Terms of Use


Internet Site Terms and Conditions of Use

The internet site of Virtual Heroes® is comprised of various internet pages owned and operated by Applied Research Associates Inc. (“ARA”) and located at www.virtualheroes.com.

The Virtual Heroes internet Site is offered to you conditioned on your acceptance without modification of the terms, conditions, and notices contained herein. Your use of the Virtual Heroes internet site constitutes your agreement to all such terms, conditions, and notices.


Modification of These Terms of Use

ARA reserves the right to change the terms, conditions, and notices under which the Virtual Heroes internet site is offered, including but not limited to the charges, if any, associated with the use of the Virtual Heroes internet site.


Links to Third Party Sites

The Virtual Heroes internet site may contain links to other internet sites (the “Linked Sites”). The Linked Sites are not under the control of ARA and we are therefore not responsible for the contents of any Linked Site, including without limitation any link contained in a Linked Site, or any changes or updates to a Linked Site. ARA is not responsible for webcasting or any other form of transmission received from any Linked Site. ARA is providing these links to you only as a convenience, and the inclusion of any link does not imply endorsement by ARA of the site or any association with its operators..


No Unlawful or Prohibited Use

As a condition of your use of the Virtual Heroes internet site, you warrant to ARA that you will not use the Virtual Heroes internet site for any purpose that is unlawful or prohibited by these terms, conditions, and notices. ARA reserves the right to report any activity that may violate any law or regulation to appropriate law enforcement officials, regulators or other third parties, and ARA may do so without prior notice to you. You are prohibited from violating, or attempting to violate, the security of the Virtual Heroes internet site. Any such violations may result in criminal and civil liabilities to you. Examples of prohibited security violations include, but are not limited to: (a) logging into a server or account that you are not authorized to access; (b) accessing data or taking any action to obtain services not intended for you or your use; (c) attempting to probe, scan, or test the vulnerability of any system, subsystem or network related to the Virtual Heroes internet site or to any Virtual Heroes computer or computer system; (d) tampering, hacking, modifying or otherwise corrupting or breaching security or authentication measures; (e) transmitting material that contains viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines or engines with the intent or effect of damaging, destroying, disrupting or otherwise impairing a computer’s functionality or the operation of the Virtual Heroes internet site; (f) interfering with, intercepting or expropriating any system, data or information; and (g) interfering with service to any user, host, or network including, but not limited to, by means of overloading, “flooding,” “mail-bombing,” or “crashing” any system, subsystem or network related to the website or otherwise..


Content

All content included on the Virtual Heroes internet site, such as text, graphics, logos, button icons, images, photographs, audio clips, digital downloads, data compilations, and software, is the property of Virtual Heroes or its content suppliers and is protected by United States and international copyright laws. Any people using the Virtual Heroes internet site is authorized to copy, print, or distribute such contents only as follows:

  1. Users may print out individual pages but cannot copy or download a large portion of the website (e.g., no bots, webcrawlers, spiders, etc. that “harvest” the website);
  2. Users may download, print, distribute and use pages from the Virtual Heroes internet site only for informational, non-commercial purposes;
  3. Any copies of such documents or pages must not alter the original website content and must include the Virtual Heroes copyright notice: “Copyright 20XX Applied Research Associates, Inc. All Rights Reserved.”;
  4. ARA reserves the right to terminate the above authorization at any time in its sole discretion; or
  5. No one may frame the Virtual Heroes internet site or any portion thereof. Linking to the Virtual Heroes internet site that does not otherwise infringe upon ARA’s trademark interests is permitted, provided that the link does not falsely imply or suggest that ARA has endorsed or is affiliated with the linked website.

Except as expressly provided above, you may not otherwise copy, display, download, distribute, modify, reproduce, republish or retransmit or create derivative works based upon any information, content or materials contained in the Virtual Heroes internet site or any medium (including electronic or hard copy), without the express prior written consent of ARA. Nothing contained on this website shall be construed as conferring by implication, estoppel or otherwise any license or right under any intellectual property right of Virtual Heroes or any third party, except as expressly provided above.


Use of Communication Services

The Virtual Heroes internet site may contain bulletin board services, chat areas, news groups, forums, communities, personal web pages, calendars, and/or other message or communication facilities designed to enable you to communicate with the public at large or with a group (collectively, the “Communication Services”), and you agree to use the Communication Services only to post, send and receive messages and material that are proper and related to the particular Communication Service. By way of example, and not as a limitation, you agree that when using a Communication Service, you will not:

  1. Defame abuse, harass, stalk, threaten or otherwise violate the legal rights (such as rights of privacy and publicity) of others;
  2. Publish post, upload, distribute or disseminate any inappropriate, profane, defamatory, infringing, obscene, indecent or unlawful topic, name, material or information;
  3. Upload files that contain software or other material protected by intellectual property laws (or by rights of privacy of publicity) unless you own or control the rights thereto or have received all necessary consents;
  4. Upload files that contain viruses, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another’s computer;
  5. Advertise or offer to sell or buy any goods or services for any business purpose, unless such Communication Service specifically allows such messages;
  6. Conduct or forward surveys, contests, pyramid schemes or chain letters;
  7. Download any file posted by another user of a Communication Service that you know, or reasonably should know, cannot be legally distributed in such manner;
  8. Falsify or delete any author attributions, legal or other proper notices or proprietary designations or labels of the origin or source of software or other material contained in a file that is uploaded;
  9. Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Communication Services;
  10. Violate any code of conduct or other guidelines which may be applicable for any particular Communication Service;
  11. Harvest or otherwise collect information about others, including e-mail addresses, without their consent; or Violate any applicable laws or regulations.

