Website Terms

Summary of Terms of Service

Please read these Terms of Service carefully before you start to use the website or the related applications. These Terms of Service will, among other things: 

1. Outline your legal rights regarding this website and applications.
2. Explain the rights you give to us when you use this website and applications, and
3. Establish how disputes or lawsuits regarding this website and applications will be handled, and includes waivers and limitations regarding your ability to bring claims against us relating to this website and applications.

In these Terms of Service you are agreeing to the following, among other things:

1. You will not use the Association’s website for any unlawful purpose.
2. You will use the website in a manner that respects other users and is not threatening, abusive,        harassing or vulgar
3. Anything downloaded from the Association’s website is downloaded at your own risk.

By using the website and applications you agree to be bound and abide by these Terms of Service and consent to having your personal information collected and processed in accordance with our Privacy Policy, which can be found at: https://micpa.org/association/policies/privacy-policy.If you do not agree to these Terms of Service or the Privacy Policy, you must not access or use the website.

Detailed Terms of Service

The Michigan Association of CPAs website and all applications (collectively, the “website”) is offered on certain terms by The Michigan Association of CPAs (the “Association”, “we”, “us” or “our”) to you as a user of the website or the contained applications (”user”, “you” or “your”). Your use of the website’s features and content, which you are about to access through the Association's website, is subject to your unconditional acceptance of these Terms of Service agreement (this “Agreement”). Your use, now and each time in the future, constitutes your continued agreement to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. For purposes of this Agreement, you understand that the term "applications" shall mean any and all of the services in any manner related to or provided through The Michigan Association of CPAs website, including without limitation, the Association Email and Chatbot (as described herein), as well as any e-mail, chat rooms, listservs, bulletin boards, CPE Tracker,  instant messaging, calendars, website hosting, file storage, any and all communication facilities, and any method of exchanging information therein. As a condition of using the applications, you agree to the terms and conditions set forth below.

USE OF WEBSITE  AND THE APPLICATIONS

You agree, represent and warrant that you shall use the website for lawful purposes only. You agree, represent and warrant to the Association that, in connection with the use of the website and any and/or all applications, you will not engage in any unlawful conduct or communication or otherwise engage in any conduct or communication prohibited by the terms of this Agreement. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, you agree, represent and warrant to the Association as follows:

1. You shall not use the website in any manner which would violate or infringe upon the rights of others or which would be unlawful, conspiring, threatening, abusive, harassing, fraudulent, libelous, defamatory, invasive of public or private rights, vulgar, obscene, indecent, or otherwise objectionable or which encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to a civil liability or violate any other law, including without limitation, state and federal antitrust laws. With respect to antitrust laws, messages should not be posted if they encourage or facilitate other users to arrive at any agreement which either expressly or impliedly leads to price fixing, a boycott of another's business, or other conduct which is intended to illegally restrict free trade. By way of illustration and not limitation, messages which encourage or facilitate an agreement about the following subjects are inappropriate: prices, discounts or terms or conditions of sale; salaries; profits, profit margins or cost data; market shares, sales territories or markets; allocation of customers or territories; or selection, rejection or termination of customers or suppliers.
2. You shall not use the website in any manner which would violate or infringe upon any common law or statutory rights of any third party, including without limitation, any intellectual property rights (including without limitation any copyright or trade secret rights) or any contractual rights, violate the right of privacy or publicity, or constitute the invasion or infringement of any other personal property right, of any third person, firm, corporation, or other entity.
3. You shall not upload files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other software, programs, or materials that may damage the operation of another's computer. You further agree that any material downloaded or otherwise obtained through the use of the website is done at your own discretion and risk and that you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from the download of such material and/or data.
4. If required for the use of any portion of the applications, you shall choose a username and/or password.  You shall bear the sole responsibility for maintaining the confidentiality of your username and/or password.  You shall bear the sole responsibility for any and all activities that occur under your username and/or password.  You agree to notify the Association immediately of any unauthorized use of your username and/or password. 
5. You shall not use the website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the website (or the network(s) connected to the website) or interfere with any other party's use and enjoyment of the website. You may not, nor may you allow others to, directly or indirectly, attempt to or actually disrupt, impair or interfere with, alter or modify the website or any content, except for content that you have uploaded to your account. You may not, nor may you allow others to, directly or indirectly, collect or attempt to collect any information about other users of this website including, but not limited to, passwords, account or other information.
6. Accessing or using the website via mechanical, programmatic, robotic, scripted or any other automated means is strictly prohibited. Use of the website is permitted only via individual users and materials may not be collected via automated or robotic methods. The website and materials contained therein may not be used by you for the development, training, testing, validation, improvement or deployment of any artificial intelligence tool, including any and all training, self-improving, or machine learning software, models, algorithms, hardware or other artificial intelligence tools or aids of any kind. Artificial intelligence tools include, but are not limited to, systems that characterize structured or unstructured data; generate summaries, inferences, or decisions; or generate text or images, including within any generative artificial intelligence solution.

