Last updated: February 27, 2024

IMPORTANT NOTICE TO USER:

These “Terms of Service” are a legal agreement between you and The Index Standard, Inc. (“The Index Standard®”, “us”, “we”, or “our”) for access to and use of our Services. “Services” means our online products and services, including our website with a homepage located at http://www.theindexstandard.com and other interactive features, applications, reports, ratings products, content, information, or downloads that are operated by us and that are available through, or interact with, the website.

BY ACCESSING OR USING THE SERVICES, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF SERVICE AND APPLICABLE ADDITIONAL TERMS (DEFINED BELOW), WHETHER OR NOT YOU ARE A REGISTERED USER OF OUR SERVICES. IF ANY OF THESE TERMS ARE UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU OR IN THE EVENT THAT ANY FUTURE CHANGES ARE UNACCEPTABLE TO YOU, DO NOT USE THE SERVICES. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THE SERVICES NOW, OR FOLLOWING THE POSTING OF ANY CHANGES TO THESE TERMS OF SERVICE, WILL INDICATE ACCEPTANCE AND AGREEMENT BY YOU OF SUCH CHANGES. YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU HAVE THE LEGAL AUTHORITY TO ENTER INTO THESE TERMS OF SERVICE AND TO BE BOUND BY ITS TERMS.

  1. CERTAIN IMPORTANT DISCLOSURES & DISCLAIMERS
  1. The Index Standard® is not, and does not act as, a registered investment advisor or fiduciary. Nothing in the Services (including any reports, ratings, or other Service Content (as defined in Section 2 below)) is intended, and it should not be construed, to be investment advice. All information is provided solely for informational purposes. A reference to a particular index or security, an index rating or any observation concerning an index or investment that is provided on the Services is not a recommendation to buy, sell or hold such index or investment or make any other investment decisions and does not address the suitability of any index or investment. Service Content should not be relied on and is not a substitute for your skill, judgment and experience or the experience of professional advisors and/or your clients in making investment and other business decisions. Although opinions, reports, ratings, and scenarios presented in the Service Content may include our quantitative estimates of index worthiness and related opinions or commentary, you expressly agree that you are solely responsible to act with due care to make your own independent studies and evaluations of applicable financial indices and any other applicable investments or products referenced in the Services or related to such indices. You expressly agree that any reports, information or other Service Content made available by us on the Services are not a substitute for the exercise of appropriate independent judgment and expertise; accordingly, you agree that you will not rely upon them as such. You should always seek the assistance of an appropriate professional for advice on investments, taxes, laws, or other matters.
  2. Reports, ratings, and other Service Content (defined below) made available by us will be based, in whole or in part, on third party data, such as publicly available information that we or third parties have obtained or analyzed. We do not attempt to verify any third-party information or any third-party analyses independently, and we undertake no duty of due diligence or independent verification of any information we receive. All ratings and related analyses made available by us are statements of opinion as of the date they are expressed, and not statements of facts or recommendations to make any investment decisions. Users of the information provided through the Services should not rely on any of it in making any investment decision.
  3. No representations or warranties are made by us as to the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any of our Service Content (defined below), including with respect to assumptions made in such content, or with respect to the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of any information, opinions, reports, ratings, or scenarios made available by us. No representation is made that any omissions or errors in our Service Content (defined below), including in any information, opinions, reports, ratings, or scenarios made available by us, will be corrected.
  4. We have no obligation to notify any recipients of the Services, including recipients of ratings, reports, or any other Service Content, of any changes made to any information, opinions, reports, ratings, scenarios, or other Service Content. All such Service Content is subject to change at any time.
  5. You expressly agree that neither our Service Content, nor any mention of any of our opinions, reports, ratings, scenarios or other Service Content by any third party in any financial product wrapper, disclosure, marketing materials, or other writing is a recommendation by us to buy, sell, or hold any security, index, derivative, or other instrument, nor does it constitute an opinion of The Index Standard® (or of any of its employees, suppliers, or representatives) as to the suitability of any security, index, derivative or other instrument for any particular purpose.
  6. You acknowledge that, at any time, our employees, personnel or other contributors may have a financial interest in one or more of the indices, securities and instruments covered by the Services.
  7. Additional important disclaimers and limitations on liability are set forth below, including in Section 10 and Section 11 below.
  1. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY

