Terms of Use

We welcome the re-use, republication, and distribution of original RFA content published on this website only on the condition that you credit us by including the following information: Copyright © 1998-2023, RFA. Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia, 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington DC 20036.

For any commercial use of RFA content please send an email to: contentrequests@rfa.org. RFA content may not be used in a manner which would give the appearance of any endorsement of any product or support of any issue or political position.

Please read the full text of our Terms of Use.


Acceptance of the Terms of Use

The following terms and conditions, collectively with any and all documents they expressly incorporate by reference (collectively, these “Terms of Use”), govern your access to and use of the website operated by Radio Free Asia, Inc. (“RFA”, “we”, “our”, or “us”) at www.rfa.org, including all RSS feeds provided by RFA at www.rfa.org (“RSS Feeds”), RFA Content (as defined below), and other content, features, functionality, and services offered on or through such website (collectively, the “Website”).

Please read these Terms of Use carefully before you start to use the Website. By accessing and using the Website, you (a) accept and agree to be bound and abide by these Terms of Use (including our Privacy Policy found at www.rfa.org/about/info/privacy-policy.html, which is incorporated herein by this reference), and (b) represent and warrant that you have the right, capacity, and authority to enter into these Terms of Use. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use (including our Privacy Policy), do not access or use the Website.

International Users

The owner of the Website does not broadcast in the United States, and the Website is intended for overseas audiences.

Changes to the Terms of Use

We reserve the right, without notice to you, to revise and update these Terms of Use from time to time in our sole discretion. All changes are effective immediately when we post them and apply to all access to and use of the Website thereafter. However, any change to the dispute resolution provisions set forth in the “Governing Law and Jurisdiction” section below will not apply to any dispute of which the parties have actual notice prior to the date the change is posted on the Website.

Your continued use of the Website following the posting of revised Terms of Use means that you accept and agree to be bound by the changes. You should check this page each time you access the Website so that you are aware of any and all changes that may be made to these Terms of Use.

if you do not agree to the revised terms of use, your only remedy is to discontinue your use of the website. 

Accessing the Website

We reserve the right to withdraw or amend the Website, or any material we provide on the Website, in our sole discretion without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason all or any part of the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to all or any part of the Website to you or any other user.

Information about You and Your Visits to the Website

You may be asked to provide certain information in order to contact us through the Website. It is a condition of your access to and use of the Website that all the information you provide on or through the Website is correct, current, and complete, and you are responsible for contacting us to update your information as it changes. You agree that all information we collect (including any information you provide through the use of any interactive feature) on the Website is governed by and subject to our Privacy Policy, and you consent to all actions we take with respect to your information consistent with our Privacy Policy.

Intellectual Property Rights

The Website and its entire contents, features, and functionality (including all information, software, text, displays, images, video, and audio, and the design, selection, and arrangement thereof) are owned by RFA, its licensors, or other providers of such material and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, and other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws. No right, title, or interest in or to the Website or any content on the Website is transferred or assigned to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by RFA. Any use of the Website not expressly permitted by these Terms of Use is a breach of these Terms of Use and may violate copyright, trademark, and other laws.

Your Use of the Website

These Terms of Use permit you to use the Website solely for your personal, non-commercial, general information and educational purposes (collectively, the “Permitted Purposes”). You may not reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display, publicly perform, republish, download, store, or transmit any of the material on the Website, except as follows:

  • Your computer may temporarily store copies of such materials in memory incidental to your accessing and viewing those materials.
  • You may store files that are automatically cached by your browser for display enhancement purposes.
  • You may print or download one copy of a reasonable number of pages of the Website for a Permitted Purpose and, except as otherwise expressly provided herein, not for further reproduction, publication, or distribution.
  • You may republish or distribute RFA Content strictly in accordance with the “RFA Content” section below.
  • You may display, excerpt from, and link to RSS Feeds strictly in accordance with the “RSS Feeds” section below.

You may not:

  • modify any copy of any material from the Website;
  • use any illustration, photograph, video or audio sequence, or graphic separately from the accompanying text from the Website;
  • delete or alter any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights notices from any copy of any material from the Website; or
  • access or use for any purpose other than a Permitted Purpose any part of the Website or any service or material available on or through the Website.

