Terms of Use of the ARI website and content.

Last updated. January 2024.

Please read these Terms of Service (the "Agreement") carefully. Your use of the Site (as defined below) constitutes your consent to this Agreement.

This Agreement is between, on the one hand, you and, on the other hand, Anker Research Institute, hosted and represented by Social Accountability International ( collectively, "ARI" "we" or "us") concerning your use of (includ ing any access to) the ARI sites currently located at www.ankerinstitute.org and any other websitesowned, operated or partnered with, such as sa-intl.org, and www.globallivingwage.org, any website that links to or otherwise directs you to this Agreement (such websites, together with any materials, content and services made available by such websites, and successor site(s) thereto, collectively, the "Site"). ARI is hosted by Social Accountability International (SAI) You acknowledge and agree that (a)ARI,  among other  things, created and owns all rights to all studies as well as all rights and trademark of the Anker Methodology; and (b) ARI is a research institute and, among other things, provides studies and living wage and living income estimates for the public good; and (3) your use of all materials and information on this site is for informational purposes only and you shall not use it for commercial purposes or alter it in any way. This Agreement hereby incorporates by this reference any additional terms and conditions with respect to the Site that are posted by ARI through the Site, or otherwise made available to you by ARI. Your use of the Site is governed by this Agreement regardless of how you access the Site, including through the Internet, through a mobile network or otherwise.

BY USING THE SITE, YOU AFFIRM THAT YOU ARE OF LEGAL AGE TO ENTER INTO THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU ARE AN INDIVIDUAL ACCESSING OR USING THE SITE ON BEHALF OF OR FOR THE BENEFIT OF ANY ORGANIZATION, AGENCY, CORPORATION, PARTNERSHIP OR OTHER ENTITY WITH WHICH YOU ARE ASSOCIATED (“ORGANIZATION”), YOU REPRESENT THAT YOU HAVE THE LEGAL AUTHORITY TO BIND SUCH ORGANIZATION TO THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT HAVE SUCH AUTHORITY, SUCH ORGANIZATION SHALL NOT ACCESS, USE OR OTHERWISE BENEFIT FROM THE SITE.

References to “you” and “your” in this Agreement shall refer to both the individual accessing the Site and any such Organization.

1.  Changes. We may change this Agreement from time to time by notifying you of such changes by any reasonable means, including by posting a revised Agreement through the Site. Any such changes will not apply to any dispute between you and us arising prior to the date on which we posted the revised Agreement incorporating such changes, or otherwise notified you of such changes.

Your use of the Site following any changes to this Agreement will constitute your acceptance of such changes. The “Last Updated” legend above indicates when this Agreement was last changed. We may, at any time and without liability or prior notice, modify or discontinue all or part of the Site (including access to the Site via any third-party links); charge, modify or waive any fees required to use the Site; or offer opportunities to some or all Site users. We reserve the right to introduce new features or functionality for which the payment of fees may be required.

2.  Information Submitted Through the Site. Your submission of information through the Site is governed by this Agreement. You represent and warrant that any information you provide in connection with the Site is and will remain accurate and complete, and that you will maintain and update such information as needed.

3.  Jurisdictional Issues. The Site is controlled or operated (or both) from the United Kingdom and the United States, and is not intended to subject ARI to any non-U.S. jurisdiction or law. The Site may not be appropriate or available for use in some non-U.S. jurisdictions. You must comply with all applicable laws, rules and regulations in connection with your use of the Site. We may limit the Site’s availability at any time, in whole or in part, to any person, geographic area or jurisdiction that we choose, in each case in our reasonable discretion

4.  Rules of Conduct. In connection with the Site, you must not:

  • Post, transmit or otherwise make available through or in connection with the Site any materials that are or may be: (a) threatening, harassing, degrading, hateful or intimidating, or otherwise fail to respect the rights and dignity of others; (b) defamatory, libelous, fraudulent or otherwise tortious; (c) obscene, indecent, pornographic or otherwise objectionable; or (d) protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity or privacy or any other proprietary right, without the express prior written consent of the applicable owner.
     

