AFFILIATE PUBLISHER PARTICIPATION AGREEMENT

This Affiliate Participation Agreement (the "Agreement") contains the terms and conditions that apply to your participation as a member of the affiliate program (the "Affiliate Program") for www.acehardware.com and the associated mobile website, if applicable (the "Merchant Website"), which is a website owned by Ace Hardware ("we" "us" or "Merchant"). This Affiliate Program is administered through Pepperjam, LLC ("Pepperjam"), operators of the Pepperjam Affiliate Network (the "Network"). In this Agreement you are referred to as "you", "your" or "Affiliate".

THIS IS A LEGALLY BINDING AGREEMENT. BY JOINING THIS AFFILIATE PROGRAM AND RECEIVING AND USING LINKS TO THE MERCHANT WEBSITE, YOU ARE CONFIRMING THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND THAT YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS CONTAINED IN THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE WITH ANY OF THE TERMS OR CONDITIONS SET FORTH HEREIN, DO NOT JOIN THIS AFFILIATE PROGRAM.

PEPPERJAM IS A THIRD PARTY BENEFICIARY. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT PEPPERJAM IS AN INTENDED THIRD-PARTY BENEFICIARY OF THIS AGREEMENT AND HAS THE RIGHTS TO ENFORCE THE THIS AGREEMENT AND TO BENEFIT FROM ALL THE RIGHTS AND LIMITATIONS HEREUNDER.

  1. Enrollment; Eligibility. In order to participate in this Affiliate Program you must complete a participant application that is accessible through this Merchant Website or through the Network. You will be notified if your application has been accepted or rejected. We reserve the right to reject any application in our sole discretion. If we reject your application, you may reapply at any time. Only websites with general or United States based domain name extensions (e.g. .com, .net, .org, .us, etc.) and primarily serve a United States based audience are eligible for participation in this Affiliate Program. You must be at least 18 years of age to join this Affiliate Program. By submitting an application to participate in this Affiliate Program, you represent, warrant, covenant and agree that (i) all information that you provide to us or Pepperjam in connection with your participant application and/or in connection with your participation in this Affiliate Program is true, complete and accurate, (ii) you have all necessary rights and authority to enter into this Agreement and perform your obligations hereunder, (iii) this Agreement will constitute a legal, binding and enforceable agreement against you in accordance with the terms and conditions herein, and (iv) your execution and performance hereunder will not conflict with or result in a breach or violation of any other agreement, arrangement or understanding to which you are bound.
  2. Suitability of Affiliate Websites. (a) Your websites are not suitable and you may not participate in the Affiliate Program if the websites operated by you violate any of the following website suitability restrictions. Further, you represent, warrant, covenant and agree that none of your participating websites or any content or technology contained thereon will, at any time during the period that you are an affiliate in this Affiliate Program, violate any of the following website suitability restrictions. In the event that we believe that you have violated any of the following website suitability restrictions we may, in addition to all other rights and remedies that we may have, terminate this Agreement and your participation in this Affiliate Program without notice. Your participating websites may not:
    • (i) infringe on our or any other person's or entity's intellectual property, publicity, privacy or other rights,
    • (ii) fail to state a clear online privacy policy to your visitors,
    • (iii) require a username or password to access your websites, without our prior written consent (including via email),
    • (iv) violate any law, rule or regulation,
    • (v) contain any content that is threatening, harassing, defamatory, obscene, harmful to minors, or contains nudity, pornography or sexually explicit materials,
    • (vi) contain any viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, or other computer programming routines that may damage, detrimentally interfere with, surreptitiously intercept, or expropriate any system, data, or personal information,
    • (vii) contain material that is false, inaccurate, fraudulent or misleading or that promotes pyramid or similar schemes;
    • (viii) promote violence or any illegal or immoral activity,
    • (ix) promote discrimination based upon gender, race, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age,
    • (x) use or promote the use of bulk email or spam,
    • (xi) contain software or use technology that attempts to intercept, divert or redirect Internet traffic to or from any other website, or that potentially enables the diversion of affiliate commissions from another website,
    • (xii) use any software that gathers information through the customer's Internet connection without his or her knowledge,
    • (xiii) install spyware on another person's computer, or cause spyware to be installed on another person's computer, or utilize any "opt-out downloads". An "opt-out download" is any software, program, script, tool or element that would automatically download to a user's computer or that would become operative when the user accesses the Internet unless the user takes affirmative action to prevent the download.