If you print, copy, modify, download, or otherwise use or provide any other person with access to any part of the Website in breach of these Terms of Use, your right to use the Website will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any and all copies of the Website materials you have made. 

RFA Content

You may republish or distribute original RFA content (including any written, audio, visual, or graphic material) that is owned by RFA and published only on the Website (“RFA Content”), solely for the Permitted Purposes, on the condition and to the extent that you credit RFA in connection with such republishing or distribution of RFA Content by prominently displaying the following text in connection with such republishing or distribution:

“Copyright © 1998-2023, RFA.
Used with the permission of Radio Free Asia,
2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20036.
https://www.rfa.org.”

Without limiting any of the foregoing in this “RFA Content” section, if you republish or distribute any excerpt of any RFA Content, you (a) shall designate such excerpt as an “excerpt” of such RFA Content and (b) shall not use any such excerpt in any manner that alters, distorts, changes, misconstrues, or misrepresents the fundamental meaning of the original RFA Content, as determined by RFA in its sole discretion.

If you are interested in using any RFA Content for any commercial purpose (which use, for the sake of clarity, is strictly prohibited under these Terms of Use), please send an email to: contentrequests@rfa.org. All requests for RFA Content to be distributed within the United States and U.S. territories must comply with the U.S. Information and Educational Exchange Act of 1948, known as the Smith-Mundt Act. For more information on Smith-Mundt, visit https://www.usagm.gov/who-we-are/oversight/legislation/smith-mundt-faqs/.

RSS Feeds

You may display, excerpt from, and link to RSS Feeds solely for the Permitted Purposes, provided that:

  • any such link directs the user to the appropriate portion of the Website in accordance with the “Linking to the Website” section of these Terms of Use;
  • the use or display does not suggest that RFA promotes or endorses any other person’s opinion, cause, idea, website, product, or service;
  • the fundamental meaning of the content contained in any RSS Feed, including the headlines and summaries thereof, is not changed or distorted;
  • you do not modify any news story or other content linked to by any RSS Feed; and
  • you provide attribution to RFA adjacent to the RSS Feed by including “RFA News Headlines” in text or by displaying the RFA logo contained in the RSS Feed, without modification.

Without limiting any other right or remedy of RFA under this Agreement, at law, or in equity, RFA reserves the right to discontinue providing any RSS Feed and to require that you cease accessing or using the RSS Feeds (or any content contained in any RSS Feed) at any time for any reason.

Trademarks

Radio Free Asia®, RFA®, all RFA program names and all related names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans are trademarks of RFA or its affiliates or licensors. You may not use any such trademark without the prior written permission of RFA. All other names, logos, product and service names, designs, and slogans appearing on the Website are the trademarks of their respective owners.

Code of Conduct

You may use the Website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use. You agree not to use the Website:

  • in any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local, or international law, rule, or regulation (including any law regarding the export of data or software to or from the United States or any other country);
  • to transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material, including any “junk mail,” “chain letter,” “spam,” or other similar solicitation;
  • to impersonate or attempt to impersonate RFA, any RFA employee, another user, or any other person or entity (including by using any email address or user name associated with any of the foregoing); or
  • to engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s access to or use or enjoyment of the Website or which, as determined by us in or sole discretion, may harm RFA, any of its affiliates, or any user of the Website or expose any of the foregoing to liability.

Additionally, you agree not to:

  • use the Website in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the Website or interfere with any other person’s use of the Website, including such person’s ability to engage in any activity through the Website;
  • use any robot, script, spider, or other automatic device, process, or means to access the Website for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material available on or through the Website;
  • use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the Website for any purpose not expressly authorized in these Terms of Use, without our prior written consent;
  • use any device, software, or routine that interferes or is designed to interfere with the proper working of the Website;
  • introduce to the Website any virus, trojan horse, worm, logic bomb, or other code or material that is malicious or technologically harmful;
  • attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage, or disrupt any part of the Website, the server on which the Website is stored, or any server, computer, or database connected to or used with the Website;
  • attack the Website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack; 
  • otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Website; or
  • Post any User Content (each as defined below) that contains any defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory, or otherwise objectionable material or that advocates, promotes, or assists any unlawful act.

