Terms of Use

Effective Date: March 1, 2022

Acceptance of the Terms and Conditions

This Terms of Use Agreement (this “Agreement”), states the terms and conditions under which you may use the Ocean Connect web site (this “Site”).  Please read this Agreement carefully.  The terms “You,” “Your,” or “User” shall refer to any individual or entity who accepts these Terms of Use by using this Site. This Site contains various information relating to Ocean Connect (“Ocean Connect” or “We”) in the form of text, graphics, news, reports, videos, databases and other materials whether tangible or intangible (collectively, the “Content”).  By accessing, browsing and/or using this Site you acknowledge that you have read, understood and agree to be legally bound by this Agreement.  If you do not accept this Agreement (and therefore do not agree to by bound by this Agreement), do not use this Site.

Updates and Amendments

We may update or amend these Terms of Use from time to time at our discretion. Any update or amendment to these Terms of Use shall be effective if notice is provided to you. You agree that posting any such changes on this Site constitutes reasonable and sufficient notice. Any such amendment will be effective as of the date such revised Terms of Use are posted by Ocean Connect. Your continued use of this Site (including any updates or other versions thereof) after we post or provide notice of any changes to these Terms of Use constitutes your agreement to those changes. If you do not agree to these Terms of Use (or any updates to or modified versions thereof), you should discontinue use of this Site immediately.

Restrictions on Use of Materials

You acknowledge that this Site contains Content that is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade secrets, patents, or other proprietary rights, and that these rights are valid and protected in all forms, media, and technologies existing now and hereinafter developed. You also acknowledge that the Content is and shall remain the property of Ocean Connect or any other party (each a “Contributor”) who has been involved in the preparation or publication of the Content.  You shall at no time assert any claims of ownership over any content by reason of your use of or any right to use this Site and shall not grant or create or suffer to exist any lien or other security interest arising therefrom.  You agree to comply with all copyright and trademark laws and you shall not encumber any interest in, or assert any rights to, the Content.  You may not modify, transmit, participate in the sale or transfer of, or create derivative works based on any Content, in whole or in part.  You may print copies of the Content, provided that these copies are made only for personal, non-commercial use and that you maintain any notices contained in the Content, or maintained by the Contributor, such as all copyright notices, trademark legends, or other proprietary rights notices. You shall not store electronically any significant portion of any Content. Ocean Connect authorizes you to view and use the Content on this Site solely for your personal, noncommercial use. The use of the Content on any other site, including by linking or framing, or in any networked computer environment for any purpose is prohibited without Ocean Connect’s prior written approval.

In connection with this Site, we have adopted and implemented a policy respecting copyright law that provides for the removal of any infringing materials and for the termination, in appropriate circumstances, of users of this Site who are repeat infringers of intellectual property rights, including copyrights. If you believe that one of our users is, through the use of this Site, unlawfully infringing the copyright(s) in a work, and wish to have the allegedly infringing material removed, the following information in the form of a written notification (pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)) must be provided to our designated copyright agent: (a) your physical or electronic signature; (b) identification of the copyrighted work(s) that you claim to have been infringed; (c) identification of the materials on our services that you claim is infringing and that you request us to remove; (d) sufficient information to permit us to locate such material; (e) your address, telephone number, and email address; (f) a statement that you have a good faith belief that use of the objectionable materials are not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or under the law; and (g) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that you are either the owner of the copyright that has allegedly been infringed or that you are authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner. Please note that, pursuant to 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), any misrepresentation of material fact (falsities) in a written notification automatically subjects the complaining party to liability for any damages, costs and attorney’s fees incurred by us in connection with the written notification and allegation of copyright infringement.

Our designated copyright agent can be contacted via e-mail at [copyright@ocean-connect.org]

Disclaimer of Warranty

THE CONTENT PROVIDED ON THIS SITE IS PROVIDED AS A SERVICE TO MEMBERS OF THE PUBLIC. INFORMATION PRESENTED ON THIS SITE IS PROVIDED FOR INFORMATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY.  NO INFORMATION PRESENTED ON THIS SITE CONSTITUTES ADVICE, LEGAL, FINANCIAL OR OTHERWISE.

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT THIS SITE AND THE CONTENT THEREIN ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS.  NONE OF OCEAN CONNECT, ANY OF ITS MEMBERS, AFFILIATES OR THEIR RESPECTIVE OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES OR AGENTS (COLLECTIVELY THE “OCEAN CONNECT PARTIES”) GUARANTEES THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR USEFULNESS OF ANY OF THE CONTENT.

