Terms of Use

Last updated: 8 October 2026

1. Who we are

Co-op Business School ("CBS", "we", "us") is the cooperative learning platform at cbs.coop and its subdomains (the "Platform"). It is run by National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International ("NCBA CLUSA"), based in Washington, D.C., United States.

Address: National Cooperative Business Association CLUSA International (NCBA CLUSA), 1775 I Street NW, 8th Floor, Washington, DC 20006, USA.

Contact email: info@cbs.coop

By creating an account or using the Platform, you accept these Terms and our Privacy Notice. If you do not agree, do not use the Platform.

2. Your account

  • You need an account to enroll in courses, workshops or forums. You sign in with a code we send to your email, or with your Google or Microsoft account. We do not use passwords.
  • Give us true information and keep it up to date. Your account is personal: do not share it.
  • You are responsible for what happens through your account. If you think someone is using it without permission, contact us.
  • Minimum age: 16. If you are under 16, do not create an account.

3. Courses, workshops and certificates

  • Some courses are free; others may have requirements, an application or a fee. Each course page shows its conditions.
  • We may accept or decline an application based on the course requirements and available places.
  • When you complete a course, we may issue a certificate. Each certificate has its own link that anyone with the link can open to check it. The link shows your name, the course and the date. If you share the link, others will see it.
  • We may revoke a certificate issued in error or obtained by fraud. A revoked link stops working.

4. Acceptable use

Do not use the Platform to:

  • break the law or infringe other people's rights;
  • harass, threaten, discriminate against or insult other people;
  • post spam, unsolicited advertising or misleading links;
  • impersonate another person or organization;
  • try to access accounts, data or parts of the Platform that are not yours, or disrupt how it works;
  • automatically copy (scrape) content or other people's personal data.

5. Forums

5.1 What is public

  • The open forums on cbs.coop are public. Anyone, signed in or not, can read them. Search engines (such as Google) may index them, so your posts may appear in search results.
  • A course forum is visible only to people enrolled in that course and to the course staff.
  • In the forums, your name shows as first name and last initial (for example, "María G."). CBS staff members show with their full name and a "staff" mark.
  • Do not post personal data about yourself or others (phone number, address, ID documents, health data). Anyone can read what you write in an open forum.

5.2 Your content

  • What you post stays yours.
  • By posting, you give us a free, worldwide, non-exclusive permission to host, store, copy, display, format and distribute your content on the Platform and in search results, as long as needed to run the forums. This permission continues for content already published even if you close your account, unless you ask us to remove it as described in the Privacy Notice.
  • You confirm that you have the right to post what you post.
  • You can edit your posts. Today you cannot delete them yourself: to ask us to remove a post, write to info@cbs.coop.

5.3 Conduct rules

In the forums, in addition to section 4:

  • Be respectful and stay on the forum's topic.
  • Do not post spam or promotions. A post with more than two links is reviewed before it is published.
  • Do not post illegal, sexual or violent content, or content that incites hatred.
  • Do not share copyrighted content without permission.

5.4 Moderation

  • Review first: your first post in the open forums waits for staff approval before it is visible. Until then, only you can see it. Staff may approve or reject it.
  • Removal: staff may remove a post or a thread that breaks these Terms. A removed post is replaced by a notice with the removal reason, visible to everyone.
  • Other actions: staff may pin, lock, move or restore threads.
  • Log: we keep an internal log of every moderation action (who, what, when and the reason).
  • Usage limits: there is a limit on how many posts and reports one person can send in a period of time, to prevent abuse.
  • After a moderation action, visitors who are not signed in may still see the previous version for about 60 seconds.

5.5 Reports

  • You can report a reply that you think breaks the rules. Choose a reason: spam, abuse, off topic or other.
  • When several trusted members report the same reply, it is hidden until staff review it. Staff decide whether to show it again or remove it.
  • Do not misuse reports. Misusing reports breaks these Terms.

6. Suspension and account closure

  • In the forums, staff may remove your content and lock threads.
  • NCBA CLUSA may close your account if you break these Terms, if the law requires it, or to protect other people or the Platform. Where reasonable, we will tell you and give you the reason.
  • You can stop using the Platform at any time and ask us to close your account by writing to info@cbs.coop.

7. Intellectual property

The courses, materials, trademarks, logos and design of the Platform belong to NCBA CLUSA or its partners and licensors. You may use them for your personal learning. You may not sell them, copy them in bulk or publish them as your own without written permission, unless a material states a different license.

8. Third-party services

The Platform uses services from other companies (for example, YouTube or Vimeo videos and sign-in with Google or Microsoft). Those services have their own terms. We are not responsible for them.

9. No warranty

We provide the Platform and its content "as is" and "as available". We work to keep it available and accurate, but we do not guarantee that it will work without interruptions or errors, or that any content fits a specific purpose. The materials are educational and are not legal, accounting or financial advice. Opinions posted in the forums belong to their authors, not to NCBA CLUSA.

10. Limitation of liability

To the extent the law allows, NCBA CLUSA is not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential damages, or for loss of data, income or opportunities, that result from using or being unable to use the Platform. Nothing in these Terms limits a liability that the law does not allow to be limited, or the rights that consumer law in your country gives you.

11. Changes

We may change these Terms. We will publish the new version on this page with its date. If a change is important, we will tell you on the Platform or by email. If you keep using the Platform after the change, you accept the new version.

12. Governing law and jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by the laws of the District of Columbia, USA, without prejudice to the mandatory consumer rights of your country of residence.

13. Contact

If you have questions about these Terms, write to info@cbs.coop.

Terms of Use — Co-op Business School