1. Introduction, Definitions, Modifications and Acceptance
Welcome to the SSG-Research Integrity/Research Misconduct Website. We are confident that you will find our services useful. These Terms of Use (the “TOU”) cover several different situations, so please refer to the following definitions for clarification:
“Website” refers to the free website created and owned by SSG. Website also includes any Website updates and upgrades that SSG may provide to you or make available to you, or that you obtain after the date you obtain your initial version of the Website, to the extent that such items are not accompanied by a separate Terms of Use.
“Device” refers to the handheld or tablet device onto which you downloaded the Website and are using the Services.
“SSG” refers to SSG, a sole proprietorship located in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Where the present TOU refers to “SSG”, it may refer to SSG and/or its employees, officers, directors, subcontractors, agents or representatives, depending on the context. Any reference to “we”, “our”, or “us” in these TOU shall also refer to SSG.
In these TOU, a Website visitor or Services user may be referred to as “you”. When a Services user has created an account and is logged in, they may be referred to as a “Logged-in User”.
“Services” are the novel legal advice services that SSG has developed to allow users to obtain counsel to research integrity and/or research misconduct situations. The Services may be signed up for on the Website.
“Website” is the website located at https://www.researchintegrity.com which is owned and operated by SSG, and includes all sub-domains, present and future.
Additional definitions shall be made throughout these TOU, but they will be recognizable as they will be capitalized, bolded, and in quotation marks. Additional definitions may also be found in the Privacy Policy, and will have the same meaning in these TOU as they do there. The definitions found in these TOU shall also apply to the Privacy Policy.
By visiting the Website, using the Services on the Website you hereby accept to be bound by these TOU without any reservations, modifications, additions or deletions. If you do not agree to all the provisions contained in the TOU, you are not authorized to use the Website or Services. The TOU are a legal and binding agreement between you and us.
In the context of the Website, these TOU may also be referred to as, and are equivalent to, an “End User License Agreement” or “EULA”.
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SSG reserves the right, at any time and without prior notice, to modify or replace any of the TOU. Any changes to the TOU can be found at this URL. It is your responsibility to check the TOU periodically for changes. Your use of the Website following the posting of any changes to the TOU constitutes acceptance of those changes. If there are any significant changes to the TOU that materially affect your relationship with us, you will be notified upon logging-in to the Services or via email.
The TOU should be read in conjunction with the Privacy Policy, as both these documents govern your use of the Website and/or Membership subscription.
If you have any questions about the TOU, please contact:
Scipione Solutions Group
—-@researchintegrity.com
32 Camden Street – 706
Toronto, ON M5V 0G4
2. General Code of Conduct for Use of the Website or Services
By visiting the Website and/or using the Services, you agree to:
Not use the Website or Services in any manner that in any way violates these TOU;
Not use the Website or Services in any manner that violates any intellectual property rights of SSG or any third party;
Not use the Website or Services in any manner to propagate spam, including but not limited to unsolicited advertising or bulk electronic mail or messages, including to link to a spam or phishing website;
Not use the Website or Services in any manner to propagate software viruses, Trojan horses, worms, or any other malicious or non-malicious computer code, files, or programs that are designed or intended to disrupt, damage, limit or interfere with the proper function of any software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment in any form whether belonging to SSG or a third party, or to damage or obtain unauthorized access to any system, data, or other information (whether Personal Information or not) of SSG, other Services users, or any other third party;
Not:
(1) take any action that imposes or may impose (as determined by SSG in its sole discretion) an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on SSG’s (or its third party providers’) infrastructures;
(2) interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper functioning of the Website or Services or any activities conducted on the Website or through the Services;
(3) bypass any measures SSG may use to prevent or restrict access to the Website or Services or any element thereof;
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(4) use manual or automated software, devices, or other processes to “crawl” or “spider” any page of the Website or Application; or
(5) harvest or scrape any content from the Website or Application in an unreasonable manner;
Use the Website and/or Services in good faith, and in compliance with all applicable local, provincial, national, and international laws.
3. Use of the Website
The Website is licensed, not sold. SSG grants you the non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sub-licensable, limited right and license to use the Website solely and exclusively for your personal use on the Device, or the use of any other third party with access to the Device that you control and with your permission.
You may not use the Website in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair the Website (or servers or networks connected to the Website), nor may you use the Website in any manner that could interfere with any other party’s use and enjoyment of the Website (or servers or networks connected to the Application).