User Contributions

The Website may allow you to post, submit, publish, display, transmit, or otherwise provide or make available to RFA, other users, or other persons (“Post”) content or materials (collectively, “User Content”) on or through the Website. All User Content must (and you represent and warrant to us that all User Content shall) comply with these Terms of Use, including the “Code of Conduct” section above. You understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for any User Content you submit or contribute, and you, not RFA, have full responsibility for such User Content, including its legality, reliability, accuracy, and appropriateness. We are not responsible or liable to any third party for the content or accuracy of any User Content.

If you Post any User Content on or through the Website (or if you provide us any idea, proposal, suggestion, or other material, whether related to this Website, any of our products or services, or otherwise (collectively, “Feedback”)), you hereby:

  • acknowledge and agree that (a) such User Content and Feedback are not confidential and not proprietary to you and (b) your provision of such User Content and Feedback is gratuitous, unsolicited, and without restriction and does not place us under any fiduciary or other obligation; 
  • grant to us a perpetual, irrevocable, non-terminable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to use, copy, distribute, publicly display, modify, create derivative works, and sublicense such User Content and Feedback for any and all purposes; and
  • represent and warrant to us that you have all rights and licenses necessary to make the grant made by you above in this “User Contributions” section of these Terms of Use, free and clear of any conflicting agreement, adverse claim, or interest of any third party.

Reliance on Information Provided on the Website

The information and materials presented to you on or through the Website are made available solely for general information purposes. Such information and materials may include inaccuracies and typographical errors, and you should not rely on any information or material contained on or made available through the Website and should always independently investigate the accuracy and completeness of all information and materials presented. We do not make any representation or warranty with respect to the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of any such information or material, and we disclaim all liability, whether direct or consequential, arising from or relating to any reliance placed on any such information or material by (a) you or any other visitor to or user of the Website or (b) any person who may be informed of any of the content of any such information or material.

Third-Party Content

This Website may include content provided by third parties, including materials provided by third-party licensors, syndicators, aggregators, and/or reporting services. All statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials, and all articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the content provided by RFA, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity providing those materials. These materials do not necessarily reflect the opinion of RFA. We are not responsible, or liable to you or any third party, for the content, accuracy, or reliability of any materials provided by any third parties. Such content is provided solely as a convenience and does not imply any affiliation, sponsorship, endorsement, approval, investigation, verification, or monitoring of such content.

Copyright Infringement

RFA respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, provide the information listed below to RFA’s Copyright Agent via email at contact@rfa.org.

  • A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright.
  • A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed.
  • A description of the material that you claim to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information sufficient to permit us to locate the material.
  • Your contact information such as address, telephone number, and e-mail address.
  • A statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
  •  A statement that the information in the notification is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that you are the copyright owner or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of a copyright that is allegedly infringed.

Links to Third-Party Sites

If the Website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your convenience only. We have no control over the contents of those sites or resources and accept no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your access to or use of them. If you decide to access any of the third-party website linked to or from this Website, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such third-party website.

Changes to the Website

We may update the content on this Website from time to time, but such content is not necessarily complete or up to date at any given time. Any of the material on the Website may be out of date at any given time, and we are under no obligation to update such material. We reserve the right to withdraw or update the Website, in our sole discretion and with or without notice to you. We will not be liable if, for any reason, all or any part of the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period of time. 

Linking to the Website

RFA is an organization committed to the highest journalistic ethics and standards and to independent, non-commercial journalism. You may link to the Website homepage, provided you do so in a way that is fair, legal, non-commercial, and consistent with these Terms of Use and does not damage or take advantage of our reputation. You may not (a) establish any such link in any way that suggests any form of association, approval, or endorsement on our part without our express written consent or (b) cause the Website or any portion thereof to be displayed on, or appear to be displayed by, any other website (e.g., via framing, deep linking, or in-line linking). We reserve the right to withdraw permission for any link at any time.

