Terms of Use

Last Updated: April 10, 2024

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY. BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SERVICES, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF USE (“TERMS”). IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO THESE TERMS IN THEIR ENTIRETY, DO NOT ACCESS AND USE THE SITE, DOWNLOAD ANY MATERIALS FROM THE SITE, OR USE THE SERVICES OR ANY COMPONENT THEREOF.

EACH TIME YOU ACCESS AND USE THE SITE OR SERVICES, YOU SIGNIFY THAT YOU HAVE READ AND UNDERSTAND, AND AGREE TO BE BOUND BY, THESE TERMS. YOU REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT YOU ARE AN INDIVIDUAL OF LEGAL AGE TO FORM A BINDING CONTRACT (OR, IF NOT, YOU’VE RECEIVED YOUR PARENT’S OR GUARDIAN’S PERMISSION TO USE THE SERVICES AND HAVE GOTTEN YOUR PARENT OR GUARDIAN TO AGREE TO THESE TERMS ON YOUR BEHALF), AND THAT YOU HAVE THE AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO THESE TERMS.

SECTION 14 OF THESE TERMS CONTAINS PROVISIONS GOVERNING HOW TO RESOLVE DISPUTES BETWEEN US.  AMONG OTHER THINGS, SECTION 14 INCLUDES AN AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE, WHICH REQUIRES, WITH LIMITED EXCEPTIONS, THAT ALL DISPUTES BETWEEN YOU AND US SHALL BE RESOLVED BY BINDING AND FINAL ARBITRATION. SECTION 14 ALSO CONTAINS CLASS ACTION AND JURY TRIAL WAIVERS. YOU WILL ONLY BE PERMITTED TO PURSUE DISPUTES OR CLAIMS AND SEEK RELIEF AGAINST US ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS, NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION OR PROCEEDING AND YOU WAIVE YOUR RIGHT TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT OR CLASS-WIDE ARBITRATION; AND (ii) YOU ARE WAIVING YOUR RIGHT TO PURSUE DISPUTES OR CLAIMS AND SEEK RELIEF IN A COURT OF LAW AND TO HAVE A JURY TRIAL.

WE MAY, IN OUR SOLE DISCRETION, MODIFY THESE TERMS AT ANY TIME BY POSTING UPDATED TERMS ON THE SITE OR BY SENDING YOU AN EMAIL NOTICE. IF ANY MODIFICATION IS UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU, YOU MUST CEASE USING THE SERVICES. BY CONTINUING TO USE OR ACCESS THE SERVICES YOU AGREE TO THE REVISED TERMS.

Designtechnica Corporation (“Digital Trends,” “we,” “our,” or “us”) grants you (“you” or “your”) access to our website(s), accessible via including without limitation, www.digitaltrends.com, www.themanual.com, es.digitaltrends.com, www.theangle.digitaltrends.com, and www.21oak.com, or any website that we own or control, including its subdomains (collectively, the “Site”) or other content, video, or online products or services offered by us (collectively, with the Site, the “Services”), conditions on your acceptance of these terms, conditions, and notices contained herein (the “Terms”) (together with, our Privacy Policy and any other agreement we make available on the Site, which are each incorporated by this reference, and any other documents referred to herein).  We reserve the right to change or modify these Terms, the Privacy Policy, or any policy or guidelines associated with the Services, at any time, with or without prior notice, and in our sole discretion. If we make changes or modifications to these Terms, we will provide you with notice of such changes, such as by sending an email, providing notice through the Services or updating the "Last Updated" date at the top of these Terms. Your continued use of the Services following the posting of changes or modifications will confirm your acceptance of such changes or modifications.

1. USING THE SITE AND SERVICES; PROHIBITED USES OF THE SITE AND SERVICES
The Services are provided to you for your personal, non-commercial use. You may access and use the Services only in accordance with all applicable laws and these Terms. Any right, permission, or license to use the Services or its Content (as defined below) terminates automatically if your access or use violates applicable law or these Terms. You acknowledge and agree that Company may, in its sole discretion and without notice or any further obligation to you, temporarily suspend or permanently discontinue your access to or use of the Services for any reason, including the reasons specified in these Terms. For the purposes of these Terms, “Content” means, collectively, any text, articles, images, photographs, illustrations, graphics, designs, software, source code, specifications, audio files, videos, data, meta data, trademarks, logos, and other information or content made available on the Site or through the Services, including but not limited to the design, structure, selection, arrangement, coordination, expression, “look and feel,” and arrangement of the Site or any Services. Content does not include User Submissions (defined below).