You agree that you are solely responsible for (and that SSG has no responsibility to you or to any third party for) your use of the Website, any breach of your obligations under the TOU, and for the consequences (including any loss or damage, direct or indirect, which SSG may suffer) of any such breach. Where a third party uses the Website on your Device, you are solely responsible for conforming to these TOU and any breach thereof shall be your responsibility.
4. Privacy Policy and Permissions for the Website
Our Privacy Policy explains how SSG treats your Personal Information (as that term is defined in the Privacy Policy) and protects your privacy when you use the Website. By installing, accessing or using the Website you explicitly agree to the use of your data in accordance with the Privacy Policy, which may be updated from time to time and without notice.
By installing, accessing or using the Website or Services, you consent to those information collection and usage terms.
In addition to personal and non-identifiable information, the Privacy Policy also describes how the Website accesses functions of the Device that are not part of the Website and developed by third parties. These are known as permissions, and you agree that SSG has the right to access third-party computer code on the Device in this manner and as described in the Privacy Policy.
SSG reserves the right to terminate your account, at its sole discretion, at any time and for any reason, including but not limited to whether you have violated the letter or spirit of the TOU, as more further described here in below.
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6. Use of the Services, Acknowledgements, Fees, and Disclaimers
a. Use of the Services
Members may use the Services in order to obtain pragmatic legal advice tailored to the needs of their integrity and/or misconduct case.
7. Proprietary Rights
You acknowledge that:
(a) the Website contain proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws, and (b) SSG and/or third parties own all right, title and interest in and to the Website and content that may be presented or accessed through the Website, including without limitation all Intellectual Property Rights therein and thereto.
The Website is being licensed to you and you hereby acknowledge that no title or ownership in the Website is being transferred or assigned and these TOU should not be construed as a sale of any rights in the Website. All rights not specifically granted under these TOU are reserved to SSG and its licensors. “Intellectual Property Rights” means any and all rights existing from time to time under patent law, copyright law, trade secret law, trademark law, unfair competition law, and any and all other proprietary rights, and any and all applications, renewals, extensions and restorations thereof, now or hereafter in force and effect worldwide.
You agree that you will not, and will not allow any third party, to (i) copy, sell, license, distribute, transfer, modify, adapt, translate, prepare derivative works from, decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble or otherwise attempt to derive source code from, the Website, or content that may be presented or accessed through the Website for any purpose, unless otherwise permitted; (ii) take any action to circumvent or defeat the security deployed or enforced by any functionality contained in the Website; or (iii) remove, obscure, or alter SSG’s or any third party’s copyright notices, trademarks, or other proprietary rights notices affixed to or contained within or accessed in conjunction with or through the Website.
The content, arrangement and layout of the Website, including but not limited to the trademarks, photos, logos, videos, audio, images, text (in the form of plain text, HTML, or PDFs) and Computer Code are proprietary to SSG, either owned or under license, and may not be copied, imitated, reproduced, displayed, distributed, transmitted, decompiled or otherwise used without the express permission of SSG, or as permitted by the functionality of the Website or Services or these TOU. Any unauthorized use of the content, arrangement or layout of the Website, Computer Code, images, logos, videos, audio or trademarks found in the Website or any derivative works thereof may
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violate civil or criminal laws, including but not limited to intellectual property laws, and SSG may take action accordingly.
The above paragraph further applies to third party property used as part of the Website, including but not limited to third party Computer Code. For the purposes of the present section, “Computer Code” includes but is not limited to source code in any programming language, object code, frameworks, CSS, PHP, or JavaScript or similar files, templates, modules, or any similar files, and related documentation.
If you choose to communicate to SSG (via any means) suggestions for improvements to the Website or Services (collectively, “Feedback”), SSG shall own all right, title, and interest in and to the Feedback and will be entitled to use the Feedback without restriction. You hereby irrevocably assign all right, title and interest in and to the Feedback to SSG and waive in favor of SSG, its successors and assigns all your moral rights in the Feedback, and agree to provide SSG such assistance as SSG may require to document, perfect, and maintain SSG’s rights to the Feedback. You acknowledge and agree that, by providing any Feedback to SSG, you are not entitled to any compensation or reimbursement of any kind from SSG under any circumstances.
8. Interruption of Service
From time to time, the Website or Services may be unavailable for brief periods of time for maintenance and / or modifications to the Website or Services. While we will endeavour to make this unavailability as brief as possible, SSG and its Representatives shall not be held liable for any losses or damages, direct or indirect, pecuniary or non-pecuniary, resulting from the interruption of the normal functioning of the Website or Services, and disclaims any responsibility thereto.
