Terms of use

Junction Technology Group LLC (“Junction”) provides a benchmarking and optimization website as well as other services via the Company website(s) offered at the URL https://nextlevellabs.ai. We call the services available on the Site the “Services”.

Like all online services, we need to have Terms of Use (“Terms”). Please read these Terms carefully and contact us if you have any questions. By accessing or using the Junction Service, you agree to be bound by these Terms and by our Privacy Statement, whether or not you are a registered user of our Service. These Terms apply to all visitors, registered users, and others who access any of the Service (“Users”).

Using the junction services

Who can use Junction Services. You may use the Services only if you can form a binding contract with Junction, and only in compliance with these Terms and all applicable local, state, national, and international laws, rules, and regulations. Any use or access to the Services by anyone under the age of 13 is strictly prohibited. Because we respect the Junction community, the Services are not available to any Users previously removed from any Service by Junction.

Junction accounts. Creating an account with Junction gives you access to certain Services in our sole discretion. We may maintain different types of accounts for different types of Users and Users can access certain Services without creating an account. If you open an account on behalf of a company, organization, or other entity, then (a) “you” includes you and that entity, and (b) you represent and warrant that you are an authorized representative of the entity with the authority to bind the entity to these Terms, and that you agree to these Terms on the entity’s behalf. By connecting to Junction with a third-party service (e.g., Facebook or Twitter), you give us permission to access and use your information from that service as permitted by that service, and to store your log-in credentials for that service. For more information on the types of information we collect from these third-party services, please read our Privacy Statement. You agree not to use user names or board titles that are offensive, obscene, or harassing to others. We reserve the right to require you to change your user name or the title of your board at any time and for any reason in our sole discretion.

Terminating your account. You may close your account at any time by contacting us by email. We may permanently or temporarily terminate or suspend your User account or access to the Services for any reason, without notice or liability to you, including if in our sole determination you violate any provision of our Privacy Statement or these Terms, or for no reason. Upon termination of your use of the Services, you continue to be bound by these Terms. For information about how your User Content will be handled after any termination of your account, please see the “How long we keep your content” section below.

Your responsibility for your account. When you create your Junction account, you must provide us with accurate and complete information. Please be sure to provide us with up to date contact information for you so we know how to reach you. We encourage you to use “strong” passwords (passwords that use a combination of upper and lower case letters, numbers and symbols) with your account. You are solely responsible for the activity that occurs on your account, and you agree to keep your account login and password secure. You must immediately notify Junction of any compromise of your credentials you become aware of and any unauthorized use of your account.

Changes to the Services. Here at Junction, we’re always innovating and finding ways to provide our Users with new and innovative features and services. Therefore, we may, without prior notice, change the Services; add features, stop providing certain Services or features of a Service, to you or to Users generally; or create usage limits for the Services.

Your interactions with other Users. Please keep in mind that you are solely responsible for your interactions with other Users. We reserve the right, but have no obligation, to monitor disputes between you and other Users. Junction will have no liability for your interactions with other Users, or for any User’s action or inaction. Please help to make Junction a positive and respectful community.

Sharing Your Content

Your content. Junction may allow you to post content on the Services, including photos, comments, and other materials. Anything that you post, display, or otherwise make available on any of our Services, including all Intellectual Property Rights (defined below) in such content, is referred to as “User Content.” You retain all of your rights in all of the User Content you post to our Services, provided that Junction shall have the right to use User Content which relates in any way to Junction’s products and/or services to develop, modify, alter and/or create derivative products and services, all of which Junctions shall own all right, title and interest to.

How Junction and other users can use your content. You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free, transferable, sublicensable, worldwide license to use, display, reproduce, re-post, modify (e.g., re-format), re-arrange, and distribute your User Content on Junction for the purposes of operating and providing the Services to you and to our other Users and for any other purpose Junction determines in its sole and absolute discretion. Nothing in these Terms shall restrict Junction’s rights under separate licenses to User Content. Please remember that Junction Services are a public platform, and that other Users may search for, see, use, and/or re-post any User Content that you make publicly available through the Services.

How long we keep your content: Following termination or deactivation of your account, or if you remove any User Content from your account or your postings, Junction may retain your User Content for backup, archival, audit purposes, product or service maintenance and/or development, or any other purpose Junction determines in its sole and absolute discretion. Furthermore, Junction and other Users may retain and continue to display, reproduce, re-post, modify, re-arrange, and distribute any of your User Content that other Users have re-posted to their own boards or which you have posted to public or semi-public areas of the Services.

