Welcome to LTH Forum. This agreement (the “Agreement” or the “Terms of Service”) describes the terms on which LTH Forum offer you access to the LTH Forum Sites. The “LTH Forum Sites” or the “Service” is defined as the online service offered by LTH Forum, including the Websites, Content, and User Content (as those terms are defined in this Agreement). The LTH Forum Sites are provided free of charge to you by LTH Forum, subject to the following Terms of Service.
- ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS
Although portions of the LTH Forum Sites may be viewed simply by visiting the Websites, you will need to register as a member of the LTH Forum Sites to post messages in the forums and use certain other services. Whether you visit one of the LTH Forum Sites without registering or whether you register as a member, these Terms of Service will govern your use of the LTH Forum Sites and all content, services, products, features, or tools.
BY VISITING THE LTH FORUM SITES OR COMPLETING THE MEMBER REGISTRATION PROCESS, YOU ARE INDICATING YOUR AGREEMENT TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS OF SERVICE, AS SUCH TERMS MAY BE MODIFIED FROM TIME TO TIME.
LTH Forum shall not be liable to you for any breach of these Terms of Service. If you do not agree to these Terms of Service, you are prohibited from accessing the LTH Forum Sites.
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DEFINITIONS
“Account” means the entirety of your contractual rights and obligations under this Agreement associated with a particular Account Name you have selected for accessing the Service.
“Content” means any works of authorship, creative works, graphics, images, photos, logos, sounds, music, video, audio, computer programs, applications, animations, text, scripts, and interactive features.
“Intellectual Property Rights” means copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade dress, publicity rights, database rights, patent rights, and other intellectual property rights or proprietary rights recognized by law.
“User Content” means any Content that a user of the Service has uploaded, published, or submitted to or through the Websites, or other areas of the Service.
“Websites” are the websites and services available from the domain and subdomains of LTH Forum.com and any related or successor domains
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REGISTRATION
Although registration is not required to read postings on the LTH Forum Sites, users must register for an Account to post to the LTH Forum Sites. When you register for the LTH Forum Sites, you may be prompted by the registration form to provide some or all of the following information: your name, email address, country, state, zip code, date of birth, and gender (“Registration Data”). You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete Registration Data and to use the account management tools provided to keep your Registration Data accurate, current, and complete.
By accepting this Agreement in connection with registering as a member of the LTH Forum Sites, you represent that you are at least 13 years of age and you have the legal authority to enter into this Agreement. If you are at least 13 years of age and less than 18 years of age, you represent that (i) your parent or legal guardian has consented to your having an Account with the LTH Forum Sites, participating in the Service, and providing your personal information in connection with the Service; and (ii) your parent or legal guardian has read and accepted this Agreement on your behalf. If you are under 13 years of age, then please do not use the LTH Forum Sites.
You must choose an account name to identify yourself in connection with your Account (your “Account Name”). LTH Forum may refuse to grant you any Account Name that is already being used by another user, may cause deception or confusion; may violate any trademark right, copyright, or other proprietary right or mislead other users regarding your identity or affiliation, that LTH Forum determines in its discretion to be vulgar, offensive, or otherwise inappropriate, or that LTH Forum rejects for any other reason in its sole discretion.
At the time your Account is opened, you must select a password. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password and you accept responsibility for any harm resulting from your disclosure, or authorization of the disclosure of your password or from any person’s use of your password to gain access to your Account or Account Name. At no time should you respond to an online request for a password other than in connection with the log-on process to the Service. Your disclosure of your password to any other person is at your own risk. If you have reason to believe that someone is using your account without your permission, you should contact LTH Forum immediately.
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PRIVACY POLICY
We are committed to protecting your privacy and will use your information only as described in our Privacy Policy.
Our Privacy Policy sets forth the conditions under which you provide personal and other information to us, and is incorporated herein by reference. You understand and agree that through your use of the Service you consent to the collection and use of your information in accordance with our Privacy Policy. If you object to your information being used in this way, please do not use the Service.
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CHANGES
LTH Forum is continually improving and adding new functionality and features to the LTH Forum Sites. LTH Forum may amend or otherwise modify these Terms of Service from time to time in its sole discretion and without notice. The Terms of Service will be available through links placed on the LTH Forum Sites. Any such amendment or modification will be effective immediately upon posting on the LTH Forum Sites, and your continued use of the LTH Forum Sites after any changes or modifications to these Terms of Service are posted will constitute your acceptance of and agreement to such changes or modifications. If you object to any change or modification, your sole recourse shall be to cease using the Service.