Virtual Heroes has no obligation to monitor the Communication Services. However, Virtual Heroes reserves the right to review materials posted to a Communication Service and to remove any materials in its sole discretion. Virtual Heroes reserves the right to terminate your access to any or all of the Communication Services at any time without notice for any reason whatsoever.

ARA reserves the right at all times to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request, or to edit, refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, in ARA’s sole discretion.

Always use caution when giving out any personally identifying information about yourself or your children in any Communication Service. ARA does not control or endorse the content, messages or information found in any Communication Service and, therefore, ARA specifically disclaims any liability with regard to the Communication Services and any actions resulting from your participation in any Communication Service. Managers and hosts are not authorized ARA spokespersons, and their views do not necessarily reflect those of ARA.

Materials uploaded to a Communication Service may be subject to posted limitations on usage, reproduction and/or dissemination. You are responsible for adhering to such limitations if you download the materials.


Materials provided to Virtual Heroes or posted on the Virtual Heroes internet site

All submissions, documents, materials, postings, comments, remarks, suggestions, ideas, graphics, or other information communicated from users to the Virtual Heroes internet site will forever be the property and intellectual property of ARA, and ARA will not be required to treat any such submission as confidential, unless otherwise expressly provided. Further, ARA will be entitled to use any such submission for any purpose whatsoever, commercial or otherwise, without compensation to you or anyone else. By posting, uploading, inputting, providing or submitting your submission you warrant and represent that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to your submission as described in this section including, without limitation, all the rights necessary for you to provide, post, upload, input or submit the submissions.


Liability Disclaimer

THE INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, AND SERVICES INCLUDED IN OR AVAILABLE THROUGH THE VIRTUAL HEROES INTERNET SITE MAY INCLUDE INACCURACIES OR TYPOGRAPHICAL ERRORS. CHANGES ARE PERIODICALLY ADDED TO THE INFORMATION HEREIN. ARA AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS MAY MAKE IMPROVEMENTS AND/OR CHANGES IN THE VIRTUAL HEROES INTERNET SITE AT ANY TIME. ADVICE RECEIVED VIA THE VIRTUAL HEROES INTERNET SITE SHOULD NOT BE RELIED UPON FOR PERSONAL, MEDICAL, LEGAL OR FINANCIAL DECISIONS AND YOU SHOULD CONSULT AN APPROPRIATE PROFESSIONAL FOR SPECIFIC ADVICE TAILORED TO YOUR SITUATION.

ARA AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS MAKE NO REPRESENTATIONS ABOUT THE SUITABILITY, RELIABILITY, AVAILABILITY, TIMELINESS, AND ACCURACY OF THE INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS CONTAINED ON THE Virtual Heroes INTERNET SITE FOR ANY PURPOSE. TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, ALL SUCH INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” WITHOUT WARRANTY OR CONDITION OF ANY KIND. ARA AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS HEREBY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS WITH REGARD TO THIS INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS, INCLUDING ALL IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL ARA AND/OR ITS SUPPLIERS BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, PUNITIVE, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR ANY DAMAGES WHATSOEVER INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF USE, DATA OR PROFITS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN ANY WAY CONNECTED WITH THE USE OR PERFORMANCE OF THE VIRTUAL HEROES INTERNET SITE, WITH THE DELAY OR INABILITY TO USE THE VIRTUAL HEROES INTERNET SITE OR RELATED SERVICES, THE PROVISION OF OR FAILURE TO PROVIDE SERVICES, OR FOR ANY INFORMATION, SOFTWARE, PRODUCTS, SERVICES AND RELATED GRAPHICS OBTAINED THROUGH THE VIRTUAL HEROES INTERNET SITE, OR OTHERWISE ARISING OUT OF THE USE OF THE VIRTUAL HEROES INTERNET SITE, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF VIRTUAL HEROES OR ANY OF ITS SUPPLIERS HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF DAMAGES. AS SOME STATES/JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH ANY PORTION OF THE VIRTUAL HEROES INTERNET SITE, OR WITH ANY OF THESE TERMS OF USE, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE USING THE VIRTUAL HEROES INTERNET SITE.


SERVICE CONTACT

Termination | Access Restriction

ARA reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to terminate your access to the Virtual Heroes internet site and the related services or any portion thereof at any time, without notice.