Terms of Use


Acknowledgment and Acceptance of Terms of Use.

Welcome to Tao Institute Online (from here on out referred to as the “Site”). The Site, which is operated by Tao Institute (from here on out referred to as the “Company”), the online programs (from here on out referred to as the “Programs”) and the services (from here on out referred to as the “Services”) offered on this Site are provided to you only on the terms and conditions described in these Terms of Use. If you engage in the use of this site, access any of the programs or utilize any of the online services, you are agreeing to being bound by all of the terms and conditions outlined on this page. You are giving your consent in the same manner as if you had signed a written agreement. You must read all of these terms closely and review them in detail when joining the site and using its services.

If you do not find that you agree to any of the terms outlined here then please do not use this site or any of the programs included within the site. Tao Institute reserves the right to adjust these terms and conditions at any point in time without giving notice to the site and program users. Adjusted terms and conditions will be maintained on this site at this location and so it is the responsibility of the site users to review these conditions regularly to make sure that they are up to date with any changes that have been made.

The term “you” or “user” refers to all individuals and entities accessing this Site for any reason; a “Member” is someone who has registered with the Site in order to receive Services.

Parts of this website may use cookies. By using this website and agreeing to these terms and conditions, you consent to the Site’s use of cookies in accordance with the terms of the Site’s privacy policy as stated below.


Use of Website and Course Materials

Tao Institute owns the intellectual property rights for the website, including the material on the website and in the courses, whether online or in-person. All of Tao Institute’s intellectual property rights are expressly reserved except as specifically provided herein.

You may use this site, and its services and programs, for your own personal educational use only.  It may not be used for commercial purposes and no part of the site may be shared with others.

You may not:

        ◦ republish or redistribute any material from the website or courses;

        ◦ sell, rent or sub-license any material from or access to the website or courses;

        ◦ reproduce, duplicate, copy or otherwise use material on this website for any purpose;

        ◦ edit or otherwise modify any material on the website.

All materials within this site – such as text, data, graphics, video files, sound files, and other materials that are a part of the site are protected by copyright law and all copyrights are held by Tao Institute and its owners, unless otherwise stated by the Company.  No content from the website or courses may be downloaded, shared or sold without our consent.


Access to and Prohibitions Regarding Use of Website

Accounts on the Site are single-user only.  It is your personal responsibility to protect and keep secret your personal password that is used to access this Site.  You are prohibited from sharing with others your login information or the materials made available to you through your account.

You are prohibited from using the site or its content: (a) for any unlawful purpose; (b) to solicit others to perform or participate in any unlawful acts; (c) to violate any international, federal, state, or local regulations, rules, laws, or local ordinances; (d) to infringe upon or violate our intellectual property rights or the intellectual property rights of others; (e) to harass, abuse, insult, harm, defame, slander, disparage, intimidate, or discriminate based on gender, sexual orientation, religion, ethnicity, race, age, national origin, or disability; (f) to submit false or misleading information; (g) to upload or transmit viruses or any other type of malicious code that will or may be used in any way that will affect the functionality or operation of the website or of any other websites; (h) to collect or track the personal information of others; (i) to spam, phish, pharm, pretext, spider, crawl, or scrape; (j) for any obscene or immoral purpose; or (k) to interfere with or circumvent the security features of the website or other websites.

In the event you breach these terms and conditions in any way, the Site may take action as it deems appropriate, including cancelling your access to the website, blocking your access to the website, blocking computers using your IP address from accessing the website, contacting your internet service provider to request that your access to the website be blocked, and/or bringing court proceedings against you.


Modification of the Terms and Conditions

Tao Institute reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to adjust the terms and conditions at any time. They also reserve the right to change the rules of membership and the program itself.  The most current version of the Terms will supersede all previous versions. Tao Institute encourages you to periodically review the Terms to stay informed of our updates. You agree that they shall not be liable to you or any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of any of the services, any documentation, information or other content on the site.

At any time, Tao Institute may, without providing any notice to its users, change, modify or delete the programs and their content. They may also change the cost and the fee structure without providing any prior notice. These changes are valid from the moment that they are posted upon the site. Any member of this site is agreeing to these terms as soon as they sign up.


Termination

Tao Institute reserves the right to terminate or suspend your membership, your access to the site or the use of any of the services without any notice or prior warning.  To the maximum extent permitted by law, this agreement is governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina and you hereby consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of courts in North Carolina in all disputes arising out of or relating to the use of the Site. Use of the Site is unauthorized in any jurisdiction that does not give effect to all provisions of these Terms, including, without limitation, this section. 


