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Shared Services & Outsourcing Network’s (SSON) User Agreement

This Agreement sets forth the terms and conditions for your use of this SSON Web site. Your use of this site constitutes your agreement to these terms and conditions.

This Agreement (the "Agreement") is between you and SSON, a division of IQPC headquartered at 535, 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10017

1. Your Rights.

SSON grants you a non-exclusive, non-transferable, limited right to access, use and display this Web site (the "Site") and the materials provided hereon, provided that you comply fully with this Agreement. The contents of the Site are only for your personal, noncommercial use. You agree not to interrupt, or attempt to interrupt, the operation of the Site in any way.

2. Membership Service Charges.

Certain features of this site are available only through the purchase of a membership ("Fee-Based Services").

(a) You agree to pay, using a valid credit card or check, the annual membership fees set forth on the Site, applicable taxes, and other charges incurred on your account in order to access Fee-Based Services. SSON reserves the right to increase fees, surcharges, and site membership fees, or to institute new fees at any time, upon reasonable notice posted in advance on this Site. SSON will automatically charge your account for renewal of your membership. The renewal charge will be the current published rates for the term of your membership. In the event SSON cannot charge your credit card or does not receive renewal invoice payment within a reasonable time, we reserve the right to terminate your access to the Fee-Based Services.

(b) If you purchase an annual membership to access the Fee-Based Services and cancel at any time during that membership year (defined as twelve months), SSON will refund the remainder of your membership on a pro-rata basis that will cover the unused months of your subscription (partial months will not be refunded).

3. Financial responsibility.

You agree not to assign, transfer or sublicense your rights as a Member to the Fee-Based Services, without first contacting SSON Customer Service for written permission. Permission is at the discretion of SSON. You agree to be financially responsible for all usage or activity on your Fee-Based Services account until such time as the registration information is changed with written acknowledgement and approval of SSON.

If you request to change the individual name for an account your organization has paid for, at its discretion SSON may change the user name and password without charge, and grant that new user all rights and privileges of membership.

4. Termination.

In addition to any other rights of the parties set forth herein, either you or SSON may cancel or terminate this Agreement at any time in accordance with the subscription help instructions. SSON also reserves the right to restrict, suspend or terminate your access to the Fee-Based Services in whole or in part, without notice, in case of any breach or threatened breach by you of any portion of this Agreement. If SSON terminates this Agreement based on a breach of any portion of this Agreement, SSON reserves the right to retain any subscription fees paid and refuse to provide a subscription or any Fee-Based Services to you in the future.

In addition to the charges set forth above, you are responsible for all charges associated with connecting to the Site, including without limitation all Internet access lines (including long-distance charges, when applicable) and computer equipment and any service fees necessary to access the Fee-Based Services.

For purposes of ID and billing, you agree to provide SSON with accurate, complete, and updated information required by the site membership registration to the Fee-Based Services ("Registration Data"), including your name, address, telephone number(s), and applicable payment data (e.g., credit card number, e-mail address, and expiration date). You may update and correct your registration data at any time by contacting Customer Service via phone at Telephone: +1 800 882 8684 or +1 646 378 6026, via email: membership@ssonetwork.com or via post sent to Shared Services and Outsourcing Network, IQPC, 535, 5th Avenue, New York, NY 10017
SSON is not responsible for the security of credit card information sent via email.

You agree to promptly contact SSON to update your Registration Data, in the event of any known or suspected unauthorized use of your subscription, or any known or suspected breach of security, including loss, theft, or unauthorized disclosure of your password or credit card information. In the event of a breach of security, you will remain liable for any unauthorized use of your Membership until you update your Registration Data. If your credit card expires, is canceled, is lost or is subject to use without your authorization, or if your subscription is subject to use without your authorization, contact SSON.

Cancel your annual Membership at any time by contacting membership@ssonetwork.com. You'll get a full, pro-rata refund of all unused months of your Membership.