You may not access or use, or attempt to access or use, the Services to take any action that could harm us or a third party. You may not use the Services for any purpose that is illegal, to engage in fraud, in violation of applicable laws, or in violation of our or any third party’s intellectual property or other proprietary or legal rights. You agree that you will not attempt (or encourage or support anyone else's attempt) to circumvent, reverse engineer, decrypt, or otherwise alter or interfere with the Services, or any Content, or make any unauthorized use of the Services.  You are prohibited from, and agree not to, (a) access any part of the Services, Content, data or information you do not have permission or authorization to access; (b) use robots, spiders, scripts, service, software or any manual or automatic device, tool, or process designed to data mine or scrape the Content, data or information from the Services, or otherwise use, access, or collect the Content, data or information from the Services using automated means; (c) use the Content for the development of any software program, including, but not limited to, training a machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) system; (d) use services, software or any manual or automatic device, tool, or process designed to circumvent any restriction, condition, or technological measure that controls access to the Services in any way, including overriding any security feature or bypassing or circumventing any access controls or use limits of the Services; (e) cache or archive the Content (except for a public search engine’s use of spiders for creating search indices); (g) take action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our network or infrastructure; and (h) do anything that could disable, damage or change the functioning or appearance of the Services, including the presentation of advertising. Engaging in a prohibited use of the Services may result in civil, criminal, and/or administrative penalties, fines, or sanctions against the user and those assisting the user.
2. MEMBERSHIPS AND SUBSCRIPTIONS
We may offer memberships on a subscription basis to access certain Content or other Services (“Memberships”) for a recurring fee, and for access during a specific period time (“Membership Period”), in each case, as further described or disclosed to you when you subscribe to a Membership.

If you sign up for a Membership, you must register for an account to access our Services. When you register for an account, you must provide accurate information and promptly update this information if it changes. Failure to do so may result in your inability to access your Membership. You also must maintain the security of your account and promptly notify us if you discover or suspect that someone has accessed your account without your permission. If you permit others to use your account credentials, you are responsible for the activities of such users that occur in connection with your account.

When you subscribe to a Membership, you expressly authorize Digital Trends (or our third-party payment processor) to charge the Membership fee to you on a recurring basis during the Membership Period. For example, if you sign up for a monthly Membership on May 1, you will be charged the fee on the first day of every month. You acknowledge, understand, and agree that your Membership is continuous until you cancel it.

You may cancel your Membership at any time on your profile page or by emailing us at [email protected]. The cancellation will apply to the following Membership Period, and your Membership and access to any associated services will continue until the start of the following Membership Period. You will not receive a refund for the current month, nor will fees be prorated. For example, if you have a monthly Membership that renews on the first of each month and you cancel on May 15, your cancellation will become effective June 1. Until June 1, you will retain your access to the services. You will not receive a refund or proration for the remainder of the month.

If the price of your Membership changes, Digital Trends will notify you at least ten (10) days in advance of the next billing date. If you do not want to pay the new Membership fee, you must cancel your Membership in accordance with these Terms.
3. COPYRIGHT AND LIMITED LICENSE; LINKING TO THE SERVICES OR CONTENT
Unless otherwise indicated, the Services and all Content and other materials on the Services, are the proprietary property of Digital Trends or our licensors or users and are protected by U.S. and international copyright laws.

The Services and Content are protected by copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, database rights, sui generis rights and other intellectual or proprietary rights in or to the Services and Content pursuant to U.S. and international laws. You may not modify, publish, transmit, participate in the transfer or sale of, reproduce (except as expressly provided in this Section 3), create new works from, distribute, perform, display (including framing and inline linking), communicate to the public or in any way exploit, any of the Content (or its arrangement) or the Services in whole or in part.