NONE OF THE OCEAN CONNECT PARTIES WARRANTS THAT THIS SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE OR THAT THIS SITE, ITS SERVER OR ANY FILES AVAILABLE FOR DOWNLOADING THROUGH THIS SITES ARE FREE OF COMPUTER VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL ELEMENTS.  YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT THE ENTIRE RISK AS TO THE QUALITY AND PERFORMANCE OF THIS SITE AND THE ACCURACY OR COMPLETENESS OF THE CONTENT IS ASSUMED SOLELY BY YOU.

NONE OF THE OCEAN CONNECT PARTIES MAKES ANY, AND HEREBY SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY, REPRESENTATIONS, ENDORSEMENTS, GUARANTEES, OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THIS SITE OR ANY CONTENT, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT OF THIRD-PARTY RIGHTS.  WITHOUT LIMITING THE GENERALITY OF THE FOREGOING, ALL OF THE OCEAN CONNECT PARTIES DISCLAIM ANY WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO ANY RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THIS SITE.

Limitation of Liability

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL ANY OF THE OCEAN CONNECT PARTIES BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY YOUR RELIANCE ON INFORMATION OBTAINED THROUGH THE CONTENT ON THE SITE.  IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO EVALUATE THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR USEFULNESS OF ANY INFORMATION OR ANY CONTENT AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE.

IN NO EVENT SHALL ANY OF THE OCEAN CONNECT PARTIES BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE CONTENT OR THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY.

BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS  DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR NEGLIGENCE, CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, IN SUCH JURISDICTIONS THE OCEAN CONNECT PARTIES’ LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE GREATEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY PORTION OF THIS SITE OR ITS CONTENT, OR WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS OF USE, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO STOP USING THIS SITE.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, hold harmless and, at our option, defend us and our affiliates, and our and their officers, directors, employees, shareholders, agents and representatives (collectively, “Indemnified Persons”) from any and all third party claims, liability, losses, damages, expenses and/or costs (including, but not limited to, reasonable attorney’s fees and expenses) arising from your improper use of this Site, your violation of these Terms of Use, or your infringement, or the infringement or use of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity, and your use of the Content generated, uploaded, or otherwise provided by you in accordance with these Terms of Use.

Links to Other Sites

As a convenience to you, this Site provides links to third party websites where we feel it is appropriate (“Third-Party Sites”). Lists of links are not complete lists of relevant and/or useful internet resources.  These Terms of Use apply only to this Site, and not to the Third-Party Sites.

WE DO NOT ENDORSE AND WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR THE CONTENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY SITE, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, BLOGS, PODCASTS, VIDEOS, PUBLICATION SEARCH ENGINES, SCIENTIFIC AND PROFESSIONAL JOURNALS, EMPLOYMENT SEARCH ENGINES, UNIVERSITIES OR OTHER INSTITUTES OF HIGHER LEARNING, NOR DO WE MAKE ANY WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE CONTENT (OR THE ACCURACY, CURRENTNESS, OR COMPLETENESS OF SUCH CONTENT) ON ANY THIRD PARTY SITES, AND THE OCEAN CONNECT SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER IN RELATION TO ANY OF THE FOREGOING.

You should take precautions when downloading files from all websites to protect your computer from viruses and other destructive programs.  If you decide to access linked Third-Party Sites, you do so at your own risk. You should direct any concerns to the Third-Party Sites’ administrator or webmaster.

We have not tested, nor do we review, monitor, or verify any information, software, or products found on any Third-Party Sites and therefore do not make any representations about those platforms or any associated products or services. You will need to make your own independent judgment regarding your interaction with a Third-Party Site. It is your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, reliability, timeliness, and completeness of the content of Third-Party Sites. We accept no responsibility for reviewing changes or updates to, or the quality, content, policies, nature, or reliability of Third-Party Sites. You should review applicable terms and policies, including privacy and data gathering practices, of Third-Party Sites, and should make whatever investigation you feel necessary or appropriate before proceeding with any transaction with any third party.

Except as otherwise provided by applicable law, you further acknowledge and agree that we will not be held responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any loss or damage that is caused or alleged to have been caused to you in connection with your use of, or reliance on, any content, advertisements, products, services or other resources available on or through any Third-Party Sites (regardless of whether we directly or indirectly link to such content, advertisements, products, services or other resources).

You should direct any concerns with respect to any other application to that Third-Party Sites’ administrator or webmaster.

