Vkind Terms of Use

Welcome to Vkind and thank you for your interest in a plant-based lifestyle, the vegan movement and furtherance of the growing VegEconomy®. By using this site and/or any part thereof including services and resources offered herein, you hereby acknowledge and agree to the following terms of use (“Terms”):

1. GENERAL DEFINITIONS

1. “Site” as referenced herein, which is wholly owned and operated by ASVegan, LLC, an Arizona Limited Liability Company (“ASV”), is deemed to refer to this website Vkind.com, and ASV’s constituent and affiliated sites accessed from this Site including but not limited to vWire.
2. The term, “you” shall refer to any user of this Site (“User” or “Users”). Each individual contributing to this site in its capacity as one of ASV’s employees, partners, volunteers, owners, affiliates or otherwise agent(s) of ASV, hereby affirms that he/she is bound by the same Terms, which are binding upon all Users.
3. As a Site “User,” you represent and warrant that:
   1. You are of legal age to form a binding contract;
   2. No legal reason exists that you should be denied access to this Site;
   3. You agree that, if at any time these Terms are no longer applicable to you, or you are unable to agree to Terms, you shall immediately cease using this Site; and
   4. You have read and agree to ASV’s privacy policy as defined herein.
4. While these Terms apply to all services and products offered to you on this site, you acknowledge that, from time to time, ASV may offer additional products or services, which shall be subject to their own terms and conditions of use. In such case, you agree to review and abide by such terms applicable to such service-specific use.
5. You understand that services offered and content produced by ASV on this Site is proprietary intellectual property (“IP”) and ASV reserves all rights thereto. Except as otherwise explicitly stated herein or posted elsewhere on this Site, and except for content contributed by you or users of this site labeled “open source” or “common” license or intended for public distribution, you warrant that you shall not reproduce, republish, mirror, scrape or distribute information, content or other IP on this Site without express prior written consent of ASV.
6. As used herein, references to “ASV” shall be construed to include ASV, its parent, subsidiaries, affiliates, content suppliers and customers, and its and their respective officers, directors, owners, employees, agents, representatives, vendors, service providers and licensors, and its and their respective successors and assigns (“ASV Parties”).
7. The “Purpose” of this Site is to:
   1. Educate consumers about the Vegan movement
   2. Support businesses who are growing the “VegEconomy®”
   3. Provide members with a forum to connect with likeminded vegans
   4. Provide educational content, news, resources, business referrals, networking tools and content supporting members, businesses and consumers interested in Vegan lifestyle, the Vegan movement and the VegEconomy®.
8. This Site is open to the public; anyone may access content on this Site for personal, non-commercial use. Users of this site include constituents of four categories, each bound by Terms set forth herein:
   1. General public
   2. Members
   3. Contributors
   4. Business Listers & Advertisers
9. Contributors and Advertisers are bound by additional Community Rules as follows:
   1. Contributors – See Editorial Guidelines for Contributors
   2. Business Listers & Advertisers – See Terms of Use for Businesses

