Terms of Service

These Terms of Service (the “Terms”) form a binding legal agreement between Meridian Compass LLC, a Wyoming limited liability company located at 30 N Gould St STE R, Sheridan, WY 82801 (“Meridian Compass,” “we,” “us,” or “our”), and you, the user accessing themeridiancompass.com and the buyer-side decision tools made available through it (collectively, the “Services”).

1. Acceptance

You accept these Terms by accessing or using the Services. If you do not accept these Terms, do not use the Services. Together with the Privacy Policy and Disclaimer, these Terms constitute the entire agreement.

2. Eligibility

The Services are intended for business users only. You represent that you are:

• at least 18 years old;
• a U.S. resident or entity, or otherwise lawfully able to access the Services;
• legally capable of entering into contracts;
• duly authorized to bind any entity on whose behalf you access the Services;
• not barred by U.S. law or sanctions; and
• not a competitor of Meridian Compass accessing the Services for purposes of monitoring availability, performance, or functionality.

3. Services

Meridian Compass publishes editorial reference content about CMMC procurement and offers four free, rule-based decision tools: the Cost & Fit Check, Quote Decoder, RFP Decoder, and Provider Matcher. Each tool takes self-reported inputs you supply, applies a published rule set, and returns a plain-English readout. The provider directory is editorial reference material drawn from publicly available sources with citations and retrieval dates.

Meridian Compass also markets two paid products: the CMMC Quote & Readiness Decision Pack and per-decoder PDF exports. As of the effective date above, paid checkout is not yet live; the corresponding pages are placeholders and no payment is processed. When paid checkout is activated, the applicable pricing, refund, and delivery terms will be published at the point of purchase and incorporated into these Terms.

4. Account and credentials

The free Services do not require an account. You may optionally provide an email address so that a result URL can be sent or retrieved. You are responsible for the accuracy of any information you provide and for any activity that occurs under any account you later create.

5. Acceptable use

You agree not to:

• copy, modify, create derivative works of, reverse engineer, decompile, translate, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive the underlying logic of the Services, except to the extent expressly permitted by applicable law;
• scrape, crawl, harvest, or systematically retrieve data through automated means without our prior written consent;
• circumvent security, rate-limiting, or access-control mechanisms;
• resell, sublicense, or commercially exploit the Services without our express written permission;
• use the Services or any extracted data to build, train, or evaluate a competing product;
• use the Services for unlawful, fraudulent, deceptive, or infringing activity;
• upload malware, viruses, or harmful code, or interfere with or disrupt the Services through denial-of-service attacks or excessive loads;
• remove or alter any proprietary notices or branding; or
• paste Controlled Unclassified Information (CUI), classified data, contracts, signatures, or other content you are not authorized to share into any tool input field. You are solely responsible for sanitizing input before submission.

6. Intellectual property

Meridian Compass and its licensors own all right, title, and interest in and to the Services, including the software, databases, editorial content, scoring logic, templates, and documentation. You receive only a limited, revocable, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable right to access and use the Services during the term for your own internal business purposes.

You retain rights to the inputs you submit to a decision tool (“User Inputs”) and grant Meridian Compass a license to host, copy, transmit, and use them to provide the Services, generate the corresponding readout, prevent abuse, comply with law, and create de-identified aggregated statistics.

Readouts produced by a decision tool (“Outputs”) are licensed to you for your own internal business purposes, including sharing with internal stakeholders and outside advisors involved in your CMMC procurement decision. You may not resell, sublicense, or publicly redistribute the Output as a stand-alone product.

Meridian Compass does not use User Inputs or Outputs to train, fine-tune, or otherwise improve any third-party machine learning model. The scoring logic is rule-based; no model is in the request path.

7. Provider directory records

The provider directory is an editorial reference. Inclusion is not endorsement. Each record cites the public sources on which its claims rely, with retrieval dates. Information about providers is drawn from publicly accessible sources and is believed accurate as of the cited retrieval dates, but providers’ own websites and authoritative listings (such as the Cyber AB Marketplace) remain the authoritative source. You should independently verify any fact on which you intend to rely.

8. Government non-affiliation

Meridian Compass is an independent commercial publisher. It is not affiliated with, endorsed by, sponsored by, or in any way officially connected to the United States Department of Defense, the Cyber AB, any C3PAO, or any other federal, state, or local agency. References to agencies or programs are descriptive only and do not imply endorsement.

9. Not professional advice

Nothing produced or displayed by the Services constitutes legal, tax, accounting, auditing, lobbying, investment, compliance, export, regulatory, FAR/DFARS compliance, cybersecurity certification, or any other professional advice. Outputs are for informational purposes only and are not a substitute for advice from a duly licensed professional. Consult qualified advisors for decisions with legal, financial, or regulatory consequences.

10. No guarantee of outcomes

The Services provide judgment-based, rule-based decision support. Meridian Compass does not guarantee that you will be awarded a contract, achieve a particular CMMC certification level, pass an assessment, or obtain any other procurement or compliance outcome. Outcomes depend on your execution, capabilities, the providers you ultimately engage, and other external factors.