Your responsibility for your content

To Junction and our community. Junction provides a place for you to learn and share ideas related to PC performance. To keep it that way, we ask that you review and agree to abide by our Post Etiquette. We must also insist that you only use our Services in a manner that is consistent with the Junction Privacy Statement. We reserve the right, but are not obligated, to remove User Content from the Services for any reason, including User Content that we believe violates these Terms or the Junction Privacy Statement.

You shall be solely responsible for User Content that you upload, post, link, transmit, or otherwise make available via the website and the consequences of submitting and publishing your User Content on the website. You may post comments, photos and other User Content and submit suggestions, ideas, comments, questions or other information, so long as the User Content is not illegal, obscene, threatening, defamatory, invasive of privacy, infringing of intellectual property rights, or otherwise injurious to third parties or objectionable and does not consist of or contain software viruses, political campaigning, commercial solicitation, chain letters, mass mailings, or any form of ““spam.”“ You may delete any of your User Content at any time.

You agree not to use the Services to:

conduct any commercial business;
harm minors in any way;
impersonate any person or entity or falsely state or otherwise misrepresent your affiliation with a person or entity;
upload, post, link, transmit or otherwise make available any User Content that you do not have a right to make available under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside information, proprietary and confidential information);
upload, post, link, transmit or otherwise make available any User Content that infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party;
upload, post, link, transmit or otherwise make available any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, junk mail, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or any other form of solicitation;
upload, post, link, transmit or otherwise make available any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment;
intentionally or unintentionally violate any applicable local, state, national or international law, and any regulations having the force of law;
stalk or otherwise harass another;
collect or store personal data about other users in connection with the prohibited conduct and activities set forth in these Terms; or
upload, post, link, transmit or otherwise make available any User Content that;

is offensive, indecent, objectionable, unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, tortious, defamatory, vulgar, libelous, invasive of another’s privacy, hateful or racially, ethnically or otherwise objectionable;
contains any nudity at all or is pornographic or obscene;
exploits any person, including children or minors; or
discloses or contains any personally identifying information (like name or address) about any person who appears to be under the age of 18;

You acknowledge that Junction may or may not screen User Content, but that Junction and its designees shall have the right (but not the obligation) in their sole discretion to screen, refuse, or remove any User Content that is available via the website. Junction reserves the right to decide, in its sole and absolute discretion, whether User Content violates these Terms. Without limiting the foregoing, Junction and its designees shall have the right to remove any User Content that violates these Terms or we believe is otherwise objectionable. You acknowledge, consent and agree that Junction may access, preserve and disclose your account information and User Content if required to do so by law or in a good faith belief that such access preservation or disclosure is reasonably necessary to: (i) comply with legal process; (ii) enforce the Terms; (iii) respond to claims that any User Content violates the rights of third parties; (iv) respond to your requests for customer service; or (v) protect the rights, property or personal safety of Junction, its Users and the public. You acknowledge that all User Content you post, link or otherwise make available on the Site will be publicly available and will not be deemed confidential under any circumstances.

To third parties. Junction values and respects the rights of third party creators and content owners, and expects you to do the same. You therefore agree that any User Content that you post to the Services does not and will not violate any law or infringe the rights of any third party, including without limitation any Intellectual Property Rights (defined below), publicity rights or rights of privacy. We reserve the right, but are not obligated, to remove User Content from the Services for any reason, including User Content that we believe violates these Terms or the Junction Privacy Statement. It is important that you understand that you are in the best position to know if the materials you post are legally allowed. We therefore ask that you please be careful when deciding whether to make User Content available on our Services, including whether you can post or re-post User Content.

Definition of Intellectual Property Rights. When we refer to “Intellectual Property Rights” in these Terms, we mean all patent rights; copyright rights; moral rights; rights of publicity; trademark, trade dress and service mark rights (and associated goodwill); trade secret rights; and all other intellectual property and proprietary rights as may now exist or hereafter come into existence, and all applications for any of these rights and registrations, renewals and extensions of any of these rights, in each case under the laws of any state, country, territory or other jurisdiction.

