Terms Of Service¶

Last Updated: 09.06.2022

Welcome! The ICE research center of the Bern University of Applied Sciences -in Switzerland (“we,” “our,” or “us”) provides an experimental payment service -through our Internet presence (collectively the “Services”). Before using our -Services, please read the Terms of Service (the “Terms” or the “Agreement”) -carefully.

This is research¶

This is a research experiment. Any funds wired to our Bitcoin address are -considered a donation to our research group. We may use them to enable -payments following the GNU Taler protocol, or simply keep them at our -discretion. The service is experimental and may also be discontinued at -any time, in which case all remaining funds will definitively be kept by -the research group.

Overview¶

This section provides a brief summary of the highlights of this -Agreement. Please note that when you accept this Agreement, you are accepting -all of the terms and conditions and not just this section. We and possibly -other third parties provide Internet services which interact with the Taler -Wallet’s self-hosted personal payment application. When using the Taler Wallet -to interact with our Services, you are agreeing to our Terms, so please read -carefully.

Highlights:¶

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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.
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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.
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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.
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You agree to not intentionally overwhelm our systems with requests and -follow responsible disclosure if you find security issues in our services.
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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.
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These terms outline approved uses of our Services. The Services and these -Terms are still at an experimental stage. If you have any questions or -comments related to this Agreement, please send us a message to -ice@bfh.ch. If you do not agree to this Agreement, you must not -use our Services.

How you accept this policy¶

By sending funds to us (to top-up your Taler Wallet), you acknowledge that you -have read, understood, and agreed to these Terms. We reserve the right to -change these Terms at any time. If you disagree with the change, we may in the -future offer you with an easy option to recover your unspent funds. However, -in the current experimental period you acknowledge that this feature is not -yet available, resulting in your funds being lost unless you accept the new -Terms. If you continue to use our Services other than to recover your unspent -funds, your continued use of our Services following any such change will -signify your acceptance to be bound by the then current Terms. Please check -the effective date above to determine if there have been any changes since you -have last reviewed these Terms.

Services¶

We will try to transfer funds that we receive from users to any legal -recipient to the best of our ability and within the limitations of the -law. However, the Services offered today are highly experimental and the set -of recipients of funds is severely restricted. The Taler Wallet can be loaded -by exchanging fiat or cryptocurrencies against electronic coins. We are -providing this exchange service. Once your Taler Wallet is loaded with -electronic coins they can be spent for purchases if the seller is accepting -Taler as a means of payment. We are not guaranteeing that any seller is -accepting Taler at all or a particular seller. The seller or recipient of -deposits of electronic coins must specify the target account, as per the -design of the Taler protocol. They are responsible for following the protocol -and specifying the correct bank account, and are solely liable for any losses -that may arise from specifying the wrong account. We may allow the government -to link wire transfers to the underlying contract hash. It is the -responsibility of recipients to preserve the full contracts and to pay -whatever taxes and charges may be applicable. Technical issues may lead to -situations where we are unable to make transfers at all or lead to incorrect -transfers that cannot be reversed. We may refuse to execute transfers if the -transfers are prohibited by a competent legal authority and we are ordered to -do so.

When using our Services, you agree to not take any action that intentionally -imposes an unreasonable load on our infrastructure. If you find security -problems in our Services, you agree to first report them to -security@taler-systems.com and grant us the right to publish your report. We -warrant that we will ourselves publicly disclose any issues reported within 3 -months, and that we will not prosecute anyone reporting security issues if -they did not exploit the issue beyond a proof-of-concept, and followed the -above responsible disclosure practice.

Fees¶

You agree to pay the fees for exchanges and withdrawals completed via the -Taler Wallet (“Fees”) as defined by us, which we may change from time to -time. With the exception of wire transfer fees, Taler transaction fees are set -for any electronic coin at the time of withdrawal and fixed throughout the -validity period of the respective electronic coin. Your wallet should obtain -and display applicable fees when withdrawing funds. Fees for coins obtained as -change may differ from the fees applicable to the original coin. Wire transfer -fees that are independent from electronic coins may change annually. You -authorize us to charge or deduct applicable fees owed in connection with -deposits, exchanges and withdrawals following the rules of the Taler protocol. -We reserve the right to provide different types of rewards to users either in -the form of discount for our Services or in any other form at our discretion -and without prior notice to you.

Eligibility and Financial self-responsibility¶

To be eligible to use our Services, you must be able to form legally binding -contracts or have the permission of your legal guardian. By using our -Services, you represent and warrant that you meet all eligibility requirements -that we outline in these Terms.

You will be responsible for maintaining the availability, integrity and -confidentiality of the data stored in your wallet. When you setup a Taler -Wallet, you are strongly advised to follow the precautionary measures offered -by the software to minimize the chances to losse access to or control over -your Wallet data. We will not be liable for any loss or damage arising from -your failure to comply with this paragraph.

Copyrights and trademarks¶

The Taler Wallet is released under the terms of the GNU General Public License -(GNU GPL). You have the right to access, use, and share the Taler Wallet, in -modified or unmodified form. However, the GPL is a strong copyleft license, -which means that any derivative works must be distributed under the same -license terms as the original software. If you have any questions, you should -review the GNU GPL’s full terms and conditions at -https://www.gnu.org/licenses/gpl-3.0.en.html. “Taler” itself is a trademark -of Taler Systems SA. You are welcome to use the name in relation to processing -payments using the Taler protocol, assuming your use is compatible with an -official release from the GNU Project that is not older than two years.

