Terms of Use

This site is operated by Altria Client Services LLC (“ALCS”). Throughout this site, the terms "ALCS," "we," "us," and "our" refer to Altria Client Services LLC. When you use this site, you agree to the terms and conditions, policies, and notices stated herein. When you use this site, you also agree to our data collection and use practices as described in, and all other provisions of, the Privacy Statement (“Privacy Statement”). If you do not agree to these Terms of Use, you should immediately cease use of this site.

PURPOSE OF THIS SITE

The purpose of this website is to bring together scientific information related to the processes, products and technologies of Altria Group, Inc.’s (“Altria Group” or “Altria”) tobacco operating companies in order to share it with scientists and the public health and regulatory communities, thereby inviting scientific review and dialogue. The site is not operated for advertising or marketing purposes. The material on this site should not be regarded as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any tobacco products of Altria Group's tobacco operating companies. We advertise and sell our products only in compliance with the laws of the particular jurisdictions in which they are sold.

We are not providing investment advice through this site, and the material on this site should not be regarded as an offer to sell, or a solicitation of an offer to buy, any securities of any Altria company. If you decide to use any material available on this site in assessing whether to buy or sell securities of Altria Group, Inc., please be aware that the material on this site generally reflects past performance and historical information only, and that such performance and information is not necessarily an indication of future performance.

Cautionary Language Regarding Forward-Looking Statements

Altria company websites may contain statements, estimates or projections that constitute “forward-looking statements” as defined under the U.S. federal securities laws. Any such forward-looking statements are inherently speculative and are based on currently available information, operating plans and projections about future events and trends. As such, they are subject to numerous risks and uncertainties. Actual results and performance may be significantly different from Altria Group’s historical experience and our present expectations or projections. Altria Group undertakes no obligation to publicly update or revise any forward-looking statements.

CONDUCT ON THE SITE

You or third parties acting on your behalf are not allowed to frame the site or use our proprietary marks as meta tags, without our written consent. You may not use frames or utilize framing techniques or technology to enclose any content included on the site without our express written consent. Further, you may not utilize the site in any meta tags or any other “hidden text” techniques or technologies without our express written consent.

LINKS

The site may include links to other sites, some of them operated by other Altria companies and some of them operated by third parties. These links are provided as a convenience to you and as an additional avenue of access to the information contained therein. Third party sites operate independently and may have their own terms of use in place, which we suggest you review if you visit any linked site. We have not necessarily reviewed all of the information on third party sites and are not responsible for the content of any third-party sites or any products or services that may be offered through third party sites. Third party sites may contain information with which we do or do not agree. Inclusion of links to third party sites should not be viewed as our endorsement of the content of linked sites. We are not responsible for any confidential or personal information you provide in connection with your visit or access to any of these third-party sites or for any losses, damages or other liabilities incurred as a result of your use of any linked third-party sites.

ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS AND TIMELINESS OF INFORMATION ON THIS SITE

The material on this site is for informational purposes to scientific, public health and regulatory professionals. The inclusion on this site of a document or presentation is not intended to be an endorsement or to reflect acceptance by us of the views or information contained in such documents or presentations.

Despite our efforts to provide accurate bibliographic information, errors and omissions may appear.

We are not responsible if information made available on this site is not accurate, complete or current. The material on the site is provided for general information only and should not be relied upon or used as the sole basis for making decisions without consulting primary or more accurate, more complete or more timely sources of information. Any reliance upon the material on the site shall be at your own risk. This site may contain certain historical information. Historical information necessarily is not current and is provided for your reference only.

We reserve the right to modify the contents of this site at any time, but we have no obligation to update any information on the site. You agree that it is your responsibility to monitor changes to the site.

USE OF MATERIALS FROM THIS SITE

This site (including, without limitation text, design, graphics, data found on the site, logos, icons, images, audio clips, downloads, interfaces, code and software, as well as the selection and arrangement thereof) is the property of and owned by ALCS and affiliates or their licensors and is protected by copyright, trademark and other laws of the United States and other countries. We may authorize you to browse through the site and print and download copies of material on the site for your personal, noncommercial use, only, so long as you do not remove any copyright, trademark or other proprietary notices that appear on the material you copy, print, or download or print. Any other use of the content on the site, including but not limited to the modification, distribution, transmission, performance, broadcast, publication, licensing, reverse engineering, transfer or sale of, or the creation of derivative works from, any material, information, software, products or services obtained from the site, or use of the site for purposes competitive to Altria tobacco operating companies, is expressly prohibited.

MATERIALS YOU SUBMIT

You acknowledge that you are responsible for any submission you make, including the legality, reliability, appropriateness, originality and copyright of any such material. You may not upload to, distribute or otherwise publish through this site any content that (i) is confidential, proprietary, false, fraudulent, libelous, defamatory, obscene, threatening, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, infringing on intellectual property rights, abusive, illegal or otherwise objectionable, (ii) may constitute or encourage a criminal offense, violate the rights of any party or otherwise give rise to liability or violate any law, or (iii) may contain malicious software, political campaigning, chain letters, mass mailings, or any form of "spam." You may not use a false email address or other identifying information, impersonate any person or entity, or otherwise mislead as to the origin of any content. You may not upload commercial content onto the site.

