Terms of Use

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS OF USE ("AGREEMENT" OR "TERMS OF USE") CAREFULLY BEFORE USING THE SERVICES OFFERED BY THE INSTITUTE OF ELECTRICAL AND ELECTRONICS ENGINEERS, INCORPORATED "IEEE"). THIS AGREEMENT SETS FORTH THE LEGALLY BINDING TERMS AND CONDITIONS FOR YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE AT HTTP://STANDARDSCOLLECTION.IEEE.ORG (THE "SITE") (OR WHEN MADE AVAILABLE IN CONNECTION WITH ADDITIONAL IEEE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES THE "SERVICE"). BY USING THE SERVICE IN ANY MANNER, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO VISITING OR BROWSING THE SITE, YOU AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THIS AGREEMENT. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO ALL THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT, YOU SHOULD NOT USE THE SERVICE. THIS AGREEMENT APPLIES TO ALL USERS OF THE SITE OR SERVICE.

  1. Acceptance of Terms. The Service is offered subject to acceptance without modification of all of the terms and conditions contained herein (the "Terms of Use"), which includes the IEEE Privacy Policy as well as the IEEE Policies, IEEE Code of Ethics, IEEE Code of Conduct, IEEE standards development policies and procedures, and all application IEEE policies and procedures. The Service is available only to individuals who are at least 18 years old. If you are under 18, you may not use or attempt to register for the Service.

  2. You represent and warrant that you are of legal age to form a binding contract, that all registration information you submit is accurate and truthful and that you will maintain the accuracy and truthfulness of such information. IEEE may, in its sole discretion, refuse to offer the Service to any person or entity and change its eligibility criteria at any time.

  3. Modification of Terms of Use. IEEE reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to modify or replace any of the Terms of Use, or change, suspend, or discontinue the Service (including without limitation, the availability of any feature, database, or content) at any time. You are responsible for reviewing and becoming familiar with any such modifications. Your continued use of the Service following the posting of any changes to the Terms of Use constitutes acceptance of those changes. IEEE may also impose limits on certain features and services or restrict your access to parts or all of the Service without notice or liability.

  4. Rules and Conduct.

    1. As a condition of use, you promise not to use the Service for any purpose that is prohibited by the Terms of Use. The Service is provided only for your own non- commercial use. You are responsible for all of your activity in connection with the Service. For purposes of the Terms of Use, the term "Content" includes, without limitation, any content, articles, data, text, photographs, images, illustrations, or other information, software, scripts, graphics, and interactive features generated, provided, or otherwise made accessible by IEEE, its licensors or other third parties on or through the Service.

    2. You shall not (and shall not permit any third party to) either (a) take any action or (b) upload, download, post, submit or otherwise distribute or facilitate distribution of any Content on or through the Service that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity or other right of any other person or entity or violates any law or contractual duty; you know is false, misleading, untruthful or inaccurate; is unlawful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent, invasive of another's privacy, tortious, obscene, offensive, or profane; constitutes unauthorized or unsolicited advertising, junk or bulk e-mail ("spamming"); involves commercial activities and/or sales; operates as a contest, sweepstake, barter, advertising, or pyramid scheme; contains software viruses or any other computer codes, files, or programs that are designed or intended to disrupt, damage, limit or interfere with the proper function of any software, hardware, or telecommunications equipment or to damage or obtain unauthorized access to any system, data, password or other information of IEEE or any third party; or impersonates any person or entity, including any volunteer, member, employee or representative of IEEE.

    3. You shall not:

      1. take any action that imposes or may impose (as determined by IEEE in its sole discretion) an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on IEEE's (or its third party providers') infrastructure;

      2. interfere or attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Service or any activities conducted on the Service;

      3. bypass any measures IEEE may use to prevent or restrict access to the Service (or other accounts, computer systems or networks connected to the Service);

      4. run any form of auto-responder or "spam" on the Service; or

      5. disassemble, decompile, reverse engineer, or creating a derivative work based on the Site or the Service.

    4. Should a User be found to be in violation of the Terms of Use, IEEE, at its sole discretion may take any of the following action(s) as it deems necessary:

      1. Termination of the User's account;

      2. Suspension of the User's account;

      3. Termination or suspension of access to certain portions of the Site or Service;

      4. Removal of Content;

      5. Issuance of a notification of violation;

      6. Proceedings before the IEEE Ethics and Member Conduct Committee;

      7. Disclosure of Authorized User's identity to law enforcement or third parties in connection with legal action;

      8. Legal action; and/or

      9. Any other action available to protect IEEE, its members, volunteers, employees, agents, subsidiary organizations, etc.