ASSOCIATION E-MAIL SYSTEM TERMS

As part of the applications available through the website, you may have access to an Association provided e-mail system (the “Association Email”). Your use of Association Email is subject to this Agreement. Without limiting the other applicable provisions of this Agreement, you shall only use Association Email in compliance with all applicable state and federal law, including the federal CAN-SPAM Act. You may not use the Association Email (i) to send any messages that read as or that are indicative of phishing or spam, (ii) for deceitful or deceptive means or (iii) for the sending of surveys, contests, pyramid schemes, chain letters, junk e-mail, spamming, duplicative or unsolicited messages, commercial or otherwise. You shall also not advertise or offer to buy or sell any goods or services for any commercial purpose from other users of the website, restrict or inhibit any other user from using the website, unlawfully or improperly harvest or otherwise collect information about other users, or create a false identity within the website for the purpose of misleading others.

The amount of storage space available to each user within the Association Email is limited.  Some messages may not be processed due to space constraints or outbound message limitations. The Association is not a data hosting service and you are responsible for backing-up your information if important or sensitive. You agree that the Association is not responsible or liable for the deletion of or failure to store any message or other information.

The Association will immediately terminate the e-mail account of any user it believes, in its sole and absolute discretion, is being used in violation of this Agreement, such as transmitting or is otherwise connected with any spam or other unsolicited bulk e-mail.  You agree that actual damages to the Association from your transmission of spam or other bulk e-mail may be difficult to quantify.  To the extent they can be determined, you agree to pay the Association actual damages.  If such actual damages cannot be reasonably determined, you agree to pay the Association liquidated damages of five ($5) dollars for each piece of spam or unsolicited bulk e-mail transmitted from or otherwise connected with your Association Email account.

VIRTUAL ASSISTANT CHATBOT

As part of the applications available through the website, the Association may offer an online virtual assistant chatbot (the “Chatbot”). Your use of the Chatbot, such as by submitting input or questions, constitutes your acceptance to the applicable sections of this Agreement. The Chatbot is offered by the Association for purely informational purposes to assist you with the use of our websites and related applications, and to provide you with generalized information in response to your inputs. We do not require you to input, and you should not enter, any personal, sensitive or confidential information into the Chatbot. All input, prompts, content or conversation that you provide in the Chatbot may be recorded for the Association’s and its providers’ and licensors’ own use.

When you interact with the Chatbot, you are not interacting with a human person. The Chatbot is powered and supported by an artificial intelligence tool, which may include generative artificial intelligence models and capabilities, and you are directly interacting with this artificial intelligence. You can contact the Association directly here, if you wish to provide your question to a human person. By using the Chatbot, you are granting the Association and its providers and licensors, permission to use your prompts, input and content for its and their own purposes, including, without limitation, providing the license rights to: copy, distribute, transmit, publicly display, publicly perform, reproduce, edit, translate and reformat your prompts, input, or other content you provide through the Chatbot.

Your use of the Chatbot does not grant you any ownership rights in any underlying technologies, intellectual property, or other data that comprise or support the Chatbot. No compensation will be paid with respect to the use of your prompts, input, or other content, as provided herein. You warrant and represent that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to your prompts, input, or other content, without limitation, all the rights necessary for you to provide, post, upload, input or submit the prompts, input, or other content into the Chatbot. Your use of the Chatbot and reliance on the output thereof is entirely at your own risk. The Chatbot and its outputs are not error-free, may not work as expected and may generate incorrect information. The Association makes no warranties, representations, guarantees or other representations whatsoever as to the validity, accuracy, reliability, fitness for a particular purpose, or completeness of the output of the Chatbot or as to the availability or availability of the content offered to you through the Chatbot, and the Association disclaims all liability associated therewith to the extent permitted by applicable law. You must independently validate all output of the Chatbot before relying upon such output.

Without limiting other applicable terms of this Agreement, the provision of unlawful, criminal, abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, abusive, harmful to minors, discriminatory, racist, hateful, sexually-oriented, pornographic or otherwise objectionable material, which violates the rights of other persons, in particular infringe copyright or other intellectual property rights which could damage the reputation of the Association or their respective representatives or which violate applicable law, in a chat is prohibited. The Association may end a chat or discontinue offering the Chatbot at anytime. You have no legal entitlement to a particular chat or to the use of the Chatbot.

