Terms of Service

By accessing the Center for RISC’s website (“the Site”), you agree to comply with these Terms in addition to all other applicable laws and regulations. If you do not agree, you may not use the Site. The Center for RISC (“RISC”) may terminate your access to the Site at any time without liability if RISC determines in good faith that you have violated any of these Terms.

These Terms may be modified at any time without notice. Your continued use of the Site indicates your acceptance of the modifications and the applicability of the Terms.

User Responsibilities

You are responsible for safeguarding the username and password assigned to your account, and you are responsible for any violation of these Terms by anyone who accesses the Site through you or using your username and password.

Users may post, upload, transmit and/or otherwise submit (“Submit”) comments, messages, other text, photos, images, stories, and other content and materials (“User Materials”), on the Site. You acknowledge that User Materials may be routed through our servers, the servers of one or more third parties on our behalf, and the Internet, and may be viewed by RISC staff and by the general public. You acknowledge that the Ideas Forum and discussions on the Site are for public and not private communications. Any content you submit may be re-used by RISC free of royalty and without attribution.

If you submit any content to be included on the Site, you are responsible for ensuring that it is free of all hazards and does not infringe any copyright or other legal rights of a third party. You agree that you, and not RISC or the University of Chicago, shall be responsible for any content that you Submit through the Site.

We reserve the right to screen, refuse to post, remove, or edit User Materials at any time and for any or no reason in our absolute and sole discretion without prior notice, although we have no duty to do so. If we elect to screen User Materials, there may be a delay in the posting of such content to allow for a review process. If we have questions about your User Materials, we have the right, but not the duty, to contact you for further information, including, for example, to verify that you own the copyright or otherwise have the rights to post the User Materials. You also agree and understand that RISC may preserve and disclose User Materials if in RISC's sole discretion such is reasonably necessary to: (a) comply with law; (b) enforce the Terms of this agreement; (c) respond to claims that a user has violated the rights of third parties, or (d) protect the interests, property, safety of The University of Chicago, its users, or others.

You additionally agree that in your use of the Site, you will not: (i) Submit any content that is abusive, obscene, vulgar, slanderous, hateful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, tortious, pornographic, harassing, profane, invasive of another's privacy, bigoted or hateful, or otherwise offensive or unlawful; (ii) impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your professional or other affiliation with any person or entity; (iii) post or transmit any Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other proprietary rights of any party; (iv) post or transmit any information, software, or other material which contains a virus or other harmful component; (v) post, transmit, or in any way exploit any information, software, or other material for commercial or political purposes or which contains advertising, including but not limited to 'junk mail' or 'pyramid schemes'; (vi) use the Site to collect or store personal data about other Users; (vii) attempt to access or access another user's account or attempt to access areas for which the User is not authorized; (viii) interfere with or disrupt the Site servers or networks connected to the Site, and/or the use of other Site providers, or not adhere to or abide by any policies, procedures, or regulations of networks connected to the Site, and (ix) engage in any activities prohibited by applicable law, including, without limitation, the development, design, manufacture, or production of nuclear, missile, or chemical or biological weapons.

Copyrights

All rights are reserved by the respective owners. You may not use any RISC or University of Chicago-provided service marks, logos or graphics, without RISC or University of Chicago’s prior written consent. You agree not to use any content on the Site in a manner that suggests that RISC or the University of Chicago promotes or endorses your, or any third party’s, causes, ideas, websites, products or services. All rights not expressly granted in these Terms of Use are reserved to the Center for RISC at the University of Chicago.

Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless The University of Chicago, including RISC, and its respective trustees, fellows, directors, officers, employees, and agents from and against any and all claims, actions, suits, or proceedings, as well as any and all losses, liabilities, damages, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorney’s fees) arising out of or accruing from your use or misuse of the Site, including but not limited to any content posted or transmitted by your use of the Site, your violation of the Terms of Service, or your infringement of any intellectual property right of another.

Disclaimer of warranties

Your use of the Site is at your sole risk. The Site is provided on an 'as-is' basis and The University of Chicago expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to the implied warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and noninfringement. Any material obtained through the use of the Site is done at your own discretion and risk and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system or loss of data that results from the download of any such material. No advice or information, whether oral or written, obtained by you through or from the Site shall create any warranty. Additionally, there is no warranty that the Site will meet your requirements; or will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, accurate, or reliable.

RISC makes no representations, warranties, or endorsements with respect to any third-party website that may be accessible through the Site.

Limitation of liability

In no event shall The University of Chicago, including RISC, and its respective trustees, fellows, directors, officers, employees, and agents be liable for any direct, indirect, punitive, incidental, special, consequential, or other damages arising out of or in any way connected with the use of this Site or with the delay or inability to use this Site, or for any information, software, products, and other materials obtained through this Site, or otherwise arising out of the use of this Site, whether based on contract, tort, strict liability, or otherwise, even if The University of Chicago and RISC have been advised of the possibility of damages. The user hereby specifically acknowledges and agrees that neither The University of Chicago, RISC, nor their respective trustees, fellows, directors, officers, employees, or agents shall be liable for any defamatory, offensive, or illegal conduct of any user of this Site.

The Site contains links to Internet sites, applications and services maintained by third parties, over which RISC or the University of Chicago has no control. RISC does not endorse the content, operators, products or services of such sites, and RISC is not responsible or liable for the content, operators, availability, accuracy, quality, advertising, products, services or other materials on or available from such sites. RISC 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, products or services available on or through such sites.

Termination of your access

You agree that The University of Chicago, in its sole discretion, may terminate your password, account (or any part thereof), or use of the Site, and remove and discard any content within the Site, for any reason, including, without limitation, for lack of use or if The University of Chicago believes, in its sole discretion, that you have violated or acted inconsistently with the Terms. The University of Chicago may also in its sole discretion and at any time discontinue providing the Site, or any part thereof, with or without notice. You agree that any termination of your access to the Site may be effected without prior notice, and acknowledge and agree that The University of Chicago 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 Site. Further, you agree that The University of Chicago shall not be liable to you or any third-party for any termination of your access to the Site. The University of Chicago reserves the right to terminate your access, without notification, for nonadherence of any of the rules set forth in these Terms.

General provisions

This Policy constitutes the entire agreement between User and The University of Chicago regarding use of the Site and shall govern User's use of the Site, superseding any prior agreements between The University of Chicago and User. The user also may be subject to additional Policy and conditions that may apply when you use third-party sites, third-party content, or third-party software. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Illinois and shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the State and Federal Courts of the State of Illinois. The failure of The University of Chicago to exercise or enforce any right shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

In some cases, the Site may include certain embedded tools provided and controlled by third parties and governed by the terms and policies of the third parties. You should only use these third party tools if you agree to their respective terms and policies.