1. User’s Acceptance of Terms

Andrew B. Clark, d/b/a ABClark (“ABClark.com,” “A.B. Clark,” “us,” “we,” or “our”) provides the ABClark.com site and related services (the Site) to you, the user, subject to your compliance with all the terms, conditions, and notices contained or referenced in this agreement (Terms of Use or Agreement) or on the Site.

BY USING THE SITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF USE, PLEASE EXIT THE SITE AFTER READING THESE TERMS OF USE. YOUR REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SITE, OR ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, CONTENT, OR OTHER INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE SITE, IS TO STOP USING THE SITE AND THOSE PARTICULAR PRODUCTS OR SERVICES. YOUR AGREEMENT WITH US REGARDING COMPLIANCE WITH THESE TERMS OF USE BECOMES EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UPON YOUR USE OF THE SITE FOLLOWING YOUR ACTUAL OR CONSTRUCTIVE NOTICE OF THESE TERMS OF USE.

Arbitration Notice. Except for individual claims that may be filed and maintained in small claims court as provided in section 22 below, this Agreement requires all disputes between you and ABClark (including its officers, directors, employees, agents, contractors, parents, affiliates, successors, and other companies under common control with us) to be resolved by binding arbitration on an individual basis, rather than by jury trials and class action proceedings. This Agreement also limits the remedies and damages available to you in the event of a dispute.

  1. Use of the Site

ABClark provides you with access to and use of the Site, subject to your compliance with the Terms of Use. The Site may only be used for lawful purposes. You are responsible for the consequences of your communications, uploads, transmissions, and posting of information on or through the Site, and for any use of the Site by anyone accessing it using your login information. By submitting information through the Site, you represent that you are 18 years of age or older. You represent and warrant that any information you transmit to the Site is truthful, accurate, not misleading, and offered in good faith, and that you have the right to transmit such information.

  1. Licenses for Use of the Site and Information

The Site, including all of its contents, such as text, images, and the HTML used to generate the pages, are the property of ABClark or its suppliers or licensors, and are protected by copyright, trademark, and patent laws of the United States, or by foreign countries or laws. Except as otherwise provided in this Agreement, you may not use, download, upload, copy, print, display, perform, reproduce, publish, modify, delete, add to, license, post, transmit, or distribute any such materials from this Site, in whole or in part, for any public or commercial purpose without our specific written permission. We grant you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable license to access the Site and to use the information and services contained on the Site, subject to your compliance with these Terms of Use. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use any content you provide on the Site for any purpose, subject to the express provisions of these Terms of Use.

  1. Changes to these Terms

We occasionally update these Terms of Use. Such changes to these Terms of Use will be effective immediately upon posting them. We include the effective date of our Terms of Use at the top of the statement. We encourage you to check our Site frequently to see the current Terms of Use in effect, and any changes that may have been made to them. If we make material changes to the Terms of Use, we will post the revised Terms of Use and the revised effective date on this Site. Your continued use of the Site after a change has been posted constitutes your acceptance of the change. If you disagree with any changes to these Terms of Use, your sole remedy is to discontinue your use of the Site.

  1. Changes to the Site

We reserve the right to terminate, change, suspend, or discontinue any aspect of the Site, including information, data, text, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages, or other materials, as well as features and hours of availability. These and any other changes to the Site may be made in our sole discretion, and without prior notice to you. ABClark will not be liable to you or any other party for making such changes. We may also impose rules for and limits on use of the Site, or restrict your access to all or any part of the Site, without notice or penalty.

  1. Copyright

The Site, and all content available on the Site, is protected by copyright. Unless otherwise specified on the Site, no portion of the Site may be copied, republished, transmitted, or distributed in any way without ABClark’s prior written permission. Any such use of the Site’s content for any purpose not authorized under these Terms of Use is a violation of the copyrights of ABClark (or other entities where indicated). Written permission for all uses of the Site other than as expressly authorized under these Terms of Use, including linking to any page of the Site other than the home page, must be obtained from ABClark in advance. Any such request should be submitted by email abc@abclark.com. The use of the Site, or of any content available on the Site, on any other website or networked computer environment is prohibited. All design rights, compilation rights, and other intellectual property rights in the Site, and the related goodwill, are proprietary to ABClark or its licensors, whether such rights are registered or unregistered.

