COST maintains this Web site (the "Site") for your personal information, education and communication.  Please read these Terms & Conditions carefully before accessing or using the Site.  By accessing and using this Site, you accept the terms and conditions set forth below ("Terms & Conditions") without limitation or qualification, and acknowledge that you have read, understood and agreed to be bound by the Terms & Conditions, just as if you had signed them.

The Terms and Conditions may be modified from time to time, and such modifications shall be deemed effective immediately upon posting on the Site.  You should read the Terms and Conditions whenever you visit the Site so that you are aware of any changes.  Your continued use of the Site after a modification signifies your assent and agreement to these Terms & Conditions, as amended.  If you are not willing to be bound by these Terms & Conditions, do not access the Site.

  1. Use of Site:  You may freely browse the Site and/or download material form the Site.  All copyright and other proprietary notices contained in downloaded materials must be preserved and retained.  All contents of the Site are copyrighted work of COST unless otherwise noted, and may not be used without the express written permission of COST except as expressly provided herein.
  2. Liability:  Your use of the Site is at your own risk.  In no event shall COST or any other party involved in creating, producing or delivering the Site or any of its contents be liable for any damages (including, without limitation, direct, incidental, consequential, indirect or punitive damages, or damages resulting from lost profits, lost data or business interruption) arising out of your access to, use of or inability to access or use, the Site.  This includes damages to or viruses that may infect your computer equipment.  COST does not guarantee or warrant that files available for download from this Site will be free of infection from viruses, works, Trojan horses or other code that manifests contaminating or destructive properties.  Without limiting the foregoing, everything on the Site is provided to you "AS IS" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement.  Please note that some of the above exclusions may not apply to you as some jurisdictions may not allow the exclusion of implied warranties.  Please check your local laws for any restrictions or limitations regarding the exclusion of implied warranties.
  3. Online Communications:  Although COST may, from time to time, monitor or review the communications, postings, bulletin board discussions and the like on the Site, COST is under no obligation to do so and assumes no responsibility or liability arising from the content of the Site.  COST is not responsible for any erroneous, defamatory, pornographic or obscene content or any omission, danger or inaccuracy contained in any information within the Site.  COST assumes no responsibility for checking information posted in communications, postings, bulletin boards or the link on the Site for accuracy.
  4. Operating Policy:  You are prohibited from posting or transmitting any unlawful, threatening, libelous, defamatory, obscene, inflammatory, pornographic or profane material or any material that could constitute or encourage conduct that would be considered a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate the law.  COST will fully cooperate with any law enforcement authorities or court order requesting or directing COST to disclose the identity of anyone posting any such information or materials.
  5. Review of Communications:  COST reserves the right, but is not obligated, to review communications and materials posted or uploaded to the Site, and to block or remove communications or materials that it determines to be (a) abusive, defamatory, or obscene, (b) fraudulent, deceptive, or misleading, (c) in violation of a copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right of another, or (d) offensive, objectionable or otherwise unacceptable to COST at its sole discretion.
  6. Editorial Policy:  COST reserves the right to alter or delete material from the Site at any time.
  7. Limitations on Access:  Except as otherwise expressly permitted by COST, any access or attempt to access other areas of the COST computer system or other information contained on the system for any purpose is strictly prohibited.  You agree that you will not use any robot, spider, other automatic or manual process or device to "screen scrape," monitor, "mine," or copy Web pages on the Site of the content contained therein without COST's express written permission.  You will not spam any other user of the Site for any reason.  You agree that you will not use any devices, software or routine that could interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Site.  You agree that you will not take any action that imposes an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on COST's infrastructure.  You may not use framing techniques to enclose any trademark (including any logo), trade name or other proprietary matter, including images, frames, content., or layout/design, whether of COST or a third party, found on any page of the Site, without COST's express written consent.