LTH Forum has the right to change and/or eliminate any aspect, feature or functionality of the Service as it sees fit at any time without notice, and LTH Forum makes no commitment, express or implied, to maintain or continue any aspect of the Service unless specifically indicated in these Terms of Service. You acknowledge that your use of the Service is subject to this risk and that you knowingly assume it and make your decisions to participate in the Service and contribute Content accordingly.
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CONTENT LICENSES AND INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS
We respect your ownership of User Content. You retain any and all Intellectual Property Rights you already hold under applicable law in Content you upload, publish, and submit to or through the Websites and other areas of the Service, subject to the rights, licenses, and other terms of this Agreement, including any underlying rights of other users or LTH Forum in Content that you may use or modify.
You agree that you will not upload, publish, or submit to any part of the Service any Content that is protected by Intellectual Property Rights or otherwise subject to proprietary rights, including trade secret or privacy rights, unless you are the owner of such rights or have permission from the rightful owner to upload, publish, or submit the Content and to grant LTH Forum and users of the Service all of the license rights granted in these Terms of Service.
Because the law may or may not recognize certain Intellectual Property Rights in any particular Content, you should consult a lawyer if you want legal advice regarding your legal rights in a specific situation. You acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for knowing, protecting, and enforcing any Intellectual Property Rights you hold, and that LTH Forum cannot do so on your behalf.
You agree that by uploading, publishing, or submitting any Content to or through the Websites, or other areas of the Service, you hereby automatically grant LTH Forum a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, sublicenseable, and transferable license (“User Content License”) to use, reproduce, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute, sublicense, assign, derive revenue or other remuneration from, communicate to the public, perform and display the content (in whole or in part) or to incorporate it in other works in any form, media, or technology now known or later developed, for the full term of any Intellectual Property Rights that may exist in such content, subject to the limitations listed below. You also permit any visitor to or member of the LTH Forum Sites to access, display, view, store, and reproduce such content solely for personal, noncommercial use.
LTH Forum agrees that the User Content License is subject to the following limitations:
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License to individual posts or groups of posts may not be transferred or sublicensed to a third party without transferring substantially the entire operations of LTH Forum; provided, however, that a user or group of users may consent to a transfer or sublicense of the relevant User Content Licenses.
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In the event of a transfer of the User Content Licenses and operations of LTH Forum, we (the current owners of LTH Forum) shall make our best effort to assure that the new ownership will respect these Terms of Service.
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Small portions of User Content, roughly equal to a sentence, may be used by LTH Forum without attribution. Any other use of User Content, including photos, excerpts, or quotes from posts shall include attribution to the user or the user’s Account Name, unless the user waives their right to attribution.
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Users shall have the ability to edit their User Content, but such ability may be revoked by the Moderators for any user who repeatedly generates disruptive or inappropriate Content, or edits User Content in a manner that destroys the continuity of discussion threads on LTH Forum. The decision to revoke any user’s right to edit his or her User Content shall be made by the Moderators in their sole discretion.
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In the normal operation of the LTH Forum Sites, Moderators will only edit User Content in order to add or update the contact information for an establishment (address, hours of operation, etc.). In the event that User Content is deemed to have violated the Posting Guidelines or otherwise is unacceptable, it will be removed and the Moderators will attempt to contact the user to request that the Content be edited. If the user does not respond or will not agree to make changes deemed necessary by the Moderators to make the Content acceptable, the Content will not be restored unless it is deemed by the Moderators that there is a compelling reason to keep the Content. In such a case, the Moderators may make the necessary edits. For clarity, it is the intent of LTH Forum that such edits shall be very rare and occur only in extraordinary circumstances. Should Moderators edit User Content in any way, there will be a note included in the edited Content indicating that a change was made by the Moderators. Moderators always have the right to remove any Content that violates the Terms of Service or the Posting Guidelines or is otherwise inappropriate in their judgment.
You acknowledge that your participation in the Service, including your creation or uploading of Content in the Service, does not make you an LTH Forum employee and that you do not expect to be, and will not be, compensated by LTH Forum for such activities, and you will make no claim inconsistent with these acknowledgements. In addition, no agency, partnership, joint venture, franchise relationship is intended or created by this Agreement.