Feedback you provide: We value hearing from our Users and are always interested in learning about ways we can make Junction more useful. You may choose to or we may invite you to submit comments, ideas or feedback about the Service as well as Junction’s other products and services, including without limitation about how to improve the Service, our products, and our other services (“Feedback”). By submitting any Feedback, you agree that your disclosure is gratuitous, unsolicited and without restriction; your disclosure will not place Junction under any fiduciary or other obligation; and we are free to use, disclose, and otherwise exploit the Feedback without any restriction and without additional compensation to you. By acceptance of your submission, Junction does not waive any rights to use similar or related Feedback previously known to Junction, or developed by its employees, or obtained from sources other than you.

Post Etiquette

The following rules for posting on the website help keep our community positive and to ensure that every post is helpful to other people.

Credit Your Sources. If you post content from other sources, it is essential that you provide links back to the original source. Crediting the original source is an important part of establishing the credibility of your post.

Be Respectful. Junction is a community of people. We know that individual tastes are personal, but please be respectful in your comments and conversations.

Report Objectionable Content. We do not allow content that we believe is not directly relevant to the purpose of Junction. If you find content that violates our Terms of Service or Privacy Statement you can submit the content for review by emailing us.

Junction Content

Junction Content. Except for User Content, the Services themself, all content and other subject matter included on or within the Services, and all Intellectual Property Rights in or related to the Services or any such content or other subject matter (“Junction Content”) are the property of Junction and its licensors. Junction Content does not include any downloadable products, all of which are covered by separate license agreements. Except as expressly provided in these Terms, you agree not to use, modify, reproduce, distribute, sell, license, or otherwise exploit the Junction Content without our permission.

Our license to you. Subject to the terms and conditions of these Terms and our Privacy Statement, we grant you a license to use the Services, including accessing and viewing Junction Content, for your personal, noncommercial use to allow you to express yourself, discuss public issues, report on issues of public concern, engage in parody, and as expressly permitted by the features of the Services. Junction may terminate this license at any time for any reason or no reason. Except for the rights and licenses expressly granted, Junction reserves all other rights and no other rights are granted by implication or otherwise.

Copyright and Trademark Policy

Junction has adopted and implemented the following Junction Copyright and Trademark Policies in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

Copyright Policy

Junction respects the intellectual property rights of others and expects its users to do the same. It is our policy, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, to disable and/or terminate the accounts of users who repeatedly infringe or are repeatedly charged with infringing the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of others.

In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, the text of which may be found on the U.S. Copyright Office website at http://www.copyright.gov/legislation/dmca.pdf, Junction will respond expeditiously to claims of copyright infringement committed using the Site that are reported to our Designated Copyright Agent, identified below.

If you are a copyright owner, or are authorized to act on behalf of one, or authorized to act under any exclusive right under copyright, please report alleged copyright infringements taking place on or through the Site by completing a DMCA Notice of Alleged Infringement and delivering it to our Designated Copyright Agent. Upon receipt of the Notice as described below, Junction will take whatever action, in its sole discretion, it deems appropriate, including removal of the challenged material from the Site. DMCA Notice of Alleged Infringement (“Notice”) content must include the following:

Identify the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed, or – if multiple copyrighted works are covered by this Notice – you may provide a representative list of the copyrighted works that you claim have been infringed.
Identify (i) the material that you claim is 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, including at a minimum, if applicable, the URL of the link shown on the Site where such material may be found, and (ii) the reference or link, to the material or activity that you claim to be infringing, that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate that reference or link, including at a minimum, if applicable, the URL of the link shown on the Site where such reference or link may be found.
Provide your mailing address, telephone number, and, if available, email address.
Include both of the following statements in the body of the Notice: “I hereby state that I have a good faith belief that the disputed use of the copyrighted material or reference or link to such material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law (e.g., as a fair use).” “I hereby state that the information in this Notice is accurate and, under penalty of perjury, that I am the owner, or authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of the copyright or of an exclusive right under the copyright that is allegedly infringed.”
Provide your full legal name and your electronic or physical signature.

Deliver this Notice, with all items completed, to our Designated Copyright Agent at legal@junctiontechnology.com:

What if I receive a Copyright Complaint (DMCA) notification?

If you receive a notification that a post has been removed due to a copyright complaint, it means that the post’s content has been deleted from the Site at the request of the content’s owner. If your account receives too many copyright complaints, you may lose the ability to post new content on the Site, and your account may be disabled completely.

