Terms of Use
Last updated October 21, 2019
Thank you for visiting FOIA Advisor. The following Terms of Use ("Terms") covers your use and access to our website. By using our website, you agree to be legally bound by these Terms as well as our Privacy Policy. If you are using our website as the employee or agent of an organization, you are agreeing to these Terms on behalf of that organization.
We may revise these Terms from time to time. The most current version will always be posted on our website. If a revision meaningfully reduces your rights, we will notify you (by, for example, posting on our website or on this page). By continuing to use or access our website after the revisions come into effect, you agree to be legally bound by the revised Terms.
1. FOIA Advisor is Not a Law Firm and Does Not Provide Legal Advice
FOIA Advisor provides a platform for legal information and self-help. The information provided by FOIA Advisor, together with the content on our website related to legal matters, does not constitute legal advice. We do not review any information you provide us for legal accuracy or sufficiency, nor do we draw legal conclusions.
Your use of the website does not create an attorney-client relationship between you and FOIA Advisor, or between you and any FOIA Advisor staff. If you need legal advice for a specific problem, you should consult with a licensed attorney.
2. Disclaimer of Representations and Liability
FOIA Advisor strives to provide accurate and timely information to our users/visitors. However, we are not legally responsible if information made available on this website is not accurate, complete, or current. Any reliance on the information on this website is at your own risk.
FOIA ADVISOR MAKES NO WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ABOUT THE INFORMATION PROVIDED ON ITS WEBSITE. THE INFORMATION IS PROVIDED "AS IS." WE ALSO DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. INFORMATION RECEIVED VIA THE WEBSITE SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON WITHOUT CONSULTING AN APPROPRIATE PROFESSIONAL FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE TAILORED TO YOUR SITUATION.
Note: Some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you.
IN NO EVENT WILL FOIA ADVISOR BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY LOSS OF USE, DATA, BUSINESS, OR PROFITS, REGARDLESS OF LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH: (A) YOUR ACCESS TO, OR USE OF, THIS WEBSITE; (B) ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, ACTIVITIES, AND/OR MATERIALS AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THIS WEBSITE; (C) ANY BREACHES OF SECURITY INVOLVING THE SITE OR YOUR ACCOUNT, OR ANY LACK OF AVAILABILITY OR OPERATIONAL PROBLEM OF, THIS WEBSITE; OR (D) ANY VIRUSES OR OTHER CODE THAT MAY AFFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT OR OTHER PROPERTY AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE
Note: Some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties, so the above exclusion may not apply to you. In any event, FOIA Advisor’s liability to you for any and all loses, damages, injuries, and claims of any kind will not be greater than the amount you paid to access the website.
3. Indemnification
You agree to defend , indemnify and hold harmless FOIA Advisor, its affiliates, officers, employees, directors, agents, partners, and independent contractors from all claims and demands that may be made by any third party arising from your use of FOIA Advisor’s website or services, your violation of these Terms or any applicable law, or your violation of any rights of another.
4. Intellectual Property Rights
Except where otherwise indicated, all material provided by FOIA Advisor on this website (“FOIA Advisor Content”) is protected by United States and international copyright laws and other intellectual property laws. To the extent your use of material on the website does not constitute "fair use" for which you do not need our permission, the following rules apply to use of FOIA Advisor Content:
1. You may not use FOIA Advisor Content for any commercial purpose, including any purpose connected with the sale of goods or services;
2. You may not make editorial changes to FOIA Advisor Content that you attribute to us; and
3. You may not excerpt, juxtapose, or present FOIA Advisor Content in any way that is misleading as to our original editorial intent, or as to your relationship with us.
4. You are not granted any other license or right (including by implication, by estoppel or otherwise), with respect to FOIA Advisor Content or any content accessible through the website. Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms are reserved by FOIA Advisor.
FOIA Advisor is a proprietary trademark. All other product names, company names, and other marks are trademarks of their respective owners. Image of owl is used under license from VectorStock®.
5. Use of Website
You agree that you will not use this website in any way that is unlawful, disallowed by these Terms; or violates the rights of any else or restricts or inhibits anyone else’s use or enjoyment of this website.
You may not use this website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, interfere or impair this website, the networks connected to this website, or any other party’s use and enjoyment of this website.
You are prohibited from making any attempt to gain unauthorized access to any FOIA Advisor account, computer system, or network through hacking, password mining, or any other means not intentionally made available by FOIA Advisor.
This website is controlled and operated by FOIA Advisor from within the United States. FOIA Advisor makes no representation that materials on this website are appropriate or available for use in other locations, and access to them from territories where any of the contents of this website are illegal is prohibited. If you choose to access this website from outside the United States, you do so on your own volition and are responsible for compliance with any applicable local laws.
FOIA Advisor has the sole and absolute discretion to grant, deny, or limit access to this website or its services as it deems appropriate.
6. Age Restriction
This website is not intended for children under 13 years of age, and you may not use the website if you are under 13. You hereby represent and warrant that you are at least 13 years of age.