Unless otherwise explicitly specified, the Services and included content (and any derivative works or enhancements of the same), including, but not limited to, all layout, text, reports, ratings, illustrations, instructions, files, images, designs, software, scripts, graphics, photos, sounds, music, videos, information, advertising copy, content, materials, products, services, URLs, technology, documentation, interactive features, the "look and feel" of the Services, the compilation, assembly and arrangement of the materials of the Services and any and all copyrightable material (including source and object code), (collectively, the "Service Content") and all intellectual property rights to the same are owned or controlled by us, our licensors, or both. Additionally, all trademarks, service marks, trade names, trade identities and trade dress that may appear on the Services are owned by us, our licensors, or both. Except for the limited use rights granted to you in these Terms of Service, you shall not acquire any right, title or interest in the Services or any Service Content. Any rights not expressly granted in these Terms of Service are expressly reserved.

  1. SERVICE USE
  1. Access to the Services, including, without limitation, the Service Content, is provided for your informational and personal use only. When using the Services, you agree to comply with all applicable federal, state, and local laws, including, without limitation, copyright law. Except as expressly permitted in these Terms of Service or applicable Additional Terms, you may not use, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works based upon, publicly display, publicly perform, publish, transmit, or otherwise exploit Service Content for any purpose whatsoever without obtaining prior written consent from us or, in the case of third-party content, its respective owner. In certain instances, we may permit you to download or print Service Content or both. In such a case, subject to your strict compliance with these Terms of Service, you may download, display, view, and/or or print (as applicable) one (1) copy of the Service Content (excluding source and object code in raw form or otherwise, other than as made available to access and use via a standard web browser to enable display on your computer) on any single computer for your limited, personal, non-exclusive,  revocable, non-assignable and non-transferable use only. In some instances, we may permit you to have greater access to and use of Service Content, subject to Additional Terms applicable thereto. You acknowledge that you do not acquire any ownership rights by downloading, printing or otherwise using or accessing the Service Content.
  2. Furthermore, except as expressly permitted in these Terms of Service or applicable Additional Terms, you may not:
    1. remove, alter, cover, or distort any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary rights notices on the Services or Service Content or on any copy you make of the Service Content.
    2. circumvent, disable or otherwise interfere with security-related features of the Service, including, without limitation, any features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content or enforce limitations on the use of the Services or Service Content.
    3. use any engine, software, tool, agent or other device (including any linking, deep-linking, framing or page-scraping, web-scraping, optical character recognition, robotic process automation, robots, spiders or other automatic devices, programs, data stripping mechanisms, algorithms, code(s) or methodologies, or any similar or equivalent automated or manual processes) to access, acquire, monitor, copy, distribute, display, navigate or search any portion of the Services or Service Content for any purpose without the express written permission of The Index Standard®, or use any of our trademarks as meta tags. Notwithstanding the foregoing, The Index Standard® grants public search engine operators permission to use automatic devices (such as robots or spiders) to copy Service Content from the Services for the sole purpose of creating (and only to the extent necessary to create) a searchable Index of Service Content that is available to the public. We reserve the right to revoke this permission (generally or specifically) at any time.
    4. use the Services or Service Content or any part thereof in conjunction with artificial intelligence, machine learning or data analytics technologies to develop, build, train, structure, run or test algorithms, models, artificial intelligence or robotic process automation technologies (regardless of whether such technologies are data-driven or involve human intervention).
    5. collect or harvest any personally identifiable information from the Services, including, without limitation, usernames, passwords, e-mail addresses.
    6. solicit other users to join or become members of any commercial online service or other organization without our prior written approval.
    7. attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Services or impair, overburden, or disable the same.
    8. decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, modify or attempt to discover any Service source or object code or any software or other products, services or processes accessible through any portion of the Services.
    9. use network-monitoring software to determine architecture of or extract usage data from the Services.
    10. encourage conduct that violates any local, state or federal law, either civil or criminal, or impersonate another user, person, or entity (e.g., using another person’s Membership (as defined below) without permission, etc.).
    11. use the Service Content in a manner that suggests an association with any of our products or services or brands.
    12. violate U.S. export laws, including, without limitation, violations of the Export Administration Act and the Export Administration Regulations administered by the Department of Commerce; or
    13. engage in any conduct that restricts or inhibits any other user from using or enjoying the Services or that violates these Terms of Service or applicable Additional Terms.
  3. You agree to cooperate fully with us to investigate any suspected or actual activity that is in breach of these Terms of Service or applicable Additional Terms.
  4. You also agree that you will be responsible for obtaining and maintaining all computer hardware and other equipment needed for access to and use of the Services and you will be responsible for all charges related thereto.