Disclaimer of Warranties

You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that any file available for download from the Internet or the Website will be free of any virus or other destructive or malicious code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures, safeguards, and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of data input and output and for maintaining a means external to the Website for reconstruction of any lost data.

we are not and will not be liable for any loss or damage caused by any distributed denial-of-service attack, virus, or other technologically harmful material that may infect any of your computer equipment, computer programs, data, or other proprietary materials due to your use of the website or any service or item accessible or obtained on or through the website or to your downloading of any material posted on the website or any third-party website linked to or from the website.

your use of the website, its content, and all services and items accessible or obtained on or through such website is at your own risk. the website, its content, and all services and items accessible or obtained on or through such website are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without any warranty or representation of any kind, whether express or implied. neither rfa nor any of its affiliates, nor any person associated with rfa or any of its affiliates, makes any warranty or representation with respect to the completeness, security, reliability, quality, accuracy, or availability of the website. without limiting the foregoing, neither rfa nor any of its affiliates, nor any person associated with rfa or any of its affiliates, represents or warrants that the website, its content, or any service or item accessible or obtained on or through the website will be accurate, reliable, error-free, or uninterrupted, that any defect will be corrected, that the website or the server that makes such website available is free of any virus or any other harmful component, or that the website or any service or item accessible or obtained on or through the website will otherwise meet any of your needs or expectations.

rfa hereby disclaims all warranties and representations of any kind, whether express or implied, statutory or otherwise, including all warranties of merchantability, non-infringement, and fitness for particular purpose. the foregoing does not affect any warranty that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law.

Limitation of Liability

in no event will rfa, any of its affiliates, or any of the respective licensors, service providers, employees, agents, officers, or directors of any of the foregoing be liable for any damages of any kind, under any legal theory, arising out of or in connection with your use, or inability to use, the website, any third-party website linked to or from the website, any content accessible or obtained on or through the website or any such third-party website, or any service or items accessible or obtained on or through the website or any such third-party website, including any direct, indirect, special, incidental, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including personal injury, pain and suffering, emotional distress, loss of revenue, loss of profits, loss of business or anticipated savings, loss of use, loss of goodwill, or loss of data, whether caused by tort (including negligence), breach of contract, or otherwise, even if foreseeable. the foregoing does not affect any liability that cannot be excluded or limited under applicable law (including consumer protection law). some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of liability for consequential or incidental damages. accordingly, all or a portion of these limitations may not apply to you.

You agree that the above exclusions and limitations of liability are reasonable in accordance with each of your and our obligations and level of risk under these Terms of Use.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless RFA, its affiliates, and the respective licensors, service providers, suppliers, officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, successors, and assigns of each of the foregoing from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, and fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of these Terms of Use or your access to or use of the Website, including (a) your use of any of the Website’s content, services, or products other than as expressly authorized in these Terms of Use, (b) your use of any information or material obtained from the Website, or (c) any User Content.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms of Use and any and all disputes and claim arising from or related to the Website (in each case, including non-contractual disputes and claims) shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the District of Columbia without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the District of Columbia or any other jurisdiction).

Any legal suit, action, or proceeding arising out of or related to these Terms of Use or the Website shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States or the courts of the District of Columbia, although we retain the right to bring any suit, action, or proceeding against you for breach of these Terms of Use in the jurisdiction of your residence or any other jurisdiction. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.

You Must Bring Claims within One Year

any cause of action or claim you may have arising out of or relating to these terms of use or the website must be commenced within one (1) year after the cause of action accrues; otherwise, such cause of action or claim is permanently barred.

Waiver and Severability

No waiver by RFA of any term or condition set forth in these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or a waiver of any other term or condition, and any failure of RFA to assert a right or provision under these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

If any provision of these Terms of Use is held by a court or other tribunal of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of these Terms of Use will continue in full force and effect.

Assignment

We may freely assign our rights and obligations under this agreement, without notice to you. This agreement may not be assigned by you without our prior written consent.

No Third-Party Rights

Except for your indemnification and defense obligations, these Terms of Use do not and are not intended to confer any right or remedy upon any person other than the parties.

Entire Agreement; Construction

These Terms of Use (including our Privacy Policy) constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and RFA with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations, and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to such subject matter. For purposes of these Terms of Use, the word “including” and words of similar import means “including, without limitation”.

Contact Us

The Website is operated by Radio Free Asia, Inc., 2025 M St. NW, Suite 300, Washington, D.C. 20036. 

All Feedback, comments, requests for technical support, and other communications relating to the Website should be directed to contact@rfa.org

Last Modified: September 13, 2023