  5. The Site and Service are protected by copyright pursuant to domestic and international laws and conventions. You shall abide by all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations. IEEE does not guarantee that any Content or User Submissions (as defined below) will be made available or will be continuously available on or through the Service. IEEE has no obligation to monitor the Site, Service, or Content. However, IEEE reserves the right to (i) remove, edit or modify any Content in its sole discretion, including without limitation any User Submissions, from the Service at any time, without notice to you and for any reason (including, but not limited to, upon receipt of claims or allegations from third parties or authorities relating to such Content or if IEEE is concerned that you may have violated the Terms of Use), or for no reason at all and (ii) to remove or block any User or User Submissions from the Service.

  6. Registration. You may browse the Site without registering, but as a condition to using certain aspects of the Service, you may be required to register with IEEE and select a password and user name ("User ID"). You shall provide IEEE with accurate, complete, and updated registration information. Failure to do so shall constitute a breach of the Terms of Use, which may result in immediate termination of your account. You shall not (i) select or use as a User ID a name of another person with the intent to impersonate that person; (ii) use as a User ID a name subject to any rights of a person other than you without appropriate authorization; or (iii) use as a User ID a name that is otherwise offensive, vulgar or obscene. IEEE reserves the right to refuse registration of, or cancel a User ID in its sole discretion. You are solely responsible for activity that occurs on your account and shall be responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of your password. You may not use another user's account. You will immediately notify IEEE in writing of any unauthorized use of your account, or other account related security breach of which you are or become aware.

  7. Third Party Sites. IEEE may make the Service available on or through other websites or resources on the Internet, and other websites or resources may contain links to the Site. When you access third party websites, you do so at your own risk. These other websites may not be under IEEE's control, and you acknowledge that IEEE is not responsible or liable for the content, functions, accuracy, legality, appropriateness or any other aspect of such websites or resources. The inclusion of any such link does not imply endorsement by IEEE or any association with its operators. You further acknowledge and agree that IEEE shall not be responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any content, goods or services available on or through any such website or resource.

  8. Content and Licence. You agree that the Service contains Content specifically provided by IEEE, its licensors, and other third parties, and that such Content is protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents, trade secrets or other proprietary rights and laws. You shall abide by and maintain all notices, information, and restrictions contained in any Content accessed through the Service.

  9. You shall not sell, license, rent, or otherwise use or exploit any Content for commercial use or in any way.

  10. User Submissions. The Service provides you with the ability to add, create, upload, submit, distribute or post ("Submit," "Submitting" or "Submission") content, articles, data, text, photographs, images, illustrations, or other information on or to the Site or Service (collectively, the "User Submissions"). By way of example, and not as a limitation, User Submissions may be Submitted when you request the Service to (i) identify, resolve, copy, or import content stored on your or a third party's computer system, (ii) synchronize content such that the Service stores or "mirrors" content stored on your or a third party's computer system by storing such content on equipment owned or operated by IEEE, (iii) save or store your comments, edits or annotations to Content accessible through the Service, or (iv) share with another person any content stored on your or a third party's computer system.

  11. You represent and warrant that the use or other exploitation of any User Submissions by you or IEEE as contemplated by this Agreement will not infringe or violate the rights of any third party, including without limitation any privacy rights, publicity rights, copyrights, contract rights, or any other intellectual property or proprietary rights. Except in the case of User Submissions containing content exclusively in the public domain, you represent and warrant, and can demonstrate to IEEE's full satisfaction upon request that (i) you own or otherwise control any and all rights or licenses required in order to Submit all content in your User Submissions and to permit IEEE to use such content as contemplated by these Terms of Use, and (ii) you have full authority to act on behalf of any and all owners of any right, title or interest in and to any content in your User Submissions to use such content as contemplated by these Terms of Use.

  12. You understand that all information publicly posted or privately transmitted through the Site or Service is the sole responsibility of the person from which such content was Submitted. IEEE will not be liable for any errors or omissions in any content, and may delete, modify, or reformat any materials, content or information Submitted by you. IEEE does not endorse and has no control over any content Submitted to the Service. IEEE cannot guarantee the authenticity of any User Submission. You acknowledge that all Content accessed by you in connection with your use of the Service is at your own risk and you will be solely responsible for any damage or loss to any party resulting from your access to or your inability to access such Content.

  13. Termination. IEEE may terminate your access to all or any part of the Service at any time, with or without cause, with or without notice, effective immediately, which may result in the forfeiture and destruction of all information associated with your account, including User Submissions. If you wish to terminate your account, you may do so by following instructions available on the Site. Any fees paid hereunder are non-refundable. All provisions of the Terms of Use which by their nature should survive termination shall survive termination, including, without limitation, ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnity and limitations of liability.