    • (xiv) use a context based triggering mechanism to display an advertisement that partially or wholly covers or obscures paid advertising or other content on an Internet website in a way that interferes with a user's ability to view the Internet website, or use browser-embedded contextual targeting applications or other applications which serve advertisements (pop-up ads and pop-unders, in-browser ads and highlighting of website content and redirecting to websites with similar content, regardless of whether any such advertisements are served directly by you or is provided or purchased from a third-party) on Merchant’s or Merchant’s competitors websites or on any other website other than your websites.
    • (b) You may not (i) engineer you websites in a manner designed to direct or pull Internet traffic away from our Merchant website, (ii) attempt to modify or alter our Merchant website in any way; (iii) make any representations, either express or implied, or create an appearance that a visitor to your website is visiting our website, e.g., "framing" the Merchant website, without our prior written approval; or (iv) "scrape" or "spider" any Merchant website or any other website for Merchant Content (as defined below).
    • (c) You may not purchase products during sessions initiated through Qualified Links (defined below) on your websites for resale, or commercial use of any kind. Such purchases may result, in our sole discretion, in the withholding of the Revenue Share or the termination of this Agreement.
    • (d) We have the right in our sole and absolute discretion to monitor your websites at any time and from time to time to determine if you are in compliance with the terms of this Agreement, and you agree to provide us with unrestricted access to your websites for such purpose.
    • (j) Network Properties. If you are an affiliate network or if you otherwise represent other affiliate publishers, in order to participate in this Affiliate Program, you must represent, warrant, covenant and agree that (a) you will not utilize blind member networks and that you will disclose to us the names of your member sites and properties ("Network Properties") upon our reasonable request; (b) you have advised your Network Properties (and provided appropriate training where applicable) with respect to their obligations under the Advertising Rules in Section 5, including the FTC Endorsement Guides and will advise your Network Properties to comply with our Social Media and Disclosure Policy, attached hereto at Exhibit A; (c) you have implemented reasonable monitoring practices and procedures to ensure that your Network Properties are complying with this Agreement and the Advertising Rules; (e) You will suspend and/or terminate any of your Network Properties from working in connection with us and Pepperjam if they fail to comply with this Advertising Rules. Without limiting the foregoing, you expressly agree and acknowledge that you are responsible for all acts and omissions of your Network Properties and will ensure that each such Network Property has agreed to and will comply with all the terms and conditions of this Agreement that apply to their conduct, including but not limited to the Advertising Rules. You will notify us and Pepperjam immediately if you suspect that any of your Network Properties is in violation of this Agreement or the Advertising Rules.
  3. Right to Use Merchant Content. (a) Subject to the terms and conditions herein, we hereby grant to you, during the term hereof, a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable, non-sublicenseable, non-assignable right to (i) access the Merchant Website through Qualified Links (defined below) provided by us from time to time, and (ii) use and display the Merchant Content (as defined below) that we may make available to you from time to time solely as provided to you through the Network and solely for the purpose of generating the sale of Merchant’s products from your website that we have approved and solely in connection with your participation in this Affiliate Program. Any attempt to sublicense, assign or transfer this right is void. We may terminate your rights to use the Merchant Content for any reason at any time in our sole and absolute discretion.
    • (b) A "Qualifying Link" means a link from your website to our website using one of the URLs or graphic links provided by us (or through the Network) for use in the Affiliate Program that allows Pepperjam to track the use of such links by your visitors. All Qualifying Links that you will use in the Affiliate Program will be provided to you from the Network or by other means selected by us, and only valid Qualifying Links generated by the Network or by us will be tracked for purposes of determining Revenue Share that you may be eligible to receive on sales of products generated through your website. Except for the right to use the Merchant Content provided to you by us hereunder, we are not granting you any rights in, and you represent, warrant, covenant and agree that you will not use, in any manner, any trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, banners, buttons, graphics, digital images, text, or other content or materials owned or controlled by us or any Merchant Party (defined below).
    • (c) Upon termination of this Agreement, for any reason, you shall immediately cease using, displaying or otherwise maintaining any interest in the Merchant Content. For purposes of this Agreement "Merchant Content" means any and all trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, banners, buttons, digital images, graphics, text and other content and material which we may, in our sole discretion, make available to you in connection with this Affiliate Program from time to time.
  4. Special Offers.
    • (a) From time to time, we may post on the Network special offers ("Special Offers") to pay certain members of the Affiliate Program, chosen at our sole discretion, a specified referral fee on sales of certain products. The terms of a Special Offer, as posted on the Network or otherwise communicated to such members, shall be governed by the terms and conditions of this Agreement. However, in the event of any inconsistency between the terms of the Special Offer and the terms of this Agreement, the terms of the Special Offer shall govern.
