TERMS OF USE

RISLA Public Information.

INTRODUCTION

This Terms of Use Agreement (the “Agreement”) is between you and Rhode Island Student Loan Authority (“RISLA”, “we,” or “us”). This Agreement governs your use of the RISLA website and other websites owned and/or maintained by RISLA that use this Agreement, including, but not limited to, the College Planning Center of Rhode Island (“CPCRI”) website, RIScholarships search website, RISLA’s online entrance and exit counseling website (the “Sites”) and any services offered on or through the Sites (the “Services”). Unless otherwise stated herein, the term “Services” shall also include the “Sites”.

We provide the Services to you subject to your compliance with all the terms, conditions, and notices contained or referenced herein as well as any other written agreement between us and you. In addition, when using the Services, you shall be subject to any posted rules applicable to any particular Services or materials that may contain terms and conditions in addition to those in this Agreement. 

Your access to and use of the Services are conditioned upon your acceptance of this Agreement. By accessing or using the Services you acknowledge that you have read and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this Agreement and you represent that you have the legal authority to accept the terms and conditions of this Agreement. If you do not agree to all of the terms and conditions in this Agreement and/or do not have the legal authority to agree to this Agreement, do not use the Services.

NO WARRANTIES

NOTWITHSTANDING ANY OTHER PROVISION OF THIS AGREEMENT TO THE CONTRARY, RISLA RESERVES THE RIGHT TO CHANGE, SUSPEND, REMOVE, OR DISABLE ACCESS TO ANY SERVICES, PRODUCTS, CONTENT, OR OTHER MATERIALS COMPRISING ANY PART OF THE SERVICES AT ANY TIME WITHOUT NOTICE. IN NO EVENT WILL RISLA INCUR ANY LIABILITY FOR CHANGING, SUSPENDING, REMOVING OR DISABLING ACCESS TO THE SERVICES. RISLA MAY ALSO IMPOSE LIMITS ON THE USE OF OR ACCESS TO CERTAIN FEATURES OR PORTIONS OF THE SERVICES, WITHOUT NOTICE OR LIABILITY. YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO REVIEW THIS AGREEMENT AND TO FAMILIARIZE YOURSELF WITH ANY MODIFICATIONS. YOUR CONTINUED USE OF THE SERVICES AFTER ANY SUCH MODIFICATIONS WILL CONSTITUTE ACKNOWLEDGMENT THAT YOU ARE AWARE OF AND CONSENT TO SUCH MODIFICATIONS.

RISLA DOES NOT (I) WARRANT OR GUARANTEE THE ACCURACY OR TIMELINESS OF ANY INFORMATION AVAILABLE ON OR FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICES; OR (II) MAKE ANY OTHER WARRANTY WITH RESPECT TO THE SERVICES. RISLA PROVIDES THE SERVICES “AS IS,” “WITH ALL FAULTS,” AND “AS AVAILABLE” FOR YOUR USE, WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ALL WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR INFRINGEMENT. IN JURISDICTIONS THAT DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, THE ABOVE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

 

RISLA DOES NOT GUARANTEE, REPRESENT, OR WARRANT THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, AND YOU AGREE THAT FROM TIME TO TIME RISLA MAY DENY YOU ACCESS TO THE SERVCES FOR INDEFINITE PERIODS OF TIME, OR CANCEL THE SERVICES AT ANY TIME, WITHOUT NOTICE TO YOU. YOU EXPRESSLY AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF, OR INABILITY TO USE, THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK.

LIABILITY LIMITATION

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT WILL WE, OR ANY OF OUR SERVICE PROVIDERS, HAVE ANY LIABILITY ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE WEBSITE FOR: PERSONAL INJURY, PROPERTY DAMAGE, LOST PROFITS, COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, LOSS OF DATA, LOSS OF GOODWILL, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, COMPUTER FAILURE OR MALFUNCTION, OR ANY OTHER CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, SPECIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES. 

THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS WILL APPLY WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARISE OUT OF BREACH OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), OR OTHERWISE AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES WERE FORESEEABLE OR WE WERE ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW CERTAIN LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY SO SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

YOUR USE OF THE SITE AND SERVICES

You may use the Services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with this Agreement. You agree not to use the Services:

  • In any way that violates any applicable federal, state, local or international law or regulation (including, without limitation, any laws regarding the export of data or software to and from the US or other countries).
  • To send, knowingly receive, upload, download, use or re-use any material which does not comply with this Agreement.
  • To transmit, or procure the sending of, any advertising or promotional material, including any "junk mail", "chain letter" or "spam" or any other similar solicitation.
  • To impersonate or attempt to impersonate Rhode Island Student Loan Authority, a Rhode Island Student Loan Authority employee, or any other person or entity (including, without limitation, by using e-mail addresses associated with any of the foregoing).
  • To engage in any other conduct that restricts or inhibits anyone's use or enjoyment of the Services, or which, as determined by us, may harm Rhode Island Student Loan Authority or users of the Services or expose them to liability.

Additionally, you agree not to:

  • Use the Services in any manner that could disable, overburden, damage, or impair the site or interfere with any other party's use of the site, including their ability to engage in real time activities through the Services.
  • Use any robot, spider or other automatic device, process or means to access the Website for any purpose, including monitoring or copying any of the material on the Services.
  • Use any manual process to monitor or copy any of the material on the Services or for any other unauthorized purpose without our prior written consent.
  • Use any device, software or routine that interferes with the proper working of the Services.
  • Introduce any viruses, trojan horses, worms, logic bombs or other material which is malicious or technologically harmful.
  • Attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, damage or disrupt any parts of the Services, the server on which the Services is stored, or any server, computer or database connected to the Services.
  • Attack the Services via a denial-of-service attack or a distributed denial-of-service attack.
  • Otherwise attempt to interfere with the proper working of the Services.