  • Post, transmit or otherwise make available through or in connection with the Site any virus, worm, Trojan horse, Easter egg, time bomb, spyware or other computer code, file or program that is or is potentially harmful or invasive or intended to damage or hijack the operation of, or to monitor the use of, any hardware, software or equipment (each, a “Virus”).
     

  • Use the Site for any purpose that is fraudulent or otherwise tortious or unlawful.
     

  • Harvest or collect information about users of the Site.
     

  • Use the Site for any commercial solicitation purposes, or transmit through or in connection with the Site any spam, chain letters or other unsolicited communications.
     

  • Interfere with or disrupt the operation of the Site or the servers or networks used to make the Site available, including by hacking or defacing any portion of the Site; or violate any requirement, procedure or policy of such servers or networks.
     

  • Restrict or inhibit any other person from using the Site.
     

  • Reproduce, modify, adapt, translate, create derivative works of, sell, rent, lease, loan, timeshare, distribute or otherwise exploit any portion of (or any use of) the Site (including any content available thereby) except as expressly authorized herein, without ARI express prior written consent.
     

  • Reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble any portion of the Site, except to the extent such restriction is expressly prohibited by applicable law.
     

  • Remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary rights notice from the Site.
     

  • Frame or mirror any portion of the Site, or otherwise incorporate any portion of the Site into any product or service, without ARI’s express prior written consent.
     

  • Systematically download and store Site content.
     

  • Use any robot, spider, site search/retrieval application or other manual or automatic device to retrieve, index, “scrape,” “data mine” or otherwise gather Site content (including Submissions), or reproduce or circumvent the navigational structure or presentation of the Site, without ARI’s express prior written consent. Notwithstanding the foregoing, and subject to compliance with any instructions posted in the robots.txt file located in the Site’s root directory, ARI grants to the operators of public search engines permission to use spiders to copy materials from the Site for the sole purpose of (and solely to the extent necessary for) creating publicly available, searchable indices of such materials, but not caches or archives of such materials. ARI reserves the right to revoke such permission either generally or in specific cases, at any time and without notice.

You are responsible for obtaining, maintaining and paying for all hardware and all telecommunications and other services needed for you to use the Site.

5.  Information and Services. The Site may make available information, data, materials, services, products and descriptions of services and products (collectively, “Services”), as well as references and links to such Services. Services may be made available by ARI or by third parties, and may be made available for any purpose, including for general information purposes. The availability through the Site of any Service does not imply our endorsement of such Service or affiliation with the provider of such Service. We make no representations as to the completeness, accuracy, reliability, validity or timeliness of any or all of the Services and the Site. Services, and the availability of Services, are subject to change at any time without notice, including the date and price of any training described on the Site. It is your responsibility to ascertain and obey all applicable local, state, federal and foreign laws regarding the receipt, possession and use of any Services.

6.  Transactions. We may make available the ability to obtain certain Services through the Site (a “Transaction”). If you wish to make a Transaction, you may be asked to supply certain relevant information, such as your credit or debit card number and its expiration date or other information regarding any method of payment (e.g., select a payment service), your billing address, contact information and your shipping information. YOU REPRESENT AND WARRANT THAT YOU HAVE THE RIGHT TO USE ANY CREDIT CARD OR OTHER METHOD OF PAYMENT (E.G., PAYMENT SERVICE) WITH RESPECT TO WHICH YOU SUBMIT RELEVANT INFORMATION IN CONNECTION WITH A TRANSACTION. By submitting such information, you grant to us the right to provide such information to third parties for purposes of facilitating Transactions. Verification of information may be required prior to the acknowledgment or completion of any Transaction. By making a Transaction, you represent that the applicable Services will be used only in a lawful manner.