  1. Trademarks

All trademarks, servicemarks, logos, and trade names on the Site-whether registered or unregistered-are proprietary to ABClark, or to other companies where indicated. You may not reproduce, download, or otherwise use any such trademarks, servicemarks, logos, or trade names without the prior written permission of ABClark, or other appropriate owner.

  1. Prohibited Activities

When using the Site, you must not:

  • send or otherwise transmit to or through the Site any unlawful, infringing, harmful, harassing, defamatory, threatening, vulgar, or otherwise objectionable material of any kind;
  • misrepresent your identity or affiliation in any way;
  • access data, servers, or accounts that you have not been authorized to access;
  • post material that is not your own, or that you do not have permission to use, such as copyrighted materials, trade secrets, or other material that infringes on another’s intellectual property, privacy, or publicity rights;
  • interfere in any way with the security of the Site or our networks, or attempt to use the Site to gain access to any other computer system;
  • attempt to, or actually probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of a system or network, or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization;
  • attempt to, or actually interfere with service to any user, host, or network, including by submitting a virus to the Site, overloading, “flooding,” “mailbombing,” or “crashing”; or sending unsolicited email, including promotions or advertising of products or services;
  • violate any applicable laws or regulations, or encourage conduct that may do so; or
  • assist or permit any person engaging in any of the activities described above.
  1. Site Security

You are prohibited from violating, or attempting to violate, the security of the Site. Any such violation may result in criminal and civil penalties against you. ABClark will investigate any alleged or suspected violations, and if a criminal violation is suspected, we will cooperate with law enforcement agencies in their investigations.

  1. Unsolicited Ideas

ABClark.com does not accept or consider unsolicited ideas, including ideas for new products or services. You should not transmit any material to this Site that you consider to be confidential or proprietary. Any material that you transmit to this Site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. You give ABClark an unrestricted, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free license to use, reproduce, display, publicly perform, transmit, and distribute any such information. You also agree that ABClark has the right to use any concepts, know-how, or ideas that you or someone acting on your behalf transmit to the Site, without any payment or accounting to you or others.

  1. International Use

We control and operate the Site from our offices in the United States of America, and all information is processed within the United States. We do not represent that materials on the Site are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who choose to access the Site from outside the United States do so voluntarily, and are responsible for compliance with their local laws. Any offer for any product, service, information, or promotion on the Site is void where prohibited.

  1. Links to Other Websites

The Site may contain links to other websites for your convenience. If you follow these links, you will leave the Site. Some of these third-party websites may use ABClark’s trademarks, servicemarks, or logos under license from ABClark. We are not responsible for the availability or content of these other websites, or for any experience you may have with such third-party websites, whether ABClark is affiliated with the owners of such websites or not. Our decision to provide links to these websites should not be interpreted as endorsement or approval by ABClark of the organizations sponsoring such third-party websites, or of their products or services.

  1. Copyright Claims

The Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) provides recourse to copyright owners who believe their rights under the United States Copyright Act have been infringed on the internet. If you are a copyright owner, or the agent of a copyright owner, and you believe that any content on the Site infringes your copyrights, you may submit a notification under the DMCA. ABClark’s designated copyright agent to receive notifications and counter-notifications of claimed infringement can be reached by mail addressed to Andrew B. Clark, 5400 SE 30th Street, Des Moines, IA 50320.

  1. Jurisdictional Issues

The Site is controlled and operated by ABClark from its offices within the state of Iowa, in the United States of America. Persons who choose to access the Site from outside the United States do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if applicable. Access to the Site from jurisdictions where the contents of the Site are illegal or penalized is prohibited. No information from the Site may be downloaded or otherwise re-exported (i) into a country or to a national or resident of a country to which the United States embargoes or sanctions goods, services, or technology; or (ii) to anyone on the United States Treasury Department’s list of Specially Designated Nationals, or the United States Commerce Department’s Table of Denial Orders. By using information from the Site, you represent and warrant that you are not on any such list; are not located in any such country; and are not a national or resident of any such country.

