USAGM DIRECT TERMS OF SERVICE

I. GENERAL

Your use of the U.S. Agency for Global Media (USAGM) Direct website Service (the “Service”) is subject to your acceptance of the following Terms of Service “Terms” or (“TOS”).

Your acceptance of the TOS shall be indicated by checking a box on the registration page and your continued use of the Service. If you do not accept all the Terms in the following TOS, do not continue with the registration process as you will not be permitted to register.

By accepting these Terms, you and any company (“Company”) you represent (“Applicant”):

(i) hereby intends to become an “Affiliate” of the USAGM, which oversees the following networks (“Networks”): Voice of America® (“VOA®”), Office of Cuba Broadcasting (“OCB”), Radio Free Asia (“RFA”), Middle East Broadcasting Networks (“MBN”) and Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (“RFE/RL”); and

(ii) hereby agrees to the following:

WHEREAS, the United States Agency for Global Media (“USAGM”), with its headquarters located at 330 Independence Avenue, S.W., Washington, D.C. 20237, is an independent agency of the United States Government.

WHEREAS, the USAGM has created and maintains the USAGM Direct website as part of its mission to inform, engage, and connect people around the world in support of freedom and democracy; and

WHEREAS, Applicant has requested access to USAGM programming (“Content”) accessible through the USAGM Direct website.

NOW, THEREFORE, USAGM hereby grants a non-exclusive, revocable license for Applicant to use the USAGM Direct website to access Content under the following terms and conditions:

Applicant confirms that the person(s) acting on behalf of Applicant is/are over the age of 18 and consents to the collection of the information requested in the Registration Form. Applicant confirms that it is located outside the United States.

Applicant understands and agrees that Applicant may not intentionally broadcast, distribute, or transmit the Content into the United States, its possessions, or its territories unless Applicant is given prior express permission in writing from USAGM to do so.

Applicant may not use the Content in conjunction with content regarding products or services or a prurient or sexual nature, political advertisements, or advertisements for weapons, alcohol or tobacco. Applicant also agrees that Applicant shall prevent the actual or the appearance of the endorsement of any advertised products or services by the U.S. Government, the USAGM, the Networks, or USAGM Direct.

Applicant shall credit “VOA” or “Voice of America;” “OCB” or “Office of Cuba Broadcasting” “RFE/RL” or “Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty;” “RFA” or “Radio Free Asia;” “MBN” or “Middle East Broadcasting Networks Inc.;” as appropriate for any Content used. When using RFE/RL material, Applicant must comply with RFE/RL’s brand standards, which are set forth at Branding Page.

Upon request, Applicant shall provide USAGM with periodic updates on the demographics of its user base, if available.

Applicant agrees that it will not contest the ownership or validity of any trademarks affiliated with any materials either obtained or accessed through USAGM Direct, nor will Applicant contest the ownership or validity of any copyright protected materials obtained or accessed through USAGM Direct.

Applicant agrees that it will immediately remove from its website(s) and cease any and all use of any Content upon notification from the USAGM that identifies the Content that may no longer be accessed or used. Applicant consents to periodic monitoring by USAGM, at USAGM’s discretion, of Applicant’s use of the Content.

Applicant agrees that it will not upload any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, malicious software (“malware”), or other forms of unauthorized software to the USAGM Direct website or any other U.S. Government website. Additionally, Applicant agrees that it will not participate in or initiate any directed denial of service attacks on the USAGM Direct website or any other U.S. Government website.

The USAGM reserves the right to immediately discontinue the use of the USAGM Direct website or modify the terms of this TOS at any time, without warning and at USAGM’s sole discretion. Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to create any form of obligation on the USAGM to update or maintain the USAGM Direct website in any fashion.

Any rights or authorities not explicitly granted herein to Applicant are reserved and retained by the USAGM.

By clicking “Accept,” Applicant expressly consents to and executes this affiliation agreement and, subject to USAGM’s approval, agrees to become an Affiliate of the Networks. If Applicant should at any point ever lose its Affiliate status for any reason, Applicant’s account with USAGM Direct will be terminated.

II. PRIVACY POLICY

Terms of Use and Privacy Notice

Privacy Statement

USAGM Direct does not collect any personal information about you when you visit our website unless you choose to provide that information to us.