Personal Membership

Your personal membership to the site is not transferable to any other parties. Passwords and rights to the material and programs contained within the site are not transferable to another party. You may not disclose your password or membership information to any other person.


Site Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability

Information on this site is subject to change without the site owners providing any prior notice. The Site does not guarantee, represent, or warrant that your use of our website will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free. We do not warrant that the results that may be obtained from the use of the website or materials contained herein will be accurate or reliable. You acknowledge that from time to time we may remove the website or the materials contained herein for indefinite periods of time or cancel your access to the website at any time without notice to you.

You expressly agree that your use of, or inability to use, the website is at your sole risk. The website, including any materials or services delivered to you through the website, are provided “as is” and “as available” for your use, without any representation, warranties or conditions of any kind, either express or implied, including all implied warranties or conditions of merchantability, merchantable quality, fitness for a particular purpose, durability, title, and non-infringement.

No part of this site, nor any of the materials on this site are to be recognized as medical advice or as an alternative to any existing medication or any mainstream medical advice. All users of this site and its programs should seek the advice of a qualified medical practitioner prior to engaging with any of the work on this site.

Tao Institutes does not represent the use of the contents in terms of their correctness, accuracy, reliability or otherwise. Tao Institute and its owners shall not be responsible or liable for any indirect, incidental, contingent, consequential or special damages for harm to business or loss of profits. Tao Institute and its owners shall not be responsible or liable for any damage to or access to transmission facilities by third parties. They shall not be held accountable for alteration, theft, loss or destruction of your network, applications, data, files, programs, procedures, or personal information through accident, fraud or any other method.

Tao Institute and its owners shall not be responsible or liable for any damage that you may suffer arising from either your personal use or your inability to use the services, programs or facilities offered within this site.

Your use of the website expressly indicates your agreement that the exclusions and limitations of liability set out in these terms and conditions or elsewhere in the website are reasonable.


Links to Third Party Sites/Third Party Services 

Tao Institute Online may contain links to other websites ("Linked Sites"). The Linked Sites are not under the control of Tao Institute and Tao Institute is not responsible for the contents of any Linked Site, including without limitation any link contained in a Linked Site, or any changes or updates to a Linked Site. Tao Institute is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by Tao Institute of the site or any association with its operators. 

Certain services made available via Tao Institute Online are delivered by third party sites and organizations. By using any product, service or functionality originating from the Tao Institute Online domain, you hereby acknowledge and consent that Tao Institute may share such information and data with any third party with whom Tao Institute has a contractual relationship to provide the requested product, service or functionality on behalf of Tao Institute Online users and customers


Purchase of Services

Prices for the Site’s services offered through the website, including workshops, classes, and other educational events, are in U.S. tender and subject to change without notice. The Site reserves the right at any time to modify or remove the website, including any part thereof, without notice at any time. We shall not be liable to you or to any third-party for any modification, price change, suspension, or discontinuance of the website.

We reserve the right to refuse any request for enrollment you submit to us. We may, at our sole discretion, limit or cancel workshops, classes, or other services purchased per person, per household, or per order. These restrictions may include requests placed by or under the same user account, the same credit card, and/or orders that use the same billing and/or shipping address. In the event that we make a change to or cancel an enrollment, we may attempt to notify you by contacting the e-mail and/or billing address/phone number provided at the time the order was made. We reserve the right to limit or prohibit orders that, in our sole judgment, appear to be placed with the intent to commercially exploit the information provided through our website and services.

You agree to provide current, complete and accurate purchase and account information for all purchases made at our Site.  You agree to promptly update your account and other information, including your email address and credit card numbers and expiration dates, so that we can complete your transactions and contact you as needed. Your credit card information is always encrypted during transfer over networks.  Your submission of personal information through the Site is governed by our Privacy Policy (see below).

In the event you provide fraudulent information through your enrollment process, including fraudulent payment information, we reserve the right to bring court proceedings against you for any damages we may suffer.


User Created Content

If, at the request of the Site or otherwise, you send certain specific submissions (for example, responses to blog, public or private forums, or message or bulletin board posts, questions submitted in Q&A) or creative ideas, suggestions, proposals, plans, or other materials, whether online, by email, by postal mail, or otherwise (collectively, “comments”), you agree that we may, at any time, without restriction, edit, copy, publish, distribute, translate and otherwise use in any medium any comments that you forward to us.

We are and shall be under no obligation (1) to maintain any comments in confidence; (2) to pay compensation for any comments; or (3) to respond to any comments.