  1. Termination of Use of Site

ABClark may terminate your use of the Site at any time, in our sole discretion. In the event of such termination, you must immediately destroy any content obtained from the Site, including all copies of such content. The provisions of these Terms of Use that contemplate continuing obligations following termination-including the provisions regarding dispute resolution, Site security, prohibited activities, copyrights, trademarks, user submissions, disclaimers, limitation of liability, indemnity, and jurisdictional issues-will survive any such termination.

  1. No Guarantees

You acknowledge that ABClark does not represent or guarantee the accuracy, reliability, availability, timeliness, performance, completeness, or suitability of any of the materials or any other content available on the Site. You acknowledge that such content may contain inaccuracies or errors, and we expressly exclude liability for any such inaccuracies or errors.

  1. Disclaimer of Warranties

ALL OF THE CONTENT AVAILABLE ON THE SITE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, ABClark DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. ABClark DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SITE WILL BE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. ABClark DOES NOT MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE CONTENT ON THE SITE IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, OR OTHERWISE. Applicable law may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so some or all of these disclaimers may not apply to you.

  1. Limitation of Liability

TO THE EXTENT PERMITTED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL ABClark BE LIABLE FOR ANY CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR INDIRECT DAMAGES RESULTING FROM THE USE OF THE SITE; THE INABILITY TO USE THE SITE; LOSS OF PRIVACY; LOSS OF CREDIT; STOLEN IDENTITY; BREACH OF CONFIDENTIALITY OF PERSONAL OR OTHER INFORMATION YOU PROVIDE TO US; LOSS OF DATA; LOSS OF PROFITS; OR YOUR USE OF ANY WEBSITE REFERENCED OR LINKED-TO FROM THE SITE-EVEN IF ABClark OR AN ABClark AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVE HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. Applicable law may not allow this limitation of liability, so it may not apply to you.

IF, DESPITE THE LIMITATIONS ABOVE, ABClark IS FOUND LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE THAT ARISES OUT OF OR IS IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH ANY SUCH OCCURRENCES, THE LIABILITY OF ABClark WILL IN NO EVENT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100).

  1. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless (including from costs and attorney fees) ABClark, our officers, directors, employees, agents, contractors, affiliates, parents, successors, and any other companies under common control with us, from any claim or demand made by any third party due to or arising out of (i) your use of the Site or our products; (ii) any content you provide to the site; or (iii) your violation of this Agreement. ABClark reserves the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter for which you are required to indemnify us (at your expense), and you agree to cooperate with our defense of such claims. You agree not to settle any such matter without the prior written consent of ABClark. ABClark will use reasonable efforts to notify you of any such claim, action, or proceeding upon becoming aware of it.

  1. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This Site (excluding any linked sites) is controlled by ABClark from our offices in the state of Iowa, in the United States of America. It can be accessed from all 50 states, as well as from other countries around the world. As each of these places has laws that may differ from those of Iowa, by accessing or attempting to access the Site, you and ABClark agree that any claim, cause of action, or dispute between you and ABClark will be governed by and construed under the statutes and laws of the state of Iowa, without regard to conflict-of-laws rules and the United Nations Convention on the International Sales of Goods. This includes, without limitation, any claim, cause of action, or dispute relating to your use or attempted use of the Site; your interactions and communications with ABClark; ABClark’s collection, use, sale, disclosure, or deletion of your personal or other information; and your privacy, whether such claims are based in contract, tort, statute, equity, or other legal basis. You and ABClark agree and submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in Iowa with respect to any claim, cause of action, or dispute.

  1. Jury Trial and Class Action Waiver: Binding Arbitration

Any and all claims, causes of actions, and disputes between you and ABClark — including, without limitation, any claim, cause of action, or dispute relating in any way to your use or attempted use of the Site; any communication with ABClark; information you provide to ABClark; information that is collected, used, sold, disclosed, or deleted by ABClark; and products or services sold or distributed by ABClark-will be resolved by binding arbitration, rather than in court, except that you may assert an individual action in small claims court if your claims qualify, and so long as the matter remains in small claims court and advances only on an individual basis. Unless you proceed with a small claims action, the Federal Arbitration Act and federal arbitration law will apply to this Agreement. This Jury Trial and Class Action Waiver: Binding Arbitration section will include any claims, causes of action, and disputes between you and the officers, directors, employees, agents, contractors, suppliers, successors, and assignees of ABClark.

