Privacy Policy

theU is committed to protecting the personal privacy rights of all our customers and consider all personal information as private and confidential. theU has created this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy. To make this notice easy to find, we make it available on our homepage and at every point where personally identifiable information may be requested. The following discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for all of our current and future member web sites.

Information Collected
We use your IP address to help diagnose problems with our server, and to administer our Web site. We use cookies to deliver content specific to your interests and to save your password so you don't have to re-enter it each time you visit our site. In addition, our web servers track information about the visits to our web sites. For example, we compile statistics that show the daily number of visitors to our sites, the daily requests we receive for particular files on our web sites, and what countries those requests come from. These aggregated statistics are used internally to better provide services to the public and may also be provided to others, but again, the statistics contain no personal information and cannot be used to gather such information.

Our site's registration form requires users to give us contact information (like their name and email address), a unique member name, and demographic information (like their zip code, age group, or income level). We use customer contact information from the registration form to send the user information about our company and promotional material from some of our partners. The customer's contact information is also used to contact the visitor when necessary and shared with other companies who may want to contact our visitors. Users may opt-out of the sharing of their information with other companies, as well as opt-out of receiving future mailings from us; see the choice/opt-out section below.

Demographic and profile data is also collected at our site. We use this data to tailor the visitor's experience at our site, showing them content that we think they might be interested in, and displaying the content according to their preferences. Our online surveys ask visitors for contact information (like their email address). We use contact data from our surveys to send the user information about our company and promotional material from some of our partners. The customer's contact information is also used to contact the visitor when necessary and shared with other companies who may want to contact our visitors. Users may opt-out of the sharing of their information with other companies, as well as opt-out of receiving future mailings from us; see the choice/opt-out section below.

We run contests on our site in which we ask visitors for contact information (like their email address). We use contact data from our contests to send users information about our company and promotional material from some of our partners. The customer's contact information is also used to contact the visitor when necessary and shared with other companies who may want to contact our visitors. Users may opt-out of the sharing of their information with other companies, as well as opt-out of receiving future mailings from us; see the choice/opt-out section below. We will not disclose customer name, addresses, or account information to unaffiliated parties, other than: where the customer requests or consents to disclosure, where we are legally required to do so (e.g. in response to a subpoena or fraud investigation), where we have agreed to provide information under negotiated contracts and where the customer has been informed about the possibility of sharing information for marketing or other similar purposes through a prior direct communication and the customer has been given the reasonable opportunity and time to decline. Any third party with whom we are allowed to share your personal information is authorized to use your personal information in accordance with our contractual arrangements with such third parties and in accordance with their own privacy policies, over which we have no control, and you agree that we are not responsible or liable for any of their actions or omissions. Those who contact you will need to be instructed directly by you regarding your preferences for the use of your personal information by them. Please read the information below under the heading "Special Cases in which we Share Personal and Financial Information" to learn more ways in which we may share your personal information.

We reserve the right to disclose your personally identifiable information as required by law and when we believe that disclosure is necessary to protect our rights and/or comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, or legal process served on our Web site.

If your personally identifiable information changes, or if you no longer desire our service, you may correct, update, or delete it by making changes on our “Edit Profile” page. Access the “Edit Profile” page by logging into the site. Once logged in you will see “Edit Profile” at the top of the page. Click on that and you can correct, update, or delete your profile.

We follow generally accepted industry standards to protect the personal information submitted to us, both during transmission and once we receive it. No method of transmission over the Internet, or method of electronic storage, is 100% secure, however. Therefore, while we strive to use commercially acceptable means to protect your personal information, we cannot guarantee its absolute security. If you have any questions about security on our Web site, you can send email us at info@theu.com.

Third Party Advertising
We may use third-party advertising companies to serve ads when you visit our Web site. These companies may use information (not including your name, address, email address or telephone number) about your visits to this and other Web sites in order to provide advertisements on this site and other sites about goods and services that may be of interest to you. If you would like more information about this practice and to know your choices about not having this information used by these companies, please click here.

We use other third parties on our site to provide information to our users about educational institutions. When you sign up for theU.com and opt into offers, we will share your name, email, birthday, phone number, and address as necessary for the third party to provide that service. These third parties are prohibited from using your personally identifiable information for any other purpose.

We share personally Identifiable Information with Third Parties. We share personally Identifiable Information when our users show interest in offers that we display on our site. If a user opts into an offer, for example: Florida Culinary Institute or Notre Dame, that we display on our site, then their PII is shared with the company identified in the offer. The third party can then contact the user to share information about the educational institution or company.

