Skip links
🎉 Hashgraph.Name now powered by BCW! Read more here.
Launch App
hashgraph.name

Terms of Use

[last modified: October 2023]

  1. Introduction
    1. Please read these Terms of Use and any terms expressly incorporated herein (“Terms”) carefully, as these Terms govern your use of the website-hosted service offerings provided by hashgraph.name (defined hereinafter as ”HNS”, “we”, or “us”) and any of our other subdomains and affiliates on the Website (“Services”).  These Terms expressly set out your rights and obligations, and our disclaimers and limitations of legal liability, relating to your use of, and access to, the Services.  BY ACCESSING AND/OR USING THE SERVICES, YOU ACCEPT AND AGREE TO COMPLY WITH AND BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS. IF YOU DO NOT AGREE, THEN YOU MUST NOT ACCESS THE SERVICES.
    2. By ordering, accessing, registering for or using the Services, you acknowledge that you have read and understand these Terms, and are entering into a legally binding agreement with us. As used in these Terms and unless separately identified as applicable to either an individual or entity, “you” and/or “your” refer to both you individually and the entity on behalf of which you are entering into these Terms.  In the event you have entered into a separate bespoke written agreement with us regarding the Services (“Agreement”) that contemplates terms that are inconsistent with these Terms, such Agreement shall control and these Terms will not apply to you to the extent inconsistent with such Agreement, or, if such Agreement is contemplated to be in lieu of these Terms, then these Terms shall not apply at all. 
    3. We reserve the absolute right, in its sole discretion, to modify and/or add to these Terms from time to time.  If we make these changes, we will provide you with notice of such changes, such as by posting announcements on our Website or updating the “Last Updated” date at the beginning of these Terms.  Unless we state otherwise in relevant notice(s), all such modifications are effective immediately, and if you continue use of the Services after we provide such notice(s), you shall be deemed to have read, understood and agreed to these Terms as amended.  If you do not agree to the amended Terms, then you must stop using the Services.
    4. These Terms, together with any other terms and conditions or other agreement(s) that HNS posts publicly or otherwise makes available to you or the company or other legal entity you represent from time to time, form a legally binding agreement between HNS and you governing your subscription to and use of our Website and Services effective as of the date they are accepted by you.
  2. Eligibility 
    1. The Services are available only to entities and persons who have reached the age of legal majority and are competent to enter into a legal binding agreement under applicable laws.  By accessing or using the Services, you represent to us that you are 18 years old or over or otherwise of the age of majority in the jurisdiction in which you reside and have the full right, power, and authority to enter into and comply with these Terms.  
    2. If you are accessing or using the Services on behalf of any other person, you represent, warrant and undertake that you are authorized and will remain authorized to do so and that you are authorized to bind such person to these Terms.
  3. Use of the Services 
    1. HNS is the premier naming service provider on Hedera™ Hashgraph, and it seeks to provide an extension of your profile in the Hedera™ ecosystem and throughout the Web3 world in general by way of tying human-readable names like “baird.hbar” to machine-readable identifiers such as wallet addresses, content hashes, and metadata.    Through the Services, you can set your hashgraph name as the reverse record for your wallet address on Hedera™ Hashgraph.  HNS is not a wallet provider, exchange, broker, dealer, financial institution, payments processor, or money services business.  HNS is an independent infrastructure service built on Hedera™ Hashgraph, and is not an official Hedera™ Hashgraph product or officially endorsed by Hedera™ Hashgraph.
    2. The core of the Services is a distributed, open-source, and extensible naming protocol operated by HNS and built on Hedera™ Hashgraph (“Protocol”), which maintains a registry of all domains and subdomains registered by Users or by us through a series of smart contracts deployed on Hedera™ Hashgraph.  You may, through interacting with the Protocol, search the said registry, register domains and subdomains, and manage their registered hashgraph names.  
    3. When accessing the Services, you are responsible for conducting your own diligence on interfaces enabling you to access the Protocol in order to understand the fees and risks that they present.  In this connection, you acknowledge that: 
      1. The Protocol is run by smart contracts deployed on Hedera™ Hashgraph.  As smart contracts execute predefined instructions and functions based on predetermined conditions and rules, once the Protocol’s underlying smart contracts are deployed, the Protocol operates automatically and autonomously without human intervention.  As such, we are not able to forcibly remove, prevent or otherwise interfere with the ability of any person to register a domain name on the registry maintained by the Protocol, although we may from time to time terminate, limit, or suspend access to the Services at any time pursuant to Clause 10 below. 
