Terms of Service | Bribery Matters

Acceptance of the Terms of Use

The following terms and conditions (together with any documents referred to herein) (“Terms of Use”) apply to your use of the BriberyMatters.com website, including any content, functionality and services offered on or through it (the “Website”), whether as a guest or a registered user. The Website is owned by TRACE International, Inc. (“TRACE”, “we”, or “us”).

By using the Website, you accept and agree to abide by these Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy, incorporated herein by reference. If you do not want to agree to these Terms of Use or the Privacy Policy, you must exit the Website.

Changes to the Terms of Use

TRACE may revise and update these Terms of Use from time to time in our sole discretion; please check this link for the latest terms. Your continued use of the Website following the posting of revised Terms of Use means that you have reviewed, accept and agree to the changes.

Accessing the Website

To use this Website, you represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract with TRACE and are at least 13 years of age.

The Website is currently publicly available at no cost with the option to subscribe. You are responsible for making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the Website.

TRACE reserves the right to withdraw or amend any feature of the Website, suspend, or terminate it in part or in its entirety at any time in our sole discretion without notice. We will not be liable if for any reason all or any part of the Website is unavailable at any time or for any period. From time to time, we may restrict access to some parts of the Website, or the entire Website, to users, including registered users.

We have the right to block or unsubscribe any user at any time, for any reason, including, if in our opinion, you have failed to comply with any provision of these Terms of Use.

Geographic Restrictions

The owner of the Website is based in the state of Maryland in the United States. We provide this Website for use only by persons located in the United States. We make no claims that the Website or any of its content is accessible or appropriate outside of the United States. Access to the Website may not be legal by certain persons or in certain countries. If you access the Website from outside the United States, you do so on your own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws.

Intellectual Property Rights

TRACE and Website names, logos, product and service names, designs and slogans are owned by TRACE or its affiliates or licensors. You must not use such marks without TRACE’s prior written consent. All other names, brands and marks on the Website are for identification purposes only and are the trademarks of their respective owners.

The entire contents of the Website (including all information, software, text, displays, images, video and audio) and the design, selection and arrangement thereof, are owned by TRACE or its licensors and are protected by United States and international laws regarding copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets and other intellectual property or proprietary rights. No right, title or interest in or to the Website or any content on the site are transferred to you, and all rights not expressly granted are reserved by TRACE. Any use of the Website not expressly permitted by these Terms of Use is a breach of these Terms of Use and may violate copyright, trademark and other laws.

Prohibited Uses

You are permitted to use the Website for your personal, non-commercial use only. You may use the Website only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms of Use.

You agree not to use the Website:

In any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local and international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the US or other countries).
For the purpose of exploiting, harming or attempting to exploit or harm minors in any way by exposing them to inappropriate content, asking for personally identifiable information or otherwise.
To transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material without our prior written consent, including any “junk mail”, “chain letter” or “spam” or any other similar solicitation.
To impersonate or attempt to impersonate TRACE, a TRACE employee, another user, or person or entity (including, without limitation, the use of e-mail addresses associated with any of the foregoing).
To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone’s use or enjoyment of the Website, or which, as determined by us, may harm TRACE or users of the Website or expose them to liability.

Additionally, you agree not to:

Delete or alter any copyright, trademark and other proprietary notices appearing on Website materials;
copy, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display or perform, republish, download or store, or transmit any of the material on our site without TRACE’s prior written consent, except to print a reasonable number of pages of the Website for a permitted use or repost on social media;
reproduce, sell or exploit for any commercial purposes any part of the Website, access to the Website or use of the Website or any services or materials available through the Website without obtaining a license to do so from TRACE or its applicable licensor;
Modify the paper or digital copies of any materials from this site;
Use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or any graphics separately from the accompanying text;

Use the Website (whether manually or via automated means) in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the site or interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Website;
Introduce any viruses, trojan horses, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful;
Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage or disrupt any parts of the Website, the server on which the Website is stored, or any server, computer or database connected to the Website; or
Attempt in any manner to interfere with the proper working of the Website.

User Contributions

The Website may contain message boards, forums, comment features, and other interactive features (collectively, “Interactive Services”) that allow you to post, submit, publish, display or transmit to TRACE or other users (hereinafter, “post”) content or materials (collectively, “User Contributions”) on or through the Website, either anonymously or attributed to you.

All User Contributions must comply with the Content Standards set out in these Terms. You understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for any User Contributions you submit or contribute, and you --not TRACE -- have full responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability, accuracy and appropriateness. Any content and/or opinions uploaded, expressed or submitted to the Website, and all articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the content provided TRACE are solely the opinions and the responsibility of the person or entity submitting them and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of TRACE. We are not responsible, or liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials posted by you or any other user of the Website.

