Welcome to The Global Benchmarking Web site ("Our Site"). These Terms of Use ("Agreement") govern your use of Our Site. Please read this Agreement carefully, because by visiting or using Our Site, you agree to be legally bound by and comply with its terms. If you do not agree to comply with the Agreement, you are not authorized to use Our Site.

Global Benchmarking Group ("we" or "us") amended this Agreement as of April 10, 2003. We may modify it again in the future by posting the amended Agreement on Our Site, so please check this page regularly. Your continued use of Our Site after we have posted an amended Agreement indicates that you agree to the amended terms.

If you fail to follow any rules on Our Site, whether listed in this Agreement or at other areas on Our Site, we may terminate your access, without notice, to bulletin boards and other "members only" areas of Our Site and may pursue other remedies available to us.

Privacy Policy

Please review our privacy policy, which is a part of this Agreement and describes how we handle any personally identifying information about our users.

Copyright

All material on Our Site is protected by The Netherlands and international copyright law. You must abide by all copyright notices and restrictions contained in Our Site.

You may not reproduce, distribute (in any form including over any local area or other network or service), display, perform, create derivative works of, sell, license, extract for use in a database, or otherwise use any materials (including computer programs and other code) on Our Site ("Site Material"), except that you may download Site Material in the form of one machine readable copy that you will use only for personal, non commercial purposes and only if you do not alter Site Material or remove any trademark, copyright or other notice displayed on the Site Material. If you are a subscriber to any of the services offered on Our Site, you may be permitted to use Site Material, according to the terms of your subscription agreement.

If you believe any Site Material infringes your copyright, you should notify us (for more information, see our section on the procedure for notifying us of copyright infringement).

Trademarks

GBG logo featured on Our Site is a trademark owned by Global Benchmarking Group Europe in Spain and other countries ("Our Trademark").

You may not use Our Trademark in connection with any product or service that does not belong to us nor in any manner that is likely to cause confusion among users about whether we are the source, sponsor, or endorser of the product or service, nor in any manner that disparages or discredits us.

Links, Frames and Metatags

You may link to the public pages of Our Site, as long as the link does not cast us in a false or misleading light. You may not link to the other pages of Our Site. You may not frame the content of Our Site. You may not use metatags or any other "hidden text" that incorporates Our Trademark or our name without our express written consent.

Links to Other Web Sites

Our Sites contain links to other Web sites that we think may be of interest to you. We have no control over these other sites or their content. Except for information, products or services clearly identified as being supplied by Global Benchmarking Group, we do not in any way review, operate, or control any material, information, products or services on other sites. Be sure to read the terms of use and privacy policies that govern your use of other sites. Because we are not responsible for the availability of these outside resources or their content, you should direct any concerns regarding any other sites to the administrator or web master of that site.

Bulletin Boards

Our Site may include bulletin boards (collectively "bulletin boards") that allow you to communicate with us and other users. We do not control the messages, information or files delivered to bulletin boards. Messages distributed through the bulletin boards on Our Site represent the views of our visitors and not those of Global Benchmarking Group.

You should be aware that messages you post to Our Site are not private or confidential. You grant us irrevocably the unrestricted right (with the right to sublicense the right) to use, reproduce, modify, translate, transmit, or distribute any message, file, data or other communication you post on our bulletin boards in any form, now known or later developed.

You agree not to:
upload, post, display, distribute or otherwise publish on the bulletin boards any material that is libelous, obscene, pornographic, harassing or abusive; infringes any copyright, trademark, or other proprietary right; violates any right of publicity or privacy; or is otherwise illegal, use Our Site to distribute chain letters, junk mail, "spamming" solicitations or other bulk communications of any kind, impersonate any other person or entity while using Our Site, upload any information, files, code or other materials that contain viruses or are able to disrupt or damage Our Site, software, hardware or equipment or collect or use information about other users for any purpose.

While we do not monitor all material posted on our bulletin boards, we have the right, but not the obligation, to remove any content that in our judgment does not comply with the rules on Our Site or is otherwise objectionable or inaccurate.

