TERMS OF
SERVICES
|
Important Notice |
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Please read our terms of service
carefully. Some of these terms contain
specific provisions to limit the liability of Aosis eCPD, allocate risk or liability
to you or constitute an acknowledgement of certain facts provided by
you. Moreover, some terms limit your
ability to recover losses under certain circumstances. Such terms are in bold typeface. |
As
required in terms of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, 25 of
2002, we provide the following information:
1.1
We are a private company incorporated in accordance with the laws
of the
1.2
Our postal address is Postnet Suite #55, Private Bag X22,
Tygervalley, 7536, South Africa and our physical address is AOSIS House, 15
Oxford Street, Durbanville, Cape Town, 7550, where we will receive legal
service of documents.
1.3
Our telephone number is 0861 000 381 or +27 21 975 2602
(international), our website address is www.aosisgroup.com, our e-mail address
is info@aosis.co.za
and our facsimile number is 0865 004 974.
1.4
Our chief executive officer is Dr Pierre JT de Villiers and our
public officer is Cecile de Villiers and they can be contacted at any of the
contact details of Aosis eCPD detailed above.
1.5
Our VAT registration number is 4470199177.
2
Definitions
In
these terms:
2.1
“Auditing Professions Act” means the Auditing Professions Act, 26
of 2005, as amended;
2.2
“Board of Editors/Editors” means the persons appointed by AOSIS to
be responsible for the selection and preparation of CPD
Activities for Aosis eCPD;
2.3
“CPD Hour” means one active learning
hour spent on a CPD Activity;
2.4
“CPD Activity” means a learning activity
or course for CPD for which CPD
hours are obtained;
2.5
“CPD Certificate” means a certificate
issued by Aosis eCPD to signify successful completion of a CPD
Activity;
2.6
“CPD” means continuing professional
development to be undertaken by accountancy professionals registered in terms
of the Auditing Professions Act or any other legislation pertaining to
accountancy professions and as required by a Professional Registration Body;
2.7
“Course Expiry Date” means the date on which the course for a CPD Activity will be deemed unavailable for enrolments,
which date will be displayed on the “Available Courses” list on the Aosis eCPD
website next to the title of the course;
2.8
“Enrolment Period” means a period of three hundred and sixty five
(365) days, commencing on the date when an accountancy professional enrolled
for a CPD Activity;
2.9
“ICSA” means the Institute of Chartered
Secretaries and Administrators;
2.10
“IFAC” means the International
Federation of Accountants;
2.11
“IRBA” means the Independent Regulatory
Board for Auditors;
2.12
“Professional Registration Body” means any statutory body (such as
IFAC, IRBA, SAICA, SAIPA and ICSA) responsible for the registration of persons who are
accountancy professionals, to enable them to practice their profession;
2.13
“SAICA” means the South African
Institute of Chartered Accountants;
2.14
“SAIPA” means the South African Institute
of Professional Accountants;
2.15
“Services” means the services that are provided to accounting
professionals by us, which entail the following:
2.15.1
to provide and facilitate completion of CPD
Activities through access to scientific resources on the Internet and the Aosis
eCPD website by means of which accountancy professionals may earn CPD Hours;
2.15.2
to certify CPD Activities by means of
online assessments;
2.15.3
to issue the accounting professional that enrolled for a CPD Activity with a CPD
certificate once the activity has been completed successfully;
2.16
“Terms” means the terms and conditions set out herein;
2.17
“We”, “us” and “our” means Africa Online Scientific Information
Systems (Pty) Ltd trading as Aosis eCPD;
3
Introduction
3.1
Aosis eCPD provides CPD Services to the
accountancy professions of South Africa, and Professional Registration Bodies
make the rules that determine conditions relating to CPD
to be undertaken by registered accountancy professionals as a means for
maintaining and updating professional competence and who are, each year,
required to complete a series of continuing education activities and to
accumulate CPD Hours in the process.
3.2
Aosis eCPD will always strive to maintain accreditation of its CPD Service with Professional Registration Bodies, where
applicable, and will display its accreditation status on the Aosis eCPD
website.
3.3
All CPD Activities offered by Aosis eCPD
are listed on the Aosis eCPD website.
Each CPD Activity consists of a set of
learning objectives, a recommended learning source accessible through the
Internet, and an on-line assessment.
3.4
The accountancy professional that wishes to make use of our
Services has to pay our fee, in which case, he/she will be entitled to enrol in
a CPD Activity.
3.5
Upon successful completion of a CPD
Activity the user will be issued a CPD Certificate.
