exchange-tos-bfh-v0.en.rst (16557B)
1 Terms of Service 2 ================ 3 4 Last update: 26.04.2024 5 6 Welcome! The ICE research center of the Bern University of Applied Sciences 7 in Switzerland (“we,” “our,” or “us”) provides an experimental payment service 8 through our Internet presence (collectively the “Services”). Before using our 9 Services, please read the Terms of Service (the “Terms” or the “Agreement”) 10 carefully. 11 12 This is research 13 ---------------- 14 15 This is a research experiment. Any funds wired to our Bitcoin address are 16 considered a donation to our research group. We may use them to enable 17 payments following the GNU Taler protocol, or simply keep them at our 18 discretion. The service is experimental and may also be discontinued at 19 any time, in which case all remaining funds will definitively be kept by 20 the research group. 21 22 Overview 23 -------- 24 25 This section provides a brief summary of the highlights of this 26 Agreement. Please note that when you accept this Agreement, you are accepting 27 all of the terms and conditions and not just this section. We and possibly 28 other third parties provide Internet services which interact with the Taler 29 wallet’s self-hosted personal payment application. When using the Taler wallet 30 to interact with our Services, you are agreeing to our Terms, so please read 31 carefully. 32 33 Highlights: 34 ~~~~~~~~~~~ 35 36 * You are responsible for keeping the data in your Taler wallet at all times under your control. Any losses arising from you not being in control of your private information are your problem. 37 * We may transfer funds we receive from our users to any legal recipient to the best of our ability within the limitations of the law and our implementation. However, the Services offered today are highly experimental and the set of recipients of funds is severely restricted. Again, we stress this is a research experiment and technically all funds held by the exchange are owned by the research group of the university. 38 * For our Services, we may charge transaction fees. The specific fee structure is provided based on the Taler protocol and should be shown to you when you withdraw electronic coins using a Taler wallet. You agree and understand that the Taler protocol allows for the fee structure to change. 39 * You agree to not intentionally overwhelm our systems with requests and follow responsible disclosure if you find security issues in our services. 40 * We cannot be held accountable for our Services not being available due to any circumstances. If we modify or terminate our services, we may give you the opportunity to recover your funds. However, given the experimental state of the Services today, this may not be possible. You are strongly advised to limit your use of the Service to small-scale experiments expecting total loss of all funds. 41 42 These terms outline approved uses of our Services. The Services and these 43 Terms are still at an experimental stage. If you have any questions or 44 comments related to this Agreement, please send us a message to 45 ice@bfh.ch. If you do not agree to this Agreement, you must not use our Services. 46 47 How you accept this policy 48 -------------------------- 49 50 By sending funds to us (to top-up your Taler wallet), you acknowledge that you 51 have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms. We reserve the right to 52 change these Terms at any time. If you disagree with the change, we may in the 53 future offer you with an easy option to recover your unspent funds. However, 54 in the current experimental period you acknowledge that this feature is not 55 yet available, resulting in your funds being lost unless you accept the new 56 Terms. If you continue to use our Services other than to recover your unspent 57 funds, your continued use of our Services following any such change will 58 signify your acceptance to be bound by the then current Terms. Please check 59 the effective date above to determine if there have been any changes since you 60 have last reviewed these Terms. 61 62 Services 63 -------- 64 65 We will try to transfer funds that we receive from users to any legal 66 recipient to the best of our ability and within the limitations of the 67 law. However, the Services offered today are highly experimental and the set 68 of recipients of funds is severely restricted. The Taler wallet can be loaded 69 by exchanging fiat or cryptocurrencies against electronic coins. We are 70 providing this exchange service. Once your Taler wallet is loaded with 71 electronic coins they can be spent for purchases if the seller is accepting 72 Taler as a means of payment. We are not guaranteeing that any seller is 73 accepting Taler at all or a particular seller. The seller or recipient of 74 deposits of electronic coins must specify the target account, as per the 75 design of the Taler protocol. They are responsible for following the protocol 76 and specifying the correct bank account, and are solely liable for any losses 77 that may arise from specifying the wrong account. We may allow the government 78 to link wire transfers to the underlying contract hash. It is the 79 responsibility of recipients to preserve the full contracts and to pay 80 whatever taxes and charges may be applicable. Technical issues may lead to 81 situations where we are unable to make transfers at all or lead to incorrect 82 transfers that cannot be reversed. We may refuse to execute transfers if the 83 transfers are prohibited by a competent legal authority and we are ordered to 84 do so. 85 86 When using our Services, you agree to not take any action that intentionally 87 imposes an unreasonable load on our infrastructure. If you find security 88 problems in our Services, you agree to first report them to 89 security@taler-systems.com and grant us the right to publish your report. We 90 warrant that we will ourselves publicly disclose any issues reported within 3 91 months, and that we will not prosecute anyone reporting security issues if 92 they did not exploit the issue beyond a proof-of-concept, and followed the 93 above responsible disclosure practice. 