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User Agreement

January 6, 2012

Introduction/Authority/Parties

You represent and warrant that you are at least 18 years of age.

If you are acting on behalf of another person or entity, such as an employer or principal, you represent and warrant that you are duly authorized to act on behalf of such person or entity in connection with the transactions to be undertaken using this Web Site and that you have the authority to bind such person or entity to the terms of this Agreement.

This User Agreement is between you (or you on behalf of the person or entity that you represent, such entity hereafter referred to as "You," and in the possessive as "Your"), the Maryland Department of Business & Economic Development ("DBED") with whom You transact business through this site, and Grant Street Group as the designated service provider of DBED. BidMaryland.com is a web site (the "Web Site") used for premium tax credit auctions.

Upon acceptance of the terms of this Agreement, You will be granted access to BidMaryland.com for the sole purpose of participating in the DBED's premium tax credit auctions.

Use/License

You acknowledge and agree that Your use of the Web Site is permitted pursuant to a limited license (the "Limited License") granted to You under this Agreement and that the web pages and features of the Web Site (the "Proprietary Information") constitute a valuable trade secret owned by Grant Street Group. Except as expressly provided in this User Agreement, You agree not to copy, save, print, reveal to any third party, publish, post on the internet, permit access to, disseminate, distribute, disclose or modify any Web Site Proprietary Information without Grant Street Group's prior written consent. Your license to use the Web Site is limited to Your participation in premium tax credit auctions conducted by DBED. As a further condition of this Limited License, You hereby agree that You will not, nor will You attempt to, (i) modify, reproduce, decompile, or reverse-engineer any part of the Web Site, (ii) resell or redistribute any part of the information obtained from the Web Site, or (iii) permit or attempt to permit any third party to access, view or use any part of the Web Site.

You agree that You will not use any device, software or program to interfere with proper operations of the Web Site. You further agree that You will not use, nor allow anyone to use on your behalf, any robot, spider or other similar device to monitor or copy any pages of the Web Site or any content or information accessible through this Web Site.

You agree to use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure that any electronic files or information You transmit through the use of the Web Site will be free from viruses or other code designed to interfere with the proper functioning of data information systems.

When accessing the Web Site, You must use software, including a web browser, that supports a data security protocol compatible with the protocol required for the Web Site.

With the exception of web browsers, You agree to use the software made available to all users through the Web Site to perform the following functions:

  1. register on the site for a Bidder ID
  2. submit bids
  3. review auction results

You agree that the information you provide through the Web Site will be accurate.

You agree that, each time You submit a qualified bid (i.e., enter a Maximum Bid) for premium tax credits on the Web Site, You are making a binding offer to the DBED to purchase such premium tax credits which, if accepted by the DBED, will form a binding purchase contract between You and the DBED.

You agree that You will comply with all rules, requirements, procedures, advisories, instructions and other directives promulgated by DBED regarding the purchase of premium ta credits via the Web Site, including, without limitation, DBED's requirements with respect to payment deadlines and procedures for any premium tax credits awarded to you.

Although DBED and Grant Street Group will endeavor to minimize the number and extent of changes to the appearance or functionality of the Web Site, neither DBED nor Grant Street Group makes any representation or warranty that the features or appearance of the Web Site will remain unchanged for any period of time.

User IDs/Passwords/Use Restrictions

You shall be solely responsible for the confidentiality and use of the User ID and password assigned to You for the purpose of accessing the Web Site. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold DBED and Grant Street Group harmless from and against any damages, financial or otherwise, resulting from Your use of the Web Site or use by persons using Your User ID and password with or without Your knowledge or permission. You are hereby instructed by DBED to notify Grant Street Group immediately via email sent to AuctionSupport@GrantStreet.com, if You have reason to believe, or have become aware of: (i) loss or theft of Your User ID and/or password, or (ii) any unauthorized use of Your User ID and/or password.

Emails sent to DBED or Grant Street Group over the internet are susceptible to detection, decryption, eavesdropping or tampering. Thus, you agree to indemnify, defend and hold DBED and Grant Street Group harmless from and against any harm, financial or otherwise, that results from such detection, decryption, eavesdropping or tampering with emails.