5. Copyright and Trademarks.

All materials on the Site, including without limitation text, images, software, audio and video clips, databases, libraries and Fee-Based Services (collectively, the "Content") are owned or controlled by SSON which retains all right, title, and interest in and to the Content. The Site and Content are protected by the copyright and trademark laws of the United States and other countries, international conventions, and other applicable laws.

You may not download, display, reproduce, create derivative works from, transmit, sell, distribute, or in any way exploit the Site or any portion thereof for any public or commercial use without the prior written permission of SSON.

6. Comments and Submissions Forms

SSON may make available to users of the site, comments forms, Awards Nominations, Testimonials Forms, Surveys, and other interactive communication facilities by means of the Site and related survey forms (such facilities collectively referred to herein as the "Forums"). SSON cannot review all communications made on or through the Site. However, SSON reserves the right, but has no obligation, to monitor the Forums and edit, modify or delete any materials which SSON in its sole discretion determines to violate this Agreement or to be in any other way offensive or contrary to any SSON policy.

7. Communicating with the Site.

You are solely responsible for the content of any transmissions you make to the Site or any materials you add to the Site, including to any Forum or submission as defined above (the "Communications"). You shall not upload to, or distribute to, or otherwise publish through the Forums any Communication which

(ii) is obscene, indecent, pornographic, profane, sexually explicit, or abusive;

(ii) constitutes or contains false or misleading indications of origin or statements of fact;

(iii) slanders, libels, defames, disparages, or otherwise violates the legal rights of any third party;

(iv) causes injury of any kind to any person or entity;

(v) infringes or violates the intellectual property rights, contract rights, or any other rights of any third party;

(vi) violates any applicable laws, rules, or regulations or

(vii) contains software viruses or any other malicious code designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment.

Furthermore, you acknowledge that conduct prohibited in connection with the Forums includes, but is not limited to, impersonation of other people and breaching or attempting to breach the security of the Site. SSON does not endorse or accept any Communications as its own or representative of its views.

8. Public Communications.

You acknowledge and agree that any public Communications made to or by means of any portion of the Site are public. You acknowledge that

(i) you have no expectation of privacy in any public Communication and

(ii) no confidential, fiduciary, contractually implied or other relationship is created between you and SSON by reason of your transmitting a public Communication to any area of the Site. By transmitting any public Communication to the Site, you grant to SSON a perpetual, worldwide, irrevocable, unrestricted, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, copy, license, distribute, display, reproduce, transmit, modify, edit, and otherwise exploit such public Communication, in all media now known or later developed. The foregoing grant shall include the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such public Communications, including, without limitation, any intellectual property laws under any relevant jurisdiction, and shall constitute a waiver of any rights, "moral rights," or any similar rights under any jurisdiction.

9. Your password.

As part of the registration process, you will select a password. This password is for your individual use only. You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of any password you use to access the Fee-Based Services, and agree that SSON will have no obligations with regard thereto.

10. Privacy Policy.

The terms and conditions of SSON’s privacy policy are set out in the section labeled "Privacy Policy" and (as they may be changed by SSON at its discretion) are incorporated herein and included in this agreement.

11. Information Provided.

You acknowledge that any reliance upon any advice, opinion, statement, data, or other information displayed or distributed through the Site is at your sole risk. SSON reserves the right, in its sole discretion and without notice, to correct any errors or omissions in any portion of the Site, or to deny access to the Site to anyone at any time. You acknowledge and agree that SSON is not responsible for any materials posted by users of the Site.

12. Links to Other Sites.

The Site contains links to other sites on the Internet which are owned and maintained by third parties. Such links do not constitute an endorsement by SSON of any third-party site or any materials contained therein. SSON does not control, and is not responsible for, the availability, accuracy, privacy policy, or currency of such third-party sites or any information, content, products or services accessible from such third-party sites.

