SECURITY STATEMENT

The expansion of the Internet has not only allowed us to provide you with incredible information resources, but also the ability to purchase products and services online. While you may have a significant interest in online purchasing because of its convenience and its link to those valuable information resources, you may have some concerns with providing your personal credit card information over the ?public? Internet. This statement is intended to inform you of the procedures that we take to alleviate those concerns. We hope that you understand from this statement that providing your credit card over our secure connection is in many respects more secure than using it in a store.

How is my order taken?

The following section describes how the secure order process works, from start to finish.

Step 1: Starting Your Order.

You will click the “Finish Enrollment” button. The security features are automatic and you do not need to do anything other than click the “Finish Enrollment” button to prompt these features. Every purchase on our site is secure.

Step 2: Your Computer Checks Our Site.

Once you have started your purchase, the browser on your computer “looks” for a digital certificate to confirm that it is communicating with our site. This verification process happens in the background every time you place an purchase on our site. Once your browser identifies this digital certificate, your order continues.

Step 3: You Enter Secure Mode

Some browsers display this window when you are about to receive a secure document. To enter secure mode, you should click “OK” (or “Continue”) to proceed – it simply means that you will begin receiving pages in a highly secure encrypted format.The site is secured with 256-bit encryption. The encryption features of browser software are exceptionally powerful and ensure the security of this data as it is transmitted to our server.

Step 4: You Place Your Purchase.

After your browser has entered secure mode, you will be prompted to provide, or, if you have previously registered with our site, confirm your credit card information.

What do you do with my order after it is received?

Security measures continue even after you've placed your order, as we process your order in a highly secure computing environment. Please review our Privacy Statement for our internal security measures to protect your personal information.

Is there any way that I can monitor whether I am operating in the secure mode?

Yes. The most popular Web browsers use display a “lock” icon somewhere in the window of the browser (not in the web page display area!) that let you know whether or not they are in secure mode.

Microsoft's Internet Explorer displays the lock icon in the lower-right of the browser window.

Mozilla's Firefox displays the lock icon in the lower-left corner.

Another indication that a browser is in secure mode can be found in the Web site address that your browser displays. The address will begin “http://” in standard, non-secure mode and “https://” in secure mode. The “s” stands for “secure.”

What do I do after my purchase is placed?

Once you exit the ordering process, your browser will automatically revert to the slightly faster standard mode of communication. The online transmission of your credit card information will have ceased and it is perfectly safe for you to continue to browse our site in standard mode.

What if I make a purchase with a Browser that does not follow your order process?

You can't. Because we don't want you ever to have to worry about ordering from our site without a secure connection, we've designed our system so that it will process orders only with browsers that support secure mode.

Please check the latest versions of browsers for updated security features. These browsers are free for downloading. Visit the company's Web site for details.

What if I have older Web browsing software?

If you use one of some of the older Web browsers, you may encounter security warnings, for example, when you visit a secure page at any Web site after December 31, 1999. The warning is generated in error and is caused by a software problem in these browsers. The problem does not affect the security of your connection to our site. For more information on this issue, including details of how to update your browser, please see the Year 2000 notices for the respective browser that you use.

What if something still goes wrong?

The Fair Credit Act should protect you.

The Fair Credit Act specifies that a credit card company can hold you liable for no more than $50 in fraudulent charges to your account.

To take advantage of these protections, you must promptly notify your credit card company of any fraudulent charges and follow any additional procedures required in your agreement with the credit card company. You should then present all of this information along with any bill that we just described to us.

What do we need you to do to help protect this information?

First, we ask that you follow the procedures described in this statement and in any online directions provided to you.