Rendering of the Smart Factory @ Wichita production line.

Last modified on: March 17, 2021

The Manufacturing Leadership Council (MLC) is increasingly exploring how online discourse through social computing can empower the MLC. These individual interactions represent a new model: not mass communications, but masses of communicators. It is in the MLC’s interest to be aware of and participate in this sphere of open information, interaction and idea exchange.

Please read these Terms and Conditions completely.  By using or accessing the site, you are agreeing to be bound by these Terms and Conditions.  Please do not use the site unless you agree with these conditions.

User Content and Prohibited Conduct

Each contributor’s views are its own and not necessarily the views of the MLC.  All postings, videos, audio, graphics, photos, text, and any other materials uploaded by users (collectively, “Content”), must conform to the following rules:

  1. Content may not be libelous, defamatory, false, obscene, indecent, lewd, pornographic, violent, abusive, threatening, harassing, inflammatory or disruptive, nor may they provide grounds for civil or criminal liability.  No personal attacks, harassment or demonization of a particular individual or organization are allowed.
  2. Content may not advocate or glorify illegal activity.
  3. Content may not advocate the election or defeat of any political candidates or political party, nor request contributions for political candidates or solicit attendance at partisan political events. This activity may be illegal. However, issue advocacy that mentions a political candidate’s position without advocating his or her election or defeat, even close to elections, is not prohibited by the Bipartisan Campaign Reform Act of 2002. Posting on this site may not be used to provide anything of value in connection with a campaign.
  4. No Content shall contain chain letters or spam. Content should not include product or service sales pitches or recommendations other than for contributor-approved items.
  5. Content may not violate or infringe copyright, trademark, trade secret, privacy, personal publicity or proprietary rights. When we receive proper notification of alleged copyright infringement, we will promptly remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing material and terminate the accounts of repeat infringers in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. If you believe that any material on the site infringes any copyright which you own or control, you may send us a written notification of such infringement.  Additional information regarding the MLC’s intellectual property rights are described below in the sections titled “License” and “Intellectual Property”
  6. Content may not involve information that could give rise to a claim for a violation of the antitrust laws. Specifically, messages are not to involve the following:
    1. Prices, credit terms or other terms of sale, or what constitutes a “fair” profit level;
    2. Individual costs, capacity, inventory or sales;
    3. Individual distribution or marketing information, including territories, customers and suppliers;
    4. Complaints or disparagement about individual firms, or other actions that might tend to hinder a competitor in any market; or
    5. Any other unreasonable limitation on competition.
  7. Content shall include neither legal advice nor statements that might be considered legal advice.
  8. Content must relate to the purpose of the site, except for those items that are posted by contributors to generate interest.
  9. Users posting Content grant to the MLC an irrevocable, perpetual, non-exclusive, transferable, fully paid, worldwide license (with the right to sublicense) to use, copy, publicly perform, publicly display, reformat, translate, excerpt (in whole or in part) and distribute such user Content for any purpose, commercial, advertising, or otherwise, on or in connection with the site or the promotion thereof, to prepare derivative works of, or incorporate into other works, such user Content, and to grant and authorize sublicenses of the foregoing.  The MLC does not assert any ownership over your Content; rather, subject to the rights granted to us in these terms, you retain full ownership of all of your Content and any intellectual property rights or other proprietary rights associated with your Content.

The MLC reserves the right to terminate your access to the site without any advance notice if it deems that you have failed to comply with any of the activity described above or for any other reason the MLC deems appropriate.

Access

We will do our best to ensure that availability of this site will be uninterrupted and that transmissions will be error-free.  However, due to the nature of the Internet, this cannot be guaranteed.  Your access to the site may be occasionally suspended or restricted to allow for maintenance or the introduction of new services.  We will limit the frequency and duration of any such suspension or restriction. The MLC reserves the right to refuse access or terminate your access to the site at its discretion.

License

The MLC grants you a limited license to access and make personal use of the site, but not to modify it, except with express written consent of the MLC.

The site may not be reproduced, duplicated, copied, sold, resold, visited, or otherwise exploited for any commercial purpose without the MLC’s express written consent.

You may not frame or use framing techniques to enclose any trademark, logo, or other proprietary information (including images, text, layout, or form) of the MLC and its affiliates without express written consent.  Any unauthorized use terminates the permission or license granted by the MLC and may give rise to a claim for damages and/or be a criminal offense.  

Intellectual Property

The site and all of its original content, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, and software, are the sole property of the MLC and are fully protected by the appropriate international copyright and other intellectual property rights laws.

You may not extract and or re-use parts of the contents of the site without the MLC’s express written consent. In particular, you may not use any data mining, robots, or similar data gathering and extraction tools to extract for re-use of any substantial parts of this site, without the MLC’s express written consent.  You also may not create and/or publish your own site that features substantial parts of this site without the MLC’s express written consent.    

Information You Provide

The user of the site is fully responsible for the content and correctness of information he or she submits to the site as well as for the non-violation of any third-party rights that may be involved in such information.  

Privacy Policy

Please review our Privacy Notice, which also governs your use of the site, to understand how we collect, use, store, and share your personal information.