PUBLIC COMMUNICATIONS

You acknowledge that the Association’s website is a public and not a private communications method. You further authorize and acknowledge that the Association may, but is not required to, monitor your use of the website for any purpose. You further acknowledge that the content of communications by users through the Association’s website is not endorsed or approved by the Association. The Association reserves the right in its sole discretion and for any reason to remove without notice any contents of the communications received from users, including without limitation, bulletin board postings.

DISCLOSURE OF YOUR INFORMATION

We reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information as required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process.

INDEMNIFICATION

You hereby agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Association, its agents, employees, successors and assigns, from and against any and all liability, actions, demands, losses, damages (including without limitation direct, indirect, actual, general, incidental, special, lost profits, or consequential), injuries, costs, expenses (including attorney fees and court costs), or claims of any and every kind whatsoever, paid, incurred, or suffered by, or asserted against, the Association, its agents, employees, successors and assigns, arising out of, or associated in any manner with (i) your violation or breach of any term of this Agreement or (ii) your use or misuse of the website, including any applications, including through your inadvertence, negligence, gross negligence, recklessness, intentional actions, and you shall reimburse and fully pay the Association for any such loss and expenses. If requested by the Association, you shall assume without expense or cost to the Association, the defense of any such claims or actions.

DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES

The Association’s website and its applications are provided as a service, intended to be a useful tool for users. Any opinions and advice circulated through the website or applications are those of the person posting the message and not of the Association. You are responsible for conducting appropriate research to determine the accuracy of the information provided, and all users rely on any such information obtained through their use of the website at their own risk. THE ASSOCIATION MAKES NO WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE ACCURACY OR CORRECTNESS OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR APPLICATIONS AND ACCEPTS NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM RELIANCE ON THE INFORMATION PROVIDED THROUGH ANY FEATURE OF THE WEBSITE OR APPLICATIONS.

YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE AND ITS APPLICATIONS IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THEY ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, WITH NO REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND BY THE ASSOCIATION THAT THE WEBSITE OR THE APPLICATIONS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, ACCURATE, OR RELIABLE.

THE ASSOCIATION MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR ENDORSEMENT WITH RESPECT TO ANY OTHER WEBSITE WHICH IS OPERATED BY THIRD PARTIES AND WHICH MAY BE ACCESSIBLE BY HYPERLINK THROUGH THE WEBSITE AND IS NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF SUCH OTHER WEBSITES.

THE ASSOCIATION MAKES NO REPRESENTATION OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WARRANTIES OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, MERCHANTABILITY, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, WITH RESPECT TO THE WEBSITE APPLICATIONS, ITS USE, OPERATION, OR SUPPORT, OR IN ANY OTHER REGARD.

THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES THAT CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW. THIS SECTION DOES NOT AFFECT YOUR STATUTORY RIGHTS AS A CONSUMER

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

YOU AGREE THAT THE ASSOCIATION AND ITS PROVIDERS SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGE, LOSS, OR EXPENSE OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF OR RESULTING FROM YOUR POSSESSION OR USE OF THE MATERIALS, CONTENT, OR INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH LIABILITY IS BASED IN TORT, CONTRACT, OR OTHERWISE. IN NO EVENT, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, A NEGLIGENT ACT, SHALL THE ASSOCIATION OR ANY OF ITS PROVIDERS BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OR CORRUPTION OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS), ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY RELATED TO THE MATERIALS, CONTENT, OR INFORMATION ON THIS WEBSITE OR ANY OTHER PRODUCTS, SERVICES, OR INFORMATION OFFERED, SOLD, OR DISPLAYED ON THIS WEBSITE, YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THIS WEBSITE GENERALLY, OR OTHERWISE IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT, REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE ASSOCIATION OR ANY OF ITS PROVIDERS HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BY USING THE WEBSITE, OR ITS APPLICATIONS, AND AGREEING TO THE TERMS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU UNDERSTAND THAT YOU WAIVE ANY AND ALL RIGHTS YOU MIGHT HAVE AGAINST THE ASSOCIATION AND ANY OF ITS AGENTS, OFFICERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, AND SUCCESSORS AND ASSIGNS, ARISING OUT OF USE OF THE WEBSITE, APPLICATIONS AND/OR RELIANCE ON THE INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR ITS APPLICATIONS.

LIMITATIONS ON CLAIM

Any cause of action you may have with respect to your use of this website must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arises.

HYPERLINK DISCLAIMERS