THE TERMS IN THIS AGREEMENT GOVERN YOUR USE OF THE PRODUCTS AND SERVICES PROVIDED BY OUR COMPANY, INCLUDING THIS WEBSITE (COLLECTIVELY, THE SERVICES).  BY ACCESSING OR USING THESE SERVICES, YOU ARE INDICATING YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS.  THESE TERMS ARE SUBJECT TO CHANGE BY OUR COMPANY AT ANY TIME.  YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES AFTER SUCH CHANGES ARE IMPLEMENTED CONSTITUTES YOUR ACKNOWLEDGMENT AND ACCEPTANCE OF THE CHANGES.  PLEASE CONSULT THESE TERMS OF USE PRIOR TO EVERY USE FOR ANY CHANGES.

 

YOU MUST BE EIGHTEEN (18) YEARS OR OLDER TO ACCESS THE SERVICES. IF YOU ARE UNDER EIGHTEEN YEARS OF AGE, YOU ARE NOT PERMITTED TO ACCESS THE SERVICES FOR ANY REASON.  DUE TO THE AGE RESTRICTIONS HEREIN, NO INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICES IS WITHIN THE CHILDRENS ONLINE PRIVACY PROTECTION ACT (COPPA) AND IS NOT MONITORED AS DOING SO.    

 

Terms of Service

 

If you are contemplating using the Services provided by the Company, it is important that you take the time to read these terms carefully. If you do not agree to these terms please do not use the Services.

 

Content is the property of the Company and protected by State, federal and international copyright and patent laws. Content may not be utilized by any individual or entity without the prior express written permission of the Company.

 

Updates to the Terms

 

The Company reserves the right to change these terms at any time, which modification shall be effective immediately upon posting to the Services. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date of such changes constitutes your acceptance of such changes. These terms may not be modified or canceled without the Company’s written agreement.

 

The most recent update to these Terms was made on: June 8, 2023.

 

Use of Services

 

The Company permits you to use the Services subject to these terms. You agree that the Company may discontinue or change the Services at its discretion and without prior notice or liability.

 

As a condition of your use of the Service, you warrant to the Company that you will not use the Service for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these terms, conditions, and notices. You agree to abide by all applicable local, state/provincial, national and international laws and regulations (including any laws regarding patient privacy, confidentiality or privileged communication) and are solely responsible for all acts or omissions that occur under your account or password, including the content of your transmissions through the Service. By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree not to:

 

- access (or attempt to access) any of the Services by any means other than through a standard web browser or other interface that is authorized and provided by the Company, unless you have been specifically allowed to do so in writing by the Company.

 

- access (or attempt to access) any of the Services through any automated means (including use of scripts or web crawlers).

 

- engage in any activity that interferes with or disrupts the Services (or the servers and networks that are connected to the Services).

 

- trade or resell the Services for any purpose, unless you have been specifically permitted to do so in writing by the Company.

 

- have more than one account at any given time. You will only access your account and the associated Content that you have been authorized to access through the Services.

 

- use the Service in connection with surveys, contests, pyramid schemes, chain letters, junk e-mail, spamming or any duplicative or unsolicited messages (commercial or otherwise).

 

- defame, abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others.

 

- publish, post, upload, distribute or disseminate any inappropriate, profane, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent or unlawful topic, name, material or information.

 

- advertise or offer to sell or buy any goods or services unrelated to the Company.

 

- harvest or otherwise collect information about others, including e-mail addresses, without their consent.

 

- create a false identity for the purpose of misleading others.

 

- use, download or otherwise copy, or provide (whether or not for a fee) to a person or entity any content provided by the Company for any use if not specifically permitted in writing by the Company.

 

- transmit or upload any material that contains viruses, trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, or any other harmful or deleterious programs.

 

- upload, or otherwise make available, files that contain images, photographs, software or other material protected by intellectual property laws, including, by way of example, and not as limitation, copyright or trademark laws (or by rights of privacy or publicity) unless you own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary consent to do the same.

 

- interfere with or disrupt networks connected to the Service or violate the regulations, policies or procedures of such networks.

 

- attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Service, through password mining or any other means.

 

- violate any applicable laws or regulations.

 

- interfere with the use of the Service by any other individual or entity.

 

- falsify or delete any copyright information, such as author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations or labels of the origin or source of material contained in or derived from the Company.

 

- directly or indirectly, use any of the Content, databases and any other information contained therein for any purposes other than your personal, non-commercial evaluation of Providers.

 

- directly or indirectly, use the Content, databases and any other information contained therein to compile mailing lists or other lists of Providers.

 

- directly or indirectly, use the Content, databases and any other information contained therein to establish independent data files or otherwise amass statistical information thereof or therefrom.