If you delete User Content from the LTH Forum Sites, our general license to that User Content will end after a reasonable period of time required for the deletion to take full effect. The User Content may still exist in our backup copies, however, which are not publicly available. If we made use of your User Content before you deleted it, we will continue to have the right to continue those pre-existing uses, even after you delete the User Content. Terminating your account on the LTH Forum Sites will not automatically delete your User Content. There may be Some User Content that may not be freely deleted by users of the Service . If you wish to delete User Content that you are unable to delete, please contact the Moderators with specific information as to the content and your reasons for requesting deletion, and LTH Forum will use commercially reasonable efforts to honor your request. We may retain an archived copy of any such User Content as required by law or for legitimate business purposes.
Intellectual property infringement on the Service is a violation of these Terms of Service, and you agree not to engage in such infringement. LTH Forum reserves the right to disable, delete, or terminate, without notice, any user’s Content or access to the Service if that user is determined by LTH Forum to engage in intellectual property infringement.
If you believe that Content on the Services infringes your copyright, or have some other legal complaint, please contact us by email at copyright@lthforum.com. It is our policy to respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and to terminate the accounts of repeat infringers in appropriate circumstances. If you believe in good faith that materials hosted by the LTH Forum Sites infringe your copyright, you (or your agent) may send LTH Forum a notice via email to copyright@lthforum.com requesting that the material be removed or access to it blocked. Such notice must include the following information: (a) a physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed; (b) identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed (or if multiple copyrighted works located on the LTH Forum Sites are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works); (c) identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or the subject of infringing activity, and information reasonably sufficient to allow LTH Forum to locate the material on the LTH Forum Sites; (d) the name, address, telephone number and email address (if available) of the complaining party; (e) a statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; and (f) a statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
LTH Forum owns Intellectual Property Rights in and to the Websites and Content, except all User Content, and including but not limited to our trademarks, service marks, trade names, logos, domain names, taglines, and trade dress (collectively, the “LTH Forum Marks”). You
understand that such Intellectual Property Rights are apart from any rights you may have in Content you upload, publish, or submit to the Service, as discussed above. You acknowledge and agree that LTH Forum owns all right, title, and interest in and to the Service, including all Intellectual Property Rights therein, other than with respect to User Content.Except as expressly granted in this Agreement, all rights, title, and interest in and to the Service, except all User Content, and in and to the LTH Forum Marks are reserved by LTH Forum. Copyright, trademark and other laws of the United States and foreign countries protect the Service and the LTH Forum Marks. Subject to these Terms of Service, you may access and use the Services only for your own personal, non-commercial use, and you may not otherwise copy, reproduce, distribute, publish, display, perform, or create derivative works of the Services, Content, or LTH Forum Marks without our permission.
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CONDUCT BY USERS
You agree to read and comply with the Posting Guidelines posted on the applicable areas of the Websites. You further agree not to post or transmit prohibited Content, including any Content that is illegal, harassing or violates any person’s rights.
Such prohibited Content includes, but is not limited to the following:
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Posting, displaying, or transmitting Content that violates any law, or the rights of any third party including without limitation Intellectual Property Rights;
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Threatening, stalking, abusing, or harassing other persons;
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Posting, displaying, or transmitting Content that is defamatory, libelous, disparaging, false, inaccurate, misleading, or invades another person’s privacy;
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Posting, displaying, or transmitting Content that is profane, vulgar, obscene, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise offensive or objectionable;
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Impersonating any person or entity without their consent, or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation or the origin of materials you
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Transmitting files that contain viruses, spyware, adware, or other harmful code; or
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Posting, displaying, or transmitting unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, or promotional materials in the nature of “spam,” “junk mail,” or any other form of solicitation that LTH Forum considers to be of such nature.
You agree to respect both the integrity of the Service and the privacy of other users. You agree to not:
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Post or transmit viruses, Trojan horses, worms, spyware, adware, or other computer programming routines or code that may harm the Service or interests or rights of other users, or that may harvest or collect any data or personal information about other users without their consent;
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Transmit, collect, or access personally identifiable information about other users without the consent of those users and LTH Forum;
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Engage in malicious or disruptive conduct that impedes or interferes with other users’ normal use of the Service;
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Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any other user’s Account, password, or Content; or
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Defeat any access controls or access any portion of the Services that we have not authorized you to access (including password-protected areas).
Any violation by you of the terms of this Section may result in immediate suspension or termination of your Account.
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TERMINATION AND SUSPENSION OF ACCOUNTS
You may terminate this Agreement by closing your Account at any time for any reason. If you would like to close your Account, contact LTH Forum or the Service administrators.