    • (b) Advance notice of promotions, sales and special events is Confidential Information of ours until such events are publicized by us. From time to time you may be given prior notice of such events so that you may prepare content on your Website. The existence of such event and any Merchant Content provided to you is Confidential Information and may not be disclosed by you prior to the date specified by us. You also agree upon notice to promptly remove any Confidential Information from your site upon our request.
  5. Advertising Rules. IF YOU FAIL TO COMPLY WITH ANY OF THE RESTRICTIONS IN THIS SECTION 5, AT OUR SOLE DISCRETION, YOU FORFEIT ANY COMMISSIONS OR OTHER PAYMENTS OTHERWISE EARNED BY YOU DURING SUCH TIME THAT YOU ARE NOT IN COMPLIANCE. References to ‘your site’ shall also include any of your social media pages and mobile applications.
    • (a) Obtaining and Using Merchant Content. You agree that you will not, except as specifically provided for in this Agreement (i) copy or obtain any images or other content relating to the Merchant from the Merchant Website or elsewhere, except through the Network, (ii) copy or display any Merchant Content, (iii) modify, adapt, translate or create derivative works based on the Merchant Content, (iv) remove, erase, or tamper with any copyright or other proprietary notices in any copy of any of the Merchant Content, (v) sell, market, license, sublicense, distribute, disclose or otherwise grant to any person or entity any right or interest in the Merchant Content, (vi) take any action which may cause deception, confusion or otherwise dilutes the quality of the Merchant Content or the goodwill associated therewith, or (vii) use the Merchant Content in any manner which disparages or portrays us in a false, competitively adverse or poor light.
    • (b) No Search Keyword Purchasing. You agree that you will not purchase or bid for the placement of our business or product names or trademarks or any variation or misspelling thereof within any third party search engine or social media network or other similar website or application (such as keywords and hashtags), including but not limited to Google, Bing, AOL, Yahoo!, MSN, Facebook, Twitter.
    • (c) References to Merchant Website. You also agree to the following additional advertising rules: (i) all advertisements by you must be directed to your site or a page within your site, (ii) none of your advertisements may link directly to the Merchant Website or any page within the Merchant Website, (iii) you will not show the Merchant Website URL as the URL in your ads, (iv) you will not use the words "official site" or words to similar effect in connection with any use of our trademarks, or otherwise suggest or imply that your site is an official Merchant site or partner, and (v) you will stop bidding on any search term at our request.
    • (d) Trademark and Look and Feel Restrictions. Additionally, you agree that (i) you will not include any name, trademark, trade name, service name, logo or similar business identifier, or any variation or misspelling thereof, which is owned or controlled by us in any domain name, URL, or similar identifier used by you, (ii) you will not alter or attempt to alter the look, feel, content, features or functionality of the Merchant Website, (iii) you will immediately substitute or remove any Merchant Content from your websites at our request, (iv) your websites will not in any way copy or resemble the look, feel or content of the Merchant Website or create any impression that your websites are part of the Merchant Website, (v) you will not purchase or contract with any other person or entity to exploit any name, trademark, trade name, service name, logo or similar business identifier, or any variation or misspelling thereof, which is owned or controlled by us for any purpose, (vi) you will not use any Merchant Content in a manner which links or otherwise directs potential customers to any website other than the Merchant Website, and (vii) you will not attempt to intercept or redirect potential customers from or on the Merchant Website or any other website participating in this Affiliate Program.
    • (e) Promotion Codes & Coupons. You may not, without our prior written consent, utilize any promotion, promotion code, coupon, or other promotional opportunity that is not specifically authorized for Merchant's Affiliate Program and explicitly authorized for your use.
    • (f) Communications with Consumers. You may not, without our prior written consent, (i) generate or send any email messages, text or mobile messages, or other electronic messages ("Electronic Messages") using or containing our name or logo, or any variation thereof, or any of our trademarks or products, or any of the Qualifying Links or URLs provided to you as part of the Affiliate Program, (ii) send any Electronic Message that in any way suggests or implies or misleads or is likely to mislead (including without limitation, via the return address, subject heading, header information or message contents) a recipient into believing that we or any Merchant Party (defined below) was the sender or sponsor of such email or procured or induced you to send such email, (iii) forward, redistribute, or otherwise repurpose any Electronic Messages that we send our customers or members of the Network, and (iv) generate or send any unsolicited Electronic Messages in connection with this Agreement unless the recipient has given his or her prior consent to receive such message or any Electronic Messages otherwise in violation of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991 (TCPA) or any other applicable laws or regulations (including any amendments or successor laws).