Limitation of liability & disclaimer of warranties¶

You understand and agree that we have no control over, and no duty to take any -action regarding: Failures, disruptions, errors, or delays in processing that -you may experience while using our Services; The risk of failure of hardware, -software, and Internet connections; The risk of malicious software being -introduced or found in the software underlying the Taler Wallet; 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. You release us from all liability related to any losses, -damages, or claims arising from:

user error such as forgotten passwords, incorrectly constructed -transactions;
server failure or data loss;
unauthorized access to the Taler Wallet application;
bugs or other errors in the Taler Wallet software; and
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.

Any other terms, conditions, warranties, or representations associated with -such content, are solely between you and such organizations and/or -individuals.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event will we or any -of our officers, directors, representatives, agents, servants, counsel, -employees, consultants, lawyers, and other personnel authorized to act, -acting, or purporting to act on our behalf (collectively the “Taler Parties”) -be liable to you under contract, tort, strict liability, negligence, or any -other legal or equitable theory, for:

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:

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your use of, or conduct in connection with, our services;
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any unauthorized use of your wallet and/or private key due to your -failure to maintain the confidentiality of your wallet;
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any interruption or cessation of transmission to or from the services; or
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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), or
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any direct damages.

These limitations apply regardless of legal theory, whether based on tort, -strict liability, breach of contract, breach of warranty, or any other legal -theory, and whether or not we were advised of the possibility of such -damages. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of -liability for consequential or incidental damages, so the above limitation may -not apply to you.

Our services are provided “as is” and without warranty of any kind. To the -maximum extent permitted by law, we disclaim all representations and -warranties, express or implied, relating to the services and underlying -software or any content on the services, whether provided or owned by us or by -any third party, including without limitation, warranties of merchantability, -fitness for a particular purpose, title, non-infringement, freedom from -computer virus, and any implied warranties arising from course of dealing, -course of performance, or usage in trade, all of which are expressly -disclaimed. In addition, we do not represent or warrant that the content -accessible via the services is accurate, complete, available, current, free of -viruses or other harmful components, or that the results of using the services -will meet your requirements. Some states do not allow the disclaimer of -implied warranties, so the foregoing disclaimers may not apply to you. This -paragraph gives you specific legal rights and you may also have other legal -rights that vary from state to state.

Indemnity and Time limitation on claims and Termination¶

To the extent permitted by applicable law, you agree to defend, indemnify, and -hold harmless the Taler Parties from and against any and all claims, damages, -obligations, losses, liabilities, costs or debt, and expenses (including, but -not limited to, attorney’s fees) arising from: (a) your use of and access to -the Services; (b) any feedback or submissions you provide to us concerning the -Taler Wallet; (c) your violation of any term of this Agreement; or (d) your -violation of any law, rule, or regulation, or the rights of any third party.

You agree that any claim you may have arising out of or related to your -relationship with us must be filed within one year after such claim arises, -otherwise, your claim in permanently barred.

In the event of termination concerning your use of our Services, your -obligations under this Agreement will still continue.

Discontinuance of services and Force majeure¶

We may, in our sole discretion and without cost to you, with or without prior -notice, and at any time, modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, -any portion of our Services. We will use the Taler protocol’s provisions to -notify Wallets if our Services are to be discontinued. It is your -responsibility to ensure that the Taler Wallet is online at least once every -three months to observe these notifications. We shall not be held responsible -or liable for any loss of funds in the event that we discontinue or depreciate -the Services and your Taler Wallet fails to transfer out the coins within a -three months notification period.

We shall not be held liable for any delays, failure in performance, or -interruptions of service which result directly or indirectly from any cause or -condition beyond our reasonable control, including but not limited to: any -delay or failure due to any act of God, act of civil or military authorities, -act of terrorism, civil disturbance, war, strike or other labor dispute, fire, -interruption in telecommunications or Internet services or network provider -services, failure of equipment and/or software, other catastrophe, or any -other occurrence which is beyond our reasonable control and shall not affect -the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Governing law, Waivers, Severability and Assignment¶

No matter where you’re located, the laws of Switzerland will govern these -Terms. If any provisions of these Terms are inconsistent with any applicable -law, those provisions will be superseded or modified only to the extent such -provisions are inconsistent. The parties agree to submit to the ordinary -courts in Bern, Switzerland for exclusive jurisdiction of any dispute -arising out of or related to your use of the Services or your breach of these -Terms.

Our failure to exercise or delay in exercising any right, power, or privilege -under this Agreement shall not operate as a waiver; nor shall any single or -partial exercise of any right, power, or privilege preclude any other or -further exercise thereof.

You agree that we may assign any of our rights and/or transfer, sub-contract, -or delegate any of our obligations under these Terms.

If it turns out that any part of this Agreement is invalid, void, or for any -reason unenforceable, that term will be deemed severable and limited or -eliminated to the minimum extent necessary.

This Agreement sets forth the entire understanding and agreement as to the -subject matter hereof and supersedes any and all prior discussions, -agreements, and understandings of any kind (including, without limitation, any -prior versions of this Agreement) and every nature between us. Except as -provided for above, any modification to this Agreement must be in writing and -must be signed by both parties.

Questions or comments¶

We welcome comments, questions, concerns, or suggestions. Please send us a -message on our contact page at legal@taler-systems.com.