In some cases, we may enter into a promotional relationship with another company in which we prominently display their brand name or trademarks on pages of the Site. These pages are known as "Co-Branded Pages" and these companies are known as "Co-Branded Companies." If the page on which you submit information is a Co-Branded Page, or was accessed by clicking on a link on a Co-Branded Page, then we may share your personal information with the associated Co-Branded Company. Co-Branded Companies may use your personal information in accordance with their own privacy policies. You will need to contact Co-Branded Companies to instruct them directly regarding your preferences for the use of your personal information by them. Additionally, you agree that we may use and disclose all such information so submitted to such Co-Branded Companies in the same manner in which we are entitled to use and disclose any other information you submit to us. Some Co-Branded Pages may contain an action tag (also known as a Web Beacon or a 1 pixel .gif file) that a third party may use to read cookies that it, or its clients, may have placed on your browser at other (non-theU.com) web sites before your visit to theU.com. This technology is used to measure the effectiveness of advertisements on such other Websites that promote Co-Branded Pages. Further such other third parties may use the information collected through this technology to learn more about your visits to this Site and other Websites in order to provide advertisements about goods and services of interest to you. Third Party Cookies In the course of serving advertisements to this site, our third-party advertiser or Co-Branded Companies may place or recognize a unique "cookie" on your browser.

A cookie is a small text file that is stored on a user’s company for record-keeping purposes. We use cookies on this site. We do link the information we store in cookies to any personally identifiable information you submit while on our site. We use session ID cookies and persistent cookies. We use session cookies to make it easier for you to navigate our site. A session ID cookie expires when you close your browser. A persistent cookie remains on your hard drive for an extended period of time. You can remove persistent cookies by following directions provided in your Internet browser’s “help” file. For more information on cookies visit http://www.cookiecentral.com. We set a persistent cookie to store your passwords, so you don’t have to enter it more than once. Persistent cookies also enable us to track and target the interests of our users to enhance the experience on our site. If you reject cookies, you may still use our site, but your ability to use some areas of our site, such as contests or surveys, will be limited.

Some of our business partners use cookies on our site. We have no access to or control over these cookies. This privacy statement covers the use of cookies by theU.com only and does not cover the use of cookies by any advertisers.

Links to third party sites
We place links to other Websites operated by other parties. Some of these other Websites contain our brand names and trademarks and other intellectual property that we own; others do not. When you click on these links and visit these other Websites, regardless of whether or not they contain our brand names, trademarks and other intellectual property, you need to be aware that we do not control these other Websites or these other Websites' business practices, and that this privacy policy does not apply to these other Websites. Consequently, the operators of these other Websites may collect different kinds of information about you, and may use and disclose that information in different ways than we would if it were collected on the Site. We encourage you to review their privacy policies and remind you that we will not be responsible for their actions. theU is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites.

We use other third parties or Innovation Ads to provide services or information about colleges and careers on our site.

Special Cases In Which Share Personal and Financial Information
Your personal information or financial information may be passed on to a third party in the event of a transfer of ownership or assets, or a bankruptcy. We may also disclose personal information or financial information when we determine that such disclosure is necessary to comply with applicable law, to cooperate with law enforcement or to protect the interests or safety of theU.com or other visitors to the Site. We also may disclose your personal information or financial information to our subsidiary and parent companies and businesses, and other affiliated legal entities and businesses with whom we are under common corporate control. Whenever personal information or financial information is disclosed under this paragraph, we may also disclose your demographic information along with it, on a non-anonymous basis. All of our parent, subsidiary and affiliated legal entities and businesses that receive your personal information, financial information, or non-anonymous demographic information from us will comply with the terms of this privacy policy with respect to their use and disclosure of such information.

How We Use Public Information and Other Demographic Information
We may review all demographic information. We may use demographic information to tailor the Site and communications to your interests. We may also share demographic information with advertisers on an anonymous and aggregated basis (i.e., without telling the advertisers your identity). One of the reasons we may do this is to increase the likelihood that our advertiser¡¯s goods and services will appeal to theU.com's users, so that we may target specific ads at specific demographic groups. Our sharing of demographic information with advertisers is anonymous (i.e., we do not tell advertisers which particular theU.com users are members of which demographic groups), subject to the rest of this privacy policy. When you respond to an advertisement, however, we ask you to remember that if that ad that is targeted to a demographic group and you decide to give the advertiser your personal information, then the advertiser may be able to identify you as being a member of that demographic group.