Without limiting any of the foregoing, Ocean Connect may provide access to blogs, wikis, online conferences, telecasts, podcasts, or other forums. All communications made at or through such forums are public. Ocean Connect does not, unless otherwise required by law, have any obligation to screen, review, approve or endorse any Content obtained through such forums. Reliance on the Content is at your own risk.

Improvements

Ocean Connect may update or otherwise modify this Site any time for any reason in our sole discretion. Ocean Connect may shut down this Site for maintenance and development work when necessary. Ocean Connect shall have no obligation whatsoever to customize, modify or improve the Site.

Permitted Uses

Subject to these Terms of Use, we hereby grant you a personal, nontransferable, nonexclusive, non-sublicensable license to use the user interface of this Site and the Content in accordance with these Terms of Use, and for no other purpose. All rights, title and interest in and to the user interface and Content, including any software, on or through this Site shall belong to us or our licensors, including all modifications thereof and enhancements thereto. Except as expressly provided in these Terms of Use, no part of this Site or the Content may be copied, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, publicly displayed, encoded, translated, transmitted or distributed in any way (including “mirroring”) to any other computer, server, website or other medium for publication or distribution or for any commercial enterprise, without our express prior written consent. The license granted to you pursuant to these Terms of Use is solely for your personal use (but not for resale or redistribution) as a user of this Site and may not be used for any other purposes. You have no right or claim of right to the Content or any unique ideas found on this Site. No ownership rights are granted to you hereunder and no title is transferred hereby.

Prohibited Uses

You agree not to engage in any of the following on this Site:

• attempting to reverse engineer, de-compile, or otherwise translate, in any way, the Content and user interface made available from, on, or through this Site;
• using or launching any automated system, including “robots,” “spiders,” or “offline readers,” to access the Content or our systems or to “data mine” or in any way reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of this Site;
• attempting to introduce viruses or any other computer code, files, or programs that interrupt, destroy, or limit the functionality of any computer software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment;
• attempting to gain unauthorized access to our computer network;
• impersonations of any person or entity or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation with a person or entity;
• posting of any false, fraudulent, misleading or otherwise deceptive statements;
• in any way misusing the Content that appears on this Site; and
• attempting to modify, copy, distribute, publish, license or sell the Content or any derivative work based on the Content.

Standards and Conduct Guidelines

You acknowledge that the Content and all information, whether posted at our request or voluntarily, and whether publicly posted or privately transmitted (collectively, the “Postings” and the forums in which Postings are posted, including any chat, message board, blog, groups, and profile communications chat room, each an “Area”), are the sole responsibility of the person who made such Postings. This means that you are entirely responsible for all Postings that you post, email or otherwise transmit to this Site. We do not control the Postings posted, emailed or otherwise transmitted on this Site by others and, as such, we do not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such Postings. Although we have adopted standards and conduct guidelines for the users of this Site (as described below), you understand that by using this Site, you may be exposed to Postings that are offensive or objectionable. Except as provided by applicable securities laws, under no circumstances will we be liable in any way for any Postings (other than for the Content developed by us), including, but not limited to, for any errors or omissions in any Postings, or for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of the use of any Postings posted, emailed or otherwise transmitted to or through this Site.

You agree not to use this Site to:

• Upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any Postings or other materials that are unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable (in our sole discretion);
• Harm minors in any way, or solicit or otherwise attempt to gain any information from a minor;
• Impersonate any person or entity, including, but not limited to, any user of this Site, a director, officer, employee, shareholder, agent or representative of Ocean Connect or of any of its affiliates, or any other person or entity, or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with Ocean Connect, or any other person or entity;
• Forge headers or otherwise manipulate identifiers in order to disguise the origin of any Postings or other materials transmitted to or through this Site;
• Upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any Postings or other materials that you do not have a right to upload, post, email or otherwise transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as insider information, proprietary and confidential information learned or disclosed as part of employment relationships or under nondisclosure agreements);
• Upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any Postings or other materials that infringe upon any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of privacy or publicity or other proprietary rights of any party;
• Upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, “junk mail,” “spam,” “chain letters,” “pyramid schemes,” or any other form of commercial solicitation, except in those areas, if any, that are specifically designated for such purpose;
• Upload, post, email or otherwise transmit any Postings or other materials that contain 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;
• Disrupt the normal flow of dialogue, cause a screen to “scroll” faster than other users of an any Area (or other portion of this Site) are able to type, or otherwise act in a manner that negatively affects or otherwise diminishes the quality of another user’s experience of this Site;
• Interfere with or disrupt this Site or servers or networks connected to this Site, or disobey any requirements, procedures, policies or regulations of networks connected to this Site;
• Intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law, including, but not limited to, any regulations having the force of law;
• Stalk or otherwise harass another user or employee of this Site; and
• Solicit, collect or post personal data or attempt to solicit, collect or post personal data about other users of this Site.