4
Terms of Agreement
4.1
These Terms govern the contractual relationship between us and the
professional that enrolled for a CPD Activity and to whom the Services
will be rendered. A legally binding
contract will be formed between us and the professional upon our sending a
confirmation notice confirming our acceptance of the submission of a user
registration form and/or receipt of payment of the appropriate fee for the
provision of the Services. If you (being
the professional that submitted a user registration form and/or paid the
appropriate fee) do not receive a confirmation notice after submitting the user
registration form and payment of our fee, you should immediately contact our
administration department that is located at the offices of Aosis eCPD detailed
in clause 1 above.
We reserve the right, without notice and in our sole and absolute
discretion, to make changes to these Terms.
It is your responsibility to review the Terms prior to making use of the
Aosis eCPD website. If you continue to
use the Aosis eCPD website after our amended Terms have been posted, it will
constitute a deemed acceptance of such amended terms.
4.2
These Terms, including all disclaimers set forth herein, shall
also inure to the benefit of the Board of Editors and their agents, and the
contributors to Aosis eCPD, as third party beneficiaries hereto, to the same
extent that these Terms inure to the benefit of Aosis eCPD.
5
Services and service fees
5.1
Each CPD Activity is allocated a number
of CPD Hours that has been determined by Aosis eCPD
in its sole discretion.
5.2
Our fee for the rendering of the Services for a CPD Activity shall be indicated under each course
description on the Aosis eCPD website.
Our fee shall deem to have been earned on the date upon which we have
sent a confirmation notice in terms of clause 4.1 above.
5.3
You may participate in each CPD Activity until the lapse of the Enrolment Period or the
Course Expiry Date or until a certificate on successful completion of any CPD Activity is issued to you, whichever occurs first.
5.4
No refund of the fees paid will be given by Aosis eCPD if you
decide to or should be prevented for any reason from making use of our Services
to the full extent or should the accreditation of our Service with any
applicable Professional Registering Body terminate for any reason whatsoever.
5.5
You are solely responsible for any and all telephone usage and
rental fees and/or Internet access service fees that may apply to your use of
the Aosis eCPD website, the Internet as well as the Services offered. Aosis eCPD has no control over the source
documents that appear on the Internet as they are the sole property of the
website proprietor. It is accordingly
possible that documents are moved to a different website address or removed
from the Internet or may only become accessible after payment. We should be notified if this happens where
after we will endeavour to take corrective action.
6
Editorial Control and Content
6.1
The Aosis eCPD site may contain information on a vast number of
products. Aosis eCPD cannot screen or filter the information on products
available from the Aosis eCPD site and does
not accept liability for defamatory content in any of the products or services
accessible through the Aosis eCPD site. Aosis eCPD encourages our users to
report any infringing, illegal or defamatory content found in any products
available from the Aosis eCPD site in order to investigate whether such a
product(s) should be removed.
6.2
All material published on or links provided to by Aosis eCPD
undergoes review by the Board of Editors to ensure fair balance, objectivity,
independence, and relevance to educational needs of accountancy professionals. The
Board of Editors have consulted sources believed to be reliable in their
efforts to provide information that is in accord with the standards accepted at
the time of posting. However, in view of the possibility of error by the
authors, editors, or publishers of the works contained on or accessible via the
Aosis eCPD website, Aosis eCPD and the other parties involved in the
preparation or selection of material contained on or accessible via the Aosis
eCPD website, we do not represent or
warrant the accuracy, completeness or currency of such material, and are not
responsible for any errors or omissions or for the results obtained from the
use of such material. Users are encouraged to confirm the information
contained on or accessible via the Aosis eCPD website with other sources.
6.3
The information contained on or accessible via the Aosis eCPD
website does not constitute accountancy advice.
6.4
Persons who are not accountancy professionals reading information
available on or via the Aosis eCPD website should review the information
carefully with their accountancy professional.
The information is not intended to replace professional advice offered
by accountancy professionals. Aosis eCPD makes no representations or
warranties with respect to any advice and actions or preparation by any person
following the information offered or provided within or through the Aosis eCPD
website. Aosis eCPD will not be held
liable for any direct, indirect, consequential or special damages arising there
from.
7
Links to external sites
7.1
The Aosis eCPD website contains links to sites owned and operated
by third parties. These links do not imply Aosis eCPD's
endorsement of material on any other site, and Aosis eCPD disclaims all liability with regard to your access to or
use of material contained on such linked web sites.
