Al-Monitor Visitor Agreement

Last Updated: June 13, 2024

Welcome to Al-Monitor.com (the “Website”), a service of Al-Monitor, LLC (“Al-Monitor”, “our”, “us”, or “we”).  This Visitor Agreement is a binding legal agreement between you and Al-Monitor. Please read this Visitor Agreement carefully. This Visitor Agreement includes disclaimers of warranties and liabilities and limitations on your rights.  By accessing the Website (including by automated means), you accept all terms of this Visitor Agreement. 

GENERAL PROVISIONS

Al-Monitor respects your privacy. Please take a moment to review our Privacy Statement so you understand what information we collect through the Website, how we use it, how we secure it, and when we may share it.  This Visitor Agreement incorporates our Privacy Statement by reference. 

The web is an evolving medium. If we need to change the terms of this Visitor Agreement in the future, we will post the revised Visitor Agreement on the Website and update the “Last Updated” date, above, to reflect the date of the changes. By continuing to use the Website after we post such changes, you agree to the terms of this Visitor Agreement, as modified.

Al-Monitor provides access to articles from independent writers. In addition, Al-Monitor serves as a platform for exclusive editorial content from respected regional experts. Our goal is to introduce a global audience to the Middle East “in its own words,” giving voice to the diversity of perspectives and richness of experience represented by its authors, journalists and thinkers. We strive to bring local views, insight, culture and history to bear on stories and events as they unfold. Each day, our editorial team carefully selects a diverse array of articles intended to provide readers with a level of insight into the politics, economics and societies of the Middle East not otherwise available in the English language.

We reserve the right to deny access to the Website, or any service provided via the Website, to anyone who violates this Visitor Agreement or who, in our judgment, interferes with the ability of others to enjoy the Website, or infringes the rights of others.  We may change, restrict access to, suspend, or discontinue the Website, or any portion of the Website, at any time.  We may determine, in our discretion, that Al-Monitor will comply with local laws and regulations that may or may not be applicable to us.  Our contributors, in their discretion, may do the same. 

The Website is provided to you on an “as is” and “as available” basis. We disclaim all responsibility for the availability, timeliness, security, or reliability of the Website or any feature or software included in the Website.

Please bring to our attention any material on the Website that you believe to be inaccurate. Please forward a copy of the material to our editorial team at ALMCORRECTIONS@AL-MONITOR.COM along with an explanation of your objection.

From time to time, we may include on the Website photographs taken by others, including photographs we’ve found on social media sites, that we believe may be of interest to visitors to Al-Monitor.com. If you are the owner of copyright in a photograph displayed on the Website and you’d prefer that we remove it, please send an email to our editorial team at ALMCORRECTIONS@AL-MONITOR.COM, including a description of the photograph and a link to the page within the Website on which it’s displayed.

If you have other comments or questions about the Website, please send us your thoughts at contactus@al-monitor.com.

HOW YOU MAY USE WEBSITE CONTENT

Al-Monitor is made available for your personal, noncommercial use only. All content and other material on the Website is the property of Al-Monitor and/or its licensors and is protected by U.S. copyright laws, other copyright laws, and international conventions. Except as explicitly provided in this Visitor Agreement, you may not distribute, display, reproduce, perform, create derivative works from, or otherwise exploit any of the content or other material on the Website. You may display and occasionally print or store a single copy of an individual page of the Website for your personal use provided that you keep intact all credits and copyright and other proprietary notices, but you may not otherwise reproduce, store or distribute copies of any content or other material found on the Website, in any form (including electronic form), without prior written permission from the copyright owner.

You may not use any content or other material on the website (“Content”) for the development of any software program, model, algorithm, or generative AI tool, including, but not limited to, training or using the Content in connection with the development or operation of a machine learning or artificial intelligence (AI) system (including any use of the Content for training, fine tuning, or grounding the machine learning or AI system or as part of retrieval-augmented generation).

For information about requesting permission to reproduce or distribute materials from the Website, please contact us at PRESS@AL-MONITOR.COM

You are free to establish a hypertext link to the Website so long as the link does not state or imply that we sponsor, endorse, or are affiliated with you or your website. However, you may not, without our prior written permission, frame or inline link any of the content of the Website, or incorporate into another website or other service any of the content or other material you find on the Website.

REGISTRATION

To receive our newsletters you will be required to provide your email address and some basic demographic information (such as the country you’re in). Some content and newsletters are available only to Registered Users of the Website. To register for access to this content, you will need to create a username and password and provide some basic demographic information.