    • (g) No Text Messages. Notwithstanding the foregoing, you will not send any text messages on behalf of us or any Merchant Party or otherwise in connection with this Agreement.
    • (h) COPPA. You will not collect personal information from sites that are directed to children under the age of 13 or knowingly collect personal information from any child under the age of 13 unless such collection is in accordance with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act ("COPPA"), as amended. Further, you will not knowingly direct or refer any children to the Merchant Site.
    • (i) Endorsements and Testimonials. We require that our Affiliates and affiliate networks comply with all Federal Trade Commission rules and regulations related to advertising and marketing, including, but not limited to, Federal Trade Commission 16 CFR Part 255: Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising ("FTC Endorsement Guides"), which require, among other criteria, that material connections between advertisers and endorsers be disclosed. This means that review/rating sites, blogs, directories, and other websites, email, videos or collateral that purport to provide an endorsement, review or assessment of us or our products, services or sites must prominently disclose that you are a member of the Affiliate Program and that compensation is provided to you. For such reasons, you and your participating website(s) will at all times adhere to FTC Endorsement Guides. If you promote us or our products, services or sites via reviews, blogs, directories, testimonials, endorsements or other forms of promotion or communications, (a) all such promotions or communications will reflect your honest views, opinions and experiences; and (b) you will disclose your affiliate relationship with us in accordance with the FTC Endorsement Guides and our Social Media and Disclosure Policy, attached hereto at Exhibit A.
  6. Property Ownership Rights. You acknowledge and agree that we retain all rights, title and interest in and to all property rights embodied in or associated with the Merchant Content. You represent, warrant, covenant and agree that you will not, and will not assist any third party to, now or in the future, (i) take any action challenging or otherwise inconsistent with our ownership of, or other right in, the Merchant Content, or (ii) register or attempt to register any trademark, service mark, logo, trade name, domain name, or similar business identifier, that contains any name, trademark, service mark, logo, trade name or other content or material owned or controlled by us or any derivation, including misspellings, thereof. All goodwill and benefits accruing from the use of the Merchant Content will automatically vest in us. You agree to cooperate with us and to take any additional actions reasonably requested by us to effect, perfect or confirm our rights, title and interest in the Merchant Content.
  7. Operation and Maintenance of the Merchant Website. (a) You acknowledge and agree that we will accept or reject, in our sole and absolute discretion, all orders by customers for merchandise placed on or through the Merchant Website. You further acknowledge and agree that (i) you do not have any authority to make or accept any offer or commitment on behalf of us, (ii) we cannot, and do not, guarantee the availability of any merchandise or other services offered for sale on the Merchant Website, and (iii) we are solely responsible for all pricing, merchandising, order processing, order fulfillment, shipping, returns and all other aspects of the Merchant Website and the sale of merchandise thereunder. Customers who access the Merchant Website will be deemed our customers. Accordingly, all of our then applicable rules, policies and procedures concerning orders, returns, refunds, customer service, privacy and other terms of use and sale will apply to such customers. As between the parties, all information obtained through the use of the Merchant Website shall be our exclusive property.
    • (b) We may change our policies and operating procedures at any time in our sole discretion. For example, we will determine the prices to be charged for products sold under the Affiliate Program in accordance with our own pricing policies. Product prices and availability may vary from time to time. We will use commercially reasonable efforts to present accurate information, but we cannot guarantee the availability or price of any particular product or the error-free or uninterrupted operation of our website or the Network.
    • (c) Further, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold us and the Merchant Parties (defined below) harmless from all claims, damages, and expenses (including, without limitation, attorneys’ fees) relating to the development, operation, maintenance or content of your website or any of your Network Properties’ websites.
  8. Revenue Share Payments. (a) During the term of this Agreement, we agree to pay you a revenue share (the "Revenue Share") equal to the applicable percentage of Net Revenue determined pursuant to the schedule set forth in the Affiliate Program overview/description materials posted on the Network or otherwise provide by us. We reserve the right, at our sole discretion, to change, modify, add or remove portions of this Revenue Share schedule at any time without notice. For purposes of this Agreement, "Net Revenue" means all cash consideration (not including any portion of payment made through the redemption coupons or credits, or the purchase of gift certificates or gift cards) from merchandise sold in a transaction resulting directly from a Qualifying Link tracked by Pepperjam from your website to the Merchant Website in accordance with this Agreement, where the customer purchases such merchandise, less all taxes, shipping and handling charges, gift wrapping and other value-added service charges, returns and chargebacks. You acknowledge and agree that we will not be obligated to pay any revenue share unless we actually ship the applicable order and receive full payment for such order.
