Terms of Use

These Terms of Use (“Terms of Use”) govern your use of the MERITIZE (“us,” “our,” and “we”) website located at www.meritize.com. By using this Site, you agree to be bound by these Terms of Use and to use the Site in accordance with these Terms of Use, our Privacy Policy, and any additional terms and conditions that are referenced herein or that otherwise may apply to specific sections of the Site, or to products and services that we make available to you through the Site (all of which are deemed part of these Terms of Use).

1. Acceptance of Terms of Use; Modifications:

These Terms of Use are between you and us. Accessing the Site, in any manner, whether automated or otherwise constitutes use of the Site and your agreement to be bound by these Terms of Use.

THESE TERMS OF USE CONTAIN WARRANTY DISCLAIMERS AND OTHER PROVISIONS THAT LIMITS OUR LIABILITY TO YOU. PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE CAREFULLY AND IN THEIR ENTIRETY, AS USING, ACCESSING AND/OR BROWSING OUR SITE CONSTITUTES ACCEPTANCE OF THESE TERMS OF USE. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND TO EACH AND EVERY TERM AND CONDITION SET FORTH HEREIN, PLEASE EXIT OUR SITE IMMEDIATELY AND DO NOT USE, ACCESS AND/OR BROWSE IT FURTHER.

We reserve the right to change these Terms of Use or to impose new conditions on use of the Site, from time to time, in which case we will post the revised Terms of Use on this Site and update the “Last Updated” date to reflect the date of the changes. By continuing to use the Site after we post any such changes, you accept the Terms of Use, as modified.

We also reserve the right to deny access to the Site or any features of the Site to anyone who violates these Terms of Use or who, in our sole judgment, interferes with the ability of others to enjoy our Site or infringes the rights of others.

IF YOU ARE LOCATED OUTSIDE OF THE UNITED STATES, INFORMATION THAT YOU PROVIDE TO US IS BEING SENT TO THE UNITED STATES. BY ACCESSING AND USING THE SITE, YOU UNDERSTAND AND CONSENT TO YOUR DATA BEING SENT TO THE UNITED STATES.

2. Eligibility; Creation of Account:

To use our Site, you must be 18 years of age or older. Any use of or access to our Site by anyone under the age of 18 is unauthorized, unlicensed and in violation of these Terms of Use. By using our Site and any of the services or products available on this Site, you represent and warrant that you are 18 or older and that you agree to and to abide by these Terms of Use.

To use certain features of our Site such as discussion forums, blogs, or social networking features, you will need an account accessible via a username and password, which you will set up during the Site’s registration process. We have the sole right to accept or reject your registration with our Site with or without explanation. Your account is not transferable or assignable and is void where prohibited. Such registration may require you to provide personally identifiable information such as your name and e-mail address. To access certain features of our Site, we may ask you to provide certain demographic information including your gender, year of birth, zip code and country. You agree to provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted during the Site’s registration process. If we have reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, or incomplete, we have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Site (or any portion thereof). We may refuse to grant you a user name that impersonates someone else, is protected by trademark or other proprietary right law, or is vulgar, unsuitable or otherwise offensive in our sole discretion. Our use of any information you provide to us as part of the registration process is governed by the terms of our Privacy Policy.

You understand and acknowledge that you have no ownership rights in your username or account, and that if you cancel your username or account, all your account information may be deleted in our databases and may be removed from any public area of the Site. Information may continue to be available for some period of time because of delays in propagating such deletion through our web servers. In addition, third parties may retain copies of your account information or materials you have posted to the Site.

3. Responsibility for Your Username and Password.

You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and account, and are responsible for all activities (whether by you or by others) that occur under your password or account. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security, and to ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. We cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to protect your password or account information.

4. Rights and Restrictions Relating to Site Content.

Your Limited Right to Use Site Materials. This Site and all the materials available on the Site, such as text, graphics, scripts, sounds, images, logos, button icons, software and other content (collectively, the “Content”) and the trademarks, service marks, and logos contained therein (the “Marks”) are protected under both United States and foreign copyright, trademark and other laws. The Content and the Marks are owned by or licensed to us, subject to copyright and other intellectual property rights under United States and foreign laws and international conventions. The compilation (meaning the collection, arrangement and assembly) of all Content on the Site is our exclusive property and is protected by United States and foreign copyright, trademark, and other laws. The Site is provided solely for your personal noncommercial use. You may not use the Site or the materials available on the Site in a manner that constitutes an infringement of our rights or that has not been authorized by us. More specifically, unless explicitly authorized in these Terms of Use or by the owner of the materials, you may not modify, copy, reproduce, republish, upload, post, transmit, translate, sell, create derivative works, exploit, or distribute in any manner or medium (including by email or other electronic means) any material from the Site. You may, however, from time to time, download and/or print one copy of individual pages of the Site for your personal, non-commercial use, provided that you keep intact all copyright and other proprietary notices.