7.2
Your access to and use of material contained on other sites
accessible via the Aosis eCPD website will be subject to the terms of use
imposed by the owners and operators of those sites and applicable law. Aosis
eCPD does not have any relationship with the owners and operators of those
sites, and Aosis eCPD is not legally entitled and does not attempt to grant any
rights in relation to such other sites. The provision of a link to such other
sites should accordingly not be construed as a licence to exercise any rights
in relation to such other sites and the content thereof.
8
Warranties and Liability
8.1
Although Aosis eCPD endeavours to
provide accurate, up-to-date and truthful information on the Aosis eCPD
website, Aosis eCPD and its directors, employees and
agents do not make any representations or give any warranties of any kind,
whether expressly, tacitly or implicitly, as to the operation of the Aosis eCPD
website, the accuracy or currency or completeness of the content thereof or any
aspect of the products and services advertised on or available from the Aosis
eCPD website.
8.2
Aosis eCPD does not represent or
warrant that a product or item advertised on the Aosis eCPD website will always
be available. This is in each instance to be confirmed directly with the
advertiser or supplier of the product or service concerned.
8.3
Persons wishing to use the
information available from or via the Aosis eCPD website do so at their own
risk.
8.4
Aosis eCPD, its directors,
employees and agents will not be liable for any damage of whatsoever nature
(including but not limited to direct, indirect, incidental, punitive and
consequential damages) arising or resulting from any person accessing the Aosis
eCPD website, or being unable to access the Aosis eCPD website or using the
content thereof for any purpose whatsoever, including cancellation or
modification of the rules and regulations of any Professional Registeration Body pertaining the system of CPD and/or professional re-registration save to the extent
that such liability cannot be excluded by law.
8.5
In no event will our aggregate
liability for any claims arising in connection with the provision of the
Services or any matter relating thereto exceed the fees actually received from
you in respect of such Services, irrespective of the cause of action (whether
in contract, statute or delict, including for
negligence).
8.6
We will be excused from a failure
to perform or delay in the provision of the Services if and to the extent that
circumstances outside our reasonable control prevent or delay the provision of
the Services.
9
Indemnification
You agree to hold harmless and
indemnify Aosis eCPD, its directors, the Board of Editors and their agents, and
the contributors to the Aosis eCPD website, against any liability for any
claims and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees, relating to any
violation of these Terms or arising out of any information submitted by you and
placed on the Aosis eCPD website.
10
Applicable Law
The
Aosis eCPD website is created, maintained and controlled in the Republic of
South Africa and as such the laws of the Republic of South Africa and the
jurisdiction of the South African courts govern these disclaimers, terms and
conditions and any legal matter resulting from the use or inability to use the
Aosis eCPD website, without giving effect to any principles of conflict of
laws.
11
Policy on Member Privacy
The
provisions of Aosis eCPD’s Member Privacy Statement
that is available on the Aosis eCPD website apply to the contractual relationship
between Aosis eCPD and accounting professional concerned making use of the
Services.
12
Password
You
shall keep your password secure and hereby warrant that no other person shall
use the Services utilizing your password, and you acknowledge further that you
are responsible for ensuring that no unauthorized access to the Services is
obtained using your password, and that you will be liable for all such
activities conducted pursuant to such use, whether authorized or not.
13
Copyright notice
13.1
Copyright © 1999–2011 African Online Scientific Information
Systems (Pty) Ltd (Short name AOSIS), Reg. No. 2002/002017/07, trading as Aosis
eCPD, Postnet Suite #55, Private Bag X22, Tygervalley, 7536, South Africa. All
rights reserved.
13.2
The content and design of the Aosis eCPD website is protected
under South African and international copyright law. The Aosis eCPD website is
for your personal non-commercial use. You may not reproduce, adapt,
disseminate, distribute, transmit, display, or publish any materials contained
on the Aosis eCPD website without the prior written permission of Aosis eCPD or
the appropriate copyright owner.
14
General
14.1
These Terms and the relevant terms implied herein by applicable
law constitute the entire agreement between you and us with respect to the
Services offered and any products and services acquired through the Aosis eCPD
website. These Terms shall override any contrary
terms or conditions incorporated by you in your communications with us and any
such conflicting terms or conditions will not form part of the agreement
concluded between us.
14.2
Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms strictly will
not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. In the event that a portion of these Terms is
held unenforceable or invalid by any competent authority, the unenforceable
portion will be construed in accordance with applicable law as nearly as
possible to reflect the original intentions of the parties, and the remainder
of the provisions will remain in force and effect to the fullest extent
permitted by the law.
14.3
You may not subcontract, cede, delegate, transfer or assign any of
your rights, obligations or duties hereunder to any other person without our
prior written consent. You agree to
accept service of legal process at the addresses you may provide to us.