      2. The underlying smart contracts of the Protocol are created by human developers and are subject to potential coding errors or vulnerabilities.  Once deployed, these smart contracts are generally immutable and cannot be easily modified or reversed since they operate in an autonomous manner.  This means that any errors or bugs in the smart contract code may be difficult or impossible to rectify after deployment.  Bugs or vulnerabilities in the smart contract code could result in unintended consequences, including financial Losses or unauthorized access, which may be irreversible.  You are therefore advised to exercise caution and perform comprehensive code audits and testing before engaging with the Protocol or using the Services.
      3. Although the cost and speed of transacting on Hedera™ Hashgraph are generally stable and predictable, such cost and speed may become variable or may even increase dramatically at any time and we may not be able to provide you with notice of such increase before your use of the Services. 
      4. The performance and functionality of the Protocol can be impacted by external factors beyond our control, such as network congestion, hardware or software failures, or malicious attacks on Hedera™ Hashgraph and/or the Protocol.  These external factors may lead to temporary disruptions or delays in the execution of the underlying smart contracts deployed within the Services.
    4. You agree and acknowledge that anyone can register and own a domain name (and its subdomains) that is not already registered on the registry maintained by the Protocol.  In this connection, you may also create subdomains to the names you already own and assign ownership to the same at your discretion.  Currently, we do not intend to prohibit any large-scale name-grabbing and impose any quota on the maximum number of domain names that can be purchased by a single User, although we may from time to time at our discretion reserve certain names specific to existing projects and figures in the Hedera™ ecosystem.
    5. You agree and acknowledge that names registered on the registry maintained by the Protocol may expire depending on the original term for which they are purchased for, and you are responsible for monitoring and renewing the registration of such names.  YOU MAY LOSE ANY NAME(S) THAT YOU PREVIOUSLY OWN IF YOU FAIL TO RENEW THE SAME BEFORE IT EXPIRES.
    6. Fees paid for registering any Domain are generally non-refundable, although we may, at our sole discretion, consider refund requests on a case-by-case basis.  To be eligible for a refund, you must submit a written support request in the HNS Discord (at https://discord.gg/u2qt5enR6q) detailing your support request within 14 days of your payment.  We reserve the right to approve or deny refund requests, as well as the manner of any refund, at our sole discretion.  In the case where your refund request has been approved, we endeavor to make the relevant refund within 30 days of our receipt of your refund request.  Even if we do issue a refund, we are under no obligation to issue the same or similar refund in the future.
    7. You agree and acknowledge that the Services are non-custodial and therefore you are solely responsible for the custody of the cryptographic private keys to the digital asset wallets you hold.  Mistakes such as the mishandling of private keys, sharing sensitive information, or falling victim to phishing attacks can result in unauthorized access and loss of funds.  You should adopt robust security practices, such as using hardware wallets, implementing multi-factor authentication, and carefully scrutinizing the security measures of third-party applications or services you interact with.
    8. You also agree and acknowledge that the Services may be subject to unavailability for a variety of factors beyond our control including emergencies, third-party service failures, transmission, equipment or network problems or limitations, interference, signal strength, and may be interrupted, limited or curtailed.  Delays or omissions may occur and actual service coverage, speeds, locations and quality may vary.  We are not responsible for data, messages or pages lost, not delivered, delayed or misdirected because of interruptions or performance issues with the Services or communications services or networks.  Pursuant to Clause 10 below, we may terminate, limit, or suspend access to the Services at any time, without prior notice or liability, for any reason whatsoever, including without limitation if you breach these Terms.  The accuracy and timeliness of data received is not guaranteed.
    9. We may at our discretion and from time to time, but will not be obliged to, adapt and/or modify the Services or the Protocol or to introduce new services, functions and/or features.  All such new services, functions and/or features shall be governed by these Terms and may also be subject to additional terms and conditions which you shall be required to agree to before you proceed to use such new services.
    10. These Terms or our offering of the Services are not intended to, and do not, create or impose any fiduciary duties on us.  To the fullest extent permitted by law, you acknowledge and agree that we owe no fiduciary duties or liabilities to you or any other party, and that to the extent any such duties or liabilities may exist at law or in equity, those duties and liabilities are hereby irrevocably disclaimed, waived, and foregone.  You further agree that the only duties and obligations that we owe you are those set out expressly in these Terms. 