Our Right to Use Materials You Submit or Post. When you submit or post any material (including any transcripts, academic records, photos or videos) via the Site, you grant us, and anyone authorized by us, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide license to use, copy, modify, transmit, sell, exploit, create derivative works from, distribute, and/or publicly perform or display such material, in whole or in part, in any manner or medium (whether now known or hereafter developed), for any purpose that we choose. The foregoing grant includes the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such posting or submission, including, but not limited to, rights under copyright, trademark or patent laws that exist in any relevant jurisdiction. Also, in connection with the exercise of these rights, you grant us, and anyone authorized by us, the right to identify you as the author of any of your postings or submissions by name, e-mail address or screen name, as we deem appropriate. You understand that the technical processing and transmission of the Site, including content submitted by you, may involve transmissions over various networks, and may involve changes to the content to conform and adapt it to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices. You will not receive any compensation of any kind for the use of any materials submitted by you.

Limitations on Linking and Framing. You are free to establish a hypertext link to our Site so long as the link does not state or imply any sponsorship of your website or service by us. However, you may not, without our prior written permission, frame or inline link any of the content of our Site, or incorporate into another website or other service any of our material, content or intellectual property.

5. Third-Party Websites.

We may link to or promote web sites, services, or products from other companies on our Site, offer you the ability to purchase services and products from other companies or download software from other companies, or insert advertising or sponsorships into the content of our Site (“Third-Party Services”). These Third-Party Services are provided solely as a convenience to you and not as an endorsement by us of the Third-Party Services. We do not control such Third-Party Services and are not responsible or liable for the content, advertising, materials, quality, or availability of such Third-Party Services. IF YOU DECIDE TO ACCESS OR PURCHASE ANY THIRD-PARTY SERVICES, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK AND WE SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE, DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY, FOR ANY DAMAGE OR LOSS CAUSED OR ALLEGED TO BE CAUSED BY OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF OR RELIANCE ON ANY CONTENT, GOODS OR SERVICES AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH ANY THIRD-PARTY SERVICES. AS WITH THE PURCHASE OF ANY PRODUCT OR SERVICE THROUGH ANY MEDIUM OR IN ANY ENVIRONMENT, YOU SHOULD USE YOUR BEST JUDGMENT AND EXERCISE CAUTION WHEN USING, ACCESSING, OR PURCHASING THIRD-PARTY SERVICES.

Without limiting any of the other disclaimers of warranty set forth in these Terms of Use, we do not provide or make any representation as to the quality or nature of any of the Third-Party Services purchased through our Site, or any other representation, warranty or guaranty. Any such undertaking, representation, warranty or guaranty would be furnished solely by the provider of such Third-Party Services under the terms agreed to by the provider.

6. Responsibility for User-Provided Content.

This Site may include a variety of features, such as discussion forums, blogs, photo – and video- sharing pages, e-mail services and social networking features that allow feedback to us and allow users to interact with each other on the Site and post content and materials for display on the Site. This Site also may include other features, such as personalized home pages and e-mail services, that allow users to communicate with third parties. By accessing and using any such features, you represent and agree: (i) that you have read and agree to abide by our Community Rules; (ii) that you are the owner of any material you post or submit, or are making your posting or submission with the express consent of the owner of the material; (iii) that you are 18 years of age or older; (iv) that the materials will not violate the trademark, copyright, privacy, publicity or any other rights of, or cause injury to, any person or entity; and (v) that you will indemnify and hold harmless us, our affiliates, and each of our and their respective directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents, representatives and licensors, from and against any liability of any nature arising out of or related to any content or materials displayed on or submitted via the Site by you or by others using your username and password. You also grant us a license to use the materials you post or submit via such features, as described above under the header “Rights and Restrictions Relating to Site Content.”

Responsibility for what is posted on discussion forums, blogs, photo- and video-sharing pages, and other areas on the Site through which users can supply information or material, or sent via any e-mail services that are made available via the Site, lies with each user, you alone are responsible for the material you post or send. We do not control the messages, information or files that you or others may transmit, post or otherwise provide on or through the Site.

You understand that we have no obligation to monitor any discussion forums, blogs, photo- or video-sharing pages, or other areas of the Site through which users can supply information or material. However, we reserve the right at all times, in our sole discretion, to screen content submitted by users and to edit, move, delete, and/or refuse to accept any content that in our judgment violates these Terms of Use or is otherwise unacceptable or inappropriate, whether for legal or other reasons.