1. RULES OF CONDUCT

1. Use of this Site is subject to all applicable local, state, national and international laws and you acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for compliance with laws that are applicable to your location. ASV shall not be held liable for your use of this site from any location from which your use is impermissible.
2. You warrant that you will refrain from, and you will not do or assist any third party to do, any of the following prohibited activities:
   1. Access this Site from any country or locale from which accessing site is deemed illegal or unauthorized;
   2. Access this Site through unauthorized interfaces or illegal means including unauthorized hacking, spyware, robot, or other nefarious means or use any robot, spider, retrieval application, or other manual or automatic device or process to access, search, download, retrieve, index or “data mine” any IP, content or data from the Site, or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the content available through the Site;
   3. Perform any action that causes deleterious impact, limits accessibility, introduces any disabling software such as trojan horses, worms, cancel bots, time bombs or any other destructive intrusion that impairs, defaces or disrupts proper working of, or imposes excessive load upon, Site or limits or interferes with Site security, interrupts or disables Site’s network connectivity or accessibility, or diminishes any user’s rights to use or enjoyment of Site;
   4. Decompile, disassemble, modify, reverse engineer, translate, sell, sublicense or repurpose or distribute or make available to any third party any portion of this site without the express written permission of ASV; or
   5. Improperly acquires or “poaches” or unlawfully compromises any data or confidential user information.
3. You understand that content and services offered on this site are intended for public awareness, promotion, marketing and public relations purposes and warrant that you will refrain from using Site for any activity that is not deemed legal or permissible in accordance with applicable laws as identified herein, and that you shall not use this Site to distribute content that violates any Terms, violates any laws, promotes, amplifies, supports or reproduces any of the following:
   1. Nefarious, unsolicited press releases, emails, correspondence, messages, advertising or other promotional materials that could be deemed “spam” or “junkmail” or any other inappropriate correspondence that constitutes, or may be deemed or perceived to constitute abuse, harassment, threats, bribery, slander, violence or other malintent of or toward any person or entity, or other nefarious purpose
   2. Content promoting, generating revenue for, recruiting or soliciting participation in any illegal or unethical activity including, but not limited to, pyramid schemes or phishing, solicitation of capital investments or any fundraising that violates Securities and Exchange Commission rules;
   3. Misrepresent by omission or false statement, conceal, misrepresent or disguise the identity, sources, location of origin, affiliations, rights, credentials, audience, financial worth, values or experience of you, your content or entity you represent;
   4. Provide support for, resources originating with, links to solicits engagement with, in or for any organization determined by any local, state, federal or international law to be, or be affiliated with, a foreign or domestic terrorist organization;
   5. Target, stalk, harass, bribe, coerce, disparage, defame, undermine or otherwise demean or threaten any individual or entity;
   6. Mislead or misinform audiences with any releases, contributions, promotional, advertising or marketing materials that are intentionally false or misleading; and
   7. Promote narratives that intentionally disparage, undermine, denigrate or contradict Site Purpose or are deemed offensive to Site Members and Subscribers.
4. You understand that ASV may terminate your Site access, Membership, permissions and content without notice for violations of Terms herein as further provided in Section IV below.

1. SITE USE, CONTENT SUBMISSIONS, DISTRIBUTION, PRIVACY & PERMISSIONS

1. Site Use: This Site permits you to access, read and enjoy content and information published on this Site (“Site Content”) without limitation.
2. Social Media and Content Sharing: You have permission to share or disseminate Hyperlinks to Site Content with your social media networks and online outlets.
3. Free Subscription/General Membership:  You may create a user account to become a member/subscriber (“User”) of this Site by completing and submitting a Membership Form which establishes a User Profile. You will be required to submit your name, contact information and selected tier of membership. General Membership Subscription to Site is free. As a User, you have permission to comment on posted content, and receive Member Benefits in accordance with the level of membership selected. As a User, you warrant that you shall abide by Terms set forth in Section II herein and represent that your interest in Site and intent of membership is aligned with and in support of Site Purpose as defined in Section I.7 above.
4. Paid Subscription/Business Membership: Paid tiers of Membership are intended for use by Businesses aligned with Site Purpose (“Business User”) and obtained by submitting a Membership Form which establishes a User Profile. . In addition to Member Benefits granted to general Users as defined in Paragraph 3 above, Business Users shall be entitled to Business Member Benefits in accordance with level of membership selected. As a Business User, you warrant that you shall abide by Terms set forth in Section II herein and represent that your interest in Site and intent of membership is aligned with and in support of Site Purpose as defined in Section I.7 above. Upon establishing a User profile and Business Account, Business Users are required to submit a valid credit card, which shall be billed monthly amount due in accordance with Membership Level selected during the term of Subscription unless terminated by either Party as follows:

1.   Monthly Billing: Commencing on the date your Business User Profile is created, Paid Subscriptions shall be billed on a monthly basis and automatically paid each month thereafter (“Billing Date”) using the credit card you provide upon establishing your Business User Profile.
2. Term/Termination of Autopayments: No annual contract is required and you may terminate your Business Subscription and/or downgrade to a free User account at any time by providing notice at least five (5) business days prior to Billing Date. No refunds will be issued for partial month usage if canceled after a Billing Date.

iii.  Upgrading Business Membership: You may upgrade your Paid Business Membership/Subscription at any time in your account profile. Upgraded Business Subscriptions shall commence immediately on the date upon which payment in full of new monthly subscription fee is received, which shall become your new Billing date.