9. Termination of the Website or Services and the TOU
You agree that SSG, in its sole discretion, with or without cause, has the right (but not the obligation) to block your IP address, withdraw your account credentials or otherwise terminate your access to or use of the Website or Services (or any part thereof), immediately and without notice, for any reason, including, without limitation, if SSG believes that you have acted inconsistently with the letter or spirit of the TOU or the Privacy Policy.
SSG may also, in its sole discretion and at any time, discontinue providing the Website or Services, or any part thereof, with or without notice. You agree that SSG shall not be liable to you or any third party for any losses or damages, direct or indirect, pecuniary or non-pecuniary, resulting from termination of your access to the Website or Services, or from SSG’s termination of the Website or Services, or any part thereof.
You may also choose to terminate your access to the Services by cancelling your account. If you wish to cancel your account, please contact us at —
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@researchintegrity.com.
Termination of the Website or Services or your access to the Website or Services shall terminate the present TOU as between you and SSG. All provisions of these TOU which by their nature should survive termination of these TOU shall survive termination, including without limitation, intellectual property provisions, disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.
10. External Links
From time to time SSG may provide links to other websites or services. Links from the Website may take you to websites or services not covered by these TOU. When you access third party resources on the Internet in this manner, you do so at your own risk.
SSG provides those links as a convenience to you and SSG takes no responsibility for your use of those other websites or services or protection of your privacy (including collection of your personal information) on those other websites or services. We encourage you to check the Terms of Use and/or Privacy Policy of any website or service you visit. SSG does not make any claim or warranty whatsoever about the content of those websites or services to which we link, or any products or services available through those websites or the third parties operating those websites.
In no way will SSG or its Representatives be held responsible for any damages, direct or indirect, pecuniary or non-pecuniary:
(1) for your use of websites or other services that may be linked to from the Website or the information thereon;
(2) for any virus, Trojan horse, worm or other similar destructive file received as a result of your use of those websites or services;
(3) caused by or in connection with, use of or reliance on any content, or products or services (whether free or for purchase) available on or through any linked-to website or service; or
(4) for the actions of the operators of any such website or service.
11. Disclaimer of Warranties
You expressly understand and agree that your use of the Website or Services, the information thereon (whether provided by SSG or third parties) or any activity arising from your use of the Website or Services or the information thereon or the materials downloaded therefrom is at your sole risk. The Website or Services, any materials downloaded therefrom, or any third party materials, are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, and you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer or Device or loss of data that results from the download, stream or access of any material obtained through the use of the Website or Services or any other functionalities of
the Website or Services, or losses or damages (pecuniary or otherwise) resulting from (i) your use of the Website or Services, the information thereon, any materials downloaded therefrom, or (ii) any activity arising from the use of the Website or
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Services, the information thereon or any materials downloaded therefrom.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, our liability shall be limited to the amount of fees paid by you for a particular service requested. USE OF THIS SITE AND SERVICES IS ON AN “AS-IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS. IN NO EVENT SHALL WE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF DATA, LOST REVENUES, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF ANTICIPATED SAVING OR PROFITS, OR ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE SITE OR SERVICES, OR WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE OR SERVICES, OR WITH THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE THE SITE OR SERVICES.
The information or resources provided through the Website or Services, written or produced by SSG staff, freelance writers or other subcontractors are known to be as accurate as possible at the time of writing or production, and every effort has been made to ensure that the information from the Website or Services is as accurate and up-to-date as possible. However, certain information may change, and errors or omissions may occur, and SSG shall not be responsible for any loss or damage, financial or otherwise, resulting from changes or errors in information, or any omission, on the Website or through the Services.
SSG expressly disclaims all warranties of any kind, whether express or implied, including but not limited to: warranties of title and non-infringement; warranties that the Website or Services, the information thereon or any materials downloaded therefrom, and any third party materials will be uninterrupted, error-free, accurate, reliable and free from virus and other harmful components; and the implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. SSG, and its directors, officers, employees, agents, suppliers, partners and subcontractors do not warrant that: (i) the Website or Services will be secure or available at any particular time or location; (ii) any defects or errors or omissions will be corrected; (iii) any content or software available at or through the Website or Services is free of viruses or other harmful components; or (iv) the results of using the Website or Services, or any activity arising therefrom, or any content downloaded therefrom will meet your requirements.