Our use of any information you provide to us or that we gather while you’re visiting the Website is governed by the terms of our Privacy Statement.

You agree to provide accurate, current and complete information about yourself as prompted by our registration forms. You may not sell, share or otherwise transfer your registration information. You may cancel your newsletter subscription at any time by visiting your unique profile management page, a link is found on the bottom of every email newsletter we send you

We reserve the right to reject or terminate use of any username that we deem inappropriate. You responsible for all activities (whether by you or by others) that occur under your username. If you believe your account or password has been compromised, you should contact us immediately at ALMPRIVACY@AL-MONITOR.COM. You agree to notify us immediately at ALMPRIVACY@AL-MONITOR.COM​ of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security of which you become aware.

YOUR CONDUCT WHEN USING THE WEBSITE AND OUR PARTICIPATION GUIDELINES

The Website may include features that allow users to interact with each other on the Website and to post content for display on the Website. These features are intended to create a community where you can share news and have conversations about what’s happening in the Middle East. While we reserve the right to monitor Website content, it is up to our users to ensure that the discourse on Al-Monitor remains polite and informative.

First and foremost, we ask that you treat other Website users with respect. Language and content should be appropriate for a civil, adult conversation. Please respect the rights of others to their opinions; understand that there may be many other sides to every story. If you see something on the Website that you believe is inaccurate, or about which you hold a different opinion, feel free to post a comment in response.

By participating in discussions or posting content to Al-Monitor, you agree that you will not engage in any of the following activities (“Participation Guidelines”):

• Use the Website to impersonate any person or entity, or misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
• Interfere with or disrupt any servers or networks used to provide the Website or its features;
• Use the Website to engage in or to instigate or encourage others to engage in illegal activities or to cause injury or damage to any person or entity;
• Gain unauthorized access to the Website, or any account, computer system, or network connected to the Website;
• Use the Website to post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, harassing, abusive, libelous, obscene, or pornographic content;
• Use the Website to post or transmit any information or content (i) that violates or infringes the rights of others, including information or content that invades the privacy or violates the right of publicity of any person; (ii) that is defamatory or libelous; or (iii) that is protected by copyright, trademark or other proprietary right without the permission of the owner of such rights;
• Use the Website to post or transmit any information or content that violates any law or engage in activity that would constitute a criminal offense or give rise to a civil liability;
• Use the Website to post or transmit any content or material that contains a virus or other harmful component;
• Use the Website to advertise or solicit to anyone to buy or sell products or services, or to make donations of any kind, unless we have explicitly authorized such use in a particular circumstance;
• Gather for marketing purposes any email address or other personal information that has been posted by other users of the Website;
• Engage in personal attacks, harass or threaten another user, or deliberately disrupt the conversation;
• Repeatedly post the same or similar content or otherwise impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure;
• Access parts of the Website to which you are not authorized, or attempt to circumvent any restrictions imposed on your use or access of the Website;
• Use any automated mechanism to collect information from the Website in any manner that fails to respect the Robots Exclusion Protocol.

YOUR RESPONSIBILITY FOR INFORMATION AND CONTENT YOU SUBMIT

You acknowledge that you are solely responsible for the text, comments, and other information and content that you post on or submit to the Website, or share with others using the Website. By submitting or posting information or content to Al-Monitor, you represent and warrant that: (1) you are 13 years of age or older; (2) you are the owner of all content you submit or are making your posting or submission with the express consent of the owner; (3) you have abided by all Participation Guidelines and the content you post or submit will not violate or infringe the rights of others or otherwise cause injury to any person or entity; and (4) you will indemnify and hold harmless us and our parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and each of our and their respective directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents, representatives, licensors, successors, and assigns, from and against any liability of any nature arising out of any information or content that is displayed on or submitted via the Website by you or by others using your username and password as set forth below.

You alone are responsible for the information and content you post or submit to Al-Monitor. We do not control the information or content that you or others may post or submit to or otherwise transmit through the Website. You are responsible for creating backup copies of any information or content you submit or post to the Website. We will not be responsible for the deletion of, or the failure to store, display or transmit, any information or content submitted by you.