Information Collected and Stored Automatically

If you do not log in during your visit but browse through the website, read pages, or download information, we will gather and store certain information about your visit automatically. This information does not identify you personally. The information we automatically collect and store about your visit includes but is not limited to:

The Internet domain (for example, "xcompany.com" if you use a private Internet access account, or "yourschool.edu" if you connect from a university's domain) and IP address (an IP address is a number that is automatically assigned to your computer whenever you are surfing the Web) from which you access our website;
The type of browser and operating system used to access our site;
The date and time you access our site;
The pages you visit; and
If you linked to this website from another website, the address of that other website.

By creating an account and logging in you agree to let the USAGM automatically track the browsing and downloading behavior of the USAGM Direct website.

If You Send Us Personal Information

If you choose to provide us with personal information by sending an e-mail to us, or by filling out a form with your personal information and submitting it through our website, we use that information to respond to your message and to help us get the information you have requested. If you provide us with personal information when creating an account, we will only use that information to maintain a relationship with you and your company. We do not collect personal information for any other purposes. Moreover, we do not give this information to any private organizations. Nor do we collect or share information for commercial marketing.

We will share your e-mail with another U.S. federal government agency only if your inquiry relates to that agency or if we are required to do so by law. In addition, we will release documents, including e-mails, if required to do so by a congressional or judicial subpoena.

Information Collected for Tracking and Customization (Cookies)

A cookie is a small file that a website transfers to your computer to allow it to remember specific information about your session while you are connected. Your computer will only share the information in the cookie with the website that provided it, and no other website can request it. There are two types of cookies, session and persistent. Session cookies last only as long as your web browser is open. Once you close your browser, the session cookie disappears. Persistent cookies store information on your computer for longer periods of time.

The USAGM Affiliates’ site uses both session cookies and persistent cookies. The USAGM Direct site uses session cookies for technical purposes, such as to enable better navigation through the site, or to allow you to customize your preferences for interacting with the site. The USAGM Direct website also uses persistent cookies to remember you between visits so, for example, you can save your customized preference settings for future visits.

At no time is your private information, whether stored in persistent cookies or elsewhere, shared with third parties who have no right to that information. If you do not wish to have session or persistent cookies stored on your device, you can turn them off in your browser. However, this may affect the functioning of some USAGM Direct site features.

Disclaimer

We may link to external sites that help us perform our mission, illustrate news reports, or connect to our Affiliates and partners. Links to external servers do not imply any official USAGM endorsement of the opinions or ideas expressed therein, nor do such links guarantee the validity of the information provided. Links to commercial sites are in no way an endorsement of any vendor's products or services. Links will be provided to external servers that are managed in a professional manner (i.e., those that are fully operational, available most of the time, do not serve inaccurate information or obscene graphics, etc.). This server will not link to external servers if such a link would appear to provide an official endorsement of fundraising efforts or lobbying for a political agenda.

The Networks do not broadcast in the United States. Their programs are intended for overseas audiences, as is the USAGM Direct website. Domestic American broadcasters utilizing similar tradenames and call letters are not affiliated with this international broadcasting agency.

III. Copyright Statement

All original text, audio and video material produced exclusively by VOA and OCB is in the public domain. However, the Content, including VOA and OCB content, may contain video, audio, images, graphics, and other copyrighted material that is licensed for use by USAGM only. This material is not in the public domain and may not be copied, redistributed, sold, or published without the express permission of the copyright owner.

All original content produced by RFE/RL, RFA, and MBN is protected by copyrights held by USAGM and the individual Network.

Third Party Content: USAGM licenses material from third parties, including Associated Press, Reuters and AFP, to supplement USAGM Content. This third-party content may not be independently copied, published, or redistributed without the written permission of the appropriate third party.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act Notice

The USAGM respects the intellectual property of others, and we ask users of the USAGM Direct site to do the same. In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) and other applicable laws, USAGM has adopted a policy that provides, in appropriate circumstances, for the termination of account holders who infringe the rights of copyright holders. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide USAGM’s Copyright Agent with the following information:

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works on USAGM Direct site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works on the site.
Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit USAGM to locate the material.
Information reasonably sufficient to permit USAGM to contact you, the complaining party.
A statement that you, the complaining party, have a good-faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you, the complaining party, are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

This information should be sent to USAGM’s Copyright Agent, who can be reached by email at copyrightagent@usagm.gov or by regular mail at:

USAGM Copyright Agent
330 Independence Ave, SW
Suite 3349
Washington, D.C. 20237
United States of America

IV. AFFILIATION AND LICENSING AGREEMENT

As an Affiliate of the USAGM, Applicant agrees to the following USAGM Affiliate and Licensing Agreement which is hereby incorporated into these Terms of Service.