If you do submit material, and unless we indicate otherwise, you grant us and our affiliates an unrestricted, nonexclusive, royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable and fully sublicensable right to use, reproduce, copy, modify, adapt, publish, translate, create derivative works from, distribute and display such content throughout the world in any media. You further agree that we are free to use any ideas, concepts, or know-how that you or individuals acting on your behalf provide to us. You grant us and our affiliates the right to use the name you submit in connection with such content, if we so choose. All personal information provided and collected via this website will be used in accordance with the Privacy Statement of this site, which may be updated periodically. You represent and warrant that you own or otherwise control all the rights to the content you post; that the content is accurate; that use of the content you supply does not violate these Terms of Use and will not cause injury to any person or entity; and that you will indemnify us and our affiliates for all claims resulting from content you supply.

TRADEMARKS AND COPYRIGHTS

This site features logos and other trademarks, and service marks that are the property of, or are licensed to, various Altria companies. The site also may include trademarks or service marks of other third parties. All of these trademarks are the property of their respective owners, and you agree not to use or display them in any manner without the prior written permission of the applicable trademark owner. Nothing on this site shall be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any trademark, logo or service mark displayed on the site without the owner’s prior written permission, except as otherwise described herein. We reserve all rights not expressly granted in and to the site and its content. The site and all their content, including but not limited to text, design, graphics, interfaces and code, and the selection and arrangement thereof, is protected as a compilation under the copyright laws of the United States and other countries.

INTELLECTURAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF OTHERS

We respect the intellectual property rights of others and request that our visitors do the same.

If you think that your work has been copied in a manner that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify our copyright agent, who can be reached as follows:

ALCS, Assistant General Counsel – IP
2325 Bells Road
Richmond, VA 23234
Telephone: 804-274-2000
Facsimile: 804-335-2080
Email: ALCSDMCA@altria.com

To be effective, your notification must (i) be in writing, (ii) be provided to our copyright agent, and (iii) include substantially the following:

• A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or the person authorized to act on the owner’s behalf;
• a description of the copyrighted work you claim has been infringed;
• a description of where the material you claim is infringing is located on the site;
• your name, address, telephone number, email address and all other information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact you;
• a statement by you that you have 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
• a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner or authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

If you believe that content has been taken down improperly from the site or that access to material on the site was improperly disabled, you may send a counter-notification to the our copyright agent identified above. Such counter-notification must contain the following information:

• Your physical or electronic signature, or that of an authorized representative;
• a description of the material that you claim has been improperly removed or to which you believe access has been improperly disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access was disabled;
• a statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that you have a good faith belief that the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled; and
• your name, address and telephone number, and a statement that (i) you consent to the jurisdiction of the federal district court for the judicial district in which such address is located or, if your address is outside of the United States, to any judicial district in which Altria may be found, and (ii) you will accept service of process from the claimant who provided Altria’s designated agent with notification of the alleged infringement in accordance with the DMCA, or an agent of such person.

DISCLAIMERS

YOUR USE OF THIS SITE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SITE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO RESTRICT OR TERMINATE YOUR ACCESS TO THE SITE OR ANY FEATURE OR PART THEREOF AT ANY TIME. WE EXPRESSLY DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND ANY WARRANTIES THAT MATERIALS ON THE SITE ARE NONINFRINGING AS WELL AS WARRANTIES IMPLIED FROM A COURSE OF PERFORMANCE OR COURSE OF DEALING; THAT ACCESS TO THE SITE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE; THAT THE SITE WILL BE SECURE; THAT THE SITE OR THE SERVER THAT MAKES THE SITE AVAILABLE WILL BE -MALWARE-FREE; OR THAT INFORMATION ON THE SITE WILL BE COMPLETE, ACCURATE OR TIMELY. IF YOU DOWNLOAD ANY MATERIALS FROM THIS SITE, YOU DO SO AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK. YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIALS. NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU FROM US OR THROUGH OR FROM THE SITE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY OF ANY KIND.

WE DO NOT MAKE ANY WARRANTIES OR REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE SITE OR THE USE OF THE MATERIALS ON THE SITE IN TERMS OF THEIR COMPLETENESS, CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, ADEQUACY, USEFULNESS, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY OR OTHERWISE.