94 95 Fees 96 ---- 97 98 You agree to pay the fees for exchanges and withdrawals completed via the 99 Taler wallet ("Fees") as defined by us, which we may change from time to 100 time. With the exception of wire transfer fees, Taler transaction fees are set 101 for any electronic coin at the time of withdrawal and fixed throughout the 102 validity period of the respective electronic coin. Your wallet should obtain 103 and display applicable fees when withdrawing funds. Fees for coins obtained as 104 change may differ from the fees applicable to the original coin. Wire transfer 105 fees that are independent from electronic coins may change annually. You 106 authorize us to charge or deduct applicable fees owed in connection with 107 deposits, exchanges and withdrawals following the rules of the Taler protocol. 108 We reserve the right to provide different types of rewards to users either in 109 the form of discount for our Services or in any other form at our discretion 110 and without prior notice to you. 111 112 Eligibility and Financial self-responsibility 113 --------------------------------------------- 114 115 To be eligible to use our Services, you must be able to form legally binding 116 contracts or have the permission of your legal guardian. By using our 117 Services, you represent and warrant that you meet all eligibility requirements 118 that we outline in these Terms. 119 120 You will be responsible for maintaining the availability, integrity and 121 confidentiality of the data stored in your wallet. When you setup a Taler 122 wallet, you are strongly advised to follow the precautionary measures offered 123 by the software to minimize the chances to lose access to or control over 124 your wallet data. We will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from 125 your failure to comply with this paragraph. 126 127 Copyrights and Trademarks 128 ------------------------- 129 130 The Taler wallet is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License 131 (GNU GPL). You have the right to access, use, and share the Taler wallet, in 132 modified or unmodified form. However, the GPL is a strong copyleft license, 133 which means that any derivative works must be distributed under the same 134 license terms as the original software. If you have any questions, you should 135 review the GNU GPL’s full terms and conditions at 136 https://www.gnu.org/licenses/. “Taler” itself is a trademark 137 of Taler Systems SA. You are welcome to use the name in relation to processing 138 payments using the Taler protocol, assuming your use is compatible with an 139 official release from the GNU Project that is not older than two years. 140 141 Limitation of Liability, Disclaimer of Warranties 142 -------------------------------------------------- 143 144 You understand and agree that we have no control over and no duty to take any action regarding: 145 146 * Failures, disruptions, errors or delays in processing that you may experience while using our Services; 147 * the risk of failure of hardware, of software or of Internet connections; 148 * the risk of malicious software being introduced or found in the software underlying the Taler wallet; 149 * the risk that third parties may obtain unauthorized access to information stored within your Taler wallet, including, but not limited to your Taler wallet coins or backup encryption keys. 150 151 You release us from all liability related to any losses, damages, or claims arising from: 152 153 * user error such as forgotten passwords, incorrectly constructed transactions; 154 * server failure or data loss; 155 * unauthorized access to the Taler wallet application; 156 * bugs or other errors in the Taler wallet software; and 157 * any unauthorized third party activities, including, but not limited to, the use of viruses, phishing, brute-forcing or other means of attack against the Taler wallet. We make no representations concerning any Third Party Content contained in or accessed through our Services. 158 159 Any other terms, conditions, warranties or representations associated with 160 such content are solely between you and such organizations and/or individuals. 161 162 To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will we or any 163 of our officers, directors, representatives, agents, servants, counsels, 164 employees, consultants, lawyers, and other personnel authorized to act, 165 acting or purporting to act on our behalf (collectively the “Taler Parties”) 166 be liable to you under contract, tort, strict liability, negligence or any 167 other legal or equitable theory for: 168 169 1) any direct damages or 170 2) any lost profits, data loss, cost of procurement of substitute goods or services, or direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive, compensatory, or consequential damages of any kind whatsoever resulting from: 171 172 * your use of or conduct in connection with our services; 173 * any unauthorized use of your wallet and/or private key due to your failure to maintain the confidentiality of your wallet; 174 * any interruption or cessation of transmission to or from the services; or 175 * any bugs, viruses, trojan horses or the like that are found in the Taler wallet software or that may be transmitted to or through our services by any third party (regardless of the source of origination). 