  4. Prohibited Activities
    1. You agree to use the Services in accordance with the Applicable Laws and in accordance with these Terms.  You may not use the Services for any illegal purpose, for the facilitation of the violation of any law or regulation, or in any manner inconsistent with these Terms.  You agree not to engage in, or attempt to engage in, any of the following categories of prohibited activity in relation to your access or use of the Services:
      1. activity that involves distributing, redistributing, selling, reselling, licensing, or in any other way exploiting any portion of the Services, use of the Services, or access to the Services without our express prior consent;
      2. activity that involves using the Services, directly or indirectly, in any manner that could cause the Services so used to (a) affect our ability to realize revenue in connection with the Services, or (b) compete with our business;
      3. activity that infringes on or violates any copyright, trademark, service mark, patent, right of publicity, right of privacy, or other proprietary rights or IPR belonging to any person or entity under the Applicable Laws;
      4. activity that seeks to damage, disable, impair, interfere with or compromise the integrity, security, or proper functioning of the Services or the Protocol (including any underlying smart contract to the same) or of any computer, server, network, personal device, or other information technology system, including but not limited to the deployment of viruses, transmission of any harmful code (worms, time bombs, Trojan horse), hacking, backdoor code insertion, and denial of service attacks;
      5. activity that imposes or may impose an unreasonable or disproportionately large load or burden on the Services or the infrastructure of the Services;
      6. activity that involves using any robot, spider, crawler, scraper or other automated means or interface not provided by us to access the Services or to extract data;
      7. activity that involves obtaining or attempting to obtain through any means any materials or information on the Services that have not been intentionally made publicly available either by public display on the Services or through accessibility by a visible link on the Services;
      8. activity that seeks to defraud us or any other person or entity, including but not limited to providing any false, inaccurate, or misleading information in order to unlawfully obtain the property of another, or using or attempting to obtain another user’s domain name(s) without authorization; 
      9. activity that uses the Services in any manner that could negatively affect or is prejudicial to the reputation of the Services, HNS, or Hedera™ Hashgraph;
      10. activity that seeks to gain unauthorized access to the Services or the Protocol or any of our databases, interfaces, systems and networks;
      11. activity that seeks to access the Protocol or any of our databases, interfaces, systems and networks from a different wallet address if we have previously blocked any of your other wallet addresses from accessing the Protocol;
      12. activity that attempts to or does reverse engineer, decompile, translate, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to extract any or all of the source code of our Services or of the Protocol; 
      13. activity that copies, modifies, or creates a derivative work of our Services or any part, feature, function or user interface thereof, or modifies, adapts or hacks the Services or modifies another website so as to falsely imply that it is associated with us or the Services; 
      14. activity that involves accessing the Services or the Protocol directly or indirectly, for, on behalf of, or for the benefit of any natural or legal person that is (a) the subject of sanctions, or (b) citizen of, located in, resident in, or organized under the laws of, any jurisdiction that has been designated as non-cooperative with international anti-money laundering principles or procedures by an intergovernmental group or organization, such as the Financial Action Task Force, or subject of sanctions; or
      15. activity that violates any Applicable Laws. 
    2. UNAUTHORIZED USE, COPYING, REPRODUCTION, MODIFICATION, PUBLICATION, REPUBLICATION, UPLOADING, FRAMING, DOWNLOADING, POSTING, TRANSMITTING, DISTRIBUTING, DUPLICATING OR ANY OTHER MISUSE OF ANY OF THE SERVICES IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED.  We reserve the right to at any time determine whether a use of the Services is in violation of these Terms or fails to comply with acceptable use (see the “Termination of Use” section below).
  5. Your Rights and Obligations
    1. You acknowledge and agree that you are responsible for using any appropriate security measures appropriate to safeguard unauthorized access or use of the Services. 
    2. You acknowledge and agree that you will use the Services in accordance with the applicable usage manuals that we may publish from time to time (“Documents”).  You will not use the Documents or access the Services to develop or contribute to the development of a product or service that is competitive with our Services.  You note that the Documents may be updated from time to time and will be posted on the Website and such updates are effective when posted.