12. Limitation of Liability
SSG shall not be liable and assumes no responsibility for any loss or damages arising from or in relating to the information on the Website or Services or downloaded therefrom, the use of the Website or Services, activities arising from your use of the Website or Services, or any third party materials on the Website or available through the Services.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, in no event will SSG or it Representatives: be
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liable for any indirect, incidental, extraordinary, consequential, special, punitive or exemplary damages (including, without limitation, loss of revenue or profits, lost or damaged data, loss of use, business interruption or any other pecuniary loss), arising out of or relating to the Website or Services or your use, misuse or inability to use the Website or Services, even if SSG has been advised of the possibility of such damages. This limitation of liability will apply regardless of the form of action, whether in contract, warranty, tort, negligence, strict liability or under any other legal theory. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in the TOU, in no event will SSG’s aggregate liability for any claims in connection with your use of the Services exceed the lesser of:
(i) Amount paid for a particular membership subscription; and
(ii) the total amount of membership fees paid by you over the past twelve (12) months.
13. Indemnity
Notwithstanding any other term of the TOU or any act or failure to act by SSG or its Representatives, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless SSG and its Representatives, or its affiliates and their Representatives, from and against any damages, liabilities, costs and expenses (including attorneys’ fees), claims or demands, arising out of:
(i) your use of or connection to the Website or Services or the information thereon or information downloaded therefrom;
(ii) your participation in any activities arising from the Website or Services or the information thereon or information downloaded therefrom;
(iii) your violation of, or failure to perform your obligations under the TOU or the Privacy Policy; or
(iv) your violation of any rights of a third party.
14. Governing Laws and Jurisdiction
These TOU, and your use of the Website or Services shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Province of Ontario in force at the time without regard to conflict of law provisions. You agree that any legal action or proceeding between you and SSG shall be brought exclusively in the courts located in the Judicial District of Toronto, Ontario, Canada.
Notwithstanding the foregoing, SSG shall have the right to bring action against you in courts of competent jurisdiction in the jurisdiction in which you reside or are located: (i) to seek injunctive relief against you; (ii) to obtain a judgment against you where a judgment by the Toronto court will, or may not be, enforced by the jurisdiction in which you reside or are located; or (iii) to enforce in your jurisdiction a judgment obtained against you in the Toronto court.
15. Miscellaneous Provisions
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(a). The TOU, in conjunction with the Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and SSG with respect to your use of the Website or Services, superseding any prior agreements between you and SSG, its predecessors, affiliates or subsidiaries. When you using the website, you are also subject to the Terms of Service and Privacy Policy of the Website distribution system you used to access the Website. We strongly suggest reading those documents prior to using the Website. SSG shall in no way be held responsible for any losses or damages, whether pecuniary or otherwise, to you or any third party for your failure to adhere to the Terms of Services and/or Privacy Policy of any Third-Party Website Distributor when using the Website. If you choose to bypass the Third-Party Website Distributor and use the Website, you have violated these TOU and are barred from using the Website. Without limiting the generality of Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability sections elsewhere in these TOU, in no way shall SSG and its Representatives be responsible for your use of the Services or any actions or damages (pecuniary or otherwise) arising from your use of the Services if you have bypassed the Third-Party Website Distributor.
SSG shall not be liable for any failure to perform its obligations under the present TOU
where such failure results from any cause beyond SSG’s reasonable control, including, but not limited to, mechanical, electronic or communications failure or degradation, or any force majeure event.
(b). If any provision of the TOU, or Privacy Policy is found by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, the parties nevertheless agree that the court should endeavour to give effect to the parties’ intentions as reflected in the provision, and the other provisions of the TOU or Privacy Policy, as the case may be, shall remain in full force and effect.
(c). The failure of SSG to exercise or enforce any right or provision of these TOU does not constitute a waiver of such right or provision, which will still be available to SSG.
The section titles in the TOU and Privacy Policy are for convenience only and have no legal or contractual effect.
(d) The parties acknowledge having expressly required that these TOU and the Privacy Policy are to be drawn up in the English language.
(e) We are not liable or responsible for any errors in or failure to provide Services due to your error or failure to provide accurate and complete information. We do our best to keep disruptions to a minimum, however we may temporarily suspend the Site and Services from time to time. This may be due to maintenance, other administrative purposes or circumstances which are beyond our control including but not limited to Acts of God, natural disasters, power failure, failure of any telecommunications or other data transmission system. We shall not be liable in these circumstances.
(f) Severability: If any provisions of these Terms are deemed or become invalid, the validity of the other provisions shall not be affected.