 

Account

 

To create an account, you must complete the registration process. You are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account. You agree that you are entirely responsible for any and all activities which occur under your account whether or not you are the individual who undertakes such activities. This includes any unauthorized access and/or use of your account should you fail to sufficiently disconnect and/or log off from the Service while using a public computer system. Accordingly, you absolve and release the Company from any claim of harm resulting from a third party undertaking any activity involving your account.

 

You agree to notify the Company immediately of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security. The Company will not be liable for any loss that you may incur as a result of someone else using your password or account, either with or without your knowledge. However, you could be held liable for losses incurred by the Company or another party due to someone else using your account or password. You may not use any other account at any time, without the permission of the account holder.

 

You agree and request that the Company may, in its sole discretion and without notice, either temporarily suspend, restrict or permanently disable access to your account in the event the Company is concerned about how the account is being used or accessed.  Because you agree and request that the Company take these measures on your behalf, you agree that the Company will incur no liability for suspending, disabling or restricting access to your account.

 

In the event you violate any of the terms in this agreement, you agree that the Company may disable your account and your access to your account immediately and without notice. In this event, you agree that the Company will have no liability to you.

 

User Content

 

“User Content” means digital content provided by you that is stored on, manipulated and/or transmitted to or from the Company’s servers by means of your use of the Service. You own and retain any rights you already hold in User Content that you submit, post or display on or through the Services. User Content, including personally identifiable information, is voluntary and subject to the Privacy Policy. You are responsible for the User Content you submit and agree to defend, indemnify and hold the Company harmless from any damages, losses, costs, or expenses, including attorneys fees, which the Company may incur as a result of your submitted User Content.

 

By submitting, posting or displaying the User Content you give the Company a perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, royalty-free, and non-exclusive license to store, transmit, use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform, display, and distribute User Content. You acknowledge that User Content may be sent outside your country of residence.

 

The Company reserves the right, without notice or liability, to delete or modify any User Content or any portion thereof that may violate the terms herein or any policy of the Company.

 

You authorize the Company to incorporate your User Content, including any remarks, suggestions, ideas, graphics, or other information communicated to the Company, in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed, and the Company will not be required to treat any User Content as confidential, and may use any User Content in its business (including without limitation, for products or advertising) without incurring any liability for royalties or any other consideration of any kind, and will not incur any liability as a result of any similarities that may appear in future Company products or services.

 

Any information or material placed online or sent via the Services, including advice and opinions, are solely the views and responsibility of those posting such statements, and do not necessarily represent the views of the Company. The Company will have no liability related to the content of any such communications, whether or not arising under the laws of copyright, libel, privacy, obscenity, or otherwise. The Company, in its sole discretion, reserves all rights to discontinue any Service generally or to any user at any time.

 

Proprietary Rights

 

The Company and its licensors, reserve all intellectual property rights in the Services, except for the rights expressly granted in this Agreement. Nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to limit any rights granted under open source licenses applicable to corresponding source and object code versions.

 

Unless you have agreed otherwise in writing with the Company, nothing herein gives you a right to use any of the Company’s copyrights, trade names, trade marks, service marks, logos, domain names, or other distinctive brand features. You agree that you shall not remove, obscure, or alter any proprietary rights notices (including copyright and trademark notices) that may be affixed to or contained within the Services.

 

The Company may rely on third party agents or its corporate affiliates to provide the Services, which shall at all times be subject to our Privacy Policy. You agree that this license includes a right for the Company to make such User Content available to other companies, organizations or individuals with whom the Company has relationships for the provision of the Services, and to use such User Content in connection with the provision of those services.

 

You understand and agree that the Company, in performing the required technical steps to provide the Services, may (i) transmit or distribute your User Content over various public networks and in various media; and (ii) make such changes to User Content as are necessary to conform and adapt that User Content to the technical requirements of connecting networks, devices, services or media.

 

There are many opportunities within the Services for you to actively participate. In the process of doing so, you may provide certain comments, suggestions, data, or other information to the Company involving improvements, enhancements and/or modifications to products and services provided by or through the Company. The Company shall have the right to retain and use any such information in current or future products or services and the Company shall incur no liability to you for any contributions you provide, whether solicited or unsolicited, unless otherwise agree to in writing.

 

You may not co-brand this site, frame this site, or hyper-link to this site, without the express prior written permission of the Company.  For purposes of these terms, co-branding means to display a name, logo, trademark, or other means of attribution or identification of any party in such a manner as is reasonably likely to give a user the impression that such other party has the right to display, publish, or distribute this site or content accessible within this site.  You agree to cooperate with the Company in causing any unauthorized co-branding, framing or hyper-linking immediately to cease.

 

Except as expressly permitted by the Company in writing, you will not copy, reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, distribute, transmit, download, upload, post, sell, rent, license, transfer, publicly perform, publicly display, mirror, frame, scrape, extract, wrap, create derivative works of, reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any aspect of this website, the Service or any of the Content, in whole or in part, in any form or by any means, whether manual or automatic.

 

You may not use any metatags, meta-elements, hidden text, domain names or other equivalents or any other colorable equivalent without the prior written permission of the Company.

 

Service Upgrades and Enhancements

 

You acknowledge that the Service is under continual development and, therefore, the Service may not function as desired or planned at any given time. Due to issues beyond the control of the Company, there is no guarantee or warranty that the Service will be available to you when desired or that the Service will function as expected when you access the Service.

 

The Company will provide the Services in a manner designed to protect the rights and property of the Company and others and to facilitate the proper functioning of the Services.

 

Information and Service Provided As-Is

 

The Services, including all content, are provided “as is” with all faults. The information and services included in or available through the Service may include factual inaccuracies or typographical errors.

 

The Company does not represent or warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that the Service or the server that makes it available, are free of viruses or other harmful components. The Company does not warrant or represent that the use or the results of the use of the Service or the materials made available as part of the Service will be correct, accurate, timely or otherwise reliable.

 

Any content is not necessarily complete and up-to-date and should not be used to replace any written reports, statements, or notices provided by the Company.  Investors, borrowers, and other persons should use the Content in the same manner as any other educational medium and should not rely on the content to the exclusion of their own professional judgment.  Information obtained by using this site is not exhaustive and does not cover all issues, topics, or facts that may be relevant to your goals.

 

You agree to report to the Company any inaccuracies in content, errors in Service functionality or problems you encounter while using the Service.  However, such notification will not increase or change any responsibility or liability that the Company has to you or any other party regarding the Service.

 

Disclaimer of Warranty

 

To the extent permitted by law, the Company, its distributors, contributors, and licensors hereby disclaim all warranties, whether express or implied, including without limitation warranties that the Services are free of defects, merchantable, fit for a particular purpose and non-infringing.

 

You bear the entire risk as to selecting the Services for your purposes and as to the quality and performance of the Services. This limitation will apply notwithstanding the failure of the essential purpose of any remedy. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of implied warranties, so this disclaimer, or portions of it, may not apply to you.  In the event any portion of this disclaimer is deemed to not apply to you, you specifically agree that the total liability of the Company to you will not exceed the amount noted in the section entitled Total Liability.

 

Limitation of Liability

 

IN NO EVENT SHALL THE COMPANY AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS, CONTRIBUTORS, AND LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF GOODWILL, WORK STOPPAGE, LOST PROFITS, LOST DATA, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICE OR RELATED WEB SITES, WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE OR RELATED WEB SITES, THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERVICES, OR FOR ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE SERVICE, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF THE COMPANY OR ANY OF ITS SUPPLIERS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME STATES/JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

 

IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY PORTION OF THE SERVICE, OR WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS OF USE, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SERVICE AND ITS RELATED WEB SITES.

 

In the event your jurisdiction does not allow the exclusion or limitation of damages, then you agree that the Company, its distributors, contributors, and licensors’ collective liability under this Agreement will not exceed the amount noted in the section entitled Total Liability.

 

Indemnification

 

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its owners, parent company, investors, subsidiaries, affiliates, licensors, content providers, service providers, employees, agents, officers, directors, and contractors (hereinafter known as the Indemnified Parties) from any claim, demand, or damage, including attorneys fees, asserted by any third party due to or arising out of your use of or conduct of business on the Service.

 

You agree that the Indemnified Parties will have no liability in connection with any breach of the terms herein by you or unauthorized use, and you agree to indemnify any and all resulting loss, damages, judgments, awards, costs, expenses, and attorneys fees of the Indemnified Parties in connection therewith.

 

Termination

 

The Company may terminate your access to any part or all of the Service and any related service(s) at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately, for any reason whatsoever.  The Company shall have no obligation to maintain any content in your account or to forward any unread or unsent messages to you or any third party.

 

Total Liability

 

You agree that the total (collective) liability of the Company, and its distributors, contributors, officers, advisors and licensors shall not exceed the lesser of any amount you have personally paid to the Company or $1 (one US dollar). In the event you are a party to any class action against the Company, you agree that the entire class will not be entitled to total compensation of more than $100 (one hundred US dollars).

 

Third Party Services or Software

 

Sometimes when you use the Services, you may (as a result of, or through your use of the Services) use a service or download a piece of software, or purchase goods or services, which are provided by another person or company (Third Party Products). Your use of Third Party Products may be subject to separate terms between you and the company or person concerned. The terms and conditions provided herein do not affect your legal relationship with these other companies or individuals. Similarly, you agree that your relationship with these other companies or individuals will not affect the terms and conditions herein.

 

In the event you are dissatisfied with any Third Party Products, you agree (i) to notify the Company of your dissatisfaction for the sole purpose of enabling the Company to be aware of your dissatisfaction, (ii) that your sole remedy to obtain resolution or satisfaction will be between you and the third party, (iii) the Company will have no liability to you whatsoever regarding any Third Party Products despite any prior notices received by the Company regarding any Third Party Products or any compensation received by the Company related to your purchase of any Third Party Products.

 

Messages

 

You specifically agree that the Company shall not be responsible for unauthorized access to or alteration of your transmissions or data, any material or data sent or received or not sent or received, or any transactions entered into through the Service. You specifically agree that the Company is not responsible or liable for any threatening, defamatory, obscene, offensive or illegal content or conduct of any other party or any infringement the rights of another, including intellectual property rights.

 

The Company may immediately terminate any account, which it believes, in its sole discretion, is transmitting or is otherwise connected with any message or email that the Company (in its sole determination) considers to be spam (unsolicited bulk email) or is threatening, defamatory, or harassing to any other party. In addition, because damages are often difficult to quantify, if actual damages cannot be reasonably calculated then you agree to pay the Company liquidated damages of $5.00 for each piece of spam or unsolicited bulk email transmitted from or otherwise connected with your account. Otherwise, you agree to pay the actual damages incurred by the Company, to the extent such actual damages can be reasonably calculated.

 

The Company reserves the right to fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing the Company to disclose the identity of anyone posting any email messages, or publishing or otherwise making available any materials that are believed to violate the terms herein.

 

You waive and hold harmless the Company from any claims resulting from any action taken by the Company during or as a result of its investigations and/or from any actions taken as a consequence of investigations by either the Company or law enforcement authorities.

 

Hyperlinks

 

Because registered users may enter content into this site, this site may contain hyperlinks to other sites that are not  maintained by, or related to, the Company.  Hyperlinks are to be accessed at the users own risk, and the Company makes no representations or warranties about the content, completeness or accuracy of these hyperlinks or the sites hyperlinked to this site.  Further, the inclusion of any hyperlink to a third-party site does not necessarily imply endorsement by the Company of that site.

 

Intellectual Property

 

Trademarks, service marks, and logos appearing in this site are the intellectual property of the Company or the party that provided the trademarks, service marks, and logos to the Company.  The Company and any party that provided trademarks, service marks, and logos to the Company retain all rights with respect to any of their respective trademarks, service marks, and logos appearing in this site.

 

The rating system and methodology, and ratings of Providers, are the property of the Company and may not be reproduced in any manner without the prior written permission of the Company.  Any misappropriation or misuse of the Content, databases and any other information contained therein will cause serious damage to the Company and, in such event, money damages may not constitute sufficient compensation to the Company.  Therefore, in the event of any misappropriation or misuse, the Company shall have the right to obtain injunctive relief in addition to any other legal or financial remedies to which the Company may be entitled.  In addition, you acknowledge that the Content, databases and any other information contained therein are protected by law, including, but not limited to, United States and international copyright law and trademark law, as well as other state, federal, and international laws and regulations, including contract law, and laws pertaining to privacy and publicity.

 

Copyright Complaints

 

We respect the intellectual property rights of others and we prohibit users from uploading, posting or otherwise transmitting any materials that violate the intellectual property rights of another party. When we receive notification of alleged copyright infringement, we promptly remove or disable access to the allegedly infringing material and terminate the accounts of repeat infringers as described herein in accordance with the Digital Millenium Copyright Act. If you believe that any material on the Site infringes upon any copyright which you own or control, you may send us a written notification of such infringement.

 

Refunds

 

Refunds are available until services have been provided. Once any services have been provided, any payments made are deemed earned. Payments for reservations for services are non-refundable although a reservation for service may be modified for an additional nominal fee.

 

Miscellaneous

 

This Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement between the Company and you. These terms are governed by the laws of the state of Maryland, U.S.A., excluding its conflict of law provisions. If any portion of these terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that part will be deemed severed and the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. Headings are for reference purpose only.

 

Failure of the Company to cure or seek to cure any breach shall not be deemed a waiver of the terms and conditions herein, nor shall any such delay provide the breaching party with any right to continue the breach in the future.

 

You agree and request that the exclusive venue for any action involving the Company or pertaining to the subject matter herein will be in the state and federal courts in the State of Maryland, U.S.A.   The Company reserves all rights not expressly granted herein.