There is no judge or jury in arbitration, and court review of an arbitration award is limited. But an arbitrator can award on an individual basis the same damages and relief as a court (including injunctive and declaratory relief or statutory damages), and must follow the terms of these Terms of Use as a court would. The arbitration will be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules. Payment of all filing, administration, and arbitrator fees will be governed by the AAA’s rules. The arbitration will be conducted in Des Moines, Iowa. Prior to initiating any arbitration, the initiating party will give the other party at least 60-days advance written notice of its intent to file for arbitration. ABClark may provide such notice by e-mail to your e-mail address on file with us, and you must provide such notice by e-mail to abc@abclark.com.

You and ABClark agree that any dispute resolution proceedings will be conducted only on an individual basis, and not in a class, consolidated, or representative action. If for any reason a claim proceeds in court rather than in arbitration, you and ABClark waive any right to a jury trial.

The AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules are available online at ADR.org, or by calling the AAA at 1-800-778-7879. AAA and the parties must comply with the following rules: (a) for any claim where the total amount in controversy is less than $10,000 (ten thousand US dollars), the arbitration will be conducted by telephone, online, or be based solely on written submissions, and the specific manner will be chosen by the party initiating the arbitration; (b) the arbitration will be conducted by an arbitrator in Des Moines, Iowa who is approved or otherwise affiliated with the AAA; (c) the arbitrator may award monetary damages, injunctive, or declaratory relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief, and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party’s individual claim; (d) unless otherwise mutually agreed by the parties in writing, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person’s claims, and may not otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding; and (e) any judgment on the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court of competent jurisdiction. If subparagraph (d) above is found to be unenforceable, this mandatory arbitration provision will be null and void, but the jury trial and class action waiver provisions will remain in effect.

You and ABClark agree that only the courts and not the arbitrator can decide issues relating to the construction, application, scope, and enforcement of this “Jury Trial and Class Action Waiver: Binding Arbitration” section-including questions of arbitrability of any and all claims and issues, and all procedural issues. You and ABClark agree that these Terms of Use will supersede any conflicting provisions in the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules, or any other applicable rules.

YOU UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT, BY AGREEING TO THESE TERMS OF USE, YOU AND ABClark ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO A TRIAL BY JURY OR TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION WITH RESPECT TO THE CLAIMS COVERED BY THIS MANDATORY ARBITRATION PROVISION.  ANY AND ALL PROCEEDINGS TO RESOLVE CLAIMS WILL BE CONDUCTED ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT IN A CLASS, CONSOLIDATED, OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION.

Any demand for arbitration governed by these Terms of Use must be made before the statute of limitations applicable to such a claim has run.

If a dispute arises, we strongly encourage you to first contact our Customer Service Department before starting an arbitration or filing a claim in small claims court. We value our relationships with our customers and will try to resolve your claims informally and quickly. All claims you bring against us must be resolved in accordance with this “Jury Trial and Class Action Waiver: Binding Arbitration” section. All claims filed or brought contrary to this “Jury Trial and Class Action Waiver: Binding Arbitration” section will be considered improperly filed and void.

  1. Other

Except as otherwise provided in these Terms of Use, if any provision of these Terms of Use is held to be unlawful, void, or unenforceable, that provision will be deemed severable, and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. This is the entire agreement between the parties regarding the subject matter. Any failure or delay on our part in enforcing our rights under these Terms of Use will not be considered a waiver of our rights. These Terms of Use will be enforceable by our successors and assignees.

  1. Contact Us

If you have any questions or comments regarding these Terms of Use or the Site, please email us at abc@abclark.com, or write to Andrew B. Clark DBA ABClark, 5400 SE 30th Street, Des Moines, Iowa 50320.