You understand that your comments (not including credit card information), may be transferred unencrypted and involve transmissions over various networks and changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices.

We may, but have no obligation to, monitor, edit, or remove comments that we determine in our sole discretion are unlawful, offensive, threatening, libelous, defamatory, pornographic, obscene or otherwise objectionable or violates any party’s intellectual property or these terms and conditions.

You agree that your comments will not violate any right of any third-party, including copyright, trademark, privacy, publicity, or other personal or proprietary right. You further agree that your comments will not contain libelous or otherwise unlawful, abusive, or obscene material or contain any computer virus or other malware that could in any way affect the operation of the website or any other website. You may not use a false e-mail address, pretend to be someone other than yourself, or otherwise mislead us or third-parties as to the origin of any comments. You are solely responsible for any comments you make and their accuracy. We take no responsibility and assume no liability for any comments posted by you or any third-party.


Communication

When you register with this Site, you expressly consent to receive any notices, announcements, agreements, disclosures, reports, documents, communications concerning new products or services, or other records or correspondence from the Company. You consent to receive notices electronically by way of transmitting the notice to you by email.


Payment

Courses are offered on this Site via single purchase or subscription options.  You authorize us to charge you for use of the site, its programs and services, at the posted prices and frequency of renewal, from joining the site until you cancel your membership.


Delivery 

Access to the online courses and membership area will be given immediately after payment has been received.


Children Under Thirteen 

Tao Institute does not knowingly collect, either online or offline, personal information from persons under the age of thirteen. If you are under 18, you may use Tao Institute Online only with permission of a parent or guardian.  By visiting this website, you warrant and represent that you are at least 18 years of age.


Cancellation

You have the right to cancel site membership at any time, and you may do so through your account settings.  This agreement survives cancellation of your membership.


Refunds

Refunds are not given for any unused portion of a course purchase, live broadcast, or online membership.  If you have an issue or extraordinary circumstances, please contact us and we will consider each request on an individual basis. In circumstances that refunds are to be given, these shall be carried out within 30 days.


Third Party Accounts 

You will be able to connect your Tao Institute account to third party accounts. By connecting your Tao Institute account to your third party account, you acknowledge and agree that you are consenting to the continuous release of information about you to others (in accordance with your privacy settings on those third party sites). If you do not want information about you to be shared in this manner, do not use this feature. 

  

International Users 

The Service is controlled, operated and administered by Tao Institute from our offices within the USA. If you access the Service from a location outside the USA, you are responsible for compliance with all local laws. You agree that you will not use the Tao Institute Content accessed through Tao Institute Online in any country or in any manner prohibited by any applicable laws, restrictions or regulations. 


Contact Information

Tao Institute

9 W. Walnut St, Suite 3A

Asheville, NC 28801

[email protected]

828-316-1501


Access Restriction/Complete Agreement

You agree that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between you and Tao Institute as a result of this agreement or use of the Site. Tao Institute's performance of this agreement is subject to existing laws and legal process, and nothing contained in this agreement is in derogation of Tao Institute's right to comply with governmental, court and law enforcement requests or requirements relating to your use of the Site or information provided to or gathered by Tao Institute with respect to such use. If any part of this agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable pursuant to applicable law including, but not limited to, the warranty disclaimers and liability limitations set forth above, then the invalid or unenforceable provision will be deemed superseded by a valid, enforceable provision that most closely matches the intent of the original provision and the remainder of the agreement shall continue in effect. 

Unless otherwise specified herein, this agreement constitutes the entire agreement between the user and Tao Institute with respect to the Site and it supersedes all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether electronic, oral or written, between the user and Tao Institute with respect to the Site. A printed version of this agreement and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. It is the express wish to the parties that this agreement and all related documents be written in English. 


Indemnification 

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Tao Institute, its officers, directors, employees, agents and third parties, for any losses, costs, liabilities and expenses (including reasonable attorney's fees) relating to or arising out of your use of or inability to use the Site or services, any user postings made by you, your violation of any terms of this Agreement or your violation of any rights of a third party, or your violation of any applicable laws, rules or regulations. Tao Institute reserves the right, at its own cost, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will fully cooperate with Tao Institute in asserting any available defenses. 


Arbitration in Court

Any dispute or controversy in contract, pre-existing, present or future, arising out of dispute with this agreement will be referred to and determined in arbitration to the exclusion of the courts. You are waiving any right to participate or initiate any class action proceeding against us. Should you believe this to be wrong, and you have a claim or dispute, then you must let us know in writing and we shall respond to this claim prior to any proceedings taking place.