ARI reserves the right, including without prior notice, to limit the availability of or discontinue making available any Service; to impose conditions on the honoring of any discount or similar promotion; to bar any user from making any Transaction; and to refuse to provide any user with any Service. Cancellation and refunds will be subject to ARI’s applicable cancellation and refund policies. You agree to pay all charges incurred by you or on your behalf through the Site, at the prices in effect when such charges are incurred, including all shipping and handling charges. Except as otherwise provided by us with respect to a particular Service, all fees and charges due in connection with Services are payable to ARI prior to the performance of such Services. In addition, you are responsible for any taxes applicable to your Transactions. While we may confirm orders by e-mail, the receipt of an e-mail order confirmation does not constitute our acceptance of an order or our confirmation of an offer to sell a product or service.

Services will be shipped to an address designated by you, if applicable, so long as such address is complete and complies with the shipping restrictions contained on the Site. All Transactions are made pursuant to a shipment contract and, as a result, risk of loss and title for physical Services pass to you upon delivery of the physical Services to the carrier. You are responsible for filing any claims with carriers for damaged and/or lost shipments.

7.  User Names and Passwords. You may need to register or otherwise enter a user name, password or other information (collectively, “Access Credentials”) to use all or part of the Site. We may reject, or require that you change, any Access Credential that you may provide to us and we may change or terminate any Access Credential that we may provide to you, in each case for any valid reason. Your Access Credentials are for your personal use only, or, if you are an Organization, for your internal business use only by your authorized employees (each, a “User”) in accordance with this Agreement, and in each case should be kept confidential; you, and not ARI, are responsible for any use or misuse of your Access Credentials, and you must promptly notify us of any actual or suspected confidentiality breach or unauthorized use of your Access Credentials, or your Site account of which you become aware. Without limiting the foregoing, if you are an Organization, (a) you acknowledge and agree that all Users shall have the authority to act in your name and on your behalf with respect to such Users’ activities in connection with the Site, (b) you hereby authorize any and all transactions, submissions, instructions, authorizations, and other acts initiated through the use of any Access Credentials, and (c) you will ensure that all Users comply with this Agreement.

8.  Submissions. Site users may make available certain information or other materials (each, a “Submission”) through or in connection with the Site as such functionality may be permitted by the Site, either to ARI or to other Site users, including in connection with ARI Corporate Sponsorship program. ARI has no control over and is not responsible for Submissions, the use or misuse (including any distribution) by any third party of Submissions, or for any of your interactions with other Site users. IF YOU CHOOSE TO MAKE ANY OF YOUR PERSONALLY IDENTIFIABLE OR OTHER INFORMATION PUBLICLY AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SITE, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN RISK.

9.  License. For purposes of clarity, you retain ownership of your Submissions. For each Submission, you hereby grant to us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable and fully sublicensable (through multiple tiers) license, without additional consideration to you or any third party, to reproduce, distribute, perform and display (publicly or otherwise), create derivative works of, adapt, modify and otherwise use and exploit such Submission, in any format or media now known or hereafter developed, and[, except as otherwise provided by us with respect to a particular Service,] for any purpose (including promotional purposes, such as testimonials).

In addition, if you provide to us any ideas, proposals, suggestions or other materials (“Feedback”), whether related to the Site or otherwise, such Feedback will be deemed a Submission, and you hereby acknowledge and agree that such Feedback is not confidential, and that your provision of such Feedback is gratuitous, unsolicited and without restriction, and does not place ARI under any fiduciary or other obligation.

You represent and warrant that you have all rights necessary to grant the licenses granted by you in the Agreement, and that your Submissions, and your provision thereof through and in connection with the Site, are complete and accurate, and are not fraudulent, tortious or otherwise in violation of any applicable law or any right of any third party. You further irrevocably waive any “moral rights” or other rights with respect to attribution of authorship or integrity of materials regarding each Submission that you may have under any applicable law under any legal theory.