Any User Contribution you post to the site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary, and we have the right to use, copy, distribute and disclose to third parties any such material for any purpose.

By posting User Contributions to or in connection with the Website, you represent and warrant that:

you have the legal right to grant TRACE the license granted above;
you User Contributions do and will comply with these Terms of Use, and
you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless TRACE and its affiliates and licensors for any breach of this representation and warranty.

TRACE reserves the right to:

Remove or refuse to post any User Contributions for any lawful reason;
Take any action with respect to any User Contribution that we deem necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion if we believe that such User Contribution violates the Terms of Use, including the Content Standards, infringes any intellectual property right, threatens the personal safety of users of the Website and the public, or could create liability for TRACE
Take or respond to appropriate legal action, including without limitation, referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorized use of the Website.
Terminate your access to all or part of the Website for any or no reason, including without limitation, any violation of these Terms of Use.

Content Standards

The following content standards apply to all User Contributions. User Contributions must comply with all applicable laws and regulations and must not:

Contain any material which is obscene, indecent, abusive, offensive, harassing, violent, hateful, inflammatory or otherwise objectionable;
Promote sexually explicit or pornographic material, violence, or discrimination based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation; age, or other protected class;
Infringe upon the intellectual property rights of any other person;
Violate the legal rights (including the rights of publicity and privacy) of others or contain any material that could give rise to any civil or criminal liability under applicable laws or regulations or that otherwise may be in conflict with these Terms of Use and our privacy policy;
Promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote or assist any unlawful act;
Be used to impersonate any person, or to misrepresent your identity or affiliation with any person or organization, including TRACE, or
Involve commercial activities, sales, or marketing without our prior written consent.

We collect and use information about you in accordance with our privacy policy. By using the Website, you consent to such collection and use and you represent and warrant that all data provided by you is accurate.

Disclaimer of Warrranties & Limitation of Liability

All Website content is provided on an as-is basis without warranty of any kind. None of the information provided on the Website constitutes legal advice and we are under no obligation to update content. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness, currentness, or usefulness of any Website information. Any reliance you place on such information is strictly at your own risk. We disclaim all liability and responsibility arising from any reliance placed on such materials by you or any other visitor to the Website, or by anyone who may be informed of any of its contents.

YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT AND ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. NEITHER TRACE NOR ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH TRACE MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY OR AVAILABILITY OF THE WEBSITE OR ITS CONTENTS. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER TRACE NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH TRACE REPRESENTS OR WARRANTS THAT THE WEBSITE, ITS CONTENT OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL BE ACCURATE, RELIABLE, ERROR-FREE OR UNINTERRUPTED, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT OUR SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES IT AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR THAT THE WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE WILL OTHERWISE MEET YOUR NEEDS OR EXPECTATIONS.

TRACE HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

IN NO EVENT WILL THE COLLECTIVE LIABILITY OF TRACE, ITS AFFILIATES AND ITS LICENSORS, SERVICE PROVIDERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, OFFICERS AND DIRECTORS, BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND, UNDER ANY LEGAL THEORY, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE WEBSITE, ANY WEBSITES LINKED TO IT, ANY CONTENT ON THE WEBSITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR SUCH OTHER WEBSITES, INCLUDING ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, PERSONAL INJURY, PAIN AND SUFFERING, EMOTIONAL DISTRESS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS OR ANTICIPATED SAVINGS, LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF DATA, AND WHETHER CAUSED BY TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF CONTRACT OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF FORESEEABLE.

THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT ANY LIABILITY WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless TRACE, its affiliates and licensors and their respective officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors and suppliers from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses or fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from your violation of these Terms of Use or your use of the Website, including, without limitation, any use of the Website’s content, services and products other than as expressly authorized in these Terms of Use or your use of any information obtained from the Website.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms of Use and any dispute or claim arising out of, or related to, them shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Maryland without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law provision or rule. Any legal suit, action or proceeding arising out of, or related to, these Terms of Use or the Website shall be instituted in a court of competent jurisdiction within the State of Maryland.

Waiver and Severability

The failure of TRACE to assert a right or provision under these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. If any provision of these Terms of Use is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable for any reason, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions of the Terms of Use will continue in full force and effect.

Entire Agreement

These Terms of Use and our Privacy Policy constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and TRACE with respect to the Website and supersede all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to the Website.

Your Comments and Concerns

Please address any questions, comments, requests for support and other communications relating to the Website to TRACE at: TRACE International, Inc., 151 West Street, Suite 300, Annapolis, MD 21401 or briberymatters@TRACEinternational.org.