  14. You release IEEE from all liability for you having acquired or not acquired Content through the Service. The Service may contain, or direct you to websites containing, information that some people may find offensive or inappropriate. IEEE makes no representations concerning any Content contained in or accessed through the Service, and IEEE will not be responsible or liable for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality or decency of material contained in or accessed through the Site or the Service.

  15. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" AND IS WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND ANY WARRANTIES IMPLIED BY ANY COURSE OF PERFORMANCE OR USAGE OF TRADE, ALL OF WHICH ARE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMED. IEEE, AND ITS DIRECTORS, VOLUNTEERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, PARTNERS, LICENSORS, AND CONTENT PROVIDERS DO NOT WARRANT THAT: (A) THE SERVICE WILL BE SECURE OR AVAILABLE UNINTERRUPTED AT ANY PARTICULAR TIME OR LOCATION; (B) ANY DEFECTS OR ERRORS WILL BE CORRECTED; (C) ANY CONTENT OR SOFTWARE AVAILABLE AT OR THROUGH THE SERVICE IS FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS; OR (D) THE RESULTS OF USING THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS. YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE IS SOLELY AT YOUR OWN RISK.

  16. Indemnification. You shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless IEEE and, its affiliates, volunteers, members, employees, contractors, directors, suppliers, licensors, and representatives from all liabilities, claims, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys' fees, that arise from or relate to your use or misuse of, or access to, the Site, Service, or Content, violation of the Terms of Use, or infringement by you, or any third party using your account, of any intellectual property or other right of any person or entity. IEEE reserves the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will assist and cooperate with IEEE in asserting any available defenses.

  17. Limitation of Liability. IN NO EVENT SHALL IEEE, ITS SUPPLIERS, LICENSORS, CONTENT PROVIDERS, OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, VOLUNTEERS, MEMBERS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICE OR THE SUBJECT MATTER OF THIS AGREEMENT UNDER CONTRACT, TORT, STRICT LIABILITY, NEGLIGENCE, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL OR EQUITABLE THEORY FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHATSOEVER; OR FOR ANY BUGS, VIRUSES, TROJAN HORSES, OR THE LIKE (REGARDLESS OF THE SOURCE OF ORIGINATION).

  18. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the state of New York. You understand and agree that the state of New York shall have exclusive jurisdiction in resolving all disputes.

  19. Integration and Severability. The Terms of Use are the entire agreement between you and IEEE with respect to the Site and use of the Service, and supersede all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals (whether oral, written or electronic) between you and IEEE with respect to the same. If any provision of the Terms of Use is found to be unenforceable or invalid, that provision will be limited or eliminated to the minimum extent necessary so that the Terms of Use will otherwise remain in full force and effect and enforceable. The failure of either party to exercise in any respect any right provided for herein shall not be deemed a waiver of any further rights hereunder.

  20. Miscellaneous. IEEE shall not be liable for any failure to perform its obligations hereunder where such failure results from any cause beyond IEEE's reasonable control, including, without limitation, mechanical, electronic or communications failure or degradation (including "line-noise" interference). The Terms of Use are personal to you, and are not assignable, transferable or sub licensable by you except with IEEE's prior written consent. IEEE may assign, transfer or delegate any of its rights and obligations hereunder without consent. No agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship is created as a result of the Terms of Use and neither party has any authority of any kind to bind the other in any respect.

  21. Copyright.

    1. IEEE respects the rights of copyright holders. All Users are required to abide by all terms and conditions that may apply to any, and all, material that is used and shared through the Service.

    2. All Content uploaded by a User is stored at the request of the User.

    3. All submissions are screened for plagiarism and for offensive content (i.e., content that is disrespectful, abusive, or derogatory). Any content found to be plagiarized or offensive will be rejected, as will nonscientific content or content that is not technical in nature (e.g., news, advertisements, and calls for papers).

    4. Except for Content, Authorized User understands and agrees that User shall have no intellectual property ownership associated with the Service. The Service is the exclusive intellectual property of IEEE and its licensors.

    5. IEEE has adopted and implemented a policy that responds to possible violations of intellectual property rights. If you believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, please provide IEEE's Copyright Agent the following information required by the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. 512:

      1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed;

      2. Identification of the copyright work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site;

      3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material;

      4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the complaining party;

      5. 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

      6. 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.

For notice of claims of copyright infringement on or regarding these sites, IEEE's Copyright Agent can be reached by email at infringement@ieee.org.