    • (b) A transaction will only be deemed to be resulting directly from a Qualifying Link tracked by Pepperjam from your website to the Merchant Website if:
    • (i) such purchase is made during the time period set forth by us through the Network after the customer has initially entered our website through your tracked Qualifying Link ("Revenue Share Time"). After the Revenue Share Time, we will not pay referral fees on any products that are added to a customer's shopping cart after the customer has re-entered our website (other than through a Qualifying Link from your website), even if the customer previously followed a link from your website to our website.
    • (ii) your tracked Qualifying Link is the most recent referral to the Merchant Site prior to such purchase among all marketing channels tracked by us or Pepperjam. If we or Pepperjam are able to track a referral from another marketing channel (e.g. another affiliate, comparison shopping engine, paid search, banner advertisement or any other trackable marketing channel) that is more recent that your Qualifying Link, then the resulting purchase will be deemed to not be directly resulting from your tracked Qualifying Link.
    • (iii) all determinations of Qualifying Links and whether a referral fee is payable will be made by us and Pepperjam and will be final and binding on you.
    • (c) Subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement, we will pay you the above-described Revenue Share on a monthly basis. We will send, or cause to be sent, to you a check for the Revenue Share earned, less any taxes or other amounts that we may be required by law to withhold. No interest will be paid on any such amount held by us. If a Revenue Share payment is made hereunder and relates to merchandise that is later returned by the customer, the applicable Revenue Share will be deducted from the next applicable payment hereunder. If any portion of such Revenue Share cannot be recovered through a deduction, we will invoice you for such amount and you agree to pay this amount within 30 days after receipt of such invoice. Upon termination of this Agreement, we will send, or cause to be sent, to you, a check for the total amount of Revenue Share then owed to you as of the termination date. The final Revenue Share payment may be withheld by us for a reasonable period of time to ensure that the correct amount is to be paid after making any adjustments that may be required, including, but not limited to, adjustments for returns.
  9. Pepperjam Tracking. (a) We will track sales made to customers who purchase products using Qualified Links, that you will generate using Pepperjam's technology, from your website to our website, and reports summarizing this sales activity will be available to you also through the Network. The form, content, and frequency of the reports are limited to those reports and capabilities available through the Network and may vary from time to time in our and Pepperjam's reasonable discretion. We are not responsible for any changes that Pepperjam may make in their reporting format, timing, or types of reports available to the members of our Affiliate Program. To permit accurate tracking, reporting and fee accrual, you must ensure that the links between your website and our website are properly formatted. We are not responsible for improperly formatted links regardless of whether you have made amendments to the code or not. In addition, we are unable to track or provide you credit for sales from customers that are referred to us with browsers that do not have their cookies setting enabled. You hereby agree not to disclose the such information contained in Pepperjam reports regarding us to any third party without our prior written consent and that such information is the property and Confidential Information of ours.
    • (b) You represent, warrant, covenant, and agree that (i) you are a member of Pepperjam’s network affiliate program, and (ii) you will not bypass, modify, circumvent, impair, disable or otherwise interfere with any links, web beacons, cookies or other technology provided by us or Pepperjam.