  8. Trademarks:  The trademarks, logos and service marks (collectively, the "Trademarks") displayed on the Site are registered and unregistered trademarks of COST and others.  In addition, all page headers, custom graphics, button icons and scripts are service marks, trademarks and/or trade dress of COST and may not be copied in whole or in part without the prior written permission of COST.  You acknowledge that the Trademarks used and displayed on this Site are and shall remain the sole property of COST or other Trademark owner.  Nothing contained in this Site should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right in and to the Trademarks on the Site and in its contents, except as provided in these Terms and Conditions, is strictly prohibited.  COST will aggressively enforce its intellectual property rights in the Site and its contents to the fullest extent of the law, including by seeking criminal sanctions.
  9. Copyrights:  COST grants you the privilege of accessing, viewing, downloading and reproducing the text and other content (the "COST Content") on the Site solely for your personal and other non-commercial use.  COST may revoke suck privilege at any time with or without notice for any reason or no reason.  COST Content, software and other works on the Site and any reproductions of same (collectively, "Works") are the copyrighted works of COST and/or its suppliers, and are protected under U.S. and worldwide copyright laws and treaty provisions.  Other than the limited grant set forth above of the privilege to access, view, download and reproduce for non-commercial purposes the COST Content, COST grants you no other privileges or rights in or to any of the Works.  You acknowledge that any other use of the Works, including without limitation, reproduction, modification, distribution, transmission, republication or display without the prior written permission of COST will cause irreparable injury for which monetary damages would not be sufficient and you consent to entry of immediate and permanent injunctive relief with respect to such unauthorized use.
  10. Privacy Policy:  COST respects the privacy of its users and has created a Privacy Policy that explains users' rights and responsibilities with respect to personal information disclosed on the Site.
  11. Confidentiality:  Subject to the terms and conditions set forth in our Privacy Policy, any communications or material that you transmit to, or post on, the Site by e-mail or otherwise, including but not limited to any data, questions, comments, suggestions, etc. is, and will be treated as, non-confidential and nonproprietary information.  COST may use such communication or material for any purpose whatsoever, including, but not limited to, reproduction, disclosure, transmission, publication, broadcast and further posting.
  12. No Endorsement:  Certain links on the Site lead to resources located on servers that are not maintained by COST or under its control.  We provide such links merely for our users' convenience.  COST is not responsible for the content of any such referenced Web sites or for the availability of access to such Web sites.  Inclusion on the Site of any link to another Web site, or any reference to any product or service by trade name, trademark, manufacturer, or otherwise, does not constitute or imply an endorsement or recommendation by COST.  Access to other sites linked to this Site is at your own risk, and we disclaim all liability with regard to your access to suck linked sites.
  13. Timeliness of Information:  COST uses reasonable efforts to include accurate and up to date information in the Site.  However, since information changes quickly, COST is unable to make any warranties or representations as to its accuracy.  COST ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY FOR THE ACCURACY, VALIDITY, TIMELINESS, USEFULNESS OR COMPLETENESS OF ANY INFORMATION ON THE SITE.
  14. Indemnification:  You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless COST, its officers, directors, employees, agents, suppliers and third party partners from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, resulting from any violation by you of these Terms & Conditions, or any activity related to your member account (including negligent or wrongful conduct) by you or any other person accessing the Site using your account.
  15. Void Where Prohibited:  Although the information on this Site is accessible worldwide, not all products or services discussed in this Site are available to all persons or in all geographic locations or jurisdictions.  COST reserves the right to limit provision of our products or services to any person, geographic region or jurisdiction and/or to limit the quantities of any products or services we provide.  Any offer for any product or service made in the materials on this Site is void where prohibited.
  16. Miscellaneous:  These Terms & Conditions, together with our Privacy Policy and any other agreement that may be entered into by you and COST in connection with a specific product or service of COST, constitute the entire agreement between you and COST and supersede any and all other agreements, representations and understandings, whether written or oral.  These Terms & Conditions may be modified or amended by you without the prior written consent of COST.  If any clause or provision set forth in these Terms & Conditions is determined to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable under present or future law, then the clause or provision so determined to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable shall be severable without affecting the enforceability of all remaining clauses or provisions.  These Terms & Conditions and your use of the Site and any products and services provided through or in connection with the Site shall be governed by the laws of the United States of America and the District of Columbia without regard to its conflicts of laws principles.  The headings used in these Terms & Conditions are for convenience only and such headings are not to be used in determining the meaning or interpretation of these Terms & Conditions.