Website Terms of Use
Last Modified: 2018-03-02
Acceptance
of the Terms of Use
These terms of use are entered
into by and between You and the University of Pittsburgh (“University,” “we,”
or “us”). The following terms and conditions, together with any documents
they expressly incorporate by reference (collectively, these “Terms of Use”),
govern your access to and use of http://www.engineering.pitt.edu,
including any content, functionality and services offered on or through http://www.engineering.pitt.edu (the “Website”).
Please read the Terms of Use
carefully before you start to use the Website. By using the Website or by
clicking to accept or agree to the Terms of Use when this option is made
available to you, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by these Terms of
Use and our Privacy Policy, found at http://www.engineering.pitt.edu/privacy/, incorporated
herein by reference. If you do not want to agree to these Terms of Use or the Privacy
Policy, you must not access or use the Website.
This Website is offered and
available to users who are 18 years of age or older and reside in the United
States or any of its territories or possessions. By using this Website, you
represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract with
the University and meet all of the foregoing eligibility requirements. If you
do not meet all of these requirements, you must not access or use the Website.
Changes
to the Terms of Use
We may revise and update these
Terms of Use from time to time in our sole discretion. All changes are effective
immediately when we post them, and apply to all access to and use of the
Website thereafter.
Your continued use of the
Website following the posting of revised Terms of Use means that you accept and
agree to the changes. You are expected to check this page from time to time so
you are aware of any changes, as they are binding on you.
Accessing
the Website and Account Security
We reserve the right to
withdraw or amend this Website, and any service or material we provide on the
Website, 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.
You are responsible for:
- Making all arrangements necessary for you to have access to the
Website.
- Ensuring that all persons who access the Website through your
internet connection are aware of these Terms of Use and comply with them.
To access the Website or some of the resources it offers, you may
be asked to provide certain registration details or other information. It is a
condition of your use of the Website that all the information you provide on
the Website is correct, current and complete. You agree that all information
you provide to register with this Website or otherwise, including but not
limited to through the use of any interactive features on the Website, is
governed by our Privacy Policy, and
you consent to all actions we take with respect to your information consistent
with our Privacy Policy.
If you choose, or are provided
with, a user name, password or any other piece of information as part of our
security procedures, you must treat such information as confidential, and you
must not disclose it to any other person or entity. You also acknowledge that
your account is personal to you and agree not to provide any other person with
access to this Website or portions of it using your user name, password or
other security information. You agree to notify us immediately of any
unauthorized access to or use of your user name or password or any other breach
of security. You also agree to ensure that you exit from your account at the
end of each session. You should use particular caution when accessing your
account from a public or shared computer so that others are not able to view or
record your password or other personal information.
We have the right to disable any
user name, password or other identifier, whether chosen by you or provided by
us, at any time if, in our opinion, you have violated any provision of these
Terms of Use.
Intellectual
Property Rights
The Website and its entire
contents, features and functionality (including but not limited to all
information, software, text, displays, images, video and audio, and the design,
selection and arrangement thereof), are owned by the University, its licensors
or other providers of such material and are protected by United States and
international copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret and other intellectual
property or proprietary rights laws.
These Terms of Use permit you
to use the Website for your personal, non-commercial use only. You must not
reproduce, distribute, modify, create derivative works of, publicly display,
publicly perform, republish, download, store or transmit any of the material on
our Website, except as follows:
- Your computer may temporarily store copies of such materials in
RAM incidental to your accessing and viewing those materials.
- You may store files that are automatically cached by your Web
browser for display enhancement purposes.
- You may print or download one copy of a reasonable number of pages
of the Website for your own personal, non-commercial use and not for further
reproduction, publication or distribution.
- If we provide desktop, mobile or other applications for download,
you may download a single copy to your computer or mobile device solely for
your own personal, non-commercial use, provided you agree to be bound by our
end user license agreement for such applications.
- If we provide social media
features with certain content, you may take such actions as are enabled by
such features.
You must not:
- Modify copies of any materials from this site.
- Use any illustrations, photographs, video or audio sequences or
any graphics separately from the accompanying text.
- Delete or alter any copyright, trademark or other proprietary
rights notices from copies of materials from this site.
You must not access or use for any commercial purposes any part of
the Website or any services or materials available through the Website.
If you wish to make any use of
material on the Website other than that set out in this section, please address
your request to the Director of
Marketing and Communications.
If you print, copy, modify,
download or otherwise use or provide any other person with access to any part
of the Website in breach of the Terms of Use, your right to use the Website
will cease immediately and you must, at our option, return or destroy any copies
of the materials you have made. No right, title or interest in or to the
Website or any content on the Website is transferred to you, and all rights not
expressly granted are reserved by the University. 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.