11. Third-party services and data

The Services rely on third-party providers, including Vercel for hosting and storage, and reference publicly available data sources. Your use of any third-party service is subject to that provider’s own terms and privacy policy. Meridian Compass does not control, endorse, or assume responsibility for third-party services. If a third-party service becomes unavailable, we may modify or discontinue the related features without liability.

12. Disclaimer of warranties

THE SERVICES, INCLUDING ALL CONTENT, OUTPUTS, RECOMMENDATIONS, AND DELIVERABLES, ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” WITH ALL FAULTS. MERIDIAN COMPASS EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, ACCURACY, COMPLETENESS, TIMELINESS, RELIABILITY, UNINTERRUPTED OPERATION, SECURITY, AND FREEDOM FROM HARMFUL CODE.

MERIDIAN COMPASS MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT THE SERVICES WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT ANY DATA, OUTPUT, OR INFORMATION ACCESSED THROUGH THE SERVICES IS ACCURATE, CURRENT, OR COMPLETE.

13. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL MERIDIAN COMPASS LLC OR ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, OR AGENTS BE LIABLE TO YOU OR TO ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, EXEMPLARY, OR MULTIPLIED DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOST PROFITS, LOST REVENUE, LOST CONTRACTS, LOST BIDS, LOST OPPORTUNITIES, LOSS OF GOODWILL, DATA INACCURACY, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, OR THE COST OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS OR SERVICES, WHETHER BASED ON CONTRACT, TORT, STATUTE, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, AND EVEN IF ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

MERIDIAN COMPASS’S TOTAL AGGREGATE LIABILITY ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THESE TERMS AND THE SERVICES SHALL NOT EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) THE TOTAL AMOUNTS PAID BY YOU TO MERIDIAN COMPASS IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE EVENT FIRST GIVING RISE TO THE CLAIM, OR (B) ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (USD $100). Some jurisdictions restrict these limitations; in those jurisdictions, our liability is limited to the maximum extent permitted.

14. Indemnification

You shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Meridian Compass and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims arising from (a) the inputs you submit; (b) your breach of these Terms; (c) your violation of applicable law; (d) your infringement of any third-party rights; (e) bid, proposal, contract, or compliance decisions you make based on the Services; or (f) disputes with third parties related to your use of the Services.

15. Governing law and venue

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Services are governed by the laws of the State of Wyoming, U.S.A., without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. The U.N. Convention on International Sale of Goods does not apply. Subject to Section 16, the state and federal courts located in Sheridan County, Wyoming have exclusive jurisdiction.

16. Binding arbitration and class waiver

Except for the carve-outs below, any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services shall be resolved exclusively by final and binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) under its Commercial Arbitration Rules. Arbitration shall occur in Sheridan, Wyoming, although hearings may be conducted by videoconference or on a documents-only basis.

Class-action waiver. YOU AND MERIDIAN COMPASS AGREE THAT EACH MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY IN ITS OR YOUR INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING. The arbitrator may not consolidate multiple claims or preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.

Carve-outs. Either party may bring an individual action in small-claims court, or seek injunctive relief in court to prevent infringement of intellectual property, breach of confidentiality, or violation of security.

30-day opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration provision by emailing legal@themeridiancompass.com within 30 days of your first use of the Services with the subject line “Arbitration Opt-Out” and including your name, business email, and company name.

17. Modifications

We may modify these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be indicated by an updated effective date and, where practicable, an in-product notice. Non-material changes take effect upon posting. Your continued use of the Services after a revised version becomes effective constitutes acceptance.

18. Suspension and termination

We may suspend or terminate access to the Services, in whole or in part, if (a) you breach these Terms; (b) your use creates a credible risk of harm, legal exposure, fraud, or abuse; (c) suspension or termination is required by law or court order; or (d) we cease offering the Services generally. Except where immediate action is necessary, we will use commercially reasonable efforts to provide reasonable prior notice and an opportunity to cure where appropriate.

19. Force majeure

Neither party is liable for any failure or delay caused by events beyond reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, pandemics, civil unrest, war, terrorism, labor disputes, governmental action, internet failures, cloud provider failures, or cyber-attacks.

20. Assignment

You may not assign or transfer these Terms or any of your rights or obligations under them without our prior written consent. Any unauthorized assignment is void. We may assign these Terms freely, including to an affiliate or in connection with a merger, acquisition, or sale of assets.

21. Severability and waiver

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, that provision shall be modified to the minimum extent necessary to make it valid and enforceable, or severed, while the remaining provisions remain in effect. No failure or delay in exercising a right constitutes a waiver of that right.

22. Entire agreement

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and Disclaimer, constitute the entire agreement between you and Meridian Compass and supersede all prior understandings.

23. Contact

Questions about these Terms should be directed to:

Meridian Compass LLC
30 N Gould St STE R
Sheridan, WY 82801, USA
Email: legal@themeridiancompass.com