Disclaimer of Warranties

THE SITE AND ALL RELATED CONTENT AND SOFTWARE ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND THE MLC DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL REPRESENTATIONS AND WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. THE MLC DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT SOFTWARE OR CONTENT ON THE SITE ARE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, RELIABLE, CURRENT OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT THE SITE, ITS SERVERS, OR ANY PLATFORM APPLICATIONS ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. THEREFORE, YOU SHOULD EXERCISE CAUTION IN THE USE AND DOWNLOADING OF ANY SUCH SOFTWARE, CONTENT OR MATERIALS AND USE INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED SOFTWARE TO DETECT AND DISINFECT VIRUSES.

Limitation on Liability

IN NO EVENT WILL THE MLC OR ITS DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING ANY LOST PROFITS OR LOST DATA ARISING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SITE, EVEN IF THE MLC IS AWARE OR HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, THE COMPANY’S LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY CAUSE WHATSOEVER, AND REGARDLESS OF THE FORM OF THE ACTION, WILL AT ALL TIMES BE LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT PAID, IF ANY, BY YOU TO THE COMPANY FOR THE SERVICE DURING THE TERM OF MEMBERSHIP, BUT IN NO CASE WILL THE COMPANY’S LIABILITY TO YOU EXCEED $1000. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IF NO FEES ARE PAID TO THE MLC FOR THE SERVICE, YOU SHALL BE LIMITED TO INJUNCTIVE RELIEF ONLY, UNLESS OTHERWISE PERMITTED BY LAW, AND SHALL NOT BE ENTITLED TO DAMAGES OF ANY KIND FROM THE MLC, REGARDLESS OF THE CAUSE OF ACTION.

CERTAIN STATE LAWS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES. IF THESE LAWS APPLY TO YOU, SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS, EXCLUSIONS OR LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU, AND YOU MAY HAVE ADDITIONAL RIGHTS.

By visiting or using the Site, you agree that the laws of the District of Columbia, without regard to principles of conflict of laws, will govern these Terms of Use and any dispute of any sort that might arise between you and the MLC or any of our affiliates. With respect to any disputes or claims not subject to arbitration (as set forth below), you agree not to commence or prosecute any action in connection therewith other than in the local and federal courts of the District of Columbia, and you hereby consent to, and waive all defenses of lack of personal jurisdiction and forum non conveniens with respect to venue and jurisdiction in the local and federal courts of the District of Columbia.

Arbitration

YOU AND THE MLC AGREE THAT THE SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE FORUM AND REMEDY FOR ANY AND ALL DISPUTES AND CLAIMS RELATING IN ANY WAY TO OR ARISING OUT OF THESE TERMS OF USE AND/OR THE SITE SHALL BE FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION, except to the extent that either of us has in any manner infringed upon or violated or threatened to infringe upon or violate the other party’s patent, copyright, trademark or trade secret rights, or you have otherwise violated any of the user conduct rules set forth above then the parties acknowledge that arbitration is not an adequate remedy at law and that injunctive or other appropriate relief may be sought.

Arbitration under this Agreement shall be conducted by the American Arbitration Association (the “AAA”) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. The arbitrator’s award shall be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.  To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, NO ARBITRATION OR CLAIM UNDER THESE TERMS OF USE SHALL BE JOINED TO ANY OTHER ARBITRATION OR CLAIM, INCLUDING ANY ARBITRATION OR CLAIM INVOLVING ANY OTHER CURRENT OR FORMER USER OF THE SERVICE, AND NO CLASS ARBITRATION PROCEEDINGS SHALL BE PERMITTED. In no event shall any claim, action or proceeding by you related in any way to the Site be instituted more than three (3) years after the cause of action arose.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold the MLC, its subsidiaries and affiliates, and each of their directors, officers, agents, contractors, partners and employees, harmless from and against any loss, liability, claim, demand, damages, costs and expenses, including reasonable attorney’s fees, arising out of or in connection with any User Content, any Third Party Applications, Software or Content you post or share on or through the Site, your use of the Site, your conduct in connection with the Site or with other users of the Site, or any violation of this Agreement or of any law or the rights of any third party.

External Links 

The site may contain links to third-party websites, services, or online resources not owned the MLC.  The MLC has no control over, and therefore cannot assume responsibility for, the content or general practices of these third-party sites, services, and resources.  Therefore, it is important that you read the entire terms and conditions and privacy policy of any third-party site, service, or resource you visit through a link posted in the site.

Changes to these Terms and Conditions

The MLC reserves the right to modify these Terms and Conditions at any time.  We do so by posting the updated terms in the site.  Your decision to continue using the site after such changes have been made constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms and Conditions.  Accordingly, you should check and review these Terms and Conditions regularly.  Should you not agree to any provision of these Terms and Conditions or any changes to these Terms and Conditions, you should not use or continue to use this site. 

Electronic Communications

For contractual purposes, you consent to receive communications from us electronically and you agree that all agreements, notices, disclosures, and other communications that we provide to you electronically satisfy any legal requirement that such communications be in writing.  

Waiver

If you breach these Terms and Conditions and we take no action, we will still be entitled to use our rights and remedies in any other situation where you breach these conditions.

Contact Us

If you have any further questions about the site, please contact [email protected].