4. USER REGISTRATION

  1. In order to access or use some of the features of the Services, you may have to become a registered user. If you are under the age of thirteen (13), then you are not permitted to register as a user or otherwise submit personal information to us.
  2. If you become a registered user, you must provide true, accurate, current and complete registration information about you as may be prompted by any registration forms and, if such information changes, you will promptly update the relevant registration information. During registration, you may be required to create a username and password (a "Membership"), which may permit you access to certain areas of the Services, or certain Service Content, not available to non-registered users. You are responsible for safeguarding and maintaining the confidentiality of your Membership and for restricting access to your computer devices so that others may not access any password protected portion of the Services using your username in whole or in part. If you register with us, you agree to accept sole responsibility for all activities that occur under your Membership, whether or not you have authorized the activity. You may not sell, transfer or assign your Membership or any Membership rights. You agree to notify us immediately of any breach of security or unauthorized use of your Membership. We reserve the right to terminate your account or otherwise deny you access to the Services in our sole discretion for any or no reason without notice and without liability. You agree that we may communicate with you electronically using the information you submit to the Service.

5. USER CONTENT

  1. We may now or in the future permit users to submit information, content, and/or other materials ("User Content"). Except for any Service Content included in your User Content we have given you permission to use, and subject to the rights and license you grant herein, you retain all right, title and interest in your User Content. It is solely your responsibility to monitor and protect any intellectual property rights that you may have in your User Content, and we do not accept any responsibility for same. You agree that you either: (i) own the rights to the User Content you submit and the right to grant all of the rights and licenses in these Terms of Service or applicable Additional Terms; or (ii) you have all necessary rights and licenses from the owner(s) of these rights to enter into these Terms of Service and grant us these licenses. Upon our request, you will furnish us with any documentation, substantiation or releases necessary to verify your compliance with these Terms of Service or applicable Additional Terms. You also acknowledge that the Internet may be subject to breaches of security and should be aware that submissions of User Content or other information may not be secure, and you should consider this before submitting any information to us.
  2. You shall not submit any User Content protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, moral right, or other intellectual property, personal, contractual, proprietary or other third party right without the express permission of the owner of the respective right. You are solely liable for any damage resulting from your failure to obtain such permission or from any other harm resulting from User Content that you submit.
  3. You represent, warrant, and covenant that you will not submit any User Content that:
    1. violates or infringes in any way upon the rights of others.
    2. impersonates another or is unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, vulgar, obscene, profane, pornographic, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing or otherwise objectionable.
    3. encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any law.
    4. is an advertisement for goods or services or a solicitation of funds.
    5. includes personal information unless specifically requested by us.
    6. contains a formula, instruction, or advice that could cause harm or injury.
    7. the licensed use by us hereunder would result in us having any obligation or liability to any party.
    8. depicts any third-party trademarks or products or services in any manner that violates their rights or could otherwise create liability; or
    9. violates these Terms of Service or applicable Additional Terms.
    Moreover, any conduct by a user that in our sole discretion restricts or inhibits any other user from using or enjoying the Service will not be permitted.