Disclaimers

Our site is available "as is" and "as available." we do not warrant that our site will be uninterrupted or error-free. There may be delays, omissions, interruptions and inaccuracies in materials available through our site. We do not make any representations or warranties about the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or reliability of any material or data or endorse any advice, opinion or statement displayed or distributed on our site or available through links on our site. We reserve the right to correct any errors or omissions in our site.

To the maximum extent permitted under law, we disclaim all express or implied warranties, including without limitation those of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose (even if the purpose or intended use has been disclosed) with respect to our site or any site materials, services or goods that are available, advertised or sold through our site.

Although we intend to take reasonable steps to prevent the introduction of viruses, worms, "trojan horses" or other destructive features to our site, we do not guarantee or warrant that our site or materials that may be downloaded from our site do not contain such destructive features. We are not liable for any damages or harm attributable to such features. You rely on our site and any materials available through them solely at your own risk.

Limitation of Liability

We and our officers, directors, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and licensors are not liable for (1) any direct, indirect, incidental, consequential, special, punitive, or exemplary damages (including lost revenues or profits, loss of business, or loss of data) arising out of or in connection with our site, site services, site materials, this agreement or your use of them, regardless of whether such liability is based in tort, contract or legal or equitable theory or (2) for any claim, loss or injury based on errors, omissions, interruptions or other inaccuracies in our site, including claim, loss or injury that results from your breach of any provision in this Agreement.

If the foregoing limitation is held to be unenforceable, our maximum liability will not exceed the amount you paid, if any, for use of Our Site during the period when your claim accrued. Some jurisdictions do not allow the limitation of liability for incidental or consequential damages, so the above limitations or exclusions may not apply to you.

Indemnification

You agree to indemnify us and our directors, officers, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and licensors against all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, we incur as a result of your violation of this Agreement, or, if you are a subscriber to any of the services on Our Site, your failure to fulfill any obligations relating to your account, whether incurred by you or any other person using your account. We have the right, but not the obligation, to take over the exclusive defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification. You agree to provide us with whatever cooperation we reasonably request.

Termination

We reserve the right to terminate this Agreement at any time without notice for any reason, including your violation of any of the Agreement provisions. If the Agreement is terminated, the following provisions will survive: Limitation of Liability, Disclaimer, Indemnification, Governing Law, and Forum Selection.

Governing Law

This Agreement and any claim or dispute relating to it will be governed by the laws of The Netherlands applicable to contracts made and performed there without regard to its conflicts of law principles.

Forum Selection

You agree to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the state and Supreme Court sitting in the Province of Noord Holland, and you waive any jurisdictional, venue or inconvenient forum objections to such court.

Severability

If any provision of this Agreement is determined to be unlawful, void or unenforceable, then that provision will be deemed severed from this Agreement and will not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Procedure for Notifying Global Benchmarking Group of Copyright Infringements

We intend that all material on Our Site respect the copyright rights of third party. However, we may inadvertently make a mistake, and we cannot monitor all material posted on Our Site. If you notify us that any material posted to Our Site infringes a copyright, that material will be removed according to the procedures prescribed by the Copyright Act and set forth below.

A notice of infringing material must be sent to Global Benchmarking Group office:

Av. Diagonal 237 Bajos, 08013 Barcelona, Spain

The Notice must be in writing and must include: the complainant's signature; information sufficient to locate the infringing material; information sufficient to contact the party providing notice (the "complaining party"); a statement of good faith belief of unauthorized use; and a statement under penalty of perjury that the information in the Notice is accurate.

Once we receive a satisfactory Notice, we will remove the material immediately. We will promptly take reasonable steps to inform the user who posted the allegedly infringing material (the "alleged infringer") of the Notice and subsequent removal. The alleged infringer may then provide us with counter-notice ("Counter-notice) that the initial infringement notice was erroneous. Such Counter-notice must be in writing and must include: a signature; identification of the removed material; identification of the location where the material appeared before removal; a statement of good faith belief that the material was removed in error; the alleged infringer's name, address, and telephone number; and a statement of consent to jurisdiction in court.

Upon receipt of a Counter-notice, we will notify the complaining party and restore the material within 10 to 14 business days of the Counter-notice, unless the complaining party informs us that an action for a restraining order has been commenced in a court.