    3. You acknowledge and agree that you are solely responsible for ensuring that any plug-ins or other third-party services used and installed in your applications and results created using our Services does not create a breach of these Terms nor any Applicable Laws.  Any use of a plug-in or any other third-party services is at your own risk.  Your use of such third-party services is solely governed by your agreement with that third party.  We have no liability for your use of such third-party services. 
    4. You are solely responsible for properly configuring and using the Services and otherwise taking appropriate action to secure and protect Your Data in a manner that will provide appropriate security and protection, which might include use of encryption.  If you are not able to be responsible for the security of Your Data, or do not want such an obligation, you should not use the Services.
    5. Pursuant to Clause 10 below, we may at our discretion suspend your access to the Services immediately if your use of the Services may (a) create a cybersecurity risk to us, our databases or services, the Services, and/or other Users; (b) breach these Terms; or (c) subject us or any third party to liability through no fault on the part of us or any such third party.  You further agree to indemnify and hold harmless us or our parents, their Affiliates, employees, directors, contractors, agents and licensors and their respective employees, directors, contractors, and agents for any claim, suit or proceeding brought against these parties related to your performance and that of your users, plug-in developers or any third-party developers. 
  6. Third-party Links
    1. The Services may contain content or links to third-party websites or services, goods, or advertisements (“Third-Party Sites“) that are not owned or controlled by us.  Our provision of links to Third-Party Sites does not imply any affiliation, partnership, or endorsement of any information, product, or service offered on or reached through such Third-Party Sites. 
    2. We are not responsible for the availability, content, or accuracy of other websites, services, or goods that may be linked to or advertised on the Services.  We do not: (a) make any warranty, express or implied, with respect to the use of the links provided on or to the Services; (b) guarantee the accuracy, completeness, usefulness, or adequacy of any other websites, services, goods, or advertisements that may be linked to the Services; or (c) make any endorsement, express or implied, of any other websites, services, goods, or advertisements that may be linked to the Services. 
    3. You acknowledge and agree that we shall not be held responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any damage or Loss caused or alleged to be caused by or in connection with the use of or reliance on any such content, goods, or services available on or through any such websites or services.  If you decide to leave the Services and access the Third-Party Sites, you do so at your own risk, and you should be aware that our terms and policies no longer govern.  You are responsible for and we advise you to read the terms of service and privacy policies of any third-party websites or services you visit.
  7. Licenses and Proprietary Rights
    1. You acknowledge that the Services are protected as collective work or compilation under copyright and other laws and treaties.  All individual modules, protocols (including the Protocol), data sets, analytical tools and other elements making up the Services are also copyrighted works.  You agree to abide by all applicable copyright and other laws, as well as any additional copyright notices or restrictions contained in the Services.  You acknowledge that the Services have been developed, compiled, prepared, revised, selected, and arranged by us and others (including certain other information sources) through the application of methods and standards of judgment developed and applied through the expenditure of substantial time, effort, and money and constitutes valuable intellectual property of us and such others.  All present and future rights in and title to the Services (including the right to exploit the Services and any portions of the Services over any present or future technologies) are reserved to us for our exclusive use to the maximum extent possible.
    2. Except as otherwise provided or agreed by us, the Intellectual Property of and contained within the Services, including but not limited to the contents of the Website, the Documents, text, software, code, scripts, webpages, graphical user interface, photographs, video, graphics or other material, are for your personal and non-commercial use only.  The Intellectual Property of and contained within the Services shall not be used, modified, reproduced, republished, uploaded, posted, transmitted, performed, licensed or otherwise used or distributed in any way, without our prior express permission.  Any action as such will be a violation of the IPR belonging to us or to other third parties.  To use any parts of the contents of the Services other than for personal and non-commercial use, you must seek permission from us and/or the relevant third party(ies) in writing.  We reserve the right to refuse permission without providing any reasons. 
    3. Except as specifically permitted by these Terms, you may not copy or make any use of the Services or any portion thereof.  Except as specifically permitted herein, you shall not use the Services or Intellectual Property of and contained within the Services, or the names of any individual participant in, or contributor to, the Services, or any variations or derivatives thereof, for any purpose, without our prior written approval.  Unless with our express written consent, you also may not use any of our Intellectual Property in any manner which creates the impression that such items belong to or are associated with you or are used with our consent, and you acknowledge that you have no ownership rights in and to any of such items.
    4. Although the Protocol is comprised entirely of open-source or source-available software running on Hedera™ Hashgraph, you acknowledge and agree that you will not acquire any ownership rights or IPR in the Protocol by virtue of your use of the Services.
