Terms of Service

01 · Acceptance of terms

By accessing or using SmartBoats.org (the "Site"), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service (the "Terms") and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not use the Site.

These Terms form a legally binding agreement between you and the operator of SmartBoats.org ("we," "us," or "our"). You must be at least 13 years old to use the Site. If you are between 13 and 18 (or the age of majority in your jurisdiction), you represent that you have your parent or legal guardian's permission to use the Site.

02 · Description of service

SmartBoats.org is an independent commercial publication providing:

• A directory of vendors selling connected-boat, marine IoT, and smart-boating products.
• Long-form buyer's guides covering specific product categories.
• Learning resources explaining marine technology concepts.
• Affiliate links to retailers where products may be purchased.

We are not a retailer. We do not sell products. We do not take orders, process payments, ship items, or provide customer support for products. When you click through an affiliate link and complete a purchase, you are transacting entirely with that retailer under their terms.

Despite our .org domain, SmartBoats.org is operated as a commercial sole proprietorship and is not a nonprofit organization.

03 · Accuracy & editorial policy

We take reasonable care to ensure the information on the Site is accurate at the time of publication. Our methodology is documented on our About page. However:

• Prices change — the prices we quote in guides are accurate at the time of writing and verified quarterly, but they can be stale by the time you read them. Always verify the current price before buying.
• Product availability changes — products we recommend may become discontinued, out of stock, or replaced by newer versions.
• Specifications can be wrong — we source specifications from vendor documentation, which is sometimes incorrect or incomplete.
• Our recommendations are opinions — we form them in good faith based on research, but reasonable people (and industry experts) can disagree.
• We don't bench-test — our guides are syntheses of publicly available information and community feedback, not firsthand testing. See our About page for the full methodology disclosure.

You should verify important information independently before making a purchase decision. We are not responsible for decisions you make based on the Site's content.

04 · Affiliate relationships

SmartBoats.org participates in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. We also participate in other affiliate programs as disclosed on our About page.

As an Amazon Associate we earn from qualifying purchases. When you click a link on our Site that routes through our /go/* redirect system and complete a purchase at the destination retailer, we may receive a commission. This never affects the price you pay.

We disclose affiliate relationships in accordance with the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) Endorsement Guides. Every page that contains affiliate links carries a visible disclosure before those links appear.

05 · Intellectual property

All content on SmartBoats.org — including text, graphics, logos, layouts, and compilations — is owned by SmartBoats.org or its content providers and is protected by United States and international copyright law.

You may: read, print for personal non-commercial use, quote brief excerpts with proper attribution and a link back, and share links to our pages on social media.

You may not: reproduce substantial portions of our content, republish our guides on other sites (including with attribution), scrape our data systematically, train machine learning models on our content without a separate license, or use our brand name or logo to imply endorsement of products or services.

Third-party trademarks mentioned on the Site (product names, brand names, company names) are the property of their respective owners and are used for identification purposes only. Their mention does not imply endorsement of SmartBoats.org by those parties.

06 · User submissions

If you submit information to us — whether through the "Get listed" form, by email, or otherwise — you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free license to use that information for the purpose of operating the Site (for example, evaluating a vendor for listing, responding to your inquiry, or quoting your feedback with attribution).

You represent and warrant that:

• You have the right to provide the information you submit.
• The information is accurate to the best of your knowledge.
• Your submission does not infringe any third party's rights.
• Your submission does not contain unlawful, defamatory, or malicious content.

We reserve the right to decline any submission without explanation. Submitting a vendor listing request does not guarantee inclusion in the directory — our editorial standards determine what gets listed.

07 · Third-party links

The Site contains links to third-party websites, including retailer product pages, vendor sites, and reference materials. We do not control these external sites and are not responsible for their content, privacy practices, or availability.

When you click an external link, you leave SmartBoats.org and enter that website's ecosystem. The terms and privacy policy of that site govern your use of it. We recommend reviewing those documents before providing information.

Inclusion of a link does not imply our endorsement of the linked site's content, operator, or products beyond what we explicitly state on our Site.

08 · Acceptable use

When using SmartBoats.org, you agree not to:

• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any part of the Site, server, or database.
• Use automated tools (scrapers, bots, crawlers) to extract content in ways that violate robots.txt or impose unreasonable load on our servers. Normal search engine indexing is welcome.
• Transmit viruses, malware, or any code designed to interfere with the Site's operation.
• Use the Site to send spam or unsolicited communications.
• Impersonate anyone or misrepresent your affiliation with any entity.
• Harvest email addresses or other contact information for commercial purposes without consent.
• Frame, deep-link, or mirror the Site in ways that obscure our branding or attribution.
• Use our content to train machine learning models without separate written permission.
• Reverse engineer, decompile, or attempt to extract the source code of any automated features.
• Violate any applicable law or regulation.

09 · Disclaimers

Without limiting the above:

• We do not warrant that the Site will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free.
• We do not warrant that information on the Site is accurate, complete, reliable, current, or error-free.
• We do not warrant that defects will be corrected or that the Site is free of viruses or harmful components.
• Nothing on the Site constitutes professional advice — marine, navigational, safety, legal, financial, or otherwise. Never rely on SmartBoats.org as your sole source for decisions affecting life, safety, or property.
• Marine safety equipment recommendations on the Site are informational only. Always follow applicable Coast Guard regulations and manufacturer instructions. Our coverage does not replace proper marine safety gear or training.

10 · Limitation of liability

In no event shall our total liability to you for all claims arising from these Terms or your use of the Site exceed the greater of (a) one hundred U.S. dollars ($100) or (b) the amount you paid us in the twelve months preceding the claim (which will be zero, because we don't charge readers for anything).

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties or the limitation of incidental or consequential damages. In such jurisdictions, our liability will be limited to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law.

11 · Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless SmartBoats.org and its operators from any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from your violation of these Terms, your violation of any third-party right, or your use of the Site in a way that causes harm to us or others.

12 · Termination

We may terminate or suspend your access to the Site immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason — including if you breach these Terms. Upon termination, your right to use the Site will cease immediately.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination — including intellectual property provisions, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution — will survive.

13 · Governing law

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Florida, United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply to these Terms.

14 · Dispute resolution

If a dispute arises from or relates to these Terms or your use of the Site, the parties will first attempt to resolve it informally through good-faith negotiation. Contact us at hello@smartboats.org with the subject "Dispute" describing the issue and your desired resolution.

If informal resolution does not succeed within sixty (60) days, any dispute arising under these Terms that cannot be settled informally shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Pinellas County, Florida. You consent to the jurisdiction and venue of those courts.

Class action waiver: to the extent permitted by law, you agree that any dispute resolution proceeding shall be conducted on an individual basis and not as part of any class, collective, or representative action.

15 · Changes to these terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When we do, we'll update the "Last updated" date at the top of this page. Material changes will be announced on the Site. Your continued use of the Site after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised Terms.

If you do not agree to revised Terms, you must stop using the Site.

16 · Miscellaneous

• Entire agreement: these Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and us regarding the Site.
• Severability: if any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in full effect.
• No waiver: our failure to enforce any right or provision does not constitute a waiver of that right or provision.
• Assignment: you may not assign these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign our rights and obligations without restriction.
• No agency: no agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship is created by these Terms.
• Force majeure: we are not liable for delays or failures caused by events beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, internet outages, and acts of government.

17 · Contact

Questions about these Terms? Email us at hello@smartboats.org. For privacy-specific questions, see our Privacy Policy. For editorial or correction requests, use hello@smartboats.org with "Correction" in the subject line.