You acknowledge and agree that we may preserve content and materials submitted by you, and may also disclose such content and materials if required to do so by law or if, in our business judgment, such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (i) comply with legal process; (ii) enforce these Terms of Use; (iii) respond to claims that any content or materials submitted by you violate the rights of third parties; or (iv) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of our Site, us, our affiliates, our officers, directors, employees, representatives, our licensors, other users, and/or the public.

7. Community Rules.

This Site may include a variety of features, such as discussion forums, blogs, photo- and video-sharing pages, e-mail services and social networking features that allow feedback to us and allow users to interact with each other on the Site and post content and materials for display on the Site. This Site also may include other features, such as personalized home pages and e-mail services, that allow users to communicate with third parties. By accessing and using any such features, you represent and agree that you will not:

  • Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Site;
  • Use the Site to impersonate any person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
  • Submit any materials that are false, misleading, unlawful, or otherwise in violation of your obligations under these Terms of Use.
  • Interfere with or disrupt any servers or networks used to provide the Site or its features, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of the networks we use to provide the Site;
  • Use the Site to instigate or encourage others to commit illegal activities or cause injury or property damage to any person;
  • Gain unauthorized access to the Site, or any account, computer system, or network connected to this Site, by means such as hacking, password mining or other illicit means;
  • Obtain or attempt to obtain any materials or information through any means not intentionally made available through this Site;
  • Use the Site to post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, vulgar, pornographic, profane or indecent information of any kind, including without limitation any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any local, state, national or international law;
  • Use the Site to post or transmit any information, software or other material that violates or infringes upon the rights of others, including material that is an invasion of privacy or publicity rights or that is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right, or derivative works with respect thereto, without first obtaining permission from the owner or rights holder;
  • Use the Site to post or transmit any information, software or other material that contains a virus or other harmful component;
  • Use the Site to post, transmit or in any way exploit any information, software or other material for commercial purposes, or that contains advertising
  • Use the Site to advertise or solicit to anyone to buy or sell products or services, or to make donations of any kind, without our express written approval;
  • Gather for marketing purposes any e-mail addresses or other personal information that has been posted by other users of the Site;
  • Contact anyone who has asked not to be contacted;
  • Engage in personal attacks, harass or threaten, question the motives behind others’ posts or comments, deliberately inflame or disrupt the conversation, or air personal grievances about other users;
  • Repeatedly post the same or similar content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
  • Take or cause to be taken any action that disrupts the normal flow of postings and dialogue on our Site (such as submitting an excessive number of messages – i.e. a flooding attack), or that otherwise negatively affects other users ability to use the Site and/or services; or
  • Use automated means, including spiders, robots, crawlers, data mining tools, or the like to download data from our Site. Exception is made for Internet search engines (e.g., Google) and non-commercial public archives (e.g., archive.org) that comply with our Terms of Service. We reserve the right to deny access to the Site or any features of the Site to anyone who violates these Community Rules.

8. Privacy.

We respect the privacy of the users of our Site. Please take a moment to review our Privacy Policy.

9. Modifications to, or Discontinuations of, the Site.

We reserve the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Site, or any portion thereof, or to make changes to the features, functionality or content of our Site or the services and products available via the Site at any time. We reserve the right in our sole discretion to edit or remove any documents, information or other content appearing on our Site. You agree that we will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Site or any portion thereof.

10. Disclaimers.

Throughout our Site, we have provided links and pointers to Internet sites maintained by third parties. Our linking to such third-party sites does not imply an endorsement or sponsorship of such sites, or the information, products or services offered on or through the sites. In addition, neither we nor our parent or subsidiary companies nor any of our respective affiliates operate or control in any respect any information, products or services that third parties may provide on or through the Site or on websites linked to by us on the Site.

THE INFORMATION, PRODUCTS AND SERVICES OFFERED ON OR THROUGH THE SITE AND ANY THIRD-PARTY SITES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE PURSUANT TO APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SITE OR ANY OF ITS FUNCTIONS WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ANY PART OF THIS SITE, INCLUDING BULLETIN BOARDS, OR THE SERVERS THAT MAKE IT AVAILABLE, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS. WE DO NOT REPRESENT OR OTHERWISE WARRANT THAT THE INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH OUR SITE WILL BE CORRECT, ACCURATE, TIMELY OR OTHERWISE RELIABLE.
WE SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE, OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY OTHER USER OF THE SITE OR THIRD PARTY AND THE RISK OF HARM OR DAMAGE FROM THE FOREGOING RESTS ENTIRELY WITH YOU.