13. Indemnification.

You hereby agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless SSON from and against any and all liability and costs incurred by SSON in connection with any claim arising out of any breach or alleged breach of any of your obligations set forth herein. You shall cooperate as fully as reasonably required in the defense of any claim. SSON reserves the right, at its own expense, to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you and you shall not in any event settle any matter without the written consent of SSON.

14. DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTY.

EXCEPT AS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH HEREIN, THE SITE (INCLUDING ALL CONTENT, SOFTWARE, FUNCTIONS, FEE-BASED SERVICES, MATERIALS AND INFORMATION MADE AVAILABLE THEREON OR ACCESSED BY MEANS THEREOF) ARE PROVIDED AS IS, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF TITLE OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, COMPATABILITY, SECURITY, ACCURACY, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMISSIBLE BY LAW, SSON MAKES NO WARRANTIES AND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR THE USE OF THE SITE UNDER ANY CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO NEGLIGENCE BY SSON.  SSON DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SITE OR THE FEE-BASED SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, THAT THE SITE OR FEE-BASED SERVICES WILL MEET ANY PARTICULAR CRITERIA OF PERFORMANCE OR QUALITY, OR THAT THE SITE, INCLUDING FORUMS OR THE SERVER(S) ON WHICH THE SITE IS OPERATED, ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS.

15. LIMITATION OF LIABILITY.

USE OF THE SITE IS AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU ASSUME FULL RESPONSIBILITY AND RISK OF LOSS RESULTING FROM YOUR DOWNLOADING AND/OR USE OF FILES, INFORMATION, COMMUNICATIONS, CONTENT, OR OTHER MATERIAL (INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION SOFTWARE) ACCESSED THROUGH OR OBTAINED BY MEANS OF THE SITE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL SSON BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES THAT ARE DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY RELATED TO THE USE OF, OR THE INABILITY TO USE, THE SITE OR FEE-BASED SERVICES, EVEN IF SSON HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. THE TOTAL LIABILITY OF SSON HEREUNDER IS LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT, IF ANY, ACTUALLY PAID BY YOU FOR ACCESS AND USE OF THE FEE-BASED SERVICES DURING YOUR CURRENT TERM OF SERVICE. YOU HEREBY RELEASE SSON FROM ANY AND ALL OBLIGATIONS, LIABILITIES AND CLAIMS IN EXCESS OF THIS LIMITATION. SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

16. Modifications.

(a) To the Agreement. SSON has the right to modify this Agreement and any policies affecting the Site, including without limitation the No-Commercialization Policy. Any modification is effective immediately upon posting to the Site or distribution via electronic mail or conventional mail. Your continued use of the Site following notice of any modification to this Agreement shall be conclusively deemed an acceptance of all such modification(s). Your only right with respect to any dissatisfaction with any modifications made pursuant to this provision, or any policies or practices of SSON in providing the Site, including without limitation

(i) any change in the Content, or

(ii) any change in the amount or type of fees associated with the Fee-Based Services, is to cancel your subscription in accordance with the subscription help instructions.

(b) To the Site.

SSON has the right to modify, suspend or discontinue the Site or any portion thereof at any time, including the availability of any area of the Site, including without limitation the Fee-Based Services. SSON may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the SSON Site without notice or liability.

17. General.

This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and SSON with respect to the Site and, if applicable, the Fee-Based Services and supersedes all prior agreements between you and SSON. Failure by SSON to enforce any provision of this agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. Interpretation and enforcement of this agreement shall be governed by the laws of the state of New York (excluding its choice of law rules). In any such action, the prevailing party shall be entitled to recover all legal expenses incurred in connection with the action, including but not limited to its costs, both taxable and non-taxable, and reasonable attorney's fees. In the event that any portion of this Agreement is held unenforceable, the unenforceable portion shall be construed in accordance with applicable law as nearly as possible to reflect the original intentions of the parties, and the remainder of the provisions shall remain in full force and effect.

Subscribing to SSON Membership indicates your agreement to the terms and conditions set forth above.