Pursuant to State Government Article §10-611-630, Annotated Code of Maryland (hereinafter the "Maryland Public Records Act"), certain information which you provide in the course of your use of the Web Site, and which is in the public domain pursuant to the Maryland Public Records Act, will not be treated as confidential. Please reference the Web Site Privacy Policy for additional information.

Your use of the Web Site must be in conformance with the User Instructions on the Web Site.

Grant Street Group and DBED each reserve the right to suspend or revoke Your User ID in the event You violate the terms of this Agreement.

Compliance with Laws You agree to comply with all applicable laws and regulations in connection with Your use of the Web Site and the transactions conducted thereon, including without limitation any laws applicable to the handling or processing of individually identifiable information concerning individual persons. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold DBED and Grant Street Group harmless from and against any damages, financial or otherwise, resulting from Your breach of any such applicable laws.

Exclusion of Warranties

  1. Grant Street Group is not responsible for the accuracy or completeness of the information provided or transmitted through the Web Site, which was obtained from third parties or DBED. You rely upon the accuracy of such information at your own risk. Grant Street Group will not be liable for any harm, financial or otherwise, that may befall users who act in reliance on such information.
  2. The Web Site is provided "AS-IS", and You accept all risks associated with Your use of the same.
  3. Neither DBED nor Grant Street Group shall have any liability, contingent or otherwise, for the accuracy, completeness, timeliness or formatting of any data or information obtained from or through the Web Site, or for any decision made or action taken by You in reliance upon such information or data.
  4. There is no warranty of merchantability, no warranty of fitness for a particular use, and no warranty of non-infringement. There is no other warranty of any kind, expressed or implied, regarding the Web Site.

Limitation Of Liability

  1. In no event will DBED or Grant Street Group be liable to You or anyone else for any consequential, incidental, special or indirect damages (including but not limited to lost profits, losses and damages) that result, arise from or relate to Your use of the Web Site or the transactions conducted on the Web Site. You agree that the cumulative liability of DBED and Grant Street Group arising out of any kind of legal claim (whether in contract, tort or otherwise) in any way connected with the Web Site, or the transactions conducted on the Web Site, will not exceed $1,000.
  2. Neither DBED nor Grant Street Group will be liable for any loss or damage resulting from voluntary shutdown of the Web Site to address computer viruses, denial-of-service attacks, or other similar problems.
  3. Neither DBED nor Grant Street Group will be responsible for any damage to Your computer, software, modem, telephone or other property resulting from Your use of the Web Site or Licensed Information.

Investment Disclaimer

  1. Neither Grant Street Group nor DBED makes any representation with respect to the suitability as investments of the premium tax credits offered for sale on the Web Site.
  2. The information provided through this Web Site is provided for informational purposes only, and should not be construed as any recommendation, value or endorsement of any particular premium tax credit.
  3. You alone assume sole responsibility for reviewing and determining the risks and merits associated with the purchase of premium tax credits through the auctions.

Force Majeure

Neither DBED nor Grant Street Group shall be liable for any loss resulting from (i) a cause over which neither has direct control; or (ii) any events which are beyond their reasonable control.

Entire Agreement/Governing Law

This Agreement contains the entire agreement between the parties relating to Your use of the Web Site and transactions conducted thereon, and supersedes all prior written or oral communications between the parties on related subjects. In the event any one or more of the provisions of this Agreement shall be held to be invalid, illegal or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain valid and enforceable. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Maryland without regard to its choice of law provisions. All disputes arising out of or related to this Agreement or the transactions completed on the Web Site shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the State and Federal Courts located in the State of Maryland, and You waive any defense to the jurisdiction of such courts based on personal jurisdiction or forum non conveniens.

Amendments

This Agreement may be amended at any time (as indicated by the date shown above). It is Your responsibility to review it from time to time to keep abreast of new amendments.

* Additions or modifications to previous Agreement indicated by underlined text, deletions indicated by a ^. If no such markings, the Agreement above is the first edition.