  4. By submitting User Content to us, simultaneously with such submission you automatically grant, or warrant that the owner has expressly granted, to us an unrestricted, unconditional, unlimited, worldwide, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, fully sublicensable (through multiple levels), and transferable right and license to use, copy, record, disclose, sell, re-sell, sublicense, lease, reproduce, distribute, create derivative works based upon (including, without limitation, translations), publicly display, publicly perform, transmit, publish, broadcast, reformat, translate, archive, store, and otherwise exploit the User Content (in whole or in part) as we, in our sole discretion, deem appropriate, for any purpose whatsoever, including, without limitation, (1) in connection with our business; and (2) in connection with the businesses of our successors, parents, subsidiaries, and their related companies. We may exercise this grant in any format, media or technology now known or later developed for the full term of any copyright that may exist in such User Content. Without limitation, the granted rights include the right to configure, host, Index, cache, digitize, compress, optimize, modify, edit, adapt, and remove such content and combine same with other materials. Except as otherwise described in the Service’s posted Privacy Policy or applicable Additional Terms, you agree that your User Content will be treated as non-confidential and non-proprietary. Furthermore, we are free to use any ideas, concepts, know-how or techniques contained in any User Content you submit without any remuneration or obligation to you and for any purposes whatsoever, including, without limitation, developing, manufacturing and marketing products and/or services using such User Content; or creating informational articles based on or advertising our products and services. You further authorize us to publish your User Content in a searchable format that may be accessed by users of the Services and the Internet.
  5. We have no obligation to post, maintain, accept, display, exploit or otherwise make use of User Content. We may discontinue operation of the Service, or your use of the Services, in either case in whole or in part, in our sole discretion. You have no right to maintain or access your User Content on the Services and we have no obligation to return your User Content or otherwise make it available to you. We may, in our sole discretion, delete, move, re-format, edit, alter, distort, remove or refuse to exploit User Content without notice or liability; provided, however, that we reserve the right to treat User Content on the Services, or on certain portions of the Services, as content stored at the direction of users for which we will not exercise editorial control except to block or remove content that is obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, violent, harassing or otherwise objectionable or to enforce the rights of third parties.
  6. The rights granted by you hereunder may not be terminated, revoked or rescinded and are not subject to reversion; provided, however, the rights granted by us may be terminated, revoked or rescinded and are subject to reversion.

6. SERVICE CONTENT & THIRD-PARTY LINKS

  1. We provide the Services, including, without limitation, Service Content for informational, educational and promotional purposes only. You may not rely on any information and opinions expressed on the Services (including in any Service Content) for any other purpose. In all instances, it is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, or usefulness of Service Content. Under no circumstances will we, our agents or licensors be liable for any loss or damage caused by your reliance on any Service Content.
  2. Service Content may include content posted by a third-party or represent the opinions and judgments of a third-party. We do not endorse, warrant and are not responsible for the accuracy, timeliness, completeness, or reliability of any opinion, advice, or statement made on the Services by anyone other than authorized employees or spokespersons while acting in their official capacities.
  3. If there is a dispute between persons accessing the Services or between persons accessing the Services and any third party, you understand and agree that we are under no obligation to become involved. If there is such a dispute, you hereby release The Index Standard® and its officers, directors, employees, parents, partners, successors, agents, affiliates, subsidiaries, and their related companies from claims, demands, and damages of every kind or nature arising out of, relating to, or in any way connected with such dispute.
  4. The Services may contain links to other Services maintained by third parties. We do not operate or control, in any respect, or necessarily endorse the content found on these third-party Services. You assume sole responsibility for your use of third-party links. We are not responsible for any content posted on third-party services or liable to you for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as a result of your dealings with any third-party or their products or services.

