Introduction

This Terms of Use (“Agreement”) is a legally binding contract between you, the User (either an individual or a legal entity), and National Scholarship Trust (“NST”). By accessing, registering, or using any services or information provided by NST, including the website at www.nationalscholarship.org (“Site”), you acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these terms and conditions. If you do not agree to these terms, you should refrain from using the Site.

Eligibility and Account Registration

Use of the Site is available only to entities and persons over the age of legal majority who can form legally binding agreement(s) under applicable law. If you are under the legal age of majority, you must have parental or guardian consent. You must complete the registration process by providing NST with current, complete, and accurate information as prompted by the registration form.

Certain functionalities and services offered on or via the Site may require that you register and create a user account with NST. You bear full responsibility for preserving the confidentiality of your account details, including your password, and for all activities occurring under your account. By using the Site, you agree to promptly inform NST of any unauthorized use of your account or password, or any other breach of security. You may be held accountable for losses incurred by NST or any other user or visitor to the Site due to someone else utilizing your NST password or account.

The use of another individual's NST password or account is strictly forbidden at all times without the explicit permission and consent of the rightful account holder. NST disclaims all liability for any loss or damage arising from your non-compliance with these security obligations.

Protection of Minors’ Information

Following federal law and the guidelines established by the Federal Trade Commission concerning the privacy of young individuals, NST is committed to protecting the privacy of minors. The Site does not knowingly collect personally identifiable information from children under the age of 13. Moreover, registration on NST is not permitted for children under the age of 13 without the prior consent of a parent or guardian.

The Site is not designed for children under the age of 13. NST does not knowingly register or collect personal information from individuals who identify themselves as under the age of 13 during the registration process, unless the consent of a child’s parent or guardian has been obtained.

User Conduct

Users must adhere to all applicable laws and regulations in connection with their use of NST’s services. This includes not engaging in any behavior that is unlawful, infringes on intellectual property rights, is harmful, or interferes with other users’ access or use of the services.

As a user of the Site, you are expressly prohibited from employing any means to access, acquire, copy, or monitor any part of the Site or its Content, including but not limited to using “web scraper,” “robot,” “spider,” or similar automated or manual processes. Any attempt to reproduce, bypass, or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Site or its Content to obtain materials, documents, or information through any means not intentionally made available is strictly forbidden. NST reserves the right to block any such activities.

You are prohibited from testing the vulnerability of the Site or any connected network, as well as breaching security or authentication measures on the Site or associated networks. It is not permissible to reverse look-up, trace, or attempt to trace any information of any other Site user or visitor, or exploit the Site in any way where the purpose is to reveal information, other than your own, as provided by the Site.

Unauthorized access to any part or feature of the Site, other systems or networks connected to the Site, any NST server, or to any of the services offered on or through the Site, through hacking, password mining, or any other illegitimate means, is strictly prohibited.

By using the Site, you agree not to undertake actions that cause an unreasonable load on the infrastructure of the Site or NST’s systems or networks, or systems or networks connected to the Site. You must not interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site or any activities conducted on the Site.

You are not permitted to use the Site or any Content for any purpose that is unlawful, fraudulent, or prohibited by this Agreement, or to solicit the performance of any illegal activity or other activity which infringes the rights of NST or others.

You agree not to forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers to disguise the origin of any message or transmittal you send to NST on or through the Site. Impersonating another person or falsely representing your identity or affiliation with any person or entity is prohibited.

You warrant that any information you provide to NST, including during account registration, is accurate, current, and complete, and does not misrepresent your identity or affiliation.

Intellectual Property Rights

All content on the Site, including but not limited to text, graphics, logos, and software (collectively, “Content”), is the exclusive property of NST or its licensors and is protected by copyright and intellectual property laws. This Content is protected by copyright, patent laws, trademark laws, and other intellectual property rights and unfair competition laws. The Content encompasses the structure, design, selection, coordination, expression, and arrangement of such materials on the Site. Unauthorized reproduction, modification, or distribution of Site content is strictly prohibited.

You are prohibited from copying, reproducing, republishing, uploading, posting, publicly displaying, encoding, translating, transmitting, or distributing any part of the Site or the Content, including “mirroring” to other computers, servers, websites, or other mediums for publication, distribution, or commercial purposes without the express prior written consent of NST, except as explicitly allowed under this Agreement.

You may utilize information provided on the Site, provided that you:
• do not remove any proprietary notice language in any and/or all copies of such documents;
• use the information solely for personal, non-commercial purposes and do not broadcast or display it in any media;
• make no modifications to the information; and
• refrain from making any additional representations or warranties relating to the Site's content.

Linking to the Site

You are permitted to link to any page on the Site. However, embedding Site content on your site without explicit permission is prohibited, as all content is protected by copyright. When linking to the Site, the linked page must open in its own URL, ensuring that the content is not framed or made to appear as part of your or any other site.

You may use NST's logos and trademarks for linking purposes only. Any other use of our logos or trademarks requires express permission from NST. Permission requests for use of NST content, trademarks, or logos should be directed through our contact page. NST reserves the right to refuse permission at its discretion and to require the discontinuation of any links to the Site for any reason.

Privacy Policy

NST respects the privacy of its users. The Privacy Policy, available on the Site, outlines the collection, use, and disclosure of personal information. It is an integral part of this Agreement and is hereby incorporated by reference. By using the Site, you acknowledge and agree to the terms outlined in the Privacy Policy.

You also understand that Internet transmissions are never completely private or secure and that there is a possibility that information you send to the Site could be intercepted by others. This acknowledgment extends to an understanding that any message or information you transmit to the Site may be read or intercepted by others, despite the presence of a notice that a particular transmission is encrypted or secure.

Disclaimers and Limitations of Liability

NST provides the Site and its services on an “as-is” and “as-available” basis without any warranties, express or implied. NST does not assure uninterrupted or error-free functionality of the Site or its Content, nor does it guarantee that defects will be corrected or that your use of the Site will yield specific outcomes.

Information on the Site is subject to change without prior notice. NST disclaims all warranties, whether express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of accuracy, non-infringement, merchantability, and fitness for a particular purpose. Further, NST disclaims any liability for the actions, omissions, or conduct of third parties in connection with or related to your use of the Site and/or any NST services.

Your sole recourse against NST for dissatisfaction with the Site or its Content is to cease its use immediately. This limitation of relief is a fundamental element of the agreement between you and NST. The foregoing disclaimer applies to any damages, liability, or injuries caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, computer virus, communication line failure, theft, destruction, unauthorized access, alteration, or use, whether for breach of contract, tort, negligence, or under any other cause of action.

Notwithstanding any provisions to the contrary where the law prohibits, NST shall not be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or exemplary damages resulting from the use or inability to use the services. If despite this and other provisions in this Agreement, NST is found liable for any damage or loss related to your use of the Site or any Content, its liability shall not exceed the greater of (1) any fees paid for services or features on the Site in the three months prior to the claim, or (2) $500 in U.S. currency. This limitation may not apply in jurisdictions that do not allow limitations of liability, so it may not be applicable to you under certain circumstances.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold NST, its officers, directors, predecessors, successors in interest, agents, subsidiaries, and employees harmless from any demand, loss, liability, claim, or expense (including attorneys’ fees) made by any third party, due to or arising out of your breach of this Agreement, your violation of any law, your violation of the rights of a third party, or from or in relation to your use of the Site.

Modifications to the Agreement

NST reserves the exclusive right to alter, amend, add to, remove, or terminate any part of this Agreement at any time and without prior notification. Such modifications shall be effective immediately upon posting on the Site. As a user of the Site, it is your responsibility to regularly review this Agreement for any changes. Your continued access and use of the Site following the posting of any amendments signifies your unconditional acceptance and agreement to such changes. NST grants you, subject to your ongoing compliance with this Agreement, a non-exclusive, personal, non-transferrable, and limited privilege to enter and utilize the Site.

Termination and Suspension

NST reserves the right to undertake the following actions at its discretion and without notice: (1) modify, suspend, or terminate operation of or access to the Site, or any part of the Site, for any reason; (2) alter or change the Site, or any part of the Site, and any applicable policies or terms; (3) interrupt the operation of the Site, or any part of the Site, as necessary to perform routine or non-routine maintenance, error correction, or other changes; and (4) suspend or cancel any user account for any reason, including but not limited to any breach of this Agreement. These actions may be taken at any time and for any reason deemed appropriate by NST, ensuring the integrity and effective operation of the Site.

Enforcement in Case of Agreement Violation

NST reserves the right to investigate and take appropriate legal action against any illegal and/or unauthorized use of the Site. The decision of NST not to pursue legal action for any violation of this Agreement does not imply a waiver of the Agreement or any legal rights pertaining to the same. NST may restrict your access to the Site, in whole or in part, for any or no reason, at its sole discretion, without prior notice.

In the event of any investigation or complaint relating to your use of the Site, NST may disclose any information about you (including your identity) if it deems necessary. Such disclosures may be made in connection with an investigation or complaint regarding misuse of the Site, or to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be causing harm to or interference with (either intentionally or unintentionally) the rights or property of NST, its users, or the public. NST reserves the right to disclose any information as necessary to comply with any applicable law, regulation, legal process, or governmental request.

Furthermore, NST may preserve and disclose any communication or data transmittal between you and NST via the Site or any service offered on or through the Site, if required by law or if such preservation or disclosure is deemed necessary to:
• comply with legal processes;
• enforce this Agreement;
• respond to claims that any data violates the rights of third parties; and
• protect the rights, property, or personal safety of NST, its employees, users or visitors to the Site, and the public.

In NST initiates legal action against you due to your violation of this Agreement, NST will be entitled to recover from you all reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of such action, in addition to any other relief granted. You acknowledge that NST will not be liable to you or to any third party for termination of your access to the Site as a result of any violation of this Agreement.

Miscellaneous Provisions

If any part of this Agreement is determined by a court or other competent authority to be invalid or unenforceable, such parts shall be modified or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary, and replaced with a valid provision that best captures the intent of this Agreement. This ensures that the Agreement remains in full force and effect. This Agreement represents the entire agreement between you and NST regarding the use of the Site, superseding all prior agreements and understandings, whether written or oral. NST will not accept any counter-offers to this Agreement, and all such offers are hereby categorically rejected. NST’s failure to insist on or enforce strict performance of this Agreement does not constitute a waiver of any provision or right. This Agreement does not confer any rights or remedies on any third parties.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. You agree to submit to the jurisdiction of the courts situated in Midland County, Texas, for any disputes arising out of or related to this Agreement or the services provided by NST. You consent to personal jurisdiction by and venue in the state and federal courts of Midland County, Texas, and waive any objection to such jurisdiction or venue. Any claim arising under this Agreement must be brought within one (1) year after the cause of action arises, or it is barred. The sole recovery in such a case is limited to out-of-pocket expenses, except that the prevailing party will be entitled to costs and attorneys’ fees. In case of any controversy or dispute between NST and you regarding the Site, both parties shall attempt, promptly and in good faith, to resolve it. If not resolved within thirty (30) days, either party may request mediation. If mediation fails, the parties are free to pursue any right or remedy available under applicable law.

Complete Agreement

This Agreement, along with any additional terms or policies incorporated herein by reference, constitutes the entire understanding between NST and you with respect to the Site and supersedes all prior agreements and understandings regarding the same.

Effective Date

This Agreement is effective from January 22, 2024.

‍