Please also be aware that when we disclose your financial information or personal information to a Co-Branded Company, as described above, we may also disclose to that Co-Branded Company your demographic information. Please also be aware that we may disclose your demographic information on a non-anonymous basis as described above in the paragraph titled "Special Cases in which we Share Personal and Financial Information."

Tell-A-Friend
If you choose to use our referral service to tell a friend about our site, we will ask you for your friend's name and email address. We will automatically send your friend a one-time email inviting him or her to visit the site. theU.com does NOT store this information.

Public Forums
This site makes chat rooms, forums, message boards, and/or news groups available to its users. These features require users to register with the site, and enter their personal user names and passwords before entering those areas. Please remember that any information that is disclosed in these areas becomes public information and you should exercise caution when deciding to disclose your personal information.

Security
To prevent unauthorized access, maintain data accuracy, and ensure the appropriate use of information, we have put in place appropriate physical, electronic, and managerial procedures to safeguard and secure the information we collect online.

Children's Guidelines
Protecting the privacy of the very young is especially important. For that reason, we never collect or maintain information at our web site from those we actually know are under 13, and no part of our Webster is structured to attract anyone under 13.

Choice/Opt-Out
Our site provides users the opportunity to opt-out of receiving communications from us and our partners at the point where we request information about the visitor. Users may opt-out of the sharing of their information with other companies, as well as opt-out of receiving future mailings from us. This site gives users the following options for removing their information from our database to not receive future communications or to no longer receive our service. You can send email to optout@theU.com

Changing our Privacy Policy for Previously Gathered Information
If at any point we decide to use particular personally identifiable information in a manner different from that stated at the time it was collected, we will notify users by way of an email or by providing 30 days notice on the Site. Please note that we will continue to have the right to change our privacy policy and practices, and how we use your personally identifiable information, without notice, as described in the first paragraph of this Privacy Policy, provided that such changes shall only apply to information gathered on or after the date of the change.

We reserve the right to modify this privacy statement at any time, so please review it frequently. If we make material changes to this policy, we will notify you here, by email, or by means of a notice on our home page.

Correct/Update
This site gives users the following options for changing and modifying information previously provided. To protect your privacy and security, we will also take reasonable steps to verify your identity before granting access or making corrections. Visit http://www.theu.com/profiles_edit_preferences.

Contacting Us
theU believes that protecting each person's right to privacy is fundamental to the quality of customer relationships. If you have any questions about this privacy statement, the practices of this site, or your dealings with this Web site, you can contact: infor@theu.com or theU at 233 Broadway 21st floor New York, NY 10279 (p) 646-792-1369

TRUSTe Privacy Program
www.theU.com is a licensee of the TRUSTe Privacy Program. TRUSTe is an independent, non-profit organization whose mission is to build user's trust and confidence in the Internet by promoting the use of fair information practices. This privacy statement covers the Web site www.theU.com. Because this Web site wants to demonstrate its commitment to your privacy, it has agreed to disclose its information practices and have its privacy practices reviewed for compliance by TRUSTe.

If you have questions or concerns regarding this statement, you should first contact Rob Aronson at rob@theu.com. If you do not receive acknowledgement of your inquiry or your inquiry has not been satisfactorily addressed, you should contact TRUSTe at http://www.truste.org/consumers/watchdog_complaint.php TRUSTe will then serve as a liaison with us to resolve your concerns.

Last Updated on 01/25/2008

1. ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS We will refer to the theU.com web site as the "Service". We (that is theU and its other business groups and affiliates) will provide the Service to you, subject to the following terms and conditions referred to as the "Service Agreement" or "SA", which may be updated or modified by us from time to time without notice to you, therefore you need to regularly check this agreement to stay up to date. You can review the most current version of the SA at any time at http://www.theU.com. Your use of the Service will confirm your agreement to these terms and conditions as well as your acceptance of the changes we make to the SA. In addition, when using particular theU services subject to this SA, you and theU shall be subject to any posted guidelines or rules applicable to such services that may be posted from time to time. All such guidelines or rules are incorporated by reference into the SA. Consequently, PLEASE READ THIS SERVICE AGREEMENT CAREFULLY BEFORE ACCESSING OR USING theU.COM. BY ACCESSING OR USING THEU.COM, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS, YOU MAY NOT ACCESS OR USE THEU.COM. REMEMBER THAT theU.COM MAY MODIFY THIS AGREEMENT AT ANY TIME, AND SUCH MODIFICATIONS SHALL BE EFFECTIVE IMMEDIATELY UPON POSTING OF THE MODIFIED AGREEMENT. YOU AGREE TO REVIEW THE AGREEMENT PERIODICALLY TO BE AWARE OF SUCH MODIFICATIONS AND YOUR CONTINUED ACCESS OR USE OF THEU.COM SHALL BE DEEMED YOUR CONCLUSIVE ACCEPTANCE OF THE MODIFIED AGREEMENT.

