, AND NOTWITHSTANDING ANY VALUE ATTRIBUTED TO SUCH CONTENT OR OTHER DATA BY YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTY, EASE TECH LLC DOES NOT PROVIDE OR GUARANTEE, AND EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS (SUBJECT TO ANY UNDERLYING INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS IN THE CONTENT), ANY VALUE, CASH OR OTHERWISE, ATTRIBUTED TO ANY DATA RESIDING ON EASE TECH LLC SERVERS.
    • 4.1.3 YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT EASE TECH LLC HAS THE RIGHT, BUT NOT THE OBLIGATION, TO REMOVE ANY CONTENT (INCLUDING YOUR CONTENT) IN WHOLE OR IN PART AT ANY TIME FOR ANY REASON OR NO REASON, WITH OR WITHOUT NOTICE AND WITH NO LIABILITY OF ANY KIND.
  • 4.2 Ease Tech LLC provides the Services on an "as is" basis, without express or implied warranties.
    • 4.2.1 YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. ACCESS TO, AND USE OF, THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK, AND YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR DEVICE OR COMPUTER SYSTEM, OR LOSS OF DATA RESULTING THEREFROM.
  • 4.3 Ease Tech LLC's liability to you is expressly limited, to the extent allowable under applicable law.
    • 4.3.1 IN NO EVENT WILL EASE TECH LLC OR ITS SHAREHOLDERS, PARTNERS, AFFILIATES, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, SUBSIDIARIES, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, LICENSEES, DISTRIBUTORS OR CONTENT PROVIDERS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PERSON FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING FOR ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST DATA ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE, EVEN IF EASE TECH LLC IS AWARE OR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, EASE TECH LLC'S LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO EASE TECH LLC FOR THE SERVICE WITHIN THE LAST TWELVE (12) MONTHS. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IF NO FEES ARE PAID BY YOU TO EASE TECH LLC FOR THE SERVICE, YOU SHALL BE LIMITED TO INJUNCTIVE RELIEF ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE PERMITTED BY LAW, AND SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO DAMAGES OF ANY KIND FROM EASE TECH LLC, REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE OF ACTION.
    • 4.3.2 CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.
  • 4.4 You will defend, indemnify and hold harmless Ease Tech LLC, its shareholders, partners, affiliates, directors, officers, subsidiaries, employees, agents, suppliers, licensees, distributors, and customers from any liability, damage or cost (including reasonable attorneys' fees and cost) from (i) any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of your use of the Services, violation of the Agreement by you, from loss of Content due to your actions, or the infringement by you, or any third party using your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity. Ease Tech LLC reserves the right to control the defense on any matter for which you are required to indemnify us, and you agree to cooperate with our defense of these claims.
  • 4.5 Ease Tech LLC is not responsible for message, data charges, or the like to receive text messages or other like messages from the Services.
  • 4.6 The Agreement is governed by and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois. Any disputes will be resolved exclusively in the federal or state courts of McLean County, Illinois and you and Ease Tech LLC consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.

COPYRIGHT POLICIES

  • 5.1 Ease Tech LLC responds to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with applicable international intellectual property law (including, in the United States, the Digital Millennium Copyright Act) and to terminating the accounts of repeat infringers. Requests and notices should be sent to [email protected].
  • 5.2 Requests and notices should include the following:
    • 5.2.1 The name, address, and electronic signature of the complaining party
    • 5.2.2 The infringing materials and their Internet location, or the reference or link to the infringing materials.
    • 5.2.3 Sufficient information to identify the copyrighted works.
    • 5.2.4 A statement by the owner that it has a good faith belief that there is no legal basis for the use of the materials complained of.
    • 5.2.5 A statement of the accuracy of the notice and that the complaining party is authorized to act on the behalf of the owner.

PERSONAL INFORMATION PROTECTION

  • 6.1 Ease Tech LLC maintains a Privacy Policy, located at https://www.SpeechEase.com/site/privacy, which is incorporated into this Agreement by reference.
  • 6.2 Ease Tech LLC utilizes reasonable information security practices to safeguard your personal information. In the unlikely situation of a security breach, Ease Tech LLC will notify the affected parties via the e-mail address provided by the user at registration. Email notification costs will be paid for by Ease Tech LLC. All remaining costs, including, but not limited to, notification to parents, legal fees, audit costs, fines, any other fees or damages imposed against an Organization or User, or notifications not required to be performed by law by Ease Tech LLC, will be the responsibility of the affected Organization or User.
  • 6.3 If your Organization is a K-12 school in the United States, in accordance with the federal Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act of 1974, Ease Tech LLC is acting as a school official with a legitimate educational interest, is performing an institutional service or function for which the school would otherwise use employees, under the direct control of the school, with respect to the use and maintenance of personally-identifiable information, and is using the information only for an authorized purpose and may not re-disclose it to third parties or affiliates, unless otherwise permitted under this Act, permitted under this Agreement, or otherwise permitted by the Organization.
  • 6.4 If your Organization is required by law or regulation to publish written agreements with vendors that are used by your Organization, you and your Organization agree to publish this Agreement and accompanying Privacy Policy on Organization's website. If your Organization does not maintain a website, the Organization shall make this written Agreement and accompanying Privacy Policy available for inspection by the public at its office.

Last Updated: December 16, 2023