You are solely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality and security of your password. RISLA treats actions using your password as approved by you. You agree to immediately notify RISLA of any security breach of, or unauthorized use of your password. RISLA shall not be responsible for any losses arising out of the unauthorized use of your password.

 

You agree to provide accurate and complete information when you register with, and as you use, the Services.

RISLA will monitor any communications submitted by you.

The use of the Services or the downloading or other acquisition of any materials from the Sites is done at your own discretion and risk and with your agreement that you will be solely responsible for any damage to your computer system, or loss of data, that results from such activities.

INDEMNIFICATON

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless RISLA, its directors, officers, employees, affiliates, successors, assigns, and agents from and against all losses, expenses, damages and costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) resulting from ore relating to any violation of this Agreement, or use or misuse of the Services, by you.

COPYRIGHTS AND TRADEMARKS

For the purposes of this Agreement, “content” is defined as any information, data, communications, editorial content, software, photos, video clips, graphics, audio clips, files, reports, and other material and Services that can be viewed by users on the Sites.

By accepting this Agreement, you acknowledge and agree that all content presented to you on the Services contains information and material that may be protected by copyrights, trademarks, service marks, patents or other proprietary rights, and intellectual property laws, and is the sole property of RISLA. You are only permitted to use the content as expressly authorized by RISLA or the specific content provider. You may not reproduce, modify, republish, upload, post, transmit, or distribute any materials from the Services in any form or by any means without prior written permission from RISLA or the specific content provider, and you are solely responsible for obtaining permission before reusing any copyrighted material that is available on the Services. Any unauthorized use of the materials appearing on the Services may violate copyright, trademark, and other applicable laws and could result in criminal and/or civil penalties.

 

All custom graphics, icons, logos, and service names are registered trademarks or service marks of RISLA. All other trademarks or service marks are property of their respective owners. Nothing in this Agreement grants you any right to use any trademark, service mark, logo, and/or the name of RISLA.

You agree not to sell, resell, reproduce duplicate, copy or use any portion of, or access to, the Services for any commercial purpose.

INTERNET COMMUNICATION AND EMAIL

You understand that using the Internet involves certain risks including security breaches, transmission errors, and interruptions in availability. You accept these risks when using the Services.

Information sent by email may not be secure. If you request information by email, you consent to RISLA responding by email if the law allows it. You accept the risk that a third party may intercept the information in the email you send to RISLA or in RISLA’s response. RISLA may choose not to respond by email.

Please do not send or request personal, sensitive, or confidential information by email.

NOTICES

All notices to a party shall be in writing and shall be made either via email or conventional mail. Email notices to RISLA must be sent to the attention of Customer Service and written communication must be sent to RISLA, PO BOX 81071, WARWICK, RI 02888-0089.

RISLA may broadcast notices or messages through the Services to inform you of changes to the Services or other matters of importance and such broadcasts shall constitute notice to you at the time of sending.

LINKS TO INDEPENDENT WEBSITES

Some links provided on the Services may lead to independent third-party websites. RISLA provides these links to you for your convenience. The information presented on those sites is the sole responsibility of those site owners. You agree that RISLA is not responsible for examining or evaluating the content or accuracy of such sites. RISLA does not warrant and will not incur any liability or responsibility for any such third-party materials and is not in any way responsible for such use by you.

TERMINATION

If you fail, or RISLA suspects within its sole discretion that you have failed, to comply with any of the provisions of this Agreement, RISLA, at its sole discretion, may terminate or suspend your use of the Sites.

Upon termination or suspension, regardless of the reasons, your right to use the Services immediately ceases and you acknowledge and agree that RISLA may immediately deactivate or delete your access and all related information and files in your account and/or bar any further access to such files or the Services.

IN THE CASE OF AN INVALID PROVISION

If any part or provision of this Agreement is deemed to be invalid, all other parts or provisions shall remain valid.

WAIVER

No waiver by RISLA of any rights under any term or provision of this Agreement will constitute a waiver to enforce any other provision or right under this Agreement. Neither the course of conduct of the parties nor trade practices will act to modify any terms of this Agreement.

OTHER AGREEMENTS

This Agreement does not change any other agreements between you and RISLA. If any terms of this Agreement conflict with the terms of another agreement between you and RISLA, then the terms of such other agreement shall control.

APPLICABLE LAW & OTHER RULES

The Services (excluding any linked websites accessible via the Services that are not owned by third parties) are controlled by RISLA from its offices within the State of Rhode Island, United States of America. The Services can be accessed from all fifty (50) states, as well as from other countries around the world. By accessing the Services you agree that the laws of the State of Rhode Island, without regard to conflicts of laws principles, will apply to all matters relating to the use of the Services.

Any suit to enforce the terms of this Agreement shall be brought in a court of competent jurisdiction within the State of Rhode Island. You agree to submit to the exclusive personal jurisdiction of the courts located within the city of Warwick and County of Kent, Rhode Island. You waive any and all objections to the exercise of jurisdiction over you by such courts and to venue in such courts.

Any claim shall be litigated, as the case may be, on an individual basis and shall not be consolidated with any claim of any other party whether through class action proceedings or otherwise.

ANY CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM YOU MAY HAVE ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THE SERVICES MUST BE COMMENCED WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES, OTHERWISE, SUCH CAUSE OF ACTION OR CLAIM IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

ENTIRE AGREEMENT

The above terms and conditions constitute the entire Agreement and understanding between you and RISLA concerning the use of the Sites and Services and supersede all prior agreements and understandings with respect thereto.