176 177 These limitations apply regardless of legal theory, whether based on tort, 178 strict liability, breach of contract, breach of warranty or any other legal 179 theory and whether or not we were advised of the possibility of such 180 damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of 181 liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may 182 not apply to you. 183 184 Our services are provided "as is" and without warranty of any kind. To the 185 maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all representations and 186 warranties, express or implied, relating to the services and underlying 187 software or any content on the services, whether provided or owned by us or by 188 any third party, including without limitation, warranties of merchantability, 189 fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, freedom from 190 computer virus and any implied warranties arising from course of dealing, 191 course of performance, or usage in trade, all of which are expressly 192 disclaimed. In addition, we do not represent or warrant that the content 193 accessible via the services is accurate, complete, available, current, free of 194 viruses or other harmful components, or that the results of using the services 195 will meet your requirements. Some states do not allow the disclaimer of 196 implied warranties, so the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you. This 197 paragraph gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other legal 198 rights that vary from state to state. 199 200 Indemnity and Time limitation on Claims and Termination 201 ------------------------------------------------------- 202 203 To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and 204 hold harmless the Taler Parties from and against any and all claims, damages, 205 obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt and expenses (including, but 206 not limited to, attorney’s fees) arising from: 207 208 * your use of and access to the Services; 209 * any feedback or submissions you provide to us concerning the Taler wallet; 210 * your violation of any term of this Agreement; or 211 * your violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or the rights of any third party. 212 213 You agree that any claim you may have arising out of or related to your 214 relationship with us must be filed within one year after such claim arises, 215 otherwise, your claim is permanently barred. 216 217 In the event of termination concerning your use of our Services, your 218 obligations under this Agreement will still continue. 219 220 Discontinuance of Services and Force majeure 221 -------------------------------------------- 222 223 We may, in our sole discretion and without cost to you, with or without prior 224 notice, and at any time, modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, 225 any portion of our Services. We will use the Taler protocol’s provisions to 226 notify wallets if our Services are to be discontinued. It is your 227 responsibility to ensure that the Taler wallet is online at least once every 228 three months to observe these notifications. We shall not be held responsible 229 or liable for any loss of funds in the event that we discontinue or deprecate 230 the Services and your Taler wallet fails to transfer out the coins within a 231 three months notification period. 232 233 We shall not be held liable for any delays failure in performance or 234 interruptions of Services which result directly or indirectly from any cause or 235 condition beyond our reasonable control, including, but not limited to any 236 delay or failure due to any act of God, act of civil or military authorities, 237 act of terrorism, civil disturbance, war, strike or other labor dispute, fire, 238 interruption in telecommunications or Internet services or network provider 239 services, failure of equipment and/or software, other catastrophe or any 240 other occurrence which is beyond our reasonable control and shall not affect 241 the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions. 242 243 Governing law, Waivers, Severability and Assignment 244 --------------------------------------------------- 245 246 No matter where you’re located, the laws of Switzerland will govern these 247 Terms. If any provisions of these Terms are inconsistent with any applicable 248 law, those provisions will be superseded or modified only to the extent such 249 provisions are inconsistent. The parties agree to submit to the ordinary 250 courts in Bern, Switzerland for exclusive jurisdiction of any dispute 251 arising out of or related to your use of the Services or your breach of these 252 Terms. 253 254 Our failure to exercise or delay in exercising any right, power or privilege 255 under this Agreement shall not operate as a waiver nor shall any single or 256 partial exercise of any right, power or privilege preclude any other or 257 further exercise thereof. 258 259 You agree that we may assign any of our rights and/or transfer, sub-contract, 260 or delegate any of our obligations under these Terms. 261 262 If it turns out that any part of this Agreement is invalid, void or for any 263 reason unenforceable, that term will be deemed severable and limited or 264 eliminated to the minimum extent necessary. 265 266 This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement as to the 267 subject matter hereof and supersedes any and all prior discussions, 268 agreements, and understandings of any kind (including, without limitation, any 269 prior versions of this Agreement) and every nature between us. Except as 270 provided for above, any modification to this Agreement must be in writing and 271 must be signed by both parties. 272 273 Questions or comments 274 --------------------- 275 276 We welcome comments, questions, concerns or suggestions. Please send us a 277 message on our contact page at legal@taler-systems.com.