7. FEE-BASED SERVICES

  1. Some of the Services are available only on a fee basis (that is, you must pay to be permitted to access particular Service Content or other Services) for periods of time that we have specified. Such Services are referred to herein as “Fee-Based Services”. The price points for applicable Fee-Based Services will be as set forth on the Services. We reserve the right to revise available pricing at any time and/or to change the composition or specifications of Fee-Based Services available for purchase at any time.
  2. Valid payment information (such as a VISA or MasterCard credit card) is required to pay for the Fee-Based Services. Upon receipt of payment of the applicable fees to our third party payment processor, we will grant you a limited, non-transferable license to access, use and privately access or display the applicable Fee-Based Services in accordance with these Terms of Service, on one computer at a time, solely for your personal informational use, and provided that you are not in breach of these Terms of Service.
  3. In order to access the Fee-Based Services, your computer(s) must be connected to the Internet. Additionally, the Fee-Based Services may only operate on certain hardware and software platforms specified by us. It is your sole responsibility to ensure that you have access to the appropriate hardware and software and communications services required to access the Fee-Based Services. We reserve the right to change or cease support of any hardware or software platforms at any time.
  4. In addition to the charges set forth above, you are responsible for all charges (e.g., internet access charges) associated with connecting to the Services.
  5. You specifically agree not to assign, transfer or sublicense your rights as a customer of the Fee-Based Services. You agree to be financially responsible for all usage or activity on your Fee-Based Services account. You hereby authorize us to charge the payment information you submit (which you hereby acknowledge was entered by you) to pay for the Fee-Based Services. You agree to keep the information accurate and will be personally liable for all charges incurred by you during or through the use of the Fee-Based Services. Your liability for such charges shall continue after termination of your use of the Services.
  6. If, immediately after purchasing Fee-Based Services, you are unable to view your selected Fee-Based Services, please contact us at the e-mail address specified on the Services. We will work with you to try to solve your problem. Your exclusive and sole remedy with respect to Fee-Based Services for which you have paid, but that you are not able to use, and our only obligation, will be limited to either replacement of such Fee-Based Services, or refund of the fee paid for such Fee-Based Services, which will be at our sole discretion.
  7. In the event of any errors relating to the pricing or specifications, we shall have the right to refuse or cancel any orders in our sole discretion.

8. INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless The Index Standard® and its officers, directors, employees, parents, partners, successors, agents, distribution partners, affiliates, subsidiaries, licensors, and their related companies from and against any and all claims, liabilities, losses, damages, obligations, costs and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs) arising out of, related to, or that may arise in connection with: (i) your access to or use of the Services (including any Service Content); (ii) User Content provided by you or through use of your Membership; (iii) any actual or alleged violation or breach by you of these Terms of Service or applicable Additional Terms; (iv) any actual or alleged breach of any representation, warranty, or covenant that you have made to us; or (v) your acts or omissions. You agree to cooperate fully with us in the defense of any claim that is the subject of your obligations hereunder.

9. DISCLAIMERS

YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT USE OF THE SERVICES (INCLUDING SERVICE CONTENT) IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE SERVICES AND SERVICE CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS, "WITH ALL FAULTS," AND WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING AND TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE INDEX STANDARD® AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, PARENTS, PARTNERS, SUCCESSORS, AGENTS, DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, LICENSORS, AND THEIR RELATED COMPANIES DISCLAIM ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES INCLUDING ANY: (1) WARRANTIES THAT THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS; (2) WARRANTIES CONCERNING THE AVAILABILITY, ACCURACY, SECURITY, USEFULNESS, TIMELINESS, OR INFORMATIONAL CONTENT OF THE SERVICES OR SERVICE CONTENT; (3) WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OR MISAPPROPRIATION OF INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF THIRD PARTIES, CUSTOM, TRADE, QUIET ENJOYMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE; (4) WARRANTIES FOR SERVICES OR GOODS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED ON OUR SERVICES OR ACCESSED THROUGH THE SERVICES; (5) WARRANTIES CONCERNING THE ACCURACY OR RELIABILITY OF THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICES; (6) WARRANTIES THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE SECURE OR UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY OR ERROR-FREE; (7) WARRANTIES THAT DEFECTS OR ERRORS IN THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICE CONTENT WILL BE CORRECTED; AND (8) WARRANTIES THAT THE SERVICES (OR ANY SERVER THAT MAKES ANY SERVICES AVAILABLE) ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