You are granted a limited, non-exclusive and non-sublicensable license to access and use the Services and Content for your own non-commercial use; however, such license is subject to these Terms and does not include: (a) any resale or commercial use of the Services or the Content; (b) the collection and use of any product listings, pictures or descriptions; (c) the distribution, transmission, translation, public performance or public display of any Content; (d) modifying or otherwise making any derivative uses of the Services or Content, or any portion thereof, unless modification or derivative use is specifically provided for under separate terms; (e) use of any data mining, robots or similar data gathering or extraction methods; (f) downloading (other than the page caching) of any portion of the Services, the Content or any information contained therein, except as expressly permitted on the Services; or (g) any use of the Services or the Content other than for their intended purposes. You may download or copy the Content and other downloadable items displayed on the Services for your personal use only, provided that you maintain all copyright and other notices contained in the Content and other downloadable items.

For purposes of clarity, non-commercial use does not include the use of Content in connection with: (1) the development of any software program, including, but not limited to, training a machine learning or artificial intelligence system; or (2) providing archived or cached data sets containing Content to another person or entity.

You are granted a limited, non-exclusive right to create a text hyperlink to the Services for noncommercial purposes, provided such link does not portray Digital Trends or any of our products and services in a false, misleading, derogatory or otherwise defamatory manner and provided further that the linking site does not contain any adult or illegal material or any material that is offensive, harassing or otherwise objectionable. This limited right may be revoked at any time. You may not use a Digital Trends logo or other proprietary graphic of Digital Trends to link to the Services without the express written permission of Digital Trends. Further, you may not use, frame or utilize framing techniques to enclose any Digital Trends trademark, logo or other proprietary information, including the images found on the Services, the content of any text or the layout/design of any page or form contained on a page of the Services without Digital Trends’ express written consent. Except as noted above, you are not conveyed any right or license by implication, estoppel or otherwise in or under any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary right of Digital Trends or any third party.

Any use of the Services or the Content other than as specifically authorized herein, without the prior written permission of Digital Trends, is strictly prohibited and will terminate the license granted herein. Such unauthorized use may also violate applicable laws, including without limitation copyright and trademark laws and applicable communications regulations and statutes. Unless explicitly stated herein, nothing in these Terms shall be construed as conferring any license to intellectual property rights, whether by estoppel, implication or otherwise. This license is revocable at any time.
4. DIGITAL MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT
In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) and other applicable law, Digital Trends has adopted a policy of terminating, in appropriate circumstances, any user who is deemed to be a repeat infringer. Digital Trends may also, in our sole discretion, limit access to the Services if you infringe any intellectual property rights of others, whether or not you are considered a repeat infringement.

If you believe that the Services or any Content infringes upon any copyright which you own or control, you may file a notification of such infringement with our designated copyright agent as set forth below.

Name of Designated Copyright Agent: DT Copyright Agent
Address: 111 SW 5th Ave, Suite 1000, Portland, OR 97201
Telephone Number: 503.342.2890
Fax Number: 503.210.1170
E-Mail Address: [email protected]

Your written notice must: (a) contain your physical or electronic signature; (b) identify the copyrighted work alleged to have been infringed; (c) identify the allegedly infringing material in a sufficiently precise manner to allow us to locate that material; (d) contain adequate information by which we can contact you (including postal address, telephone number, and email address); (e) contain a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the copyrighted material is not authorized by the copyright owner, the copyright owner's agent, or the law; (f) contain a statement that the information in the written notice is accurate; and (g) contain a statement, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner. Please do not send notices or inquiries unrelated to alleged copyright infringement to our designated copyright agent. Please see 17 U.S.C. §512(c)(3) for the requirements of a proper notification.

If you believe in good faith that someone has wrongfully filed a notice of copyright infringement against you, the DMCA permits you to send us a counter-notice. Notices and counter-notices must meet the current statutory requirements imposed by the DMCA.

If you knowingly misrepresent in your notification that the material or activity is infringing, you will be liable for any damages, including costs and attorneys’ fees, incurred by us or the alleged infringer as the result of our relying upon such misrepresentation in removing or disabling access to the material or activity claimed to be infringing.
5. TRADEMARKS
“Designtechnica,” “Digital Trends,” the Digital Trends logos, and any other Digital Trends’ product or service name or slogan contained on the Services are trademarks of Digital Trends, and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without the prior written permission of Digital Trends or the applicable trademark holder. You may not use any metatags or any other “hidden text” utilizing “Digital Trends” or any other name, trademark or product or service name of Digital Trends without our prior written permission. In addition, the look and feel of the Services, including all page headers, custom graphics, button icons and scripts, is the service mark, trademark and/or trade dress of Digital Trends and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without our prior written permission.