If you believe a post was removed in error, you have the option to file a counter-notice by following the steps below. When we receive a valid counter-notice, we will forward a copy to the person who filed the original complaint. If we do not receive notice within ten (10) business days that the submitter of the original complaint is seeking a court order to prevent further infringement of the content at issue, we will remove the complaint from your account’s record, and we may replace the content that was removed.

Note: There are legal and financial consequences for fraudulent and/or bad faith submissions. Before submitting a counter-notice, be sure that you are the actual rights holder of the removed content or that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed in error and understand the repercussions of submitting a false claim.

How to File a Counter-Notice

Reply to the notification email you received.
Include ALL of the following:
1. Your name, address, and telephone number.
2. DMCA ID printed at the bottom of the notification email.
3. The source address of the content that was removed (copy and paste the link in the notification email).
4. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief that the content was removed in error.
5. A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of Federal District Court for the judicial district in which the address is located, or if your address is outside of the United States, for any judicial district in which Junction may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who provided the original complaint or an agent of such person.
6. A physical or electronic signature (for example, typing your full name);

Trademark Policy

Junction respects the trademark rights of others. Accounts with usernames or any other User Content that misleads others or violates another’s trademark may be updated, transferred or permanently suspended.

If you are concerned that someone may be using your trademark in an infringing way on our site you can let us know by contacting us by email. We will review your submission and take whatever action, in our sole and absolute discretion, we deem appropriate, including temporary or permanent removal of the trademark from the website.

Privacy and Security

We care about the privacy and security of our Users. You understand that by using the Services you consent to the collection, use and disclosure of your personally identifiable information and aggregate data as set forth in our Privacy Statement, and to have your Personally Identifiable Information collected, used, transferred to and processed in the United States. While we work to protect the security of your content and account, Junction cannot guarantee that unauthorized third parties will not be able to defeat our security measures. You acknowledge that you provide your information at your own risk.

Third-party Links, Sites and Services

The Services may contain links to third-party websites, advertisers, services, special offers, or other events or activities that are not owned or controlled by Junction. Junction does not endorse or assume any responsibility for any such third-party sites, information, materials, products, or services. If you access any third party website, service, or content from any of the Service, you do so at your own risk and you agree that Junction will have no liability arising from your use of or access to any third-party website, service, or content.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Junction and its officers, directors, employees and agents, from and against any claims, suits, proceedings, disputes, demands, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, and expenses, including, without limitation, reasonable legal and accounting fees (including costs of defense of claims, suits or proceedings brought by third parties), arising out of or in any way related to (i) your access to or use of the Services or Junction Content, (ii) your User Content, or (iii) your breach of any of these Terms.

Disclaimers

THE SERVICES, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ALL CONTENT AND OTHER SUBJECT MATTER INCLUDED WITHIN THE SERVICES, ARE PROVIDED ON AN “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE” BASIS, WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. WITHOUT LIMITING THE FOREGOING, JUNCTION SPECIFICALLY DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL WARRANTIES AND CONDITIONS OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, QUIET ENJOYMENT AND NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING OUT OF COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE.

Junction takes no responsibility and assumes no liability for any User Content that you or any other User or third party posts or sends over any of the Services. You are solely responsible for your User Content and the consequences of posting or publishing it, and you agree that we are only acting as a passive conduit for your and other Users’ online distribution and publication of your and their User Content. You understand and agree that you may be exposed to User Content that is inaccurate, objectionable, inappropriate for children, or otherwise unsuited to your purpose.

Limitation of Liability

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE ENTIRE RISK ARISING OUT OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THE SERVICES, JUNCTION CONTENT, AND USER CONTENT REMAINS WITH YOU AND YOU USE THE SERVICES AT YOUR OWN RISK. YOU AGREE THAT NEITHER JUNCTION NOR ANY OTHER PARTY INVOLVED IN CREATING, PRODUCING, OR DELIVERING THE SERVICES WILL BE LIABLE FOR ANY INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, OR LOSS OF GOODWILL, SERVICE INTERRUPTION, COMPUTER DAMAGE OR SYSTEM FAILURE, OR THE COST OF SUBSTITUTE PRODUCTS OR SERVICES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR FROM THE SERVICES, OR FROM THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES, USER CONTENT, JUNCTION CONTENT, OR FROM ANY COMMUNICATIONS, INTERACTIONS OR MEETINGS WITH OTHER USERS OF THE SERVICES OR OTHER PERSONS WITH WHOM YOU COMMUNICATE OR INTERACT AS A RESULT OF YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), PRODUCT LIABILITY OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND WHETHER OR NOT JUNCTION HAS BEEN INFORMED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGE.