We may enforce the Participation Guidelines in our discretion. You understand that we have no obligation to monitor any areas of the Website through which users can supply information or content. However, we reserve the right, in our discretion, to screen user submissions and to edit, move, delete, and/or refuse to accept any submissions that in our judgment violate this Visitor Agreement or otherwise are unacceptable or inappropriate, whether for legal or other reasons. We also reserve the right to prohibit, and/or to take steps intended to block, your access to and use of the Website if you violate any Participation Guidelines or any other term of this Visitor Agreement.

OUR RIGHTS TO USE AND DISCLOSE CONTENT YOU SUBMIT

When you post or submit any material to the Website, you are not giving up any ownership rights you otherwise have in such content. However, you grant us, and anyone authorized by us, a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive, unrestricted, worldwide right and license to use, copy, modify, transmit, sell, exploit, create derivative works from, distribute, exploit, and/or publicly perform or display such material, in whole or in part, in any manner or medium (whether now known or hereafter developed), for any purpose that we choose. The foregoing grant includes the right to exploit any proprietary rights in such submission, including, but not limited to, rights under copyright, trademark or patent laws that exist in any relevant jurisdiction. Also, in connection with the exercise of these rights, you grant us, and anyone authorized by us, the right to identify you by username as the author of any of your submissions if we choose to do so. You understand that technical processing of the Website, including content you post or submit, may involve transmission over various networks, and may involve changes to the content to conform and adapt it to technical requirements of connecting networks or devices. You will not receive any compensation of any kind for our use of any materials you post or submit and we have no obligation to attribute such materials to you or otherwise provide any credit to you.  You hereby waive any moral rights to any materials that you post or submit.

We may preserve content you post or submit, and may disclose such content if we determine we are required to do so by law or if, in our judgment, such preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary: (a) to comply with legal process; (b) to enforce this Visitor Agreement; (c) to respond to claims that any content you post or submit violates the rights of third parties; or (d) to protect the rights, property, or personal safety of (i) the Website, (ii) us, our parent, our affiliates, our subsidiaries, and each of our and their respective directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents, representatives, and/or licensors, (iii) other users, and/or (iv) the public. 

NOTICE OF COPYRIGHT INFRINGEMENT

If you are a copyright owner who believes your copyrighted material has been reproduced, posted or distributed on the Website in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement, please inform our designated copyright agent by sending written notice by U.S. Mail to Al-Monitor LLC, 600 Travis, Suite 6800, Houston, TX 77002, or by email to DMCA@AL-MONITOR.COM. Please include the following information in your written notice: (1) a detailed description of the copyrighted work that is allegedly infringed; (2) a description of the location of the allegedly infringing material on the Website; (3) your contact information, including your address, telephone number, and, if available, email address; (4) a statement by you indicating that you have a good-faith belief that the allegedly infringing use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law; (5) a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, affirming that the information in your notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on the copyright owner’s behalf; and (6) an electronic or physical signature of the copyright owner or someone authorized on the owner’s behalf to assert infringement of copyright and to submit the statement. Please note that the contact information provided in this paragraph is for suspected copyright infringement only. Contact information for other matters is provided elsewhere in this Visitor Agreement or on the Website.

ONLINE COMMERCE

Certain sections of the Website may allow you to purchase products and services that are provided by Al-Monitor and/or third parties. We are not responsible for the quality, accuracy, timeliness, reliability or any other aspect of third-party products or services. If you make a purchase from a third party on the Website, or on a third-party website that you have accessed via a link on the Website, the information obtained during your visit to that merchant’s online store or website, and the information that you provide in connection with the transaction may be collected by both the merchant and us. A merchant may have privacy and data collection practices that are different from ours. We are not responsible for the privacy and data collection practices of these merchants. When you purchase products or services on or through the Website, you may be subject to additional terms and conditions that specifically apply to your purchase or use of such products or services. For more information regarding a merchant, its online store, its privacy policies, and/or any additional terms and conditions that may apply, visit that merchant’s website or contact the merchant directly. You release us and our affiliates from any damages that you incur, and agree not to assert any claims against us or any of our affiliates, arising from your purchase or use of any products or services made available by third parties through the Website.

You agree to be financially responsible for all purchases made by you or someone acting on your behalf through the Website. You agree to only purchase goods or services for yourself or for another person for whom you are legally permitted to do so. When making a purchase for a third party that requires you to submit the third party’s personal information to us or a merchant, you represent that you have obtained the express consent of such third party to provide such third party’s personal information.