You must provide and are solely responsible for all hardware and/or software necessary to access the Site. You assume the entire cost of and responsibility for any damage to, and all necessary maintenance, repair or correction of, that hardware and/or software. We are not responsible for any technical malfunction or other problems of any telephone network or service, computer systems, servers or providers, computer or mobile phone equipment, software, failure of email or players on account of technical problems or traffic congestion on the Internet or any combination thereof, including injury or damage to your or to any other person’s computer, mobile phone, or other hardware or software, related to or resulting from using or downloading materials in connection with the our Site or the services and products available via the Site, including without limitation any software provided through our Site or the services and products available via the Site.

The Site is provided for informational purposes only, and is not intended for trading or investing purposes, or for commercial use. You expressly assume all risk for such use.

Your interactions with companies, organizations and/or individuals found on or through our Site, including any purchases, transactions, or other dealings, and any terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such companies, organizations and/or individuals. You agree that we will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings. You also agree that, if there is a dispute between users of this Site, or between a user and any third party, we are under no obligation to become involved, and you agree to release us and our affiliates from any claims, demands and damages of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected and unsuspected, disclosed and undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such dispute and/or our Site.

11. Limitation of Liability.

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, WILL WE, OR OUR SUBSIDIARIES, PARENT COMPANIES OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT RESULT FROM THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THIS SITE, INCLUDING ITS MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES, OR THIRD-PARTY MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES MADE AVAILABLE THROUGH THIS SITE, EVEN IF WE ARE ADVISED BEFOREHAND OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, OUR LIABILITY AND THE LIABILITY OF OUR SUBSIDIARIES, PARENT COMPANIES AND AFFILIATES, IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY SUCH STATE LAW. YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY USER. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE SITE, OR ANY MATERIALS, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES ON THE SITE, OR WITH ANY OF THE SITE’S TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE SITE.

12. Indemnification.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless us, our affiliates, and each of our and their respective directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents, representatives and licensors, from and against any and all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, that arise out of your use of the Site, violation of these Terms of Use by you or any other person using your account, or your violation of any rights of another. We reserve the right to take over the exclusive defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification under this section. In such event, you agree to provide us with such cooperation as is reasonably requested by us.

13. Suspension and Termination of Access.

You agree that, in our sole discretion, we may suspend or terminate your password, account (or any part thereof) or use of the Site, or any part of the Site, and remove and discard any materials that you submit to the Site, at any time, for any reason, without notice. We reserve the right to terminate the use of any username or account, or to deny access to the Site or any features of the Site, to anyone who violates these Terms of Use or who, in our sole judgment, interferes with the ability of others to enjoy our website or infringes the rights of others. You agree that we will not be liable to you or any third-party for any suspension or termination of your password, account (or any part thereof) or use of the Site, or any removal of any materials that you have submitted to the Site. In the event that we suspend or terminate your access to and/or use of the Site, you will continue to be bound by the Terms of Use that were in effect as of the date of your suspension or termination.

14. Notice of Copyright Infringement.

If you are a copyright owner who believes your copyrighted material has been reproduced, posted or distributed via the Site in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement, please inform our designated copyright agent by sending written notice by U.S. Mail to 5805 Main Street, Suite 220, Frisco, TX 75034; or by email. Please include the following information in your written notice: (1) a detailed description of the copyrighted work that is allegedly infringed upon; (2) a description of the location of the allegedly infringing material on the Site; (3) your contact information, including your address, telephone number, and, if available, e-mail address; (4) a statement by you indicating that you have a good-faith belief that the allegedly infringing use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; (5) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, affirming that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf; and (6) an electronic or physical signature of the copyright owner or someone authorized on the owner’s behalf to assert infringement of copyright and to submit the statement. Please note that the contact information provided in this paragraph is for suspected copyright infringement only. Contact information for other matters is provided elsewhere in these Terms of Use or on the Site.

15. Miscellaneous.

This agreement constitutes the entire agreement between us and you with respect to the subject matter contained in this agreement and supersedes all previous and contemporaneous agreements, proposals and communications, whether written or oral. You also may be subject to additional terms and conditions that may apply when you use the products or services of a third party that are provided through the Site. In the event of any conflict between any such third-party terms and conditions and these Terms of Use, these Terms of Use will govern. These Terms of Use will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law.

If any provision of these Terms of Use are found to be unlawful, void, or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision will be deemed severable from these Terms of Use and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. These Terms of Use are not intended to benefit any third party, and do not create any third party beneficiaries. Accordingly, these Terms of Use may only be invoked or enforced by you or us. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action that you may have arising out of or related to use of the Site or these Terms of Use must be filed by you within one year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.