7. Submitting Content to the Website
You agree not to submit, upload or post any material whatsoever to this site which:
• Libels, defames, invades privacy, or is obscene, pornographic, abusive, harmful to minors, or threatening;
• Infringes any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity, including but not limited to, violating anyone’s copyrights, patents, trade secrets, trademarks, trade names or other proprietary right of a third party, or would otherwise give rise to civil liability;
• Falsifies or deletes author attributions, legal notices, or other proprietary designations;
• Violates any law, rule, or regulation;
• Constitutes or encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, under any applicable law, rule, or regulation;
• Violates an applicable U.S. or foreign law, treaty, regulation or convention related to privacy, publicity, data protection, electronic communications or anti-spamming;
• Contains viruses, corrupted files, or other materials that could damage another’s computer;
• Advertises or otherwise solicits funds or sales of goods or services, or which disseminates any junk mail, spam, chain letters, schemes or other form of such solicitation;
• Is deceptive, or misleading; or
• Impersonates any person or entity, or falsely states or otherwise misrepresents an affiliation with a person or entity.
If any portion of the content submitted by any visitor is found by FOIA Advisor to be in violation of these Terms, at any time, FOIA Advisor reserves the right to modify or remove such content or delete such submissions at any time without prior notice.
8. Termination or Limitation of Access
FOIA Advisor reserves the right to deny or limit access to any visitor at any time without any prior notice for violation of these Terms. If FOIA Advisor elects to deny or limit your access, it will notify you at your registered email address, if known to us. You agree that FOIA Advisor will not be liable to you or to any third party for terminating or limiting your access.
9. Submissions to FOIA Advisor
Any ideas, suggestions, information, know-how, material, or other content (collectively “content”) received through this website will be deemed to include a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, worldwide, nonexclusive right and license for FOIA Advisor to adopt, publish, reproduce, disseminate, transmit, distribute, copy, use, create derivative works, display, (in whole or part), or act on such content without additional approval or consideration, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed for the full term of any rights that may exist in such content. FOIA Advisor may refuse to post -- or may remove at any time -- any content received through this website for any reason.
10. Copyright and DMCA
We respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement according to the process set out in the U.S. Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”). If you believe that any material on our website infringes upon any copyright which you own or control, you may file a DMCA Notice of Alleged Infringement with FOIA Advisor’s Designated Copyright Agent:
Allan L. Blutstein, Copyright Agent
FOIA Advisor
Post Office Box 17218 Arlington, VA 22216 Email: admin@FOIAAdvisor.com
11. Links to Third Party Sites
FOIA Advisor’s website contains links to third party resources and businesses on the Internet (collectively “links” or “Linked Sites”). Those links are provided for your convenience to help you identify and locate other Internet resources that may be of interest to you. FOIA Advisor does not sponsor and is not legally associated with any third party “linked sites.” FOIA Advisor is not legally authorized to use any trade name, registered trademark, logo, official seal or copyrighted material that may appear in the link.
FOIA Advisor does not control, endorse, or monitor the contents of any Linked Site. That includes, without limitation, any further link contained in a Linked Site, and any changes or updates to a Linked Site. FOIA Advisor is not responsible for webcasting or for any other form of transmission received from any Linked Site. These Terms do not cover your interaction with Linked Sites. You should carefully review the terms and conditions and privacy policies of any third party sites.
12. Controlling Law
The validity, construction, and performance of these Terms shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the District of Columbia., except for its conflicts of laws principles.
13. Dispute Resolution
If a dispute arises out of or relates to these Terms, or the breach thereof, and the dispute cannot be settled through negotiation, the parties agree first to try in good faith to settle the dispute by mediation under the Commercial Mediation Rules of the American Arbitration Association, before resorting to arbitration.
Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms, or the breach thereof, that cannot be resolved by mediation within 60 days shall be finally resolved by binding arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association under its Commercial Arbitration Rules, and judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator shall be enforceable in any court having jurisdiction thereof. The arbitration will be conducted in the English language in the District of Columbia in accordance with the United States Arbitration Act. There shall be one arbitrator, named in accordance with such rules. The award of the arbitrator shall be accompanied by a statement of the reasons upon which the award is based. The cost of the arbitration proceeding and any proceeding in court to confirm or to vacate any arbitration award, as applicable (including, without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs), shall be borne by the unsuccessful party, as determined by the arbitrator, and shall be awarded as part of the arbitrator’s award.
Exception: Notwithstanding the parties’ agreement to resolve all disputes through arbitration, this agreement does not preclude claims by FOIA Advisor to enforce its intellectual property rights and/or remedy unfair competition, misappropriation of trade secrets, unauthorized access, fraud or computer fraud, and/or industrial espionage.
14. Privacy Policy
Please see FOIA Advisor’s Privacy Policy for a summary of FOIA Advisor’s practices regarding collection and use of your personal information. By using this website, you agree to FOIA Advisor’s collection and use of personal information as set forth therein.
15. Entire Agreement
These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and FOIA Advisor with respect to the subject matter of these Terms, and supersede and replace any other prior or contemporaneous agreements, or terms and conditions applicable to the subject matter of these Terms. These Terms create no third party beneficiary’s rights.
16. Waiver, Severability and Assignment
FOIA Advisor's failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver of its right to do so later. If a provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the Terms will remain in full effect and an enforceable term will be substituted reflecting our intent as closely as possible. You may not assign any of your rights under these Terms, and any such attempt will be void. FOIA Advisor may assign its rights without restriction.
17. Contact Information
You may contact FOIA Advisor by mail or email at:
FOIA Advisor
c/o Allan Blutstein Post Office Box 17218
Arlington, VA 22216
Email: admin.FOIAAdvisor.com