IN CERTAIN JURISDICTIONS, THE LAW MAY NOT PERMIT THE DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE DISCLAIMER MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY

YOU ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT, EXCEPT TO THE EXTENT PROHIBITED BY APPLICABLE LAW, NEITHER ALCS, NOR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES OR THIRD-PARTY CONTENT PROVIDERS WILL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, EXEMPLARY, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, PUNITIVE OR ANY OTHER DAMAGES RELATING TO OR RESULTING FROM YOUR USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THIS SITE OR ANY OTHER SITE YOU ACCESS THROUGH A LINK FROM THIS SITE OR FROM ANY ACTIONS WE TAKE OR FAIL TO TAKE AS A RESULT OF COMMUNICATIONS, INCLUDING ELECTRONIC MAIL MESSAGES YOU SEND TO US. THESE INCLUDE DAMAGES FOR ERRORS, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, DEFECTS, DELAYS, MALICIOUS SOFTWARE, YOUR LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF DATA, UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO AND ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS AND DATA, AND OTHER TANGIBLE AND INTANGIBLE LOSSES.

THIS LIMITATION APPLIES REGARDLESS OF WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARE CLAIMED UNDER THE TERMS OF A CONTRACT, AS THE RESULT OF NEGLIGENCE, TORT OR OTHERWISE AND EVEN IF WE OR OUR REPRESENTATIVES HAVE BEEN NEGLIGENT OR HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

YOU SPECIFICALLY ACKNOWLEDGE AND AGREE THAT NEITHER ALCS, NOR ANY OF ITS AFFILIATES SHALL BE LIABLE FOR ANY DEFAMATORY, OFFENSIVE OR ILLEGAL CONDUCT OF ANY USER OF THIS WEBSITE. YOUR SOLE AND EXCLUSIVE REMEDY FOR ANY OF THE ABOVE CLAIMS OR ANY DISPUTE WITH US IS TO DISCONTINUE YOUR USE OF THIS WEBSITE. YOU AGREE THAT ANY CAUSE OF ACTION ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS WEBSITE MUST COMMENCE WITHIN ONE (1) YEAR AFTER THE CAUSE OF ACTION ACCRUES OR THE CAUSE OF ACTION IS PERMANENTLY BARRED.

BECAUSE SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON HOW LONG AN IMPLIED WARRANTY LASTS, OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, ALL OR A PORTION OF THE ABOVE LIMITATION MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

YOUR LIABILITY

IF YOU CAUSE A TECHNICAL DISRUPTION OF THE SITE OR OF THE SYSTEMS TRANSMITTING THE SITE TO YOU OR OTHERS, YOU AGREE TO BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY AND ALL LIABILITIES, COSTS AND EXPENSES (INCLUDING ATTORNEYS' FEES) ARISING FROM THAT DISRUPTION.

INDEMNIFICATION

You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless ALCS and its affiliates, and their officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors and suppliers, from and against any and all losses, liabilities, expenses, damages and costs, including reasonable attorneys’ fees and court costs, arising or resulting from your use of this site and any violation of these Terms of Use. We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to indemnification by you and, in such case, you agree to cooperate with us in the defense of such matter.

AGREEMENT TO ARBITRATE

Any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms of Use, your use of this site shall be resolved exclusively through final and binding arbitration, rather than in court. Arbitration shall be conducted in the Commonwealth of Virginia by an arbitrator associated with a recognized alternative dispute resolution organization (e.g. AAA, JAMS). The Federal Arbitration Act (FAA) shall govern the interpretation and enforcement of this provision.

You agree that you may bring claims only in an individual capacity and not as a class member in any purported class action or representative proceeding. The arbitrator shall have the authority to grant any remedy available under applicable law but may not consolidate claims or preside over any form of class arbitration.

By agreeing to these Terms of Use, you acknowledge that you understand and agree to this arbitration provision, including the waiver of your right to a trial or participation in a class action lawsuit.

JURISDICTION

ALCS is headquartered in Richmond, Virginia, in the United States of America, and this site is operated in the United States. The laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia govern these Terms of Use and your use of the site, and you irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in the Commonwealth of Virginia for any action to enforce these Terms of Use. We recognize that it is possible for you to obtain access to this site from any jurisdiction in the world, but we have no practical ability to prevent such access. If any material on this site, or your use of the site, is contrary to the laws of the place where you are when you access it, the site is not intended for you, and we ask you not to use the site. You are responsible for informing yourself of the laws of your jurisdiction and complying with them.

CHANGES TO THESE TERMS

We reserve the right, at our complete discretion, to change these Terms of Use, in whole or in part, at any time, by posting revised terms on this site. It is your responsibility to check periodically for any changes we may make to these Terms of Use. Your continued use of this site following the posting of changes to these Terms of Use signifies that you accept the changes. If you do not agree to any change to these Terms of Use, you should immediately cease use of this Altria site.

MISCELLANEOUS

These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement and understanding between you and us with respect to use of this site, superseding all prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals, whether oral or written, between the parties with respect to such subject matter. A printed version of these Terms of Use shall be admissible in judicial or administrative proceedings based on or relating to use of the website to the same extent and subject to the same conditions as other business documents and records originally generated and maintained in printed form.

SEVERABILITY

If any provision of this agreement is unlawful, void or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of the agreement will remain in place.

HOW TO CONTACT US

If you have any questions or comments about these Terms of Use or this site, click here or write to:

Altria Client Services LLC
Law Department
2325 Bells Road
Richmond, VA 23234