2. DESCRIPTION OF SERVICE theU.com is a website that provides a forum for opinions about life at colleges and universities throughout the country. Although theU.com is partly a promotional vehicle for the sale of theU's products and offers, it is also a free service to the community of students interested in sharing their opinions about their college or university experience and those students investigating their college choices. Unless explicitly stated otherwise, any new features that augment or enhance the current Service shall be subject to the SA. You understand and agree that the Service is provided "AS IS" and that we do not assume responsibility for the timeliness, deletion, mis-delivery or failure to store any user provided content, communications, or personalization settings. You also understand and agree that the opinions presented at theU.com are the uncensored opinions of third parties, and not the opinion of theU or any of its affiliates or partners. In order to use the Service, you must obtain access to the World Wide Web, either directly or through devices that access web-based content, and pay any service fees associated with such access. In addition, you must provide all equipment necessary to make such connection to the World Wide Web, including a computer and modem or other access device.

3. YOUR REGISTRATION OBLIGATIONS Use of the Service may require you to register and obtain a password. In return for our enabling you to use the Service, you agree to: (a) provide true, accurate, current and complete information about yourself when necessary or as prompted by the Service's registration form (such information being the "Registration Data") and (b) maintain and promptly update the Registration Data to keep it true, accurate, current and complete. If you provide any information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, or we have reasonable grounds to suspect that such information is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, we have the right to suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of the Service (or any portion thereof).

4. theU PRIVACY POLICY Registration Data and certain other information about you is subject to our Privacy Policy. In addition, by using the Service, you acknowledge and agree that theU may preserve Content and may also disclose Content if required to do so by law or in the good faith belief that such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with legal process; (b) enforce the SA; (c) respond to claims that any Content violates the rights of third-parties; or (d) protect the rights, property, or personal safety of theU.com, its users and the public.

5. MEMBER ACCOUNT, PASSWORD AND SECURITY When the particular service you use requires you to register as described above, you will also receive a password and account designation upon completing the Service's registration process. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of the password and account, and are fully responsible for all activities that occur under your password or account. You agree to (a) immediately notify theU.com of any unauthorized use of your password or account or any other breach of security, and (b) ensure that you exit from your account at the end of each session. theU.com cannot and will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from your failure to comply with this Section.

6. USE OF THE SERVICE; MEMBER CONDUCT (a) You understand that all information, data, text, messages, postings, or other materials ("Content"), whether publicly posted or privately transmitted, are the sole responsibility of the person from which such Content originated. This means that you, and not theU.com, are entirely responsible for all Content that you upload, post, or otherwise transmit via the Service. If you have included information available through the Service then you are responsible for making modifications or updating information to the extent there are errors or updates are required. theU.com does not control the Content posted via the Service and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Content. You understand that by using the Service, you may be exposed to Content that is offensive, indecent or objectionable. Under no circumstances will theU be liable in any way for any Content, including, but not limited to, for any errors or omissions in any Content (for example, if an event posted on theU is listed on the wrong date, place, or time), or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Content posted, or otherwise transmitted via the Service. You agree that you will not use the Service or the information obtained through the Service (including without limitation, directory or event listings): i. for solicitations, commercial or otherwise; ii. for incorporation into a commercial product or service; iii. to download directory listings or other information by using any type of automated means; iv. for the purposes of soliciting, offending or harassing any person or persons; v. to alter the directory listings, event listings, or other information, or enter additional listings or Content which in any way: (i) are unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable, (ii) violates any patent, trademark, service mark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights ("Rights") of another, or (iii) are known to be false or misleading at the time of entry. vi. harm minors in any way; vii. impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, a theU.com official, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity; viii. provide any Content that you do not have a right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements); ix. transmit any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment; x. interfere with or disrupt the Service or servers or networks connected to the Service, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to the Service; or xi. intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law. (b) You acknowledge that theU.com does not pre-screen Content, but that theU and its designees shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to refuse, move or remove any Content that is available via the Service. Without limiting the foregoing, we shall have the right to remove any Content that violates the SA or is otherwise objectionable. You agree that you must evaluate, and bear all risks associated with, the use of any Content, including any reliance on the accuracy, completeness, or usefulness of such Content. In this regard, you acknowledge that you may not rely on any Content created by us or submitted to us. (c) You understand that the technical processing and transmission of the Service, including your Content, may involve (a) transmissions over various networks; and (b) changes to conform and adapt to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices.