    5. We will store, process, transmit, disclose and display electronic data and configurations submitted to us through our Services.  Insofar as you retain all right, title, and interest (including all IPR) in and to Your Data, you hereby grant us a worldwide, perpetual, nonexclusive, revocable, and limited right and license to access, use, host, store, copy, transmit, distribute, export, reproduce, modify, disclose and display such electronic data and configurations submitted and to interoperate with any third parties as necessary in order for us to provide the Services in accordance with these Terms.  We shall not acquire any right, title, or interest from you apart from the grant of this limited license. In this connection, our Privacy Policy (as updated from time to time) also applies to our respective rights and interests described in this Clause.
    6. We may generate and use Platform Data to provide, operate, and improve the Services or for any lawful purpose.
    7. You represent and warrant that you have obtained and will obtain and continue to have all necessary rights, authority, consents, and licenses for the access to and use of Your Data (including any personal data provided or otherwise collected pursuant to our Privacy Policy) as contemplated herein.
    8. By providing us with any suggestion, enhancement request, recommendation, correction, or other feedback in relation to the Services (if any), you grant us a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, royalty-free permission to use and incorporate the same into the Services any such suggestion, enhancement request, recommendation, correction, or other feedback (if any).
    9. You agree to indemnify us on demand against all Losses suffered or incurred as a result of any actual or alleged infringement of any IPR in accordance with these Terms.
    10. Nothing contained in these Terms or within the Services should be construed as granting, by implication, estoppel or otherwise, any license or right to use any service in any manner without the prior written consent of us or such third party that may own the Services or any Intellectual Property displayed during our provision of the Services.
  8. Domain Names as Non-Fungible Tokens (NFTs)
    1. Each domain name created through the Services is tradeable as a non-fungible token (“NFT”) and is listable on various NFT exchanges within the Hedera™ ecosystem. 
    2. We are not a party to any agreement between Users or the parties to a transaction relating to any NFT.  Where you engage in such transaction(s), you bear full responsibility for verifying the identity, legitimacy, and authenticity of any NFTs that you purchase from third-party sellers and we make no claims, guarantees, or recommendations about the identity, legitimacy, functionality, or authenticity of any other person or entity that you may interact with or that of any NFT(s) (and any content associated with such NFTs) that form subject of any of the foregoing transaction.  We also cannot guarantee that any NFTs visible on any third-party platforms will always remain visible and/or available to be bought, sold, or transferred.  As each “.hbar” domain name created through the Services has an expiry date, you are responsible for ensuring that any NFT that you are purchasing from a third-party source has not expired at the time of purchase and has all the characteristics, credentials, and traits that you desire.  You are solely responsible for any content and metadata related to your NFTs, whether created through the Services or obtained from a third-party.  There may be terms and conditions that apply to the NFTs themselves set directly between purchasers, sellers, and/or creators with respect to the NFTs including with respect to the use of the content and rights and obligations associated with a given NFT, and we do not set such terms and we are not a party to any such terms.  When engaging in such transactions, you are responsible for reviewing such terms.  We are not responsible for determining and establishing the price of an NFT that you purchase from a third-party. 
    3. As reiterated above, the Services are non-custodial and we do not have custody or control over the NFTs or wallets that you are interacting with and we do not execute or effectuate purchases, transfers, or sales of NFTs.  To use the Services or enter into transactions for the NFTs that you own, you must use a third-party wallet.  We accept no responsibility for, or liability to you, in connection with your use of a wallet and make no representations or warranties regarding how the Services will operate with any specific wallet. 
    4. In addition to the general disclaimers in Clause 11 below, you further agree and acknowledge that your use of the Services is also subject to the below disclaimer specific to the tradability of each domain name created through the Services as an NFT:
    5. WE WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY LOSSES SUSTAINED AND TAKE NO RESPONSIBILITY FOR, AND WILL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR, ANY USE OF OR LOSS OF USE OF ANY NFT, CONTENT, AND/OR CONTENT LINKED TO OR ASSOCIATED WITH ANY NFT, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY LOSSES, DAMAGES, OR CLAIMS ARISING FROM: (A) USER ERROR, INCORRECTLY CONSTRUCTED TRANSACTIONS, OR MISTYPED ADDRESSES; (B) SERVER FAILURE OR DATA LOSS; (C) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS OR USE; AND/OR (D) ANY UNAUTHORIZED THIRD-PARTY ACTIVITIES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION THE USE OF VIRUSES, PHISHING, BRUTEFORCING OR OTHER MEANS OF ATTACK AGAINST THE SERVICE OR ANY NFT. 