  10. Responsibility for Your Websites and Your Participation.
    • (a) You will be solely responsible for the development, operation, and maintenance of all websites that are linked to the Merchant Website hereunder and for all content, technology and other materials that appear on such websites. You acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for complying with all of the terms and conditions hereof and all applicable laws, rules and regulations. You represent, warrant, covenant, and agree that:
    • (i) you will not state or imply that we sponsor, endorse, sanction or otherwise approve your website or any of your products or service,
    • (ii) you will not state or imply that you are a partner or agent of ours or otherwise take any action that could reasonably cause customers confusion as to our relationship with you,
    • (iii) you will not take any action that could reasonably cause customers confusion as to the website on which any data collection, purchase transaction or other functions are occurring,
    • (iv) you will make no false or deceptive representations regarding the association of you with us or Pepperjam,
    • (v) at all times during and after the term of this Agreement, you will protect all of our and Pepperjam's Confidential Information (as defined below) that you obtain or otherwise have access to with the same degree of care that you use to protect your own confidential and proprietary information but in no event less than a reasonable standard of care,
    • (vi) you will only use our and Pepperjam's Confidential Information to the extent necessary to perform your obligations hereunder, and
    • (vii) you will not use or display any trademark, service mark, logo or other content of Pepperjam or infringe any of Pepperjam's intellectual property rights,
    • (viii) you will promptly notify us and Pepperjam of any malfunctioning of the Qualifying Links or other problems with your participation in the Program,
    • (b) For purposes of this Agreement, "Confidential Information" means all non-public information provided or obtained by you about us or any Merchant Party, including, without limitation, all customer information, and all business and sales information related to transactions through this Affiliate Program. You will protect our Confidential Information from misappropriation and unauthorized use or disclosure, and at a minimum, will take precautions at least as great as those taken to protect your own confidential information of a similar nature. You will use such Confidential Information solely for the purposes for which it has been disclosed and not for the benefit of any third party.
  11. Violation of Terms and Affiliate Indemnification.
    • (a) Violation of any of the terms, conditions or prohibitions contained in this Agreement may result in, among other things, the immediate termination of this Agreement and the commencement of an action by us against you seeking, without limitation, injunctive relief, and the recovery of actual, statutory and punitive damages.
    • (b) You, at your own cost and expense, will indemnify, defend and hold harmless, us, Pepperjam, our and their respective parents, subsidiaries and company affiliates, and each of their respective directors, officers, employees, agents, successors and assigns (collectively, the "Merchant Parties") against any claim, suit, action, judgment, liability, loss, cost, expenses and other damages (even if such claims are groundless, fraudulent or false), including reasonable attorney's fees, based upon or in connection with (i) any breach or alleged breach of your representations, warranties, covenants agreements, or obligations hereunder, (ii) your websites, your Network Properties or any other related business, or any content, technology or other materials displayed or contained thereon, including but not limited to with respect to claims of misappropriation or infringement, (iii) your (including your Network Properties’) failure or alleged failure to comply with any applicable law, rule or regulation, including, but not limited to, the Federal Trade Commission Act and/or the FTC Endorsement Guides; (iv) the collection of personal information from sites directed to children under 13 years of age or from children under 13 years of age, including, but not limited to, any claims for violations of COPPA; (vi) claims for unsolicited text-messages, email, spamming and/or violation of the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003, the Telephone Consumer Protection Act of 1991, and the Telemarketing Sales Rule, (vii) your misuse, unauthorized modification or unauthorized use of the services or materials provided by us or Pepperjam hereunder, or (viii) any actual or alleged wrongful or negligent act or omission by you.
  12. Term and Termination. (a) This Agreement shall automatically terminate on the date on which we no longer maintain or you are no longer a member of the Affiliate Program contemplated hereunder. Additionally, either party may terminate this Agreement at any time and for any reason by providing notice (including via e-mail) to the other party. We may also terminate this Agreement immediately, without notice, if we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have breached this Agreement or that your website(s) is unsuitable to participate in this Affiliate Program. If you do not generate at least fifty (50) click-throughs or at least one sale per month through Qualifying Links, you may be removed from the Affiliate Program. Either party may terminate a Special Offer at any time by deleting its acceptance through the Network, and such termination of a Special Offer shall not be deemed a termination of this Agreement or any other Special Offers. Sections 3(c), 4(b), 10-23 (together with all other provisions that may reasonably be interpreted as surviving termination or expiration of this Agreement) will survive any termination or expiration of this Agreement.
    • (b) Upon termination of this Agreement, you will immediately cease use of, and remove from your website, all links to our website and all Merchant Content.
    • (c) You are only eligible to earn a Revenue Share on sales of products occurring during the term of this Agreement, and referral fees earned through the date of termination will remain payable only if the related orders are not canceled or returned by a customer. In addition, we may invoice you for Revenue Share that was paid to you prior to termination if those referral fees relate to products that are subsequently canceled or returned by a customer. In the event an overpayment is made by us, you agree to promptly remit such overpayment to us upon notification by us. We may withhold your final payment for a reasonable time to ensure that the correct amount is paid.
  13. Modification of Agreement. We reserve the right to modify this Agreement, at any time in our sole discretion, by posting a change of notice or a new agreement on the Network, and, if applicable, on the Merchant Website. IF ANY MODIFICATION IS UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU, YOU AGREE THAT YOUR SOLE RECOURSE IS TO TERMINATE THIS AGREEMENT. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THE MERCHANT CONTENT AND PARTICIPATION IN THIS AFFILIATE PROGRAM FOLLOWING ANY MODIFICATION OF THIS AGREEMENT SHALL CONSTITUTE CONCLUSIVE AND BINDING ACCEPTANCE TO ANY MODIFICATION OR NEW AGREEMENT.