10.  Monitoring. Except to the extent prohibited under applicable law, we may (but have no obligation to) monitor or analyze your access to and use of the Site, and monitor, evaluate, alter or remove Submissions before or after they appear on the Site. Except to the extent prohibited under applicable law, we may disclose information regarding your access to and use of the Site, the circumstances surrounding their transmission, and personal information regarding any users who made Submissions available, in each case in accordance with any requirement under applicable law, or any request by any law enforcement authority, court or other governmental authority, or otherwise in accordance with our Privacy Policy.

11.  Your Right to Use This Site. Subject to your compliance with this Agreement, and solely for so long as you are permitted by ARI to use the Site and in accordance with the Site functionality that we make available to you, you may view one (1) copy of any portion of the Site to which we provide you access hereunder, on any single device, solely for your personal, non-commercial use, or, if you are an Organization, solely for your internal business use. 

12.  ARI’s Proprietary Rights. We and our suppliers own the Site, which is protected by proprietary rights and laws. Anker Research Institute trade names, trademarks and service marks include ANKER RESEARCH INSTITUTE®, ANKER METHODOLOGY®,, and any associated logos. ARI’s trade names, trademarks and service marks include ARI (Pending), and any associated logos. All trade names, trademarks, service marks and logos on the Site that are not exclusively owned by ANKER RESEARCH INSTITUTE, including GLOBAL LIVING WAGE COALITION, are the property of their respective owners. You may not use our trade names, trademarks, service marks or logos in connection with any product or service that is not ours, or in any manner that is likely to cause confusion. Nothing contained on the Site should be construed as granting any right to use any trade names, trademarks, service marks or logos, or any other intellectual property, without the express prior written consent of the owner. Notwithstanding anything to the contrary in this Agreement, we shall own all aggregated data in connection with the Site (including as derived from Submissions) and nothing in this Agreement shall prohibit us from using such aggregated data for any purpose; provided, that such use of aggregated data will not reveal the identity, whether directly or indirectly, of any individual or specific data entered by any User into the Site.

13.  Third Party Materials; Links. Certain Site functionality may make available access to information, products, services and/or materials made available by third parties, including Submissions and Services (collectively, “Third Party Materials”), or allow for the routing or transmission of such Third Party Materials, including via links. By using such functionality, you are directing us to access, route and transmit to you the applicable Third Party Materials. 

We neither control nor endorse, nor are we responsible for, any Third Party Materials, including the accuracy, validity, timeliness, completeness, reliability, integrity, quality, legality, usefulness or safety of Third Party Materials, or any intellectual property rights therein. Certain Third Party Materials may, among other things, be inaccurate, misleading or deceptive. Nothing in this Agreement shall be deemed to be a representation or warranty by ARI with respect to any Third Party Materials. We have no obligation to monitor Third Party Materials, and we may block or disable access to any Third Party Materials (in whole or part) through the Site at any time. In addition, the availability of any Third Party Materials through the Site does not imply our endorsement of, or our affiliation with, any provider of such Third Party Materials, nor does such availability create any legal relationship between you and any such provider.

YOUR USE OF THIRD PARTY MATERIALS IS AT YOUR OWN RISK AND IS SUBJECT TO ANY ADDITIONAL TERMS, CONDITIONS AND POLICIES APPLICABLE TO SUCH THIRD PARTY MATERIALS (SUCH AS TERMS OF SERVICE OR PRIVACY POLICIES OF THE PROVIDERS OF SUCH THIRD PARTY MATERIALS).

14.  Promotions. Any surveys or promotions (collectively, “Promotions”) made available through the Site may be governed by rules that are separate from this Agreement. If you participate in any Promotions, please review the applicable rules as well as our Privacy Policy. If the rules for a Promotion conflict with this Agreement, the Promotion rules will govern with respect to that Promotion.