1. Downgrading Business Membership: Business Members/Subscribers may downgrade to a lower tier Business Subscription or a free User account at any time by providing canceling or downgrading in your account profile. Downgraded subscriptions shall commence immediately upon notice and the Downgraded subscription fee shall be reflected on your next ordinary Billing Date. No refunds will be issued for partial month usage if downgraded after any Billing Date.

1. Editorial Content Submission & Distribution: You may submit content and information intended for public consumption for potential publication on this Site; submitted content is subject to editorial review prior to public distribution. To submit articles, op-eds, press releases, news or other information, please visit the Vkind Contact Us page. In order to be considered for publication on this Site, content submitted must comply with Editorial Guidelines and content submitted must further the Site Purpose. By submitting content for consideration, you warrant that you understand and agree to Terms of Rights set forth in Section IV below.
2. Submissions for Vwire Service: You may submit content for distribution via ASV’s wire distribution service, Vwire. Site’s General Members/Subscribers and Business Members/Advertisers may be entitled to free or discounted wire services and will be subject to compliance with Vwire Terms of Use. Such submissions must also comply with content Terms set forth herein and be in alignment with Site Purpose.
3. Privacy: You understand that establishing a user profile and/or submitting content will require disclosing certain information such as name, affiliation, contact information and other identifying criteria required in order to establish your account and identity, which information shall be subject to our Privacy Policy and will not be sold, disclosed or released by ASV to any third party without your permission.
4. Content Use, Licensing & Republishing: Except as provided in Section ___ above, content published on the Site is deemed “Open Source” unless specified otherwise by author or publisher and may be shared, republished and disseminated provided that you:
   1. Provide proper citation as required by original author;
   2. Do not alter or change intended narrative to the point original content is distorted or contrived to set forth misleading or false narrative; and
   3. Do not violate copyrights, trademarks or other IP rights of any contributor or third party.
5. Content and Information Provided by You and Other Users: References to information or content “submitted by you” or “submitted by another Site user” shall be construed to refer to any and all types of information and content submitted, posted, uploaded, displayed, performed, transmitted, disseminated, or otherwise made available, whether on, or through, or in connection with the Site, including: (i) in a user account registration; (ii) in a profile; (iii) in communications (such as queries, alerts, advisories, opportunities or responses to any of the same) transmitted to or through the Site; or (iv) in postings (such as a forum, chat room, newsgroup, community or message board, and blog postings.
6. Site Information and Content Provided by ASV: References to information or content “provided by Site” or “provided by ASV” shall be construed to mean any and all types of information and content submitted, posted, uploaded, displayed, performed, transmitted, disseminated or otherwise made available by ASV and its partners, employees, affiliates or other authorized contributors on the Site other than information and content submitted by you or another Site user, including information and content provided by our employees, moderators, contributors, suppliers, and customers, whether on, or through, or in connection with the Site, include: (i) Site content; (ii) articles contributed by our contributors; and (iii) news releases and other information and content issued by our customers.
7. Site content accessed by you, regardless of the manner in which you access it, is subject to these Terms and you agree to abide by such with regard to all information and content on Site whether submitted by you, submitted by other users of this Site or provided by ASV, its management, affiliates, partners, contributors or employees.
8. You warrant that you have the legal authority and/or permission to submit any information and content you provide to the Site. You understand that you are solely responsible for all content and information you submit to and/or through the Site, and further warrant that content or information submitted by you is not or does not:
   1. Infringe on any third party’s copyrights or other intellectual property claims, trademarks;
   2. Contain any obscene, offensive, vulgar, pornographic or illegal language, imagery, coercions or enticements nor link to any external website that provides such;
   3. Incite, abuse, threaten or call for violence or hatred, or any behavior or activity that can be deemed injurious to any individual or entity;
   4. Expose or subject audiences and other users to substantively inappropriate, harmful, deceitful, coercive or otherwise nefarious content and information;
   5. Defame or inappropriately discredit or contain libelous information about an individual, product, company, organization or other entity, public or private;
   6. Violate any non-disclosure or privacy privileges of or with any third party; and
   7. Violate any law, ordinance, rule, or regulation (including those governing export control, securities, unfair competition, insider trading, privacy, intellectual property, and false advertising).
9. You represent and warrant that information and content you submit is either original and exclusively owned or copyrighted by you or you have obtained authorization and all necessary permissions and are authorized to submit content owned and copyrighted by a third party.
10. You understand, acknowledge and agree that all content and information submitted by you and other users of this Site is subject to editorial review by ASV, and ASV may, in its sole discretion and without further notice, edit, move, refuse or remove any content that is not in compliance with Terms or meet certain quality standards or deemed inappropriate for or offensive to Site audiences.
11. You agree to hold ASV harmless of any liability for actions taken by you or other users of this Site including actions another user may take or fail to take with respect to information or content that you submit, post or communicate to the Site and, therefore, you are urged to exercise caution when submitting or using any information or content posted, communicated or otherwise submitted by another Site user to or through the Site.

