development and maintenance. Many of the risks associated with the use of open source software, such as the lack of warranties or assurances of title or performance, cannot be eliminated, and could, if not properly addressed, negatively affect our business. We have processes to help alleviate these risks, including a review process for screening requests from our developers for the use of open source software, but we cannot be sure that all open source software is identified or submitted for approval prior to use in our products and services. Any of these risks could be difficult to eliminate or manage, and, if not addressed, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
From time to time, we may be subject to legal proceedings, regulatory disputes, and governmental inquiries that could cause us to incur significant expenses, divert our management’s attention, and materially harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.
From time to time, we may be subject to claims, lawsuits, government investigations, and other proceedings involving products liability, competition and antitrust, intellectual property, privacy, consumer protection, securities, tax, labor and employment, commercial disputes, and other matters that could adversely affect our business operations and financial condition. As our business grows, we may see a rise in the number and significance of these disputes and inquiries. Litigation and regulatory proceedings, and particularly the intellectual property infringement matters that we could face, may be protracted and expensive, and the results are difficult to predict. Additionally, our litigation costs could be significant. Adverse outcomes with respect to litigation or any of these legal proceedings may result in significant settlement costs or judgments, penalties and fines, or require us to modify our products or services, make content unavailable, or require us to stop offering certain features, all of which could negatively affect our membership and revenue growth. See the section titled “Business—Legal Proceedings.”
The results of litigation, investigations, claims, and regulatory proceedings cannot be predicted with certainty, and determining reserves for pending litigation and other legal and regulatory matters requires significant judgment. There can be no assurance that our expectations will prove correct, and even if these matters are resolved in our favor or without significant cash settlements, these matters, and the time and resources necessary to litigate or resolve them, could harm our business, financial condition, and operating results.
Our business is subject to the risk of earthquakes, fire, power outages, floods, and other catastrophic events, and to interruption by manmade problems such as terrorism.
Our business is vulnerable to damage or interruption from earthquakes, fires, floods, power losses, telecommunications failures, terrorist attacks, acts of war, human errors, break-ins, and similar events. The third-party systems and operations and manufacturers we rely on are subject to similar risks. For example, a significant natural disaster, such as an earthquake, fire, or flood, could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results, and our insurance coverage may be insufficient to compensate us for losses that may occur. Acts of terrorism, which may be targeted at metropolitan areas that have higher population density than rural areas, could also cause disruptions in our or our suppliers’ and manufacturers’ businesses or the economy as a whole. We may not have sufficient protection or recovery plans in some circumstances, such as natural disasters affecting locations that store significant inventory of our products or that house our servers. As we rely heavily on our computer and communications systems, and the internet to conduct our business and provide high-quality customer service, these disruptions could negatively impact our ability to run our business and either directly or indirectly disrupt suppliers’ and manufacturers’ businesses, which could have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition, and operating results.
The outbreak of the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic, or COVID-19, could have an adverse effect on our business, results of operations, and financial condition.
COVID-19 has caused significant volatility in financial markets and has caused what is likely to be an extended global recession. Public health problems resulting from COVID-19 and precautionary measures
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