LTH Forum may suspend or terminate your Account without prior notice if you violate this Agreement, along with any or all other Accounts held by you or otherwise related to you as determined by LTH Forum, and your violation of this Agreement shall be deemed to apply to all such Accounts.
LTH Forum may suspend or terminate your Account if we determine in our sole discretion that such action is necessary or advisable to comply with legal requirements or protect the rights or interests of LTH Forum, the LTH Forum community, or any third party.
Upon termination of your Accounts, this Agreement will be automatically terminated and you may not re-subscribe to the LTH Forum Sites, or return to the LTH Forum Sites through other or future Accounts you or others may set up.
All User Content you contributed while using the Services will continue to be governed by Section 5 of this Agreement. The following terms will survive any termination of this Agreement: Sections 6, 9, 10, 11. and 12
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DISCLAIMERS, RELEASES, LIABILITY LIMITS, AND INDEMNIFICATION
You understand that LTH Forum is a service provider that enables its users to interact online and display and communicate information and Content chosen by those users, and that users likewise can alter the service environment on a real-time basis. LTH Forum does not control or endorse the Content of communications between users or users’ interactions with each other or the Service.
You acknowledge that you will be exposed to various aspects of the Service involving the conduct and Content of users, and that LTH Forum does not control and is not responsible or liable for the quality, safety, legality, truthfulness, or accuracy of any such user conduct or User Content. You acknowledge that LTH Forum does not guarantee the accuracy of information submitted by any user of the Service, nor any identity information about any user. Your interactions with other users and your use of User Content are entirely at your own risk.
You agree not to hold LTH Forum liable for the Content, actions, or inactions of other users. As a condition of access to the Service, you release LTH Forum (and its officers, directors, shareholders, agents, subsidiaries, and employees) from claims, demands, losses, liabilities, and damages (actual and consequential) of every kind and nature, known and unknown, arising out of or in any way connected with any dispute you have or claim to have with one or more users, including whether or not LTH Forum becomes involved in any resolution or attempted resolution of the dispute.
You agree that LTH Forum has and may exercise the right in its sole discretion to screen, refuse, or delete any Content from the Service or disable any user’s access to the Service without notice or liability to you or any other party, including upon our belief that such user’s conduct, Content, or use of the Service is potentially illegal, threatening, or otherwise harmful to any user or other person or in violation of our Terms of Service, Posting Guidelines, or other policies.
The Service may contain links to or otherwise allow connections to third-party websites, servers, and online services or environments that are not owned or controlled by LTH Forum. We do not necessarily endorse or evaluate third party Content and websites, and we do not assume responsibility for third parties’ actions or omissions. You agree that LTH Forum is not responsible or liable for the Content, policies, or practices of any third-party websites, servers, or online services or environments. Please consult any applicable terms of use and privacy policies provided by the third party for such websites, servers, or online services or environments.
You agree that in the event of data loss, we will not be liable for any purported damage or harm arising therefrom. LTH Forum owns the bits and bytes of electronic data stored on its Websites and/or servers, and accordingly will not be liable for any deletion, corruption or data loss that occurs in connection with the Service. LTH Forum will solely determine any disposition of the electronic data and will have no obligation to reproduce, process, transfer, extract, or recreate any data from its Websites and/or servers. Our ownership of these bits and bytes of electronic data stored on our Websites and/or servers does not limit or impair any Intellectual Property Rights you may have in your User Content as set forth above.
LTH FORUM PROVIDES THE SERVICE, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE WEBSITES, THE CONTENT, AND YOUR ACCOUNT, STRICTLY ON AN “AS IS” BASIS AND DOES NOT WARRANT: (1) THAT THE SERVICES, ANY OF THE SERVICES’ FUNCTIONS OR ANY CONTENT OR SOFTWARE CONTAINED THEREIN WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; (2) THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED; (3) THAT THE SERVICES OR THE SERVERS HOSTING THEM ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL CODE; OR (4) THAT THE SERVICES OR INFORMATION AVAILABLE THROUGH THE SERVICES WILL CONTINUE TO BE AVAILABLE. LTH FORUM HEREBY EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OR CONDITIONS OF ANY KIND, WRITTEN OR ORAL, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION ANY IMPLIED WARRANTY OF TITLE, NONINFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.
NO VALUE, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, IS GUARANTEED OR WARRANTED WITH RESPECT TO ANY CONTENT. NOTWITHSTANDING ANY INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS YOU MAY HAVE IN YOUR CONTENT OR ANY EXPENDITURE ON YOUR PART, LTH FORUM AND YOU EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ANY COMPENSABLE VALUE RELATING TO OR ATTRIBUTABLE TO ANY DATA RELATING TO YOUR ACCOUNT. YOU ASSUME ALL RISK OF LOSS FROM USING THE SERVICE ON THIS BASIS.