    6. AN NFT EXISTS ONLY BY VIRTUE OF THE OWNERSHIP RECORD MAINTAINED ON HEDERA™ HASHGRAPH (OR OTHER NETWORK OR BLOCKCHAIN ON WHICH THEY ARE MAINTAINED), AND ALL TRANSFERS OR SALES OF THE SAME OCCUR ON HEDERA™ HASHGRAPH (OR OTHER NETWORK OR BLOCKCHAIN ON WHICH THEY ARE MAINTAINED).  WE CANNOT EFFECT OR OTHERWISE CONTROL THE TRANSFER OF TITLE OR RIGHT IN ANY NFT OR THE UNDERLYING OR ASSOCIATED CONTENT OR ITEMS.
    7. WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE OR LIABLE FOR ANY SUSTAINED LOSSES OR INJURY DUE TO VULNERABILITY OR ANY KIND OF FAILURE, ABNORMAL BEHAVIOR OF SOFTWARE (SUCH AS WALLET AND SMART CONTRACT), NETWORKS OR ANY OTHER FEATURES OF ANY NFT.  WE ARE NOT RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY LOSS OR INJURY DUE TO LATE REPORTS BY DEVELOPERS OR REPRESENTATIVES (OR NO REPORT AT ALL) OF ANY ISSUES ASSOCIATED WITH HEDERA™ HASHGRAPH (OR OTHER NETWORK OR BLOCKCHAIN ON WHICH ANY GIVEN NFT IS MAINTAINED), INCLUDING FORKS, TECHNICAL NODE ISSUES OR ANY OTHER ISSUES LEADING TO YOUR LOSS OR INJURY AS A RESULT.
    8. THE VALUE OF AN NFT IS SUBJECTIVE AND THE PRICE OF AN NFT IS SUBJECT TO VOLATILITY AND MARKET MECHANISM.  FLUCTUATIONS IN THE PRICE OF CRYPTOCURRENCIES CAN ALSO MATERIALLY AND ADVERSELY AFFECT NFT PRICES.  THERE MAY NOT BE A SECONDARY MARKET FOR ANY NFT THAT YOU HAVE CREATED THROUGH THE SERVICES OR THAT YOU HAVE PURCHASED OR ACQUIRED FROM A THIRD-PARTY.
  9. Representations, Warranties and Undertakings
    1. You represent, warrant and undertake to us that:
      1. if you are entering into these Terms as an individual, then you are 18 years old or over or otherwise of the legal age of majority in the jurisdiction in which you reside and you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms and be bound by them;
      2. if you are entering into these Terms as a non-individual legal entity, then (a) you have the full capacity and authority to enter into and perform your obligations under these Terms and your representative all the requisite power, authority and capacity to accept these Terms on your behalf, and (b) you are validly incorporated and duly registered under the Applicable Laws, and has all the requisite right, power and authority to carry on its business;
      3. you are not a resident, national or agent of countries or regions sanctioned by the United States government (including but not limited to countries or regions on any sanctions lists of the Office of Foreign Assets Control), the United Kingdom government, the European Union, or the United Nations;
      4. you are not a member of any sanctions list or equivalent maintained by the United States government, the United Kingdom government, the European Union, or the United Nations;
      5. you are financially and technically sophisticated enough to understand the inherent risks associated with using cryptographic and hashgraph-based systems, and that you have a working knowledge of the usage and intricacies of digital assets such as HBAR tokens and other types of digital assets (such as those following the ERC-20 token standard).  In particular, you understand that hashgraph-based transactions are irreversible, that we have no control over Hedera™ Hashgraph’s operations, availability, functionality, and that we shall not be liable for any issues arising therefrom;
      6. you do not, and will not, use any virtual private network (VPN) software or any other privacy or anonymization tools or techniques to circumvent, or attempt to circumvent, any restrictions that apply to the Services;
      7. your access to the Services is not prohibited by any and all the Applicable Laws; 
      8. your access to the Services does not contribute to or facilitate any illegal activity;
      9. all information and documentation provided by you in connection with your use of the Services is and will remain complete, accurate and truthful, and you shall provide to us updates of such information and documentation promptly upon any material change or inaccuracy;
      10. you shall perform your obligations under these Terms in a manner that enables us to comply with our requirements under the Applicable Laws from time to time; 
      11. if and when requested by us, you shall promptly provide us with any information and records and access to such which is, in each case, reasonably necessary for us to assess your compliance with these Terms, to comply with the Applicable Laws or to undertake reasonable and ongoing monitoring of risks in relation to your use of the Services; and
      12. you are not aware of and have not intentionally withheld any information or fact which may give rise to or result in the Services provided hereunder being in breach of any Applicable Laws.