15.  DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. THE SITE AND ANY SERVICES AND THIRD PARTY MATERIALS ARE MADE AVAILABLE TO YOU ON AN “AS IS,” “WHERE IS” AND “WHERE AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT ANY WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY. ARI DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES WITH RESPECT TO THE SITE AND ANY SERVICES AND THIRD PARTY MATERIALS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, INCLUDING THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND TITLE. ALL DISCLAIMERS OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING IN THIS SECTION AND ELSEWHERE IN THIS AGREEMENT) ARE MADE ON BEHALF OF BOTH ARI AND ITS AFFILIATES AND THEIR RESPECTIVE DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, VOLUNTEERS, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, REPRESENTATIVES, LICENSORS, SUPPLIERS AND SERVICE PROVIDERS (COLLECTIVELY, THE “ARI NETWORK”).

WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND ANY SERVICES AND THIRD PARTY MATERIALS, AND ANY RELIANCE UPON THE SITE, ANY SERVICES OR ANY THIRD PARTY MATERIALS, IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. THE SITE AND ANY SERVICES AND THIRD PARTY MATERIALS (A) ARE MADE AVAILABLE FOR INFORMATIONAL AND EDUCATIONAL PURPOSES ONLY, (B) DO NOT CONSTITUTE AS THE PROVISION OF ADVICE OR RECOMMENDATIONS, (C) SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON AS THE BASIS FOR ANY DECISION OR ACTION, INCLUDING ANY DECISION OR ACTION RELATED TO YOUR COMPLIANCE WITH APPLICABLE LAWS, AND (D) ARE NOT A SUBSTITUTE FOR PROFESSIONAL LEGAL ADVICE.

While we try to maintain the timeliness, integrity and security of the Site, we do not guarantee that the Site is or will remain updated, complete, correct or secure, or that access to the Site will be uninterrupted. The Site may include inaccuracies, errors and materials that violate or conflict with this Agreement. Additionally, third parties may make unauthorized alterations to the Site. If you become aware of any such alteration, contact us  with a description of such alteration and its location on the Site.

16.  LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT THAT SUCH EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION IS PROHIBITED UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, ARI WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES OF ANY KIND ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT OR THE SITE, UNDER ANY CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), EXTRA-CONTRACTUAL LIABILITY, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHER THEORY, INCLUDING DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF REVENUE, LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF USE OR DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, LOSS OF OTHER INTANGIBLES, LOSS OF SUBMISSIONS (INCLUDING UNAUTHORIZED INTERCEPTION THEREOF BY THIRD PARTIES), EVEN IF ADVISED IN ADVANCE OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES OR LOSSES. 

WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, ARI WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SITE OR FROM ANY SERVICES OR THIRD PARTY MATERIALS, INCLUDING IN CONNECTION WITH ANY VIRUS THAT MAY BE TRANSMITTED THEREBY.

EXCEPT AS SET FORTH IN SECTION 6 ABOVE (AND IN ACCORDANCE WITH ARI’S CANCELLATION AND RETURN POLICIES) AND WITHOUT LIMITING YOUR RIGHTS UNDER APPLICABLE LAW, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR DISSATISFACTION WITH THE SITE OR ANY SERVICES OR THIRD PARTY MATERIALS IS TO STOP USING THE SITE. 

THE MAXIMUM AGGREGATE LIABILITY OF ARI FOR ALL DAMAGES, LOSSES AND CAUSES OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS AGREEMENT OR THE SITE, WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE) OR OTHERWISE, SHALL BE THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNT, IF ANY, PAID BY YOU TO ARI TO USE THE SITE; AND (B) TEN DOLLARS ($10). ALL LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING IN THIS SECTION AND ELSEWHERE IN THIS AGREEMENT) ARE MADE ON BEHALF OF BOTH ARI AND THE ARI NETWORK.

Applicable law may not allow for limitations on certain implied warranties, or exclusions or limitations of certain damages; solely to the extent that such law applies to you, some or all of the above disclaimers, exclusions or limitations may not apply to you, and you may have certain additional rights.