NEITHER LTH FORUM NOR ANY OF ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, SHAREHOLDERS, SUBSIDIARIES, AGENTS OR LICENSORS SHALL BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGES OF ANY KIND (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, FOR ANY SPECIAL, DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, EXEMPLARY, ECONOMIC, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR COMPARABLE EQUITABLE REMEDY) ARISING (WHETHER IN CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE) OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICE (INCLUDING ITS MODIFICATION OR TERMINATION), THE LTH FORUM SOFTWARE, THE WEBSITES, YOUR ACCOUNT (INCLUDING ITS TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION), OR THIS AGREEMENT, WHETHER OR NOT SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGES WERE FORESEEABLE, OR IF LTH FORUM HAS BEEN ADVISED THAT ANY SUCH LOSS OR DAMAGES MIGHT OR COULD OCCUR.
IN NO EVENT WILL LTH FORUM’S CUMULATIVE LIABILITY TO YOU EXCEED THE AMOUNT PAID BY YOU TO LTH FORUM IN THE THREE MONTHS PRECEEDING YOUR CLAIM.
YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR RISK. IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED WITH THE SERVICES OR ANY OF THE CONTENT, YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY IS TO DISCONTINUE ACCESSING AND USING THE SERVICES.
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU MAY BE WAIVING RIGHTS WITH RESPECT TO CLAIMS THAT ARE UNKNOWN OR ARE UNSUSPECTED. ACCORDINGLY, YOU AGREE TO WAIVE THE BENEFIT OF ANY LAW, THAT OTHERWISE MIGHT LIMIT YOUR WAIVER OF SUCH CLAIMS.
SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
At LTH Forum’s request, you agree to defend, indemnify and hold harmless LTH Forum, its officers, directors, shareholders, employees, parent, subsidiaries, and agents from all damages, liabilities, claims and expenses, including without limitation attorneys’ fees and costs, out of or in connection with: (i) any breach or alleged breach by you of this Agreement, including without limitation your representations and warranties relating to your User Content; or (ii) your acts, omissions, or use of the Service, including without limitation your negligent, willful, or illegal conduct. We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, and in such case, you agree to cooperate with our defense of such claim. You may not settle any claim covered by this Section without LTH Forum’s prior written approval.
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Governing Law, Venue, and Jurisdiction
These Terms and all claims arising from or related to your use of the Services will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Illinois.
With respect to any disputes or claims not subject to arbitration (as set forth below), you agree to exclusive jurisdiction in the state and federal courts in Chicago, Illinois. Notwithstanding any other provision of these Terms, we may seek injunctive or other equitable relief from any court of competent jurisdiction.
Notwithstanding any statute or law to the contrary, you will be deemed to waive any claim or cause of action related to your use of the Services or these Terms of Service if you do not initiate suit within one year after such claim or cause of action accrued.
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Arbitration
We may elect to resolve any controversy or claim arising out of or relating to the Service or these Terms of Service by binding arbitration in accordance with the commercial arbitration rules of the American Arbitration Association. Unless we establish a different location, arbitration hearings will be held in Chicago, Illinois. The arbitrator’s award will be binding and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.
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MISCELLANEOUS
Except as noted in this Agreement, LTH Forum may assign this Agreement, in whole or in part, and all related rights, licenses, benefits and obligations, without restriction, including the right to sublicense any rights and licenses under this Agreement.
We may be required by state or federal law to notify you of certain events. You hereby acknowledge and agree that such notices will be effective upon our posting them on the LTH Forum Sites or delivering them to you via email. You may update your email address by visiting the account management tools provided on the LTH Forum Sites. If you do not provide us with accurate, current information, we will not be responsible for any failure to notify you. All notices given by you to LTH Forum or required under this Agreement shall be sent to LTH Forum, W. Howard St.
Niles, IL 60714.Our failure to exercise or enforce any right or provision in these Terms will not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
This Agreement, including all additional terms, condition, and policies incorporated herein by reference, sets forth the entire understanding and agreement between you and LTH Forum with respect to the subject matter hereof and supersedes any prior or contemporaneous agreements or understandings. This Agreement may not be modified except as provided in Section 4 above. If any part of this Agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, that provision will be deemed removed and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining provisions.