TRADEMARKS AND SERVICE MARKS

AL-MONITOR and THE PULSE OF THE MIDDLE EAST are service marks of Al-Monitor LLC. The names of other products and services referred to on the Website may be the trademarks or service marks of their respective owners. You may not use any trademark or service mark appearing on the Website without the prior written consent of the owner of the mark.

DISCLAIMERS

Throughout the Website, we have provided links and pointers to websites maintained by third parties. Our linking to such third-party websites does not imply that we endorse or sponsor such websites, or the information, products or services offered on or through the websites. Neither we nor our parent or subsidiary companies nor any of our respective affiliates operate or control any information, products or services that third parties may provide on or through the Website or on websites to which we link.

You expressly agree that use of the Website is at your own risk.  The information, products and services offered on or through the Website are provided “as is” and without warranties of any kind either express or implied. We do not warrant or make any representations regarding use or the results of use of the Website or materials on the Website or any information or content made available on or via the Website in terms of their correctness, accuracy, timeliness, reliability or otherwise.  To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, we disclaim all warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, implied warranties of merchantability and fitness for a particular purpose. We do not warrant that the Website or any of its functions will be uninterrupted or error-free, that defects will be corrected, or that any part of the Website, including public posting areas, or the servers that make the Website available, are free of viruses or other harmful components.

Your interactions with companies, organizations and/or individuals found on or through the Website, including any purchases, transactions, or other dealings, and any terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with such dealings, are solely between you and such companies, organizations and/or individuals. You agree that we will not be responsible or liable for any loss or damage of any sort incurred as the result of any such dealings. You also agree that, if there is a dispute between users of the Website, or between a user and any third party, we are under no obligation to become involved, and you agree to release us and our parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and each of our and their respective directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents, representatives, licensors, successors and assigns, from any claims, demands and damages of every kind or nature, known or unknown, suspected or unsuspected, disclosed or undisclosed, arising out of or in any way related to such dispute and/or the Website.

If you are dissatisfied with the Website, or any materials, products, or services on the Website, or with any of the Website’s terms and conditions, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the Website.

LIMITIATIONS OF LIABILITY

UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, NEGLIGENCE, WILL WE BE LIABLE FOR ANY DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE OR ANY INFORMATION, CONTENT, PRODUCTS, OR SERVICES MADE AVAILABLE ON OR THROUGH THE WEBSITE, INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, EVEN IF WE ARE ADVISED BEFOREHAND OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN CATEGORIES OF DAMAGES, THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU. IN SUCH STATES, OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY STATE LAW.

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless us and our parent, subsidiaries, and affiliates, and each of our and their respective directors, officers, managers, employees, shareholders, agents, representatives, licensors, successors and assigns from and against any and all losses, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, that arise out of your use of the Website, any information or content that is posted or submitted via the Website by you or by others using your account, violation of this Visitor Agreement by you or any other person using your account, or your violation of any rights of another. We reserve the right to control the defense of any claim for which we are entitled to indemnification under this section. In such event, you agree to provide us with such cooperation as is reasonably requested by us. We will make reasonable efforts to provide you with notice of any such claim, but our failure to provide such notice will not relieve you of these obligations.

MISCELLANEOUS

This Visitor Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between us and you with respect to the subject matter of this agreement and supersedes all previous and contemporaneous agreements, proposals and communications on this subject, whether written or oral. This Visitor Agreement is personal to you, is not intended to benefit any third party, and does not create any third party beneficiaries. You may not assign this Visitor Agreement to anyone.

Our failure to enforce any terms of this Visitor Agreement or to respond to a breach by you or other parties shall not in any way waive our rights to enforce subsequently any terms of this Visitor Agreement or to act with respect with similar breaches.

We control and operate the Website from our offices in the United States of America.  We do not represent that the content and other materials on the Website are appropriate or available for use in other locations. Persons who choose to access or use the Website from other locations do so on their own initiative and are responsible for compliance with local laws, if and to the extent local laws are applicable.

This Visitor Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of law. By using the Website, you consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state and federal courts in Harris County, Texas in all disputes arising out of or relating to this Visitor Agreement or use of the Website. You agree that regardless of any statute or law to the contrary, any claim or cause of action that you may have arising out of or related to use of the Website or this Visitor Agreement must be filed by you within one year after such claim or cause of action arose or be forever barred.  If any portion of this Visitor Agreement is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion shall be construed to reflect, as nearly as possible, the original intention of the parties, and the remaining portions shall remain in full force and effect.