10. LIMITATION ON LIABILITY

  1. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL THE INDEX STANDARD® OR ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, PARENTS, PARTNERS, SUCCESSORS, AGENTS, DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, LICENSORS, OR THEIR RELATED COMPANIES BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, ECONOMIC, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (EVEN IF FORSEEABLE OR IF THE INDEX STANDARD® HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), UNDER ANY CONTRACT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY, TORT OR OTHER THEORY, ARISING OUT OF, RELATING TO, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE SERVICES, SERVICE CONTENT, THESE TERMS OF SERVICE OR APPLICABLE ADDITIONAL TERMS. YOUR SOLE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SERVICES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE SERVICE CONTENT, IS TO STOP USING THE SERVICES. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF SERVICES OR PRODUCTS RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES OR ANY LINKS ON THE SERVICES, AS WELL AS BY REASON OF ANY INFORMATION RECEIVED THROUGH OR ADVERTISED IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES OR ANY LINKS ON THE SERVICES. SUCH LIMITATION SHALL ALSO APPLY WITH RESPECT TO DAMAGES INCURRED BY REASON OF ANY CONTENT POSTED BY A THIRD-PARTY OR CONDUCT OF A THIRD-PARTY ON THE SERVICES.
  2. NOTWITHSTANDING ANYTHING TO THE CONTRARY CONTAINED HEREIN, IN NO EVENT SHALL THE CUMULATIVE LIABILITY OF THE INDEX STANDARD® AND ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, PARENTS, PARTNERS, SUCCESSORS, AGENTS, DISTRIBUTION PARTNERS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, AND THEIR RELATED COMPANIES EXCEED THE GREATER OF THE TOTAL PAYMENTS RECEIVED FROM YOU BY THE INDEX STANDARD® DURING THE PRECEDING TWELVE (12) MONTH PERIOD OR $10. FURTHERMORE, YOU AGREE THAT ANY CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF, RELATING TO, OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE SERVICES, THESE TERMS OF SERVICE OR APPLICABLE ADDITIONAL TERMS MUST COMMENCE WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES; OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION SHALL BE PERMANENTLY BARRED.
  3. In some jurisdictions limitations of liability or of warranties are not permitted. In such jurisdictions, some of the foregoing limitations may not apply to you. These limitations shall apply to the fullest extent permitted by law.
  4. The Services are controlled and operated from facilities in the United States. We make no representations that the Services are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who access or use the Services from other jurisdictions do so at their own volition and are entirely responsible for compliance with all applicable national, state, local or other laws, statutes, directives, rules, regulations, and all interpretations or orders of any government, administrative or regulatory authority or court, including but not limited to those related to export and import of software, technical information or services. You may not use the Service if you are a resident of a country embargoed by the United States, or are a foreign person or entity blocked or denied by the United States government. Unless otherwise explicitly stated, all materials found on the Services are solely directed to individuals, companies, or other entities located in the United States.

11. TERMINATION

  1. We reserve the right in our sole discretion and at any time to terminate or suspend your Membership and/or block your access to the Services for any reason, including, without limitation, if you have failed to comply with the letter and spirit of these Terms of Service or applicable Additional Terms. You agree that The Index Standard® shall not be liable to you or any third party for any termination or suspension of your Membership or for blocking your access to the Services.
  2. If you become a registered user, you may terminate your Membership at any time by emailing info@theindexstandard.com with “Cancellation Request” in the subject line. If you are a Core Plan or Core+ Plan customer, you must give such notice at least 14 days prior to the next scheduled payment in your billing cycle to avoid being charged for the following month. Your account access will then terminate at the end of that billing period and you will not be charged further. If you are an Enterprise Plan customer, notice of termination is as specified in your contract.
  3. Any suspension or termination shall not affect your obligations to us under these Terms of Service. The provisions of these Terms of Service which by their nature should survive the suspension or termination of your Membership or these Terms of Service shall survive, including, but not limited to, the rights and licenses that you have granted hereunder, indemnities, releases, disclaimers, limitations on liability, provisions related to choice of law, dispute resolution, no class action, no trial by jury and all of the miscellaneous provisions in Section 14. Upon suspension or termination of your Membership, you will immediately discontinue use of the Service Content and destroy any copies of Service Content in your possession.