Nothing in this Section 16 is intended to limit or exclude liability where such liability is mandatory under applicable law and arises from the following: (a) in the event of death or personal injury to the extent resulting directly from ARI’s willful or negligent act or omission of any of its employees or agents; (b) to the extent resulting from any fraudulent misrepresentation on the part of ARI; (c) to the extent resulting from any breach of an essential contractual duty; or (d) to the extent arising out of any willful or grossly negligent misconduct on the part of ARI.

17.  Indemnity. Except to the extent prohibited under applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless ARI, the ARI Network and their respective successors and assigns from and against all claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses and fees (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or relating to (a) your use of, or activities in connection with, the Site (including Submissions) in violation or attempted violation of this Agreement; (b) your violation of any third-party right (including any intellectual property or privacy right); (c) any of your Submissions; (d) your violation of any applicable law, rule or regulation; or (e) any misuse of your Access Credential for which you are responsible.

18.  Suspension and Termination. This Agreement is effective until your right to use the Site is terminated. Except to the extent prohibited by applicable law, ARI may suspend or terminate your right to use the Site at any time for any valid reason. To the extent required by applicable law and if reasonable under the circumstances, ARI will seek to provide you with at least twenty-four (24) hours’ prior notice or any such suspension or termination, provided that, for the avoidance of doubt, if we reasonably believe that you have materially violated this Agreement (including by using the Service to make available any pornographic or otherwise objectionable content), we can immediately suspend or terminate your right to use the Service. Upon any such suspension or termination, your right to use the Site will immediately cease, and ARI may, without liability to you or any third party, immediately deactivate or delete your Access Credentials, Submissions and all associated materials, without any obligation to provide any further access to such materials. The preamble and Sections 2-5, 7-10 and 12-24 shall survive any expiration or termination of this Agreement.

19.  Governing Law; Jurisdiction. Except to the extent prohibited by applicable law, all matters arising out of or relating to the Site or this Agreement are governed by and shall be construed in accordance with the laws of the State of New York, U.S.A., without regard to its principles of conflicts of law, and regardless of your location. Except to the extent prohibited by applicable law, you agree to exclusive jurisdiction of the federal and state courts located in New York County, New York, U.S.A., and waive any jurisdictional, venue or inconvenient forum objections to such courts. YOU AGREE THAT (A) ARI AND YOU ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO TRIAL BY A JURY, (B) CLASS ARBITRATIONS AND CLASS ACTIONS ARE NOT PERMITTED, AND (C) YOU ARE AGREEING TO GIVE UP THE ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION. 

[Notwithstanding the foregoing, if you are an individual, and not an Organization, and a resident of the United States, the following will apply with respect to any claim or dispute arising out of or relating to this Agreement or the Site: EXCEPT FOR DISPUTES THAT QUALIFY FOR SMALL CLAIMS COURT, ALL DISPUTES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE SITE, WHETHER BASED IN CONTRACT, TORT, STATUTE, FRAUD, MISREPRESENTATION OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, WILL BE RESOLVED THROUGH FINAL AND BINDING ARBITRATION BEFORE A NEUTRAL ARBITRATOR INSTEAD OF IN A COURT BY A JUDGE OR JURY AND YOU AGREE THAT ARI AND YOU ARE EACH WAIVING THE RIGHT TO TRIAL BY A JURY. YOU AGREE THAT ANY ARBITRATION UNDER THIS AGREEMENT WILL TAKE PLACE ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS; CLASS ARBITRATIONS AND CLASS ACTIONS ARE NOT PERMITTED AND YOU ARE AGREEING TO GIVE UP THE ABILITY TO PARTICIPATE IN A CLASS ACTION. The arbitration will be administered by the American Arbitration Association (“AAA”) under its Consumer Arbitration Rules (currently available at https://www.adr.org/aaa/faces/rules/searchrules/rulesdetail?doc=ADRSTAGE2021424), as amended by this Agreement. The arbitrator will conduct hearings, if any, by teleconference or videoconference, rather than by personal appearances, unless the arbitrator determines upon request by you or by us that an in-person hearing is appropriate. Any in-person appearances will be held at a location which is reasonably convenient to both parties with due consideration of their ability to travel and other pertinent circumstances. If the parties are unable to agree on a location, such determination should be made by the AAA or by the arbitrator. The arbitrator’s decision will follow the terms of this Agreement and will be final and binding. The applicable governing law will be as set forth in the previous paragraph. The arbitrator will have authority to award temporary, interim or permanent injunctive relief or relief providing for specific performance of this Agreement, but only to the extent necessary to provide relief warranted by the individual claim before the arbitrator. The award rendered by the arbitrator may be confirmed and enforced in any court having jurisdiction thereof. Notwithstanding any of the foregoing, nothing in this Agreement will preclude you from bringing issues to the attention of federal, state or local agencies and, if the law allows, they can seek relief against us for you.]