  14. Warranty Disclaimer. NEITHER WE NOR ANY OTHER MERCHANT PARTY MAKES ANY WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS, OR GUARANTEES, WITH REGARD TO THE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES SOLD THROUGH THE MERCHANT WEBSITE, THE OPERATION AND MAINTENANCE OF THE MERCHANT WEBSITE OR THE NETWORK, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ARISING BY LAW OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT OR ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY ARISING FROM COURSE OF PERFORMANCE, COURSE OF DEALING, OR USAGE OF TRADE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, NEITHER WE NOR ANY OTHER MERCHANT PARTY MAKES ANY REPRESENTATION THAT THE OPERATION OF THE MERCHANT WEBSITE OR THE NETWORK WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE.
  15. Limitation of Damages. NEITHER WE NOR PEPPERJAM OR ANY OTHER MERCHANT PARTY WILL HAVE ANY LIABILITY (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, WARRANTY, TORT (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCT LIABILITY OR OTHER THEORY) FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR FOR ANY LOSS OF REVENUE, DATA OR PROFITS ARISING UNDER OR WITH RESPECT TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE AFFILIATE PROGRAM. FURTHER, THE TOTAL, AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF THE MERCHANT PARTIES ARISING UNDER OR WITH RESPECT TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE AFFILIATE PROGRAM WILL IN NO EVENT EXCEED THE TOTAL REVENUE SHARE PAID OR PAYABLE BY US TO YOU UNDER THIS AGREEMENT DURING THE PRECEDING TWELVE (12) MONTH PERIOD PRIOR TO THE DATE SUCH LIABILITY AROSE. ALL CLAIMS MADE HEREUNDER BY YOU AGAINST ANY MERCHANT PARTY SHALL BE MADE WITHIN 120 DAYS OF THE ACT OR OMISSION THAT FORMS THE BASIS OF SUCH CLAIMS.
  16. Independent Contractors. We, you, and Pepperjam are each independent contractors and nothing in this Agreement or in any Pepperjam affiliate program documents is intended to or will create any form of partnership, joint venture, agency, franchise, sales representative, or employment relationship.
  17. Governing Law/Arbitration. This Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the substantive laws of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, excluding its conflict of laws principles. You hereby submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") in connection with any dispute relating to, concerning, or arising out of this Agreement. The arbitration before the AAA shall proceed solely on an individual basis without the right for any claims to be arbitrated on a class action basis or on bases involving claims brought in a purported representative capacity on behalf of others. The arbitrator’s authority to resolve and make written awards is limited to claims between you and us (and/or another Merchant Party) alone. Claims may not be joined on consolidated unless agreed to in a writing by all parties. No arbitration award or decision will have any preclusive effect as to issues or claims in any dispute with anyone who is not a named party to the arbitration. Notwithstanding any other provisions in this Agreement, and without waiving any party’s right to appeal, if any portion of this provision is deemed invalid or unenforceable, the validity, legality and enforceability of the remaining provisions in this Agreement will not in any way be affected or impaired thereby. Subject to and without limiting the foregoing, any lawsuit relating to this Agreement must be brought in the federal or state courts located in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania.
  18. Press Release; Publicity. You agree that you will not issue any press release or make any other similar public announcement that in any way makes any reference to us or Pepperjam without our prior written consent, which consent may be withheld in our sole discretion.
  19. Force Majeure. Our performance under this Agreement shall be excused to the extent that such performance is hindered, delayed or made commercially impractical by causes beyond our reasonable control.
  20. Headings. The titles and headings of the various sections and paragraphs in this Agreement are intended solely for convenience of reference and are not intended for any other purpose whatsoever, or to explain, modify, or place any construction upon or on any of the provisions of this Agreement.
  21. Assignment. You may not assign this Agreement or any of your rights or delegate any of your obligations under this Agreement, by operation of law or otherwise, without our prior written consent, and any such attempted assignment shall be void. Subject to such restriction, this Agreement will be binding on, inure to the benefit of, and enforceable against the parties and their respective successors and assigns.
  22. Waiver. Our failure to enforce strict performance of any provision of this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of its right to subsequently enforce such provision or any other provision of this Agreement.