12. GOVERNING LAW; JURISDICTION AND VENUE; NO JURY TRIAL; NO CLASS ACTIONS

  1. These Terms of Service, and your relationship with us, shall be governed by the laws of the State of New York without regard to its conflict or choice of laws provisions. Any dispute with us, or our parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents or affiliates, arising under or in relation to these Terms of Service shall be resolved exclusively through the federal or state courts located in New York County, New York (and courts with appellate jurisdiction therefrom), except with respect to imminent harm requiring temporary or preliminary injunctive relief in which case we may seek such relief in any court with jurisdiction over the parties.
  2. You also acknowledge and agree that, with respect to any dispute with us, our officers, directors, employees, agents or affiliates, arising out of or relating to your use of the Services or this Agreement:
    1. YOU ARE GIVING UP YOUR RIGHT TO HAVE A TRIAL BY JURY; and
    2. YOU ARE GIVING UP YOUR RIGHT TO SERVE AS A REPRESENTATIVE, AS A PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL, OR IN ANY OTHER REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY, OR TO PARTICIPATE AS A MEMBER OF A CLASS OF CLAIMANTS, IN ANY LAWSUIT INVOLVING ANY SUCH DISPUTE.
  3. You understand that, in return for agreement to this provision, we are able to offer the Services at the terms designated, and that your assent to this provision is an indispensable consideration to this Agreement.

13. AMENDMENT; ADDITIONAL TERMS

  1. We reserve the right in our sole discretion and at any time without prior notice and for any reason, to modify or discontinue any aspect or feature of the Services or to modify or add to these Terms of Service ("Updated Terms"). In addition, we reserve the right to provide you with operating rules or additional terms that may govern your use of the Services generally, unique parts of the Services, or both ("Additional Terms"). Any Additional Terms that we may provide to you will be incorporated by reference into these Terms of Service. To the extent any Additional Terms conflict with these Terms of Service, the Additional Terms will control.
  2. Updated Terms or Additional Terms will be effective immediately upon notice, either by posting on the Services so that they are accessible via a link on the homepage or by notification by e-mail or conventional mail. It is your responsibility to review the Terms of Service and the Services from time to time for any Updated Terms or Additional Terms. Your access and use of the Services after we have posted the Updated Terms (or engaged in such other conduct as we may reasonably specify) or applicable Additional Terms will signify your assent to and acceptance of the same, which will be effective as of the time of posting, or such later date as may be specified therein, and will apply to your use of the Services from that point forward. If you object to any Updated Terms or to any Additional Terms, you may terminate your Membership as provided herein or, if you do not have a Membership, your only recourse is to immediately discontinue use of the Services.

14. MISCELLANEOUS

  1. Any delay or failure on the part of us to exercise or enforce any rights under these Terms of Service to which we may be entitled shall not, in any event, be construed as a waiver of the right and privilege to do so at any subsequent time. The Index Standard® has the right to determine your compliance with these Terms of Service in our sole discretion. You irrevocably agree that you waive any and all rights to injunctive or other equitable relief. The section headings used herein are for convenience only and shall not be given any legal import. If any provision of these Terms of Service is held to be unlawful, void, or for any reason invalid or unenforceable, then that provision will be deemed severable from these Terms of Service and the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of the Terms of Service, which shall remain in full force and effect.
  2. These Terms of Service (including any Updated Terms or Additional Terms incorporated by reference) constitute the entire agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter hereof, and supersede all previous written or oral agreements between us with respect to such subject matter.
  3. You may not assign these Terms of Service or assign any rights or delegate any obligations hereunder, in whole or in part, without our prior written consent. Any such purported assignment or delegation by you without the appropriate prior written consent will be null and void and of no force and effect. The Index Standard® may assign these Terms of Service or any rights hereunder without your consent and without notice.