7. PUBLIC CONTENT POSTED TO theU (a) For purposes of the SA, "publicly accessible areas of the Service" are those accessible by the general public. By way of example, a publicly accessible area of the Service would include the theU.com Message Boards.  Please note that this Content may be seen by anyone using the Service. (b) With respect to all other Content you elect to post to publicly accessible areas of the Service, you grant theU.com the world-wide royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive and fully sublicensable right and license to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, perform and display such Content (in whole or part) and/or to incorporate it in other works, in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed. (c) You represent and warrant that you have all right, title and interest in, or otherwise have the right to publicly display all Content that you post to or transmit through the Service and that the Content you post to or transmit through the Service does not infringe, or dilute any third party right.

8. theU.COM's RIGHTS AND REPRESENTATIONS (a) theU reserves the right to deny access to you or any group of users to the Service, at its sole discretion, at any time. theU also reserves the right to remove any listings or other information or Content from the Service at any time and at its sole discretion. (b) theU cannot and does not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading through the Service will be free of infection or viruses, worms, Trojan horses or other code that manifest contaminating or destructive properties. You are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to satisfy your particular requirements for accuracy of data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to the Service for the reconstruction of any lost data. (c) THEU DOES NOT MAKE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, REPRESENTATIONS OR ENDORSEMENTS WHATSOEVER (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR NONINFRINGEMENT, OR THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE) WITH REGARD TO THE SERVICE, ANY MERCHANDISE, INFORMATION OR SERVICE PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICE, OR ANY MERCHANTS LISTED ON THE SERVICE, AND THEU SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY COST OR DAMAGE ARISING EITHER DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM ANY SUCH TRANSACTION. THEU DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE SECURE, UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE OR THAT DEFECTS IN THE SERVICE WILL BE CORRECTED. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS, AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. IN NO EVENT WILL THEU (OR ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, SUPPLIERS, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES, DISTRIBUTORS OR AFFILIATES) BE LIABLE FOR (I) ANY INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INDIRECT OR SPECIAL DAMAGES (INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF PROGRAMS OR INFORMATION, AND THE LIKE) ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE, OR ANY INFORMATION, OR TRANSACTIONS PROVIDED ON THE SERVICE OR DOWNLOADED FROM THE SERVICE, EVEN IF THEU OR ITS AUTHORIZED REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, OR (II) ANY CLAIM ATTRIBUTABLE TO ERRORS, OMISSIONS, OR OTHER INACCURACIES IN THE SERVICE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY DIRECTORY OR EVENT LISTINGS OR INFORMATION DOWNLOADED THROUGH THE SERVICE. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, THEU'S LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

9. INDEMNITY You agree to indemnify and hold theU, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, co-branders or other partners, and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees and expenses, made by any third party due to or arising out of Content you submit, post to or transmit through the Service, your use of the Service, your connection to the Service, your violation of the SA, or your violation of any rights of another.

10. MODIFICATIONS TO SERVICE theU reserves the right at any time and from time to time to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the Service (or any part thereof) with or without notice. You agree that theU shall not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the Service.

11. TERMINATION You agree that theU, in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, account (or any part thereof) or use of the Service, and remove and discard any Content within the Service, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if theU believes that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the SA. theU may also in its sole discretion and at any time discontinue providing the Service, or any part thereof, with or without notice. You agree that any termination of your access to the Service under any provision of this SA may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that theU may immediately deactivate or delete your account and all related information and files in your account and/or bar any further access to such files or the Service. Further, you agree that theU shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination of your access to the Service for any reason.

12. DEALINGS WITH ADVERTISERS Your correspondence or business dealings with, or participation in promotions of, advertisers found on or through the Service, including payment and delivery of related goods or services, and any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such advertiser. You agree that theU shall not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings or as the result of the presence of such advertisers on the Service.

13. LINKS The Service may provide, or third parties may provide, links to other World Wide Web sites or resources. Because theU has no control over such sites and resources, you acknowledge and agree that theU is not responsible for the availability of such external sites or resources, and does not endorse and is not responsible or liable for any content, advertising, products, or other materials on or available from such sites or resources. You further acknowledge and agree that theU 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 use of or reliance on any such Content, goods or services available on or through any such site or resource.