IN NO EVENT WILL JUNCTION’S AGGREGATE LIABILITY, OR THAT OF ITS OFFICERS, DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THESE TERMS OR FROM THE SERVICES, OR FROM THE USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES, USER CONTENT OR JUNCTION CONTENT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED DOLLARS ($100). THE LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY SET FORTH ABOVE ARE FUNDAMENTAL ELEMENTS OF THE BASIS OF THE BARGAIN BETWEEN JUNCTION AND YOU. SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OR CERTAIN WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, SO THE ABOVE DISCLAIMERS AND LIMITATIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

The Services are controlled and operated from its facilities in the United States. Junction makes no representations that any Service is appropriate or available for use in other locations. Those who access or use an Service from other jurisdictions do so at their own volition and are entirely responsible for compliance with all applicable national, state, local or other laws, statutes, directives, rules, regulations, and all interpretations or orders of any government, administrative or regulatory authority or court, including but not limited to those related to export and import of software, technical information or services. You may not use any Service if you are a resident of a country embargoed by the United States, or are a foreign person or entity blocked or denied by the United States government.

Governing Law:

You agree that: (i) the Services shall be deemed solely based in Texas; and (ii) the Service shall be deemed a passive one that does not give rise to personal jurisdiction over Junction, either specific or general, in jurisdictions other than Texas. These Terms shall be governed by the internal substantive laws of the State of Texas, without respect to its conflict of laws principles. The application of the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods is expressly excluded. We each agree to submit to the personal jurisdiction of a state court located in Travis County, Texas or the United States District Court for the Western District of Texas – Austin Division, for any actions for which either party retains the right to seek injunctive or other equitable relief, as further described in the Arbitration provision above.

General Terms

Notification Procedures and Changes to these Terms. Junction may provide notifications, whether such notifications are required by law or are for marketing or other business related purposes, to you via email notice, “push” mobile notification, written or hard copy notice, or through posting of such notice on our website, as determined by Junction in our sole and absolute discretion. Junction reserves the right to determine the form and means of providing notifications to you, provided that you may opt out of certain means of notification as described in these Terms and our Privacy Statement. Junction may, in its sole discretion, modify or update these Terms from time to time, and so you should review this page periodically. When we change the Terms in a material manner, we will update the ‘last modified’ date at the bottom of this page. Your continued use of any Service after any such change constitutes your acceptance of the new Terms. If you do not agree to any of these Terms or to any future Terms, do not use or access (or continue to access) the Services. Junction is not responsible for any automatic filtering you or your network provider may apply to email notifications we send to the email address you provide us.

Assignment. These Terms, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you, but may be assigned by Junction without restriction. Any attempted transfer or assignment in violation hereof shall be null and void.

Export Control. Any software or technology obtained from Junction through any Service originates in the United States and is subject to United States export laws and regulations. Such software and technology may not be exported or re-exported to certain countries or those persons or entities prohibited from receiving exports from the United States. In addition, software and technology obtained from Junction may be subject to the import and export laws of other countries. It is your responsibility to comply with all U.S. and foreign export and import laws and regulations.

Entire Agreement/Severability. These Terms, together with any amendments and any additional agreements you may enter into with Junction in connection with the Services, shall constitute the entire agreement between you and Junction concerning the Services. If any provision of these Terms is deemed invalid by a court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of the Terms, which shall remain in full force and effect.

No Waiver. No waiver of any term of these Terms shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term, and Junction’ failure to assert any right or provision under these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

Contact. Please contact us at legal@junctiontechnology.com with any questions regarding these Terms.

Effective Date and Future Changes

These Terms are effective as of April 2024. We may occasionally change these Terms. If we do, we will post the changes on the website and the changes will take effect as soon as posted. You should check back at our website periodically for changes and updates to these Terms.

Translation. We may translate these Terms of Service into other languages for your convenience. Nevertheless, the English version governs your relationship Junction, and any inconsistencies among the different versions will be resolved in favor of the English version.