1. LICENSE & PROPRIETARY RIGHTS

1. Except for restrictions pertaining to use of any personal information you submit which is subject to terms of this Site’s Privacy Policy, you hereby grant to ASV and its partners, affiliates and service providers a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free, irrevocable, assignable, sublicensable, non-exclusive right and license to all content and information you submit to the Site, whether published by ASV or not.
2. Except with respect to information and content submitted by you, and except for trademarks, service marks, trade names, trade dress and logos appearing on the Site, which are the property of their respective owners, all information and content on this Site, including information and content submitted by ASV, its content suppliers, customers, contributors and moderators, all proprietary elements and aspects of the Site and any proprietary material generated or derived from the same (including software, design, text, images, photographs, illustrations, audio and video material, artwork, graphic material, databases, information, the compilation of all information and content on the Site, the selection, sequence and imagery comprising the “look and feel” and arrangement of items) and all trademarks, service marks and trade names used in association with the Site (individually or collectively, “ASV Materials”), are the exclusive property of ASV. Any unauthorized or prohibited use of Site, ASV Materials or other proprietary IP may subject you to civil liability or criminal prosecution to the extent allowable under governing federal and jurisdictional laws, regulations and policies and/or international laws and treaties, applicable to your use of ASV Materials or any content or information you submit to Site.
3. Except as provided in Paragraph IV.2 above or otherwise restricted by Terms herein, ASV grants you permission to access, use, download and print out single copies of the content and information provided on this Site provided that such is solely for your personal, noncommercial use. Any commercial use of such shall be deemed a violation of Terms and may subject you to civil or criminal liability as applicable under governing law.
4. Your use of Site, ASV Materials as well as content and information submitted by other users is at your sole risk and without any warranty or representation from ASV or its partners, affiliates, employees, or service providers whatsoever. You are solely responsible for understanding these Terms or consulting with your legal representatives to gain understanding. You may contact ASV to obtain additional information.
5. You have a right to privacy of personal information. Please see our Privacy Policy for other important information and disclosures relating to the collection, use, and disclosure of your personal information in connection with your use of the Site. Your use of this Site binds you to Terms as provided herein and binds ASV to terms of privacy of any personal information you provide to the Site.
6. Your right to use this Site is contingent upon your compliance with Terms set forth herein and subject to review by ASV from time to time and ASV reserves the right, but has no obligation, to take any of the following actions at its sole discretion without any notice to you:
   1. Remove any information or content from Site in whole or in part, including any information submitted by you, which is deemed by ASV inappropriate or not in compliance with Terms;
   2. Deactivate, restrict, suspend or terminate your access to site and/or remove any content and information submitted by you;
   3. Use all legal means to enforce compliance with Terms including, but not limited to, blocking access from certain IP addresses;
   4. Refuse to publish and/or remove any content and information submitted by you or any other user of Site for any reason;
   5. Change, supplement, revise and/or rescind Terms and you understand that you are solely responsible for reviewing these Terms from time to time to ensure you are aware of any such changes.
   6. Edit any content and information submitted by you and any other Site users to ensure accuracy and compliance with Terms.
7. In addition to actions provided in Section IV.6 above, ASV may take additional or other legal action as permissible by law, in the event of any of the following:
   1. ASV observance, notice or suspicion of your material breach or violation of Terms set forth herein or any other policies adopted by ASV;
   2. Official request by law enforcement or governmental authority;
   3. Discontinuance of Site;
   4. Notice of infringement of rights of any other user or third party;
   5. In response to security breaches or other technical issues causing harm or disrupting Site by you or other users.
8. You have the right to select any public user name provided it is not misleading, infringing, obscene, threatening, offensive, invasive of another’s privacy or otherwise offensive, inappropriate or compliant with Terms, in which case ASV will request that you change your username or take other appropriate action as provided herein.
9. In the event your account or rights to use Site are terminated, content and information provided by you may be purged from Site without prior notice by ASV, and in such case will be irretrievably deleted without notice to you and ASV shall have no further obligation to you. Therefore, it is your sole responsibility to ensure you retain copies of any original content and information you submit to Site and you hereby agree to hold ASV harmless for any losses resulting from deletion of any materials you submit to Site.
10. In the event ASV terminates your user access for any reason, you may Contact ASV to appeal by submitting any supporting information disputing such termination, in which case ASV shall respond in writing with a final decision about the disposition of your account within thirty (30) days of receipt of such appeal. If, after notice of disposition, ASV terminates your account, your rights to establish a new user account shall be denied.
11. ASV reserves the right to investigate any suspected illegal activity or unauthorized use of Site or breach of Terms and, when necessary, take any legal action deemed appropriate by ASV to pursue remedies or recover damages.
12. The Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) provides recourse for copyright owners who believe that material appearing on the Internet infringes their rights under U.S. copyright law.  See http://loc.gov/copyright/ for the most current statutory requirements. If you believe, in good faith, that any materials posted on the Site infringe your copyright, you may contact us so that we may take appropriate action. In the event ASV finds that any User Materials or other content and information provided on Site violates copyrights or infringes upon IP rights of any third party, ASV will immediately take corrective action and/or remove such content and information from Site.
13. You understand that you and any other users who submit content and information that intentionally or inadvertently violates copyrights or infringes upon IP rights of any third party or materially misrepresent the nature of your rights to content and information you submit to Site shall be held liable for damages, including any legal fees and costs incurred.

• LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, DISCLAIMERS AND INDEMNIFICATION

1. ASV’s cumulative liability to you on account of any and all claims and actions of all kinds, including tort, contract, strict liability, breach of contract or breach of warranty arising in connection with your use of (or inability to use) the Site or any ASV materials, or arising from all other causes, shall never exceed the greater of the total amount paid to ASV by you, if any, for access to services offered by or on the Site in the current calendar year and one hundred dollars ($100.00). Notwithstanding the foregoing disclaimers and limitations of liability, nothing in these Terms excludes or limits ASV’s liability for any claim that, by law, cannot be excluded or limited.
2. The Site and all ASV Materials are made available on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without any representation, promise or warranty of any kind, express or implied.  To the fullest extent permissible pursuant to applicable law, ASV, its officers, directors, employees, parents, partners, subsidiaries, affiliates, suppliers, advertisers, and agents (the “ASV Parties”) disclaim all warranties, express, implied or statutory, including warranties (i) warranties of title and non-infringement, (ii) warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose or use, (iii) warranties relating to the adequacy, accuracy, timeliness, quality, safety or completeness of any information or content available through the site, (iv) warranties that the site will be available for use, uninterrupted, error free or secure, or that all features, functions or operations of the site will be available or perform as described or that any errors will be corrected, (v) warranties that the site (including files available for download from or through the Site) or the server(s) on which the Site is hosted are free of viruses or other harmful components.  No opinion, advice, or statement of ASV Parties, whether made in these Terms, on the Site or otherwise, shall create any warranty.
3. Your use of the Site and any and all information or content that you view, download or otherwise obtain from or through the Site is at your own risk.  Under no circumstances shall ASV Parties be liable to you for any loss, damage or expense incurred in connection with your use of or inability to use the site or your use of or reliance on any information or content that you view, download or otherwise obtain from or through the site. Under no circumstances shall ASV Parties be liable to you for any loss, damage or expense incurred in connection with any misrepresentation or other breach of Terms by another user, or any communication, activity, business dealing or transaction between you and any other third party
4. ASV Parties shall have no liability for, and you agree to waive any and all rights against ASV and ASV Parties and hold ASV Parties harmless in connection with, any claims relating to (i) any action taken or not taken by the ASV Parties as part of an investigation of a suspected violation of Terms, and (ii) any steps taken or not taken by the ASV Parties in response a conclusion that a violation of Terms has occurred or not occurred.
5. Regardless of the form of action, whether tort, breach of contract, breach of warranty, strict liability, or otherwise, in no event shall ASV Parties be liable to you for any indirect, consequential, exemplary, incidental or punitive damage or expense, including loss of business, lost profits or other economic damage of any kind arising from or related to your use of (or your inability to use) the Site or any ASV Materials, or arising from any other cause, even if ASV Parties have been advised of the possibility or foreseeability of such damage or expense.
6. You hereby agree to indemnify, defend (except as set forth below), and hold ASV Parties harmless from and against any and all liability, loss, damage, judgment, cost and expense (including attorneys’ fees and costs), incurred in connection with any claim, action, or proceeding brought by a third party based upon or arising out of your use of the Site, your use of any ASV Materials, the information or content you submit to or through the Site, or your violation or alleged violation of these TERMS or the rights of any other user, person or entity (an “Indemnified Claim”).
7. ASV Materials are protected by Copyright, all rights reserved. ©2023 ASVegan, LLC.