All other trademarks, registered trademarks, product names and names or logos mentioned in the Services are the property of their respective owners. Reference to any products, services, processes or other information, by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, supplier or otherwise does not constitute or imply endorsement, sponsorship or recommendation thereof by us.
6. THIRD PARTY WEBSITES & CONTENT
Digital Trends may provide third party content on the Services and may provide links to websites and content of third parties. Digital Trends makes no claim or representation or warranty regarding any third party website, or the content, products or services made available therein. We are not responsible  for the availability, reliability, accuracy, suitability, nature of, or any other characteristic of any third-party website, or the products, or services made available by any third party, in each case described or accessible via hyperlink or websites linked to from the Services. Such websites, and any content, products and services offered therein, are not under the control of Digital Trends. The inclusion of any link does not imply affiliation, endorsement or adoption by Digital Trends of any website or any information contained therein. Digital Trends does not endorse, sponsor, recommend or otherwise accept responsibility for any such third party website, content, product or service, including, without limitation, embedded content or the content of any linked website or any link contained in a linked website, or any review, changes or updates to such sites.

When you leave the Services, you should be aware that our terms and policies no longer govern, and the policies of those third party websites will now apply. You should review the applicable terms and policies, including privacy and data gathering practices, of any site to which you navigate from the Services.
7. ADVERTISMENTS AND PROMOTIONS; THIRD PARTY PRODUCTS AND SERVICES
Within the Services, we may link to promotions or giveaways that are sponsored by a third party. Any third party promotion or giveaway is offered by the third party and not Digital Trends. Your business dealings or correspondence with, or participation in promotions of, such third party, and any terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such promotions are solely between you and such third party. Digital Trends is not responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of such dealings or promotions or as the result of the presence of non-Digital Trends advertisements or other third party information on the Services.
8. USER CONTENT AND CONDUCT
The Services may include interactive areas where you or other users can create, post or store content, messages, materials, data, information, text, music, sound, photos, videos, graphics, applications, code or other items or materials on the Services (collectively, “User Content”). You are solely responsible for your User Content and use of any such interactive areas. Your submission and use of User Content is at your own risk. You further agree not to post, upload to, transmit, distribute, store, create or otherwise publish through the Services any of the following:

  • User Content that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, indecent, lewd, suggestive, harassing, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive, inflammatory, fraudulent or otherwise objectionable;
  • User Content that would constitute, encourage or provide instructions for a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party, or that would otherwise create liability or violate any local, state, national or international law, including without limitation the FTC rules regarding endorsements;
  • User Content that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party. By posting any User Content, you represent and warrant that you have the lawful right to distribute and reproduce such User Content;
  • User Content that impersonates any person or entity or otherwise misrepresents your affiliation with a person or entity;
  • Unsolicited promotions, political campaigning, advertising or solicitations;
  • Private information of any third party, including, without limitation, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, Social Security numbers and credit card numbers;
  • Viruses, corrupted data or other harmful, disruptive or destructive files; and
  • User Content that, in the sole judgment of Digital Trends, is objectionable or which restricts or inhibits any other person from using or enjoying the Services, or which may expose Digital Trends or our users to any harm or liability of any type.

You further agree that you are solely responsible for your conduct, and you agree that you will not do any of the following in connection with the Services or our users:

