Terms of Use

These Terms of Use (“Terms”) govern your access to and use of the website at idsocietyga.org and any related pages, forms, and event registrations (collectively, the “Site”) operated by the Infectious Disease Society of Georgia (“IDSG,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). By accessing or using the Site, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the Site. The Site is intended for healthcare professionals and other adults; by using it, you represent that you are at least 18 years old.

Medical and CME information — not medical advice

IDSG is a professional society. Content on the Site, including educational materials, resource links, and information about continuing medical education (CME) meetings, is provided for general informational and professional-development purposes only. It is not medical advice, does not establish a physician–patient relationship, and is not a substitute for independent clinical judgment or the advice of a qualified professional. CME details — including dates, locations, speakers, and credit — are subject to change, and credit is awarded only in accordance with the applicable accreditation requirements. Always rely on current primary sources and your own professional judgment when making clinical decisions.

Permitted use

Subject to these Terms, IDSG grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Site for your own personal, non-commercial, professional purposes.

Restrictions

You agree not to:

• copy, reproduce, republish, distribute, or commercially exploit the Site or its content except as expressly permitted;
• modify, reverse engineer, or create derivative works from any part of the Site;
• use the Site to build a similar or competing service;
• use automated tools to scrape, harvest, or collect data or other users’ information without consent;
• upload or transmit malware, or attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Site or its systems; or
• use the Site in any way that is unlawful, harassing, harmful, or that interferes with its operation.

We grant operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to index publicly available materials solely to create searchable indices.

Intellectual property

Except for content you submit, all material on the Site — including text, graphics, logos, photographs, and design — is owned by IDSG or its licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other laws. The IDSG name and logo are marks of IDSG. Nothing in these Terms transfers any ownership rights to you. All rights not expressly granted are reserved.

Meeting RSVPs

Replying to a meeting is a request to attend, not a ticket. Places at CME dinners are limited by the venue, some meetings are open only to members or hold places for them, and IDSG may decline or withdraw a place where a meeting is full or the eligibility conditions for it are not met. One reply covers one attendee: if you are bringing a colleague, they need to reply themselves. If you cannot come, please tell us — the society pays per head, and an unclaimed place is a cost the membership carries.

Membership and dues

Membership is open to clinicians and trainees working in or alongside infectious disease in Georgia. It is granted by IDSG, and IDSG may decline or end a membership where someone does not qualify or where these Terms are broken.

Dues are a single flat annual rate, shown on the join page. Membership runs on the calendar year: dues paid for a given year cover that year and lapse on 31 December, whenever in the year they were paid. Membership entitles you to the year’s CME dinners and to member access at meetings that restrict it; it does not entitle you to a place at a meeting that is full.

Paying online. Dues paid on the Site are taken by Stripe, on Stripe’s own checkout page, and are governed by Stripe’s terms as well as these. The amount charged is the dues plus Stripe’s card-processing charge, so that the society receives the full dues; the total is shown on the join page and again on the checkout page before you pay. Joining part-way through a year buys that whole year at the full rate — including in December, when the next renewal is only weeks away. Online payment through Stripe is the way dues are paid.

Membership paid online renews automatically. On 1 January each year Stripe charges the same amount — the dues plus the processing charge, at the rate you joined at — to the card you paid with, and your membership continues for the new calendar year. We email you about a week beforehand, at the address you gave us, saying what will be charged and when. If the charge fails, Stripe retries it over the following days and your membership lapses on 31 December if it does not succeed.

To stop automatic renewal, use the link in any membership email we send you — the welcome email, or the reminder before 1 January. It takes one click, needs no reason, and can be done at any time before the renewal date; your current year’s membership continues to 31 December regardless. You can also email idsociety.georgia@gmail.com and we will do it for you. Turning renewal off does not remove your details from our records; tell us in the same message if you would like that too.

Ending a membership, however it is done, ends the access that comes with it at the close of the year already paid for. It does not by itself refund dues already paid for the current year, which is the paragraph below.

Dues are used to run the society’s programming and are not generally refundable. If you have paid in error, paid twice, or your circumstances have changed, write to idsociety.georgia@gmail.com: the board will look at it, and in practice we would rather sort it out than keep money somebody did not mean to send.

Submissions and feedback

If you send us a message, RSVP, or other content through the Site (“Submissions”), you are responsible for it and represent that you have the right to provide it and that it is lawful and not infringing. You grant IDSG a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use your Submissions in connection with operating the Site and our activities. We may, but are not obligated to, review or remove Submissions at our discretion. Any feedback or suggestions you provide may be used by IDSG without restriction or obligation to you.

Third-party links

The Site contains links to third-party websites and services that IDSG does not control, including IDSA, public-health resources, venues, and RSVP or calendar tools. We provide these links for convenience only and are not responsible for the content, policies, or practices of any third party. Your use of third-party sites is at your own risk and subject to their terms.

Disclaimer of warranties

The Site is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. To the fullest extent permitted by law, IDSG disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express, implied, or statutory, including any implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy, and non-infringement. We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, secure, error-free, or free of harmful components, or that any information on it is complete or current.

Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, IDSG and its officers, directors, members, volunteers, and agents will not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or any loss of data, use, or goodwill, arising out of or relating to your use of (or inability to use) the Site, even if advised of the possibility of such damages. Your use of the Site is at your own risk.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless IDSG and its officers, directors, members, volunteers, and agents from any claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of your use of the Site, your Submissions, or your violation of these Terms or applicable law.

Governing law

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Georgia, without regard to its conflict-of-laws rules. You agree that any dispute relating to these Terms or the Site will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and federal courts located in Georgia, and you consent to personal jurisdiction there.

Changes to these Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. When we do, we will update the effective date above and post the revised Terms here. Your continued use of the Site after changes are posted means you accept the updated Terms.

Contact us

If you have questions about these Terms, please email us at idsociety.georgia@gmail.com.