• MISCELLANEOUS

1. General.  This Site is created, controlled and operated by ASV in the United States, and is intended for use by residents of the United States, its territories and possessions who are at least 18 years of age or older.
2. Amendment.  Any amendment to these Terms offered by you must be in writing and signed by ASV.
3. Notice.  We may be required by state or federal law to notify you of certain events.  You hereby acknowledge and consent that such notices will be effective upon our posting them on the Site or delivering them to you through email.  You have the right to request that ASV provide such notices to you in hard copy, and may do so by contacting us at ASV, 925 W. Baseline Road Ste. 105TB Tempe, AZ 85283, Attn: General Counsel.  If you do not provide us with accurate information and update it, as necessary, ASV cannot be held liable for a resulting failure to notify you.
4. Cumulative Rights.  Except as otherwise provided herein, no rights or remedies of ASV in these Terms are exclusive, but are cumulative of all other rights and remedies.
5. Assignment.  The rights and obligations of ASV under these Terms may be assigned or delegated, in whole or in part, by ASV to an affiliate or a third party in connection with a merger, acquisition, reorganization, or sale of assets.  You may not assign or delegate these Terms, in whole or in part, and any attempt to do so will be null and void.
6. Choice of Law & Forum.  The formation, construction and interpretation of these Terms and all disputes arising out of or relating hereto shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, giving no effect to conflict of law principles.  The U.N. Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded from any interpretation of these Terms.  Any dispute relating to these Terms shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts in the State of Arizona, U.S.A.  The parties agree to submit to the personal and exclusive jurisdiction of these courts, and to waive any objections to jurisdiction, venue or forum.
7. Construction.  In these Terms, unless otherwise specified: (i) “herein,” hereof,” “hereunder,” “hereto,” and similar terms, refer to these Terms as a whole and not merely to the specific section, paragraph or clause in which the respective word appears; (ii) any defined terms may, unless the context otherwise requires, be used in the singular or the plural; (iii) “or” connotes any combination of all or any of the items listed; and (iv) where “including,” “include” or “includes” is used to refer to an example or begins a list of items, such example or list shall not be exclusive..:
8. No Third Party Beneficiaries.  Except for ASV’s affiliates, and the suppliers and vendors that support the Site, there are no third party beneficiaries of these Terms.
9. Headings.  Headings and captions contained in these Terms are included for convenience only, and are not intended to define or govern the interpretation of any section or provision hereof.
10. Waiver.   The failure of ASV to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision, and no waiver by ASV of a breach or default hereunder shall be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default.
11. Severability of Terms.  If any provision of these Terms is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or otherwise unenforceable, such provision shall be deemed deleted from the Terms and replaced with a provision that approximates, as nearly as possible, the intent of the offending provision while remaining valid, legal and enforceable.  All other provisions of these Terms shall remain in full force and effect.