14. ADS Use of this site is contingent on acceptance of viewing of any and all advertisements (ADS) sent on or by pages of this site. ADS include, but are not limited to: banners, buttons and pop-up windows. Users found to be using screening or filtering systems to remove or hide ads from theU may have their accounts terminated without prior notice or warning.   

15. ELECTRONIC NOTICES By using the Website, you agree to receive electronic communications from us.  You agree that any notice, agreement, disclosure or other communication that we send you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including that such communications be in writing.

16. theU'S PROPRIETARY RIGHTS AND IDEA SUBMISSIONS You acknowledge and agree that the Service and any necessary software used in connection with the Service ("Software") contain proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. You further acknowledge and agree that Content contained in sponsor advertisements or information presented to you through the Service or advertisers is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents or other proprietary rights and laws. Except as expressly authorized by theU or advertisers, you agree not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute or create derivative works based on the Service or the Software, in whole or in part. The compilation of the contents of the Service is copyrighted under the United States copyright laws. The owner of the copyright is theU and in some cases a third party. theU grants you a personal, non-transferable, non-sublicenseable, and non-exclusive right and license to print and download portions of information found on the Service solely for your own non-commercial use. Any other copying, redistribution, retransmission, display or publication of any downloaded information is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of theU. You agree to grant to theU a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide, perpetual license, with the right to sublicense, to reproduce, distribute, transmit, create derivative works of, and publicly display any Content, including directory listings and other materials or information such as ideas contained therein for new or improved products and services you submit to theU (such as through posting to public areas or mailing to theU) by all means and in any media now known or hereafter developed. You also agree to grant to theU the right to use your name in connection with the submitted Content as well as in connection with all advertising, marketing and promotional material related thereto. You grant theU non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide permission to implement or use in any manner and in any media any ideas or information contained in your communications. You further agree to release theU from any claims of alleged or actual infringement, or misappropriation of any proprietary rights that may result from such implementation or use.

17. DISPUTE RESOLUTION Any cause of action or claim you may have with respect to the Service must be commenced within six months after the claim or cause of action arises or such claim or cause of action is barred. ALL DISPUTES, CONTROVERSIES OR CLAIMS, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STATUTE, FRAUD, MISREPRESENTATION OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT AND THE SERVICE ("DISPUTES") SHALL BE SETTLED BY FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION CONDUCTED IN NEW YORK, NEW YORK, BY A NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR, IN ACCORDANCE WITH THIS AGREEMENT AND THE THEN CURRENT COMMERCIAL ARBITRATION RULES OF THE AMERICAN ARBITRATION ASSOCIATION. The arbitrability of Disputes shall also be determined by the arbitrator. Each party shall bear its own expenses, except that the prevailing party may recover the filing costs and the expenses of the arbitrator from the other party. Any award of the arbitrator shall be in writing and shall state the reasons for the award. Judgment upon an award may be entered in any Court having competent jurisdiction. The arbitrator shall not have the power to order pre-hearing discovery of documents or the taking of depositions, but may compel attendance of witnesses and the production of documents at the hearing. The Federal Arbitration Act, 9 U.S.C. Sections 1 to 14, shall govern the interpretation and enforcement of this paragraph. The parties, their representatives and participants and the arbitrator shall hold the existence, content and result of the arbitration in confidence, except to the limited extent necessary to enforce a final settlement agreement or to obtain or enforce a judgment on an arbitration decision and award. The foregoing notwithstanding, this agreement shall not prevent the parties from seeking and obtaining temporary equitable remedies, including temporary restraining orders, from a court with jurisdiction over the parties and the subject matter. A request to a court for interim equitable relief shall not be deemed a waiver of the obligation to arbitrate.

18. TRADEMARK NOTICES theU is a trademark and/or service mark of theU. Other theU products, services and company names mentioned herein and or applicable web sites may be the trademarks and/or service works of theU. Other product, service and company names mentioned herein may be the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners.

19. MISCELLANEOUS This Agreement shall all be governed and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York applicable to agreements made and to be performed in New York. This site is controlled and operated by theU from its offices within the United States of America. theU makes no representation that materials in the site are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who choose to access this site from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable. theU's failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. Neither the course of conduct between the parties nor trade practice shall act to modify any provision of this Agreement. theU may assign its rights and duties under this Agreement to any party at any time without notice to you. The section titles in the SA are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.