Trademarks
The University name and all
related names, logos, trademarks, designs and slogans are trademarks of the University
or its affiliates or licensors. You must not use such marks without the prior
written permission of the University. All other names, logos, product and
service names, designs and slogans on this Website are the trademarks of their
respective owners.
Prohibited
Uses
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 or 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 send,
knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does
not comply with the Content Standards set out in these Terms of Use.
- To transmit,
or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material,
including any “junk mail”, “chain letter” or “spam” or any other similar
solicitation.
- To
impersonate or attempt to impersonate the University, a University employee,
another user or any other person or entity (including, without limitation,
by using e-mail addresses or screen names 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 the University or
users of the Website or expose them to liability.
Additionally, you agree not to:
- Use the Website in any manner that could disable, overburden,
damage, or impair the site or interfere with any other party’s use of the
Website, including their ability to engage in real time activities through the
Website.
- Use any robot, spider or other automatic device, process or means
to access the Website for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of
the material on the Website.
- Use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on
the Website or for any other unauthorized purpose without our prior written
consent.
- Use any device, software or routine that interferes with the
proper working 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.
- Attack the Website via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed
denial-of-service attack.
- Otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the
Website.
User
Contributions
The Website may contain
message boards, chat rooms, personal web pages or profiles, forums, bulletin
boards and other interactive features (collectively, “Interactive Services”)
that allow users to post, submit, publish, display or transmit to other users or
other persons (hereinafter, “post”) content or materials (collectively, “User
Contributions”) on or through the Website.
All User Contributions must
comply with the Content Standards set out in these Terms of Use.
Any User Contribution you post
to the site will be considered non-confidential and non-proprietary. By
providing any User Contribution on the Website, you grant us and our affiliates
and service providers, and each of their and our respective licensees,
successors and assigns the right to use, reproduce, modify, perform, display,
distribute and otherwise disclose to third parties any such material for any
purpose.
You represent and warrant
that:
- You own or control all rights in and to the User Contributions and
have the right to grant the license granted above to us and our affiliates and
service providers, and each of their and our respective licensees, successors
and assigns.
- All of your User Contributions do and will comply with these Terms
of Use.
You understand and acknowledge that you are responsible for any
User Contributions you submit or contribute, and you, not the University, have
fully responsibility for such content, including its legality, reliability,
accuracy and appropriateness.
We are not responsible, or
liable to any third party, for the content or accuracy of any User
Contributions posted by you or any other user of the Website.
Monitoring
and Enforcement; Termination
We
have the right to:
- Remove or refuse to post any User Contributions for any or no
reason in our sole discretion.
- Take any action with respect to any User Contribution that we deem
necessary or appropriate in our sole discretion, including if we believe that
such User Contribution violates the Terms of Use, including the Content
Standards, infringes any intellectual property right or other right of any
person or entity, threatens the personal safety of users of the Website or the
public or could create liability for the University.
- Disclose your identity or other information about you to any third
party who claims that material posted by you violates their rights, including
their intellectual property rights or their right to privacy.
- Take appropriate legal action, including without limitation,
referral to law enforcement, for any illegal or unauthorized use of the
Website.
- Terminate or suspend your access to all or part of the Website for
any or no reason, including without limitation, any violation of these Terms of
Use.
Without limiting the foregoing, we have the right to fully
cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or
directing us to disclose the identity or other information of anyone posting
any materials on or through the Website. YOU WAIVE AND HOLD HARMLESS THE UNIVERSITY
AND ITS TRUSTEES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES AND SERVICE
PROVIDERS FROM ANY CLAIMS RESULTING FROM ANY ACTION TAKEN BY ANY OF THE
FOREGOING PARTIES DURING OR AS A RESULT OF ITS INVESTIGATIONS AND FROM ANY
ACTIONS TAKEN AS A CONSEQUENCE OF INVESTIGATIONS BY EITHER SUCH PARTIES OR LAW
ENFORCEMENT AUTHORITIES.
However, we cannot review all
material before it is posted on the Website, and cannot ensure prompt removal
of objectionable material after it has been posted. Accordingly, we assume no
liability for any action or inaction regarding transmissions, communications or
content provided by any user or third party. We have no liability or
responsibility to anyone for performance or nonperformance of the activities
described in this section.
Content
Standards
These content standards apply
to any and all User Contributions and use of Interactive Services. User
Contributions must in their entirety comply with all applicable federal, state,
local and international laws and regulations. Without limiting the foregoing,
User Contributions must not:
- Contain any material which is defamatory, 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 or age.
- Infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other
intellectual property or other 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.
- Be likely to deceive any person.
- Promote any illegal activity, or advocate, promote or assist any
unlawful act.
- Cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety or be likely to
upset, embarrass, alarm or annoy any other person.
- Impersonate any person, or misrepresent your identity or
affiliation with any person or organization.
- Involve commercial activities or sales, such as contests,
sweepstakes and other sales promotions, barter or advertising.
- Give the impression that they emanate from or are endorsed by us
or any other person or entity, if this is not the case.
Reliance
on Information Posted
The information presented on
or through the Website is made available solely for general information
purposes. We do not warrant the accuracy, completeness or usefulness of this
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.
This Website may include
content provided by third parties, including materials provided by other users,
bloggers and third-party licensors, syndicators, aggregators and/or reporting
services. All statements and/or opinions expressed in these materials, and all
articles and responses to questions and other content, other than the content
provided by the University, are solely the opinions and the responsibility of
the person or entity providing those materials. These materials do not
necessarily reflect the opinion of the University. We are not responsible, or
liable to you or any third party, for the content or accuracy of any materials
provided by any third parties.
Changes
to the Website
We may update the content on
this Website from time to time, but its content is not necessarily complete or
up-to-date. Any of the material on the Website may be out of date at any given
time, and we are under no obligation to update such material.
Information
About You and Your Visits to the Website
All information we collect on
this Website is subject to our Privacy Policy. By
using the Website, you consent to all actions taken by us with respect to your
information in compliance with the Privacy Policy.
Links
from the Website
If the Website contains links
to other sites and resources provided by third parties, these links are
provided for your convenience only. This includes links contained in
advertisements, including banner advertisements and sponsored links. We have no
control over the contents of those sites or resources, and accept no
responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from your use
of them. If you decide to access any of the third party websites linked to this
Website, you do so entirely at your own risk and subject to the terms and
conditions of use for such websites.
Geographic
Restrictions
The owner of the Website is
based in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, U.S.A. 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.
Disclaimer
of Warranties
You understand that we cannot and
do not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the
internet or the Website will be free of viruses or other destructive code. You
are responsible for implementing sufficient procedures and checkpoints to
satisfy your particular requirements for anti-virus protection and accuracy of
data input and output, and for maintaining a means external to our site for any
reconstruction of any lost data. WE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE
CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES OR OTHER
TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT,
COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE
WEBSITE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR TO YOUR
DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.
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 THE UNIVERSITY NOR
ANY PERSON ASSOCIATED WITH THE UNIVERSITY MAKES ANY WARRANTY OR REPRESENTATION
WITH RESPECT TO THE COMPLETENESS, SECURITY, RELIABILITY, QUALITY, ACCURACY OR
AVAILABILITY OF THE WEBSITE. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, NEITHER THE UNIVERSITY
NOR ANYONE ASSOCIATED WITH THE UNIVERSITY 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.
THE UNIVERSITY HEREBY
DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY OR
OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY,
NON-INFRINGEMENT AND FITNESS FOR PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
THE FOREGOING DOES NOT AFFECT
ANY WARRANTIES WHICH CANNOT BE EXCLUDED OR LIMITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW.
Limitation
on Liability
IN NO EVENT WILL THE
UNIVERSITY AND ITS TRUSTEES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES AND
SERVICE PROVIDERS 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 the University and its trustees, officers, employees, agents,
representatives and service providers from and against any claims, liabilities,
damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses or fees (including
reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of
these Terms of Use or your use of the Website, including, but not limited to,
your User Contributions, 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
All matters relating to the
Website and these Terms of Use and any dispute or claim arising therefrom or
related thereto (in each case, including non-contractual disputes or claims),
shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the internal laws of the Commonwealth
of Pennsylvania, without giving effect to any choice or conflict of law
provision.
Any legal suit, action or
proceeding arising out of, or related to, these Terms of Use or the Website
shall be instituted exclusively in the federal courts of the United States or
the courts of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in each case located in Allegheny
County, Pennsylvania. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of
jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.
LIMITATION ON TIME TO FILE CLAIMS
ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM
YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS OF USE OR THE WEBSITE
MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES,
OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.
Waiver and Severability
No waiver of by the University
of any term or condition set forth in these Terms of Use shall be deemed a
further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or a waiver of any other
term or condition, and any failure of the University 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 or other tribunal 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
The Terms of Use and our Privacy
Policy constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and the Univeristy
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
All other feedback, comments,
requests for technical support and other communications relating to the Website
should be directed to the Director of
Marketing and Communications.