20.  Filtering. We hereby notify you that parental control protections (such as computer hardware, software or filtering services) are commercially available that may assist you in limiting access to material that is harmful to minors. Information identifying current providers of such protections is available from https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Comparison_of_content-control_software_and_providers. Please note that ARI does not endorse any of the products or services listed on such site.

21.  Questions. If you have a question or complaint or would otherwise like to contact us regarding the Site, please contact us . Please note that e-mail communications will not necessarily be secure; accordingly you should not include credit card information or other sensitive information in your e-mail correspondence with us.

The Site is operated by:
Anker Research Institute, hosted by Social Accountability International
Registered Address:     2711 Centerville Rd, Suite 400, Wilmington, DE 19808
Place of Business:     9 East 37th Street, 10th Floor, New York, NY 10016

22.  Export Controls. You are responsible for complying with United States export controls and for any violation of such controls, including any United States embargoes or other federal rules and regulations restricting exports. You represent, warrant and covenant that you are not (a) located in, or a resident or a national of, any country subject to a U.S. government embargo or other restriction, or that has been designated by the U.S. government as a “terrorist supporting” country; (b) on any of the U.S. government lists of restricted end users.

23.  Miscellaneous. This Agreement does not, and shall not be construed to, create any partnership, joint venture, employer-employee, agency or franchisor-franchisee relationship between you and ARI If any provision of this Agreement is found to be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, that provision will be deemed severable from this Agreement and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provision. You may not assign, transfer or sublicense any or all of your rights or obligations under this Agreement without our express prior written consent. We may assign, transfer or sublicense any or all of our rights or obligations under this Agreement without restriction. No waiver by either party of any breach or default hereunder will be deemed to be a waiver of any preceding or subsequent breach or default. Any heading, caption or section title contained herein is for convenience only, and in no way defines or explains any section or provision. All terms defined in the singular shall have the same meanings when used in the plural, where appropriate and unless otherwise specified. Any use of the term “including” or variations thereof in this Agreement shall be construed as if followed by the phrase “without limitation.”

This Agreement, including any terms and conditions incorporated herein, is the entire agreement between you and ARI relating to the subject matter hereof, and supersedes any and all prior or contemporaneous written or oral agreements or understandings between you and ARI relating to such subject matter. For clarity, nothing in this Agreement amends or modifies, or has any effect upon, the terms and conditions of any separate agreement that you may have entered into (a) with ARI that does not relate to the subject matter of this Agreement or (b) any third party (including any “certification body” or any organization seeking certification). Notices to you (including notices of changes to this Agreement) may be made via posting to the Site or by e-mail (including in each case via links), or by regular mail. Without limitation, a printed version of this Agreement and of any notice given in electronic form shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based upon or relating to this Agreement to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form. ARI will not be responsible for any failure to fulfill any obligation due to any cause beyond its control. To the extent permitted by applicable law, no person or entity that is not a party to this Agreement may enforce any of its provisions. This Agreement has been drafted in English at the express request of the parties. Ce contrat a été rédigé en anglais à la demande expresse des parties.