Your privilege to use this Site and contribute to discussions depends on your compliance with the standards and conduct guidelines set forth above. We may revoke your privileges to use all or a portion of this Site and/or take any other appropriate measures to enforce these standards and conduct guidelines if violations are brought to our attention. Further, if you fail to adhere to our standards and conduct guidelines, or any part of these Terms of Use, we may terminate, in our sole discretion, your use of, or participation in, any Area.

Except as may otherwise be provided in our Privacy Policy, all communications, including, but not limited to communications in Areas, are public and not private communications. We reserve the right to monitor some, all, or no Areas and other areas of this Site for adherence to the standards and conduct guidelines set forth above or for any other purpose. You acknowledge that by us providing you with the ability to distribute Postings, we are acting as a passive conduit for such distribution and we are not undertaking any obligation or liability relating to any Postings or activities in any area, nor do we endorse any such Postings. Although we reserve the right to remove, without notice, any posting for any reason, we have no obligation to review Content prior to the Content’s posting or to delete Postings that you may find objectionable or offensive. Subject to applicable securities laws, we are not responsible for maintaining a copy of any material we remove from this Site, and we are not liable for any loss you incur in the event that Content you post or transmit to this Site is removed. The existence of any Posting in any Area (whether or not controlled by Ocean Connect) does not, and shall not be deemed to, constitute Ocean Connect’s recommendation or advice to follow any recommendation included in such Posting.

You hereby waive any claim or loss you may have as relates to any Posting in any Area.

No Framing Allowed 

Elements of this Site are protected by trade dress, trademark, unfair competition, and other state and federal laws and may not be copied or imitated in whole or in part by any means, including but not limited to, the use of framing or mirrors.  None of the Content for our Site may be retransmitted without the express written consent of Ocean Connect.

Use of Personally Identifiable Information

Ocean Connect’s practices and policies with respect to the collection and use of personally identifiable information is governed according to Ocean Connect’s Privacy Policy.

Confidentiality

Persons contacting Ocean Connect through this Site should not send sensitive, privileged, or confidential information. You acknowledge that by submitting communications to Ocean Connect, no confidential, fiduciary, contractual or other relationship is created between you and Ocean Connect other than pursuant to these Terms of Use.

Termination

Ocean Connect reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to restrict, suspend, or terminate this Agreement and your access to all or any part of our Site or the Content, at any time and for any reason without prior notice or liability. Ocean Connect reserves the right to change, suspend, or discontinue all or any part of this Site or the content at any time without prior notice or liability.

User Must Comply with Applicable Laws

This Site is based in the United States.  Ocean Connect makes no claims concerning whether the Content may be downloaded or are appropriate for use outside of the United States.  If you access this Site from outside of the United States, you are solely responsible for ensuring compliance with the laws of your specific jurisdiction.

Miscellaneous 

In the event that any portion of the Agreement is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the invalid or unenforceable portion shall be construed in accordance with the applicable law as nearly as possible to reflect the original intentions of the parties, and the remainder of the Agreement shall remain in full force and effect.  The paragraph headings herein are provided only for reference and shall have no effect on the construction or interpretation of the Agreement. Ocean Connect’s failure to enforce your strict performance of any provision of this Agreement will not constitute a waiver of its right to subsequently enforce such provision or any other provision of this Agreement.  Neither the course of conduct between parties nor trade practice shall act to modify any provision of the Agreement. The Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Connecticut, except with regard to its conflicts of law rules.  Any action relating to the Content, Site or this Agreement must be brought in the federal or state courts located in the County of Fairfield, State of Connecticut, and you hereby irrevocably consent to the jurisdiction of such courts.  Any cause of action you may have with respect to the Content, Site or this Agreement must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arose, or be barred. This Agreement contains the entire agreement of the parties for this Site and supersedes all existing agreements and all other oral, written or other communication between the parties concerning its subject matter. You agree to use the Content and Site only for lawful purposes. You are prohibited from any use of the Content or Site that would constitute an illegal offense, give rise to liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national or international law or regulation.