  23. Entire Agreement and Related Media Purchase. This Agreement, the Revenue Share schedule, and (if applicable) the IAB Standard Terms (as defined below) represent the complete agreement and understanding between us and you and supersedes any other oral or written communications or understandings between us and you regarding the subject matter hereof. No amendment or modification to this Agreement will be binding upon us unless agreed to by an authorized representative of us. Notwithstanding the foregoing, the AAAA/IAB Standard Terms and Conditions for Internet Advertising for Media Buys One Year or Less (Ver. 3.0) found at http://www.iab.net/media/file/IAB_4As-tsandcs-FINAL.pdf (the "IAB Standard Terms") shall govern any purchase of CPC Deliverables or CPM Deliverables (each as defined in the IAB Standard Terms) from you by us; provided that Sections 11, 14, and 15 of this Agreement shall apply to purchases of such Deliverables in addition to and not in lieu of the provisions in the IAB Standard Terms. No terms, provisions or conditions of any purchase order, acknowledgment, click-through agreement or other business form that you may use or any handwritten changes by you will serve to alter or have any effect on the terms of this Agreement or the IAB Standard Terms, regardless of any apparent acceptance thereof by us or any Merchant Party.
    -- End Of Agreement --

    EXHIBIT A
    Social Media Policy & Disclosure Guidelines

    These Social Media Policy & Disclosure Guidelines (the "Guidelines") set forth disclosure guidelines for our affiliates and our affiliate networks. The Guidelines should be read together with our and Pepperjam’s other policies.

    A. Disclosure of "Material Connections" Under FTC Endorsement Guides

    We and Pepperjam believe in full, fair and effective disclosures of "material connections" relating to your relationship with us in accordance with Federal Trade Commission’s Guides Concerning Endorsements and Testimonials ("FTC Endorsement Guides"), located at http://www.ftc.gov/os/2009/10/091005revisedendorsementguides.pdf.

    As such, we require that all our affiliates and affiliate networks adhere to the FTC Endorsement Guides and disclose their "material connections" when publishing content about us and our products, services and sites, including, but not limited to, on review/rating sites, blogs, directories, and other websites, or via email, videos or collateral that purport to provide an endorsement or assessment in connection with the Network.

    B. How to disclose "Material Connections"
    In order to comply with the FTC Endorsement Guides, your disclosure should be frequent, clear, conspicuous, and require no user action in accordance with the following guidelines:
    1. Frequent
    Your disclosure must appear on any page that has a review, recommendation, comment or article that promotes a product for which you receive any form of compensation. Placing a single disclosure on your home page or a link to a disclosure in your footer is not sufficient.
    2. Clear
    It must be immediately clear at the outset that you receive compensation for your review. This disclosure should be in language that is easy to understand and should not be in legalese.
    For example, the following disclosure is an example of an acceptable disclosure:
    Disclosure: We are a review site that receives compensation from the companies whose products we review. We are independently owned and the opinions expressed here are our own.
    3. Conspicuous
    The disclosure must be conspicuous and easy to view on your site. For the disclosure to be considered conspicuous, the font, color and size should be prominent and at least as and easily readable as the main text, including:
    • The disclosure should be appropriately titled, such as "Disclosure: " to highlight its purpose.
    • At least as large or larger as the main text on the page.
    • In contrast with the background and the main text.
    • Darker than its background or its main text.
    4. Require No User Action
    Your disclosure must be immediately visible to anyone who visits your site and reads a review, ranking or an endorsement. A visitor should not be required to scroll, click or hover to read the disclosure.
    • Scrolling: Your disclosure should appear above the fold so that the visitor does not have to scroll down to see it.
    • Mousing over: Visitors should not have to mouse over your link to view your disclosure.
    • Clicking: Visitors should not have to click a link to view your disclosure. Clickable links are only acceptable if the fact you are compensated is still obvious without clicking. For example:
    Acceptable: Disclosure: We are compensated for our reviews. Click here for details.
    Unacceptable: Click here to read our FTC disclosure.
    Please take steps immediately to make sure that your site is in compliance with these guidelines.

    *******

    You are advised to seek and obtain your own legal advice on how these Guidelines apply to your website or other promotional activities in connection with the Affiliate Program.
    We will monitor affiliate sites to verify compliance with the FTC Endorsement Guides. We reserve the right to withhold commission fees and/or suspend or cancel the affiliate relationship with you should we determine, in our sole and absolute discretion, that you are not in compliance with the FTC Endorsement Guides or these Guidelines.