​1. Acceptance of Terms

By accessing, browsing, or utilizing the SOMA (“Searchable Online Maharishi Archive”) website, digital repositories, and associated application programming interfaces (collectively, the "Website"), you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you must immediately cease all use of the Website. These Terms apply to all human visitors, as well as automated crawlers, scrapers, and software agents.

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2. Intellectual Property and Use of Content

All content, research, data, text, media, graphics, and code on the Website ("Content") are the exclusive property of Maharishi International University (“MIU”)  or its licensors and are protected by United States and international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

2.1. Limited Personal License

MIU grants you a limited, revocable, non-exclusive license to access and view the Content solely for personal, non-commercial, and academic purposes.

2.2. Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Automated Extraction Restrictions

Except as explicitly set forth in Section 2.3 below, you may not access, scrape, harvest, extract, index, or otherwise utilize any Content for the purposes of training, fine-tuning, developing, or evaluating artificial intelligence models, machine learning algorithms, large language models (LLMs), or automated data processing tools without explicit, prior written authorization from MIU.

2.3. Express Exceptions for Public Access

The restrictions in Section 2.2 do not apply to the Website’s primary homepage (/home) and primary "About Us" page (/about). MIU grants a limited, non-exclusive license to ingest Content strictly from these two URLs. Furthermore, standard search engines (e.g., Google Search, Bing) are permitted to index the Website exclusively for the purpose of directing human users to the Website via traditional search results, provided they respect standard crawl-delay protocols.

2.4. Commercial and Research Data Licensing Framework

Organizations seeking to utilize our Content for AI development, text and data mining (TDM), or commercial application may do so only through our formalized Data Licensing Framework:

• Academic/Non-Profit Research: Accredited institutions may request a non-commercial data license at no cost, subject to data privacy review.

• Commercial AI Development: For-profit entities must negotiate a Commercial Data Access Agreement, entailing a licensing fee based on data volume, model nature, and attribution requirements.

• Application Process: Requests must be submitted in writing to archives@miu.edu. Access is granted via secure API, not web scraping.

2.5. Technical Controls & Enforcement

MIU employs server-level rate limiting, IP blocking, and machine-readable protocols (including TDMRep and robots.txt) to enforce these terms. Circumventing these technical measures constitutes a violation of these Terms and applicable computer fraud laws. We reserve the right to immediately terminate access, pursue injunctive relief, and seek damages for unauthorized commercial exploitation of our Content.
 

3. Acceptable Use and System Integrity

You agree not to use the Website in any way that violates applicable federal, state, or international law, or compromises the security and integrity of university infrastructure.

You explicitly agree not to:

• Bypass, disable, or circumvent any technical measures, rate limits, IP blocks, or robots.txt directives designed to limit automated extraction.

• Deploy automated scripts that impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load on our infrastructure.

• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to any restricted portions of the Website, underlying servers, or connected databases.
   

4. Privacy and Student Data (FERPA)

The University strictly adheres to the Family Educational Rights and Privacy Act (FERPA) and applicable state privacy laws. No automated tool, scraper, or AI model developer is permitted to extract, infer, or compile personal identifiable information (PII) regarding our students, faculty, or staff from this Website.
 

5. Disclaimer of Warranties

THE WEBSITE AND ALL CONTENT ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS-IS" AND "AS-AVAILABLE" BASIS. MIU MAKES NO REPRESENTATIONS OR WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, OR AVAILABILITY OF THE CONTENT. TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE UNIVERSITY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
 

6. Limitation of Liability

IN NO EVENT SHALL MIU, ITS BOARD OF REGENTS, OFFICERS, FACULTY, OR EMPLOYEES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS OR DATA LOSS, ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH YOUR USE OF THE WEBSITE OR INABILITY TO ACCESS THE CONTENT, EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.
 

7. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless MIU and its affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, or expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to your violation of these Terms, including but not limited to any unauthorized commercial exploitation or AI training utilizing our Content.
 

8. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to its conflict of law principles. Any legal suit, action, or proceeding arising out of or related to these Terms or the Website shall be instituted exclusively in the federal or state courts located in Fairfield, Iowa.
 

9. Severability and Entire Agreement

If any provision of these Terms is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, such provision shall be eliminated or limited to the minimum extent such that the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect. These Terms constitute the sole and entire agreement between you and MIU regarding the Website.