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These terms create a legally binding agreement between you and us. By accessing or using the Site, you are accepting this Agreement and agreeing to use the Services in accordance with the terms and conditions in this Agreement. Some of our Services may have additional rules, policies, and procedures. Where such additional terms apply, we will make them available for you. A copy of these Terms and Conditions may be downloaded, saved and printed for your reference.
You confirm that you can enter the Agreement. As a condition of your use of the Services, you confirm and warrant to us that you meet the eligibility requirements set out in Section ELIGIBILITY and have the right, authority, and capacity to enter into these terms or, if you are under the age of majority in your jurisdiction of residence, you have obtained the consent of your parent or legal guardian to this Agreement.
If you do not agree with all of the provisions of these terms, do not access and/or use the Services.
DISCLAIMER. SSG DOES NOT MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS, CONDITIONS OR WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, SATISFACTORY QUALITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, COMPATIBILITY, SECURITY, ACCURACY, OR USEFULNESS WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICES. YOU AGREE THAT ANY CLAIMS OR CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF ANY ACTION OR INACTION OF ANY CONTRACTOR OR CUSTOMERS, SHALL BE EXCLUSIVELY BETWEEN YOU AND THE CONTRACTOR OR CUSTOMER (AS APPLICABLE) AND NOT SSG. THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED “AS IS.” YOU AGREE TO USE THE SERVICES SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK OF LOSS RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES. ALTHOUGH WE INTEND TO TAKE REASONABLE STEPS TO PREVENT ANY DAMAGES TO YOU, WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES OR HARM ATTRIBUTABLE TO THE FOREGOING. YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SSG ONLY PROVIDES A PLATFORM FOR COMMUNICATION BETWEEN SSG AND CUSTOMERS, AND AS SUCH SSG DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY RELATING TO YOUR INTERACTIONS WITH ANY CONTACTOR(S) OR OTHER CUSTOMER(S). ANY REPRESENTATIONS MADE TO YOU BY ANY CONTRACTOR ARE MADE SOLELY AT THE DISCRETION OF THE CONTRACTOR AND SSG HAS NO WAY TO MONITOR OR VALIDATE, AND SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE IN ANY WAY FOR, ANY REPRESENTATIONS OR STATEMENTS MADE TO YOU BY THE CONTRACTOR(S). YOU UNDERSTAND AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT SSG SHALL HAVE NO LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY STATEMENTS OR REPRESENTATIONS MADE BY THE CONTRACTOR TO YOU AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE(S).
THE SITE IS NOT BESPOKE TO YOU. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE SITE HAS NOT BEEN DEVELOPED TO MEET YOUR INDIVIDUAL REQUIREMENTS,
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AND THAT IT IS THEREFORE YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO ENSURE THAT THE FACILITIES AND FUNCTIONS OF THE SITE MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS.
WE ARE RESPONSIBLE TO YOU ONLY FOR FORESEEABLE LOSS AND DAMAGE CAUSED BY US. IF WE FAIL TO COMPLY WITH THESE TERMS, WE ARE RESPONSIBLE FOR LOSS OR DAMAGE YOU SUFFER THAT IS A FORESEEABLE RESULT OF OUR BREAKING THESE TERMS OR OUR FAILURE TO USE REASONABLE CARE AND SKILL, BUT WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE THAT IS NOT FORESEEABLE. LOSS OR DAMAGE IS FORESEEABLE IF EITHER IT IS OBVIOUS THAT IT WILL HAPPEN OR IF, AT THE TIME THESE TERMS ARE ENTERED INTO AND BOTH WE AND YOU KNEW IT MIGHT HAPPEN.
WE ARE NOT LIABLE FOR BUSINESS LOSSES. [IF YOU ARE AN INDIVIDUAL CUSTOMER, WE ONLY MAKE THE SITE AVAILABLE FOR YOUR DOMESTIC AND PRIVATE USE. IF YOU ARE A CONTRACTOR AND USE THE SITE FOR ANY COMMERCIAL, BUSINESS OR RE-SALE PURPOSE WE WILL HAVE NO LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFIT, LOSS OF BUSINESS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR LOSS OF BUSINESS OPPORTUNITY.
NO LIABILITY FOR DAMAGE CAUSED BY UNAUTHORISED ACCESS. WE WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE INCURRED AS A RESULT OF UNAUTHORISED ACCESS TO YOUR ACCOUNT WHICH IS NOT WITHIN OUR REASONABLE CONTROL.