  • Use the Services in any manner that could interfere with, disrupt, negatively affect or inhibit other users from fully enjoying the Services or that could damage, disable, overburden or impair the functioning of the Services in any manner;
  • Impersonate or post on behalf or any person or entity or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
  • Stalk, intimidate, threaten, or otherwise harass or cause discomfort to other users;
  • Send any unsolicited commercial messages;
  • Use the Services for any illegal or unauthorized purpose or engage in, encourage, or promote any illegal activity, or any activity that violates these Terms; or
  • Circumvent or attempt to circumvent any filtering, security measures or other features.
Digital Trends takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any User Content, or for any loss or damage thereto, or for any user conduct, nor is Digital Trends liable for any mistakes, defamation, slander, libel, omissions, falsehoods, obscenity, pornography or profanity you may encounter via the Services (including through any third party website linked to from the Services). Enforcement of the User Content or conduct rules set forth in these Terms is in Digital Trends’ sole discretion, and failure to enforce such rules in some instances does not constitute a waiver of our right to enforce such rules in other instances. In addition, these rules do not create any private right of action on the part of any third party or any reasonable expectation that the Services will not contain any content that is prohibited by such rules.  Although Digital Trends has no obligation to screen, edit or monitor User Content, Digital Trends reserves the right to, and may in its sole discretion, remove, screen or edit any User Content posted or stored on the Services at any time, for any reason and without notice. You are solely responsible for creating backup copies of and replacing any User Content you post or store on the Services at your sole cost and expense. Any use of the Services in violation of these Terms and may result in, among other things, termination or suspension of your right to access and use the Services.

Except as otherwise provided herein, on the Services, or in a separate agreement (such as the rules of a Digital Trends promotion), Digital Trends claims no ownership or control over any User Content. However, by submitting or posting User Content to the Services, you grant Digital Trends a nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable and fully sublicensable right to use, copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such User Content on the Services and on third-party websites.

You represent and warrant that (a) you own and control all of the rights to the User Content that you post or you otherwise have the right to post such User Content to the Services; (b) the User Content is accurate and not misleading; and (c) use and posting of the User Content you supply does not violate these Terms and will not violate any rights of or cause injury to any person or entity.
9. SUBMISSIONS
Separate and apart from User Content, you may submit original or creative materials or other information to Digital Trends for purposes of posting such materials on a Digital Trends website (collectively, “Submissions”). Submissions shall become the sole property of Digital Trends upon your submission, and Digital Trends. Upon your Submission, Digital Trends shall own (and you assign and transfer) all right, title and interest, including all intellectual property rights in such Submission, to Digital Trends. Consistent therewith, Digital Trends shall be entitled to the unrestricted use and dissemination of Submissions for any purpose, commercial or otherwise, without acknowledgment or compensation to you.
10. YOUR INDEMNIFICATION FOR USER CONTENT, CONDUCT AND SUBMISSIONS
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Digital Trends, our independent contractors, service providers and consultants, and their respective directors, employees and agents, from and against any claims, damages, costs, liabilities and expenses (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to (a) your use of the Services; (b) any User Content or Submissions you provide; (c) your violation of these Terms; (d) your violation of any rights of another; or (e) your conduct in connection with the Services.
11. DISCLAIMER
THE SERVICES, CONTENT, AND ANY DOWNLOADABLE SOFTWARE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” BASIS, WITH ALL FAULTS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. DIGITAL TRENDS DISCLAIMS ALL OTHER WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT AS TO THE SERVICES, INCLUDING THE CONTENT CONTAINED THEREIN. DIGITAL TRENDS DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES OR DIGITAL TRENDS MATERIALS ARE ACCURATE, COMPLETE, RELIABLE, CURRENT OR ERROR-FREE. WHILE DIGITAL TRENDS ATTEMPTS TO MAKE YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICES SAFE, DIGITAL TRENDS CANNOT AND DOES NOT REPRESENT OR WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES OR OUR SERVER(S) ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS; THEREFORE, YOU SHOULD USE INDUSTRY-RECOGNIZED SOFTWARE TO DETECT AND DISINFECT VIRUSES FROM ANY DOWNLOAD.

WE DO NOT GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OF ANY ADVICE, REVIEW, RECOMMENDATION OR OPINIONS PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICES (“RECOMMENDATIONS”). YOU ARE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR THE USE OF, OR RELIANCE ON, SUCH RECOMMENDATIONS.
12. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
IN NO EVENT SHALL DIGITAL TRENDS, OR OUR DIRECTORS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, SPECIAL, INDIRECT OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF PROFITS OR LOSS OF DATA, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, WHETHER IN AN ACTION IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES OR CONTENT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY DAMAGES CAUSED BY OR RESULTING FROM RELIANCE ON ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES, OR THAT RESULTS FROM MISTAKES, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, ERRORS, DEFECTS, VIRUSES, DELAYS IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION OR ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE, WHETHER OR NOT RESULTING FROM ACTS OF GOD, COMMUNICATIONS FAILURE, THEFT, DESTRUCTION OR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO DIGITAL TRENDS’ RECORDS, PROGRAMS OR SERVICES. IN NO EVENT SHALL THE AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF DIGITAL TRENDS, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE, WHETHER ACTIVE, PASSIVE OR IMPUTED), PRODUCT LIABILITY, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHER THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES OR TO THESE TERMS EXCEED ANY COMPENSATION YOU PAY, IF ANY, TO DIGITAL TRENDS FOR ACCESS TO OR USE OF THE SERVICES. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OF LIABILITY IN CONTRACTS WITH CONSUMERS, SO SOME OR ALL OF THESE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
13. MODIFICATIONS TO THE SERVICES
Digital Trends reserves the right to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Services, or any features or portions thereof, without prior notice. You agree that Digital Trends will not be liable for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Services, or any part thereof.
14. DISPUTE RESOLUTION; BINDING ARBITRATION
Please read the following section carefully because it requires you to arbitrate disputes and claims with Digital Trends and limits the manner in which you can seek relief from us, unless you opt out of arbitration by following the instructions set forth below. No class or representative actions or arbitrations are allowed under this arbitration agreement. In addition, arbitration precludes you from suing in court or having a jury trial.

Dispute Resolution. For any dispute or claim that you have against Digital Trends or relating in any way to the Services, you agree to first contact Digital Trends and attempt to resolve the claim informally by sending a written notice of your claim (“Notice”) to Digital Trends by email at [email protected] or by certified mail addressed to 111 SW 5th Ave, Suite 1000, Portland, OR 97204. The Notice must (a) include your name, residence address, email address, and telephone number; (b) describe the nature and basis of the claim; and (c) set forth the specific relief sought. Our notice to you will be similar in form to that described above.  You agree that this dispute resolution process must be followed prior to you initiating any arbitration or filing a claim against Digital Trends.

No Representative Actions. You and Digital Trends agree that any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services is personal to you and Digital Trends and that any dispute will be resolved solely through individual action, and will not be brought as a class arbitration, class action or any other type of representative proceeding.

Except for small claims disputes in which you or Digital Trends seeks to bring an individual action in small claims court located in the county of your billing address or disputes in which you or Digital Trends seeks injunctive or other equitable relief for the alleged unlawful use of intellectual property, you and Digital Trends waive your rights to a jury trial and to have any dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services resolved in court.

Arbitration of Disputes. If you and Digital Trends cannot reach an agreement to resolve the claim within thirty (30) days after such Notice is received, both parties agree that any unresolved controversy or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms, or the breach thereof, or the Services shall be settled by binding bilateral arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) pursuant to its Consumer Arbitration Rules (“AAA Rules”), except as modified by this Section 14.  You hereby consent to the Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules where applicable, and, where applicable, the Mass Arbitration Supplementary Rules shall be included in the defined term “AAA Rules.” The most recent version of the AAA rules is available at www.adr.org and are hereby incorporated by reference. All disputes submitted to AAA will be resolved through confidential, binding arbitration before one arbitrator. Arbitration proceedings will be held in Multnomah County, Oregon or if your claim does not exceed $10,000 then the arbitration will be conducted solely on the basis of the documents you and Digital Trends submit to the arbitrator, unless you request a hearing or the arbitrator determines that a hearing is necessary. You either acknowledge and agree that you have read and understand the AAA Rules or waive your opportunity to read the AAA Rules and waive any claim that the AAA Rules are unfair or should not apply for any reason.

Batch Arbitration. To promote efficient handling of arbitration claims, if twenty-five (25) or more substantially similar claims are filed against Digital Trends within reasonably close temporal proximity, by or with the help of an entity or coordinated group of entities, whether or not such claims are filed simultaneously, the AAA will promptly take steps to administer the claims in batches of twenty-five (25) (plus a final batch consisting of any remaining claims).  Each batch will be considered as a single consolidated arbitration and be appointed one arbitrator and with one set of filing and administrative fees per side, one procedural calendar, one hearing (if any), and one final award.  The arbitrator will take other steps as necessary for a speedy and efficient resolution of the claims. Claims are of a “substantially similar nature" if they arise out of or relate to the same event or facts, raise similar legal issues and/or causes of action, and seek similar relief. If we disagree on whether this batch arbitration process applies, the AAA will appoint an arbitrator to decide that issue, whose fees will be paid by Digital Trends and who may prescribe procedures needed to resolve the disagreement. This batch arbitration process does not authorize a class, collective, consolidated, joint, or mass arbitration or action other than as may be set forth in this Section 14.

You and Digital Trends agree that these Terms affect interstate commerce, and that the enforceability of this Section 16 will be substantively and procedurally governed by the Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. § 1, et seq. (the “FAA”), to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law. As limited by the FAA, these Terms and the AAA Rules, the arbitrator will have exclusive authority to make all procedural and substantive decisions regarding any dispute and to grant any remedy that would otherwise be available in court, including the power to determine the question of arbitrability. The arbitrator may conduct only individual arbitration and may not consolidate more than one individual’s claims, preside over any type of class or representative proceeding, or preside over any proceeding involving more than one individual.

The arbitrator, Digital Trends, and you will maintain the confidentiality of any arbitration proceedings, judgments, and awards, including, but not limited to, all information gathered, prepared and presented for purposes of the arbitration or related to the dispute(s) therein. The arbitrator will have the authority to make appropriate rulings to safeguard confidentiality unless the law provides to the contrary. The duty of confidentiality does not apply to the extent that disclosure is necessary to prepare for or conduct the arbitration hearing on the merits, in connection with a court application for a preliminary remedy or in connection with a judicial challenge to an arbitration award or its enforcement, or to the extent that disclosure is otherwise required by law or judicial decision.

You and Digital Trends agree that for any arbitration you initiate, you will pay the filing fee and Digital Trends will pay the remaining AAA fees and costs. For any arbitration initiated by Digital Trends, Digital Trends will pay all AAA fees and costs.  However, if the arbitrator decides that either the substance of either party’s claim or the remedy either party asked for is frivolous or was brought for an improper purpose, such party will be responsible for all filing, administrative, and arbitrator fees and the other party’s attorneys’ fees. You and Digital Trends agree that the state or federal courts of the State of Oregon and the United States sitting in Multnomah County, Oregon have exclusive jurisdiction over any appeals and the enforcement of an arbitration award.

Any claim arising out of or related to these Terms or our Services must be filed within one year after such claim arose; otherwise, the claim is permanently barred, which means that you and Digital Trends will not have the right to assert the claim.

You have the right to opt out of binding arbitration within 30 days of the date you first accepted the terms of this Section 14 by sending an email to [email protected]. To be effective, the opt-out notice must include your full name and address and clearly indicate your intent to opt out of binding arbitration. By opting out of binding arbitration, you are agreeing to resolve disputes in accordance with Section 15.

If any portion of this Section 14 is found to be unenforceable or unlawful for any reason, (a) the unenforceable or unlawful provision shall be severed from these Terms; (b) severance of the unenforceable or unlawful provision shall have no impact whatsoever on the remainder of this Section 14 or the parties’ ability to compel arbitration of any remaining claims on an individual basis pursuant to this Section 14; and (c) to the extent that any claims must therefore proceed on a class, collective, consolidated, or representative basis, such claims must be litigated in a civil court of competent jurisdiction and not in arbitration, and the parties agree that litigation of those claims shall be stayed pending the outcome of any individual claims in arbitration. Further, if any part of this Section 14 is found to prohibit an individual claim seeking public injunctive relief, that provision will have no effect to the extent such relief is allowed to be sought out of arbitration, and the remainder of this Section 14 will be enforceable.
15. GOVERNING LAW AND VENUE
Any dispute arising from these Terms and your use of the Services will be governed by and construed and enforced in accordance with the laws of Oregon, except to the extent preempted by U.S. federal law, without regard to conflict of law rules or principles (whether of Oregon or any other jurisdiction) that would cause the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction.  By using the Services, you explicitly consent to any and all claims between you and Digital Trends being subject to the substantive laws of Oregon, notwithstanding the venue in which a claim is brought, your place of residence and/or your physical location at the time you used the Services. Any dispute between the parties that is not subject to arbitration will be resolved in the state or federal courts of Oregon and the United States, respectively, sitting in Multnomah County, Oregon.
16. SEVERABILITY
If any provision of these Terms shall be deemed unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.