  10. Termination of Use
    1. We may terminate, limit, or suspend access to the Services at any time, without prior notice or liability, for any reason whatsoever, including without limitation if you breach these Terms.  
    2. The termination or expiry of these Terms (or any part thereof) will not affect any rights accrued prior to termination or expiry.  The provisions of these Terms, which by their nature and content, are intended, expressly or impliedly, to continue to have effect notwithstanding the termination or expiry of these Terms shall survive and continue to bind the parties.
  11. Disclaimers and Limitation of Liability
    1. YOU AGREE THAT YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK AND ACKNOWLEDGE THAT THE SERVICES AND ANYTHING CONTAINED WITHIN THE SERVICES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, CONTENT, SERVICES, GOODS, OR ADVERTISEMENTS ARE PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE,” AND THAT WE MAKE NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, AS TO THE SERVICES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, TITLE, TIMELINESS, ACCURACY, SECURITY, AVAILABILITY OF THE SERVICES OR ANY DOMAINS OR SUBDOMAINS, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE OR USE OR THOSE ARISING BY STATUTE OR OTHERWISE IN LAW FROM A COURSE OF DEALING OR USAGE OF TRADE.  WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE AVAILABILITY OF OR THE FUNCTIONS CONTAINED IN THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED OR ERROR-FREE, THAT DEFECTS WILL BE CORRECTED, OR THAT THE SERVER OR THE INFRASTRUCTURES THAT MAKE THE SERVICES AVAILABLE ARE FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFUL COMPONENTS OR THAT THE SERVICES OR THE SERVER OR THE INFRASTRUCTURES THAT MAKE THE SERVICES AVAILABLE DO NOT VIOLATE ANY PATENT OR OTHER INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY RIGHTS OF ANY PERSON OR ENTITY.  WE DO NOT WARRANT OR MAKE ANY REPRESENTATIONS REGARDING THE USE OR THE RESULTS OF THE USE OF THE SERVICES IN TERMS OF THEIR CORRECTNESS, ACCURACY, RELIABILITY, CONTINUITY, OR OTHERWISE.  YOU (AND NOT US) ASSUME THE ENTIRE COST OF ALL NECESSARY SERVICING, REPAIR, OR CORRECTION.  APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF IMPLIED WARRANTIES, SO THE ABOVE EXCLUSION MAY NOT FULLY APPLY TO YOU.
    2. IN NO EVENT WILL OUR AGGREGATE LIABILITY (TOGETHER WITH OUR PARENTS, AFFILIATES, SUBSIDIARIES, SUPPLIERS, AGENTS, DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, REPRESENTATIVES, SUCCESSORS, LICENSORS OR ASSIGNS) OWED TO YOU OR ANY OTHER THIRD PERSON AND ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS (REGARDLESS OF THE NUMBER OF INDIVIDUAL INCIDENTS GIVING RISE TO LIABILITY) EXCEED THE GREATER OF (A) FIVE HUNDRED US DOLLARS ($500) OR (B) THE TOTAL AMOUNT ACTUALLY PAID BY YOU AND YOUR AFFILIATES FOR THE SERVICES GIVING RISE TO THE LIABILITY IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE FIRST INCIDENT OUT OF WHICH THE LIABILITY AROSE, WHETHER SUCH LIABILITIES ARE BASED IN TORT, CONTRACT, STRICT LIABILITY OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE, OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED SPECIFICALLY OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES, ARISING IN ANY WAY FROM OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES, USE OF OR INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICES OR ANY LINKS OR ITEMS ON THE SERVICES OR ANY PROVISION OF THESE TERMS, SUCH AS, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, LOSS OF REVENUE OR ANTICIPATED PROFITS OR LOST BUSINESS.  APPLICABLE LAW MAY NOT ALLