Terms of Service Agreement
PLEASE READ THE FOLLOWING TERMS OF SERVICE AGREEMENT CAREFULLY. BY ACCESSING OR USING OUR SITES AND OUR SERVICES, YOU HEREBY AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THE TERMS AND ALL TERMS INCORPORATED HEREIN BY REFERENCE. IT IS THE RESPONSIBILITY OF YOU, THE USER, CUSTOMER, OR PROSPECTIVE CUSTOMER TO READ THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS BEFORE PROCEEDING TO USE THIS SITE. IF YOU DO NOT EXPRESSLY AGREE TO ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, THEN PLEASE DO NOT ACCESS OR USE OUR SITES OR OUR SERVICES. WE MAY REVISE AND UPDATE THESE TERMS OF SERVICE FROM TIME TO TIME AND WILL POST THESE CHANGES ON THE WEBSITE. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THE WEBSITE FOLLOWING THE POSTING MEANS THAT YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO THESE CHANGES. WE ENCOURAGE YOU TO CHECK THIS PAGE FROM TIME TO TIME SO THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF CHANGES. THESE TERMS OF SERVICE IS EFFECTIVE AS OF MAY 2018.
Acceptance of Terms
The following Terms of Service Agreement (the “TOS”) is a legally binding agreement that shall govern the relationship with our users and others which may interact or interface with Independent Journal Review, also known as IJR, located at 108 South Washington Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314 and our subsidiaries and affiliates (or companies that are otherwise under common ownership with IJR), in association with the use of the IJR website, which includes www.ijr.com, (the “Site”) and its Services, which shall be defined below.
This TOS covers important information about our Services including information about future changes to our agreements, limitations of liability, a class action waiver and resolution of disputes by arbitration instead of in court.
Description of Website Services Offered
The Site is a news and information website which has the following description:
Any and all visitors to our site, despite whether they are registered or not, shall be deemed as “users” of the herein contained Services provided for the purpose of this TOS. Once an individual registers for our Services, through the process of creating an account, the user shall then be considered a “member.”
The user and/or member acknowledges and agrees that the Services provided and made available through our website and applications, which may include some mobile applications and that those applications may be made available on various social media networking sites and numerous other platforms and downloadable programs, are the sole property of Independent Journal Review (or the “Company”). At its discretion, Independent Journal Review may offer additional website Services and/or products, or update, modify or revise any current content and Services, and this Agreement shall apply to any and all additional Services and/or products and any and all updated, modified or revised Services unless otherwise stipulated. Independent Journal Review does hereby reserve the right to cancel and cease offering any of the aforementioned Services and/or products. You, as the end user and/or member, acknowledge, accept and agree that Independent Journal Review shall not be held liable for any such updates, modifications, revisions, suspensions or discontinuance of any of our Services and/or products. Your continued use of the Services provided, after such posting of any updates, changes, and/or modifications shall constitute your acceptance of such updates, changes and/or modifications, and as such, frequent review of this Agreement and any and all applicable terms and policies should be made by you to ensure you are aware of all terms and policies currently in effect. Should you not agree to the updated, revised or modified terms, you must stop using the provided Services forthwith.
Furthermore, the user and/or member understands, acknowledges and agrees that the Services offered shall be provided “AS IS” and as such Independent Journal Review shall not assume any responsibility or obligation for the timeliness, missed delivery, deletion and/or any failure to store user content, communication or personalization settings.
Registration
To register and become a “member” of the Site, you must be at least 18 years of age to enter into and form a legally binding contract. In addition, you must be in good standing and not an individual that has been previously barred from receiving IJR’s Services under the laws and statutes of the United States or other applicable jurisdiction.
When you register, IJR may collect information such as your name, e-mail address, birth date, gender, mailing address, occupation, industry and personal interests. You can edit your account information at any time. Once you register with IJR and sign in to our Services, you are no longer anonymous to us.
Furthermore, the registering party hereby acknowledges, understands and agrees to:
- a) furnish factual, correct, current and complete information with regards to yourself as maybe requested by the data registration process, and
- b) maintain and promptly update your registration and profile information in an effort to maintain accuracy and completeness at all times.
If anyone knowingly provides any information of a false, untrue, inaccurate or incomplete nature, Independent Journal Review will have sufficient grounds and rights to suspend or terminate the member in violation of this aspect of the Agreement, and as such refuse any and all current or future use of Independent Journal Review Services, or any portion thereof.
It is Independent Journal Review’s priority to ensure the safety and privacy of all its visitors, users and members, especially that of children. Therefore, it is for this reason that the parents of any child under the age of 13 that permit their child or children access to the IJR website platform Services must create a “family” account, which will certify that the individual creating the “family” account is of 18 years of age and as such, the parent or legal guardian of any child or children registered under the “family” account. As the creator of the “family” account, s/he is thereby granting permission for his/her child or children to access the various Services provided, including, but not limited to, message boards, email, and/or instant messaging. It is the parent’s and/or legal guardian’s responsibility to determine whether any of the Services and/or content provided are age-appropriate for his/her child.
Prohibited Uses
Users may use the Website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these TOS. You agree not to use the Website:
- In any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local or international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the US or other countries).
- For the purpose of exploiting, harming or attempting to exploit or harm minors in any way by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable information or otherwise.
- To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with the Content Standards described below.
- To transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material, including any “junk mail”, “chain letter” or “spam” or any other similar solicitation.
- To impersonate or attempt to impersonate the Company, a Company employee, another user or any other person or entity (including, without limitation, by using e-mail addresses associated with any of the foregoing).
- To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the Website, or which, as determined by us, may harm the Company or users of the Website or expose them to liability.
Additionally, you agree not to:
- Use the Website in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the site or interfere with any other party’s use of the Website, including their ability to engage in real time activities through the Website.
- Use any robot, spider or other automatic device, process or means to access the Website for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material on the Website.
- Use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the Website or for any other unauthorized purpose without our prior written consent.
- Use any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Website.
- Introduce any viruses, trojan horses, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful.
- Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage or disrupt any parts of the Website, the server on which the Website is stored, or any server, computer or database connected to 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.
User Contributions
The Website may contain message boards, chat rooms, personal web pages or profiles, forums, bulletin boards and other interactive features (collectively, “Interactive Services”) that allow users to post, submit, publish, display or transmit to other users or other persons (hereinafter, “post”) content or materials (collectively, “User Contributions”) on or through the Website.
All User Contributions must comply with the Content Standards described below.
Any User Contribution you post to the site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. By providing any User Contribution on the Website, you grant us and our affiliates and service providers, and each of their and our respective licensees, successors and assigns the right to use, reproduce, modify, perform, display, distribute and otherwise disclose to third parties any such material for our business purpose.
You represent and warrant that:
- You own or control all rights in and to the User Contributions and have the right to grant the license granted above to us and our affiliates and service providers, and each of their and our respective licensees, successors and assigns.
- All of your User Contributions do and will comply with these TOS.
You understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for any User Contributions you submit or contribute, and you, not the Company, have fully responsibility for such 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 Contributions posted by you or any other user of the Website.
Monitoring and Enforcement; Termination
We have the right to:
- Remove or refuse to post any User Contributions for any or no reason in our sole discretion.
- Take any action with respect to any User Contribution that we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion, including if we believe that such User Contribution violates the TOS, including the Content Standards, infringes any intellectual property right or other right of any person or entity, threatens the personal safety of users of the Website or the public or could create liability for the Company.
- Disclose your identity or other information about you to any third party who claims that material posted by you violates their rights, including their intellectual property rights or their right to privacy.
- Take appropriate legal action, including without limitation, referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Website.
- Terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Website for any violation of these TOS.
Without limiting the foregoing, we have the right to fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing us to disclose the identity or other information of anyone posting any materials on or through the Website. YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS THE COMPANY AND ITS AFFILIATES, LICENSEES AND SERVICE PROVIDERS FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY ANY OF THE FOREGOING PARTIES DURING OR AS A RESULT OF ITS INVESTIGATIONS AND FROM ANY ACTIONS TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY EITHER SUCH PARTIES OR LAW ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
However, we cannot review all material before it is posted on the Website and cannot ensure prompt removal of objectionable material after it has been posted. Accordingly, we assume no liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications or content provided by any user or third party. We have no liability or responsibility to anyone for performance or nonperformance of the activities described in this section.
Content Standards
These content standards apply to any and all User Contributions and use of Interactive Services. User Contributions must in their entirety comply with all applicable federal, state, local and international laws and regulations. Without limiting the foregoing, User Contributions must not:
- Contain any material which is defamatory, obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable.
- Promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, violence, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation or age.
- Infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other intellectual property or other rights of any other person.
- Violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others or contain any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable laws or regulations or that otherwise may be in conflict with these TOS and our Privacy Policy.
- Be likely to deceive any person.
- Promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act.
- Cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety or be likely to upset, embarrass, alarmor annoy any other person.
- Impersonate any person or misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person ororganization.
- Involve commercial activities or sales, such as contests, sweepstakes and other sales promotions, barter or advertising.
- Give the impression that they emanate from or are endorsed by us or any other person or entity, if this is not the case.
Changes to the Website
We may update the content on this Website from time to time, but its content is not necessarily complete or up-to-date. 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.
Information About You and Your Visits to the Website
All information we collect on this Website is subject to our Privacy Policy. By using the Website, you consent to all actions taken by us with respect to your information in compliance with the Privacy Policy.
Linking to the Website and Social Media Features
You may link to our homepage, provided you do so in a way that is fair and legal and does not damage our reputation or take advantage of it, but you must not establish a link in such a way as to suggest any form of association, approval or endorsement on our part without consent.
This Website may provide certain social media features that enable you to:
- Link from your own or certain third-party websites to certain content on this Website.
- Send e-mails or other communications with certain content, or links to certain content, on this Website.
- Cause limited portions of content on this Website to be displayed or appear to be displayed on your own or certain third-party websites.
You may use these features solely as they are provided by us solely with respect to the content they are displayed with and otherwise in accordance with any additional terms and conditions we provide with respect to such features. Subject to the foregoing, you must not:
- Establish a link from any website that is not owned by you.
- Cause the Website or portions of it to be displayed, or appear to be displayed by, for example, framing, deep linking or in-line linking, on any other site.
- Link to any part of the Website other than the homepage.
- Otherwise take any action with respect to the materials on this Website that is inconsistent with any other provision of these TOS.
You agree to cooperate with us in causing any unauthorized framing or linking immediately to cease. We reserve the right to withdraw linking permission without notice.
We may disable all or any social media features and any links at any time without notice in our discretion.
Links from the Website
If the Website contains links to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are provided for your convenience only. This includes links contained in advertisements, including banner advertisements and sponsored links. 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 use of them. If you decide to access any of the third-party websites linked to this Website, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites.
Geographic Restrictions
We provide this Website for use only by persons located in the United States. We make no claims that the Website or any of its content is accessible or appropriate outside of the United States. Access to the Website may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you access the Website from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.
Disclaimer of Warranties
You understand that we cannot and do not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the internet or the Website will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures 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 our site for any reconstruction of any lost data. WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.
YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER THE COMPANY NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH THE COMPANY MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY OR AVAILABILITY OF THE WEBSITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER THE COMPANY NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE COMPANY REPRESENTS OR WARRANTS THAT THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT OUR SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR THAT THE WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.
THE COMPANY HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY WARRANTIES WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
Limitation on Liability
IN NO EVENT WILL THE COMPANY, ITS AFFILIATES OR THEIR LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS OR DIRECTORS BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT, ANY CONTENT ON THE WEBSITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, 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, LOSS OF DATA, AND WHETHER CAUSED BY TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF CONTRACT OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORESEEABLE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
Indemnification
You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless the Company, its affiliates, licensors and service providers, and its and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, suppliers, successors and assigns from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses or fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of these TOS or your use of the Website, including, but not limited to, your User Contributions, any use of the Website’s content, services and products other than as expressly authorized in these TOS or your use of any information obtained from the Website.
Governing Law and Jurisdiction
All matters relating to the Website and these TOS and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims), shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the State of Delaware without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule (whether of the State Delaware or any other jurisdiction).
Any legal suit, action or proceeding arising out of, or related to, these TOS or the Website shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States or the courts of the Commonwealth of Virginia and Fairfax County. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.
ARBITRATION
YOU AND THE COMPANY AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN YOUR OR ITS INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE ACTION. Unless both you and we agree, no arbitrator or judge may consolidate more than one person’s claims or otherwise preside over any form of a representative or class proceeding. The arbitrator may award injunctive relief only in favor of the individual party seeking relief and only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by that party’s individual claim. If a court decides that applicable law precludes enforcement of any of this paragraph’s limitations as to a particular claim for relief, then that claim (and only that claim) must be severed from the arbitration and may be brought in court.
At the Company’s sole discretion, it may require you to submit any disputes arising from the use of these TOS or the Website, including disputes arising from or concerning their interpretation, violation, invalidity, non-performance, or termination, to final and binding arbitration under the Rules of Arbitration of the American Arbitration Association applying New York law. The arbitrator shall fully implement the intent and purposes of this Agreement and indemnify non-breaching parties for and hold them harmless from all losses, costs, and expenses (including costs of arbitration and reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from any breach or from defending against any allegations of a breach determined to be unfounded.
If these arbitration provisions are invalidated in whole or in part, the parties agree that the exclusive jurisdiction and venue set forth in Section 17 shall govern any claim in court arising out of or related to this TOS.
Limitation on Time to File Claims
ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TOS 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 of by the Company of any term or condition set forth in these TOS 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 the Company to assert a right or provision under these TOS shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
If any provision of these TOS 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 the TOS will continue in full force and effect.
Entire Agreement
The TOS and our Privacy Policy constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and the Company with respect to the Website and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to the Website.
Your Comments and Concerns
This website is operated by Independent Journal Review, also known as IJR, located at 108 South Washington Street, Alexandria, Virginia 22314.
Elements of the Website and Service are protected by copyright, trademark, trade dress and other laws and may not be copied or imitated in whole or in part. No logo, graphic, sound or image from the Website may be copied or retransmitted unless expressly permitted by the Company.
The IJR trademarks and/or other Company identifiers referenced herein are trademarks of the Company and/or its affiliates and may be registered in certain jurisdictions.
All other feedback, comments, requests for technical support and other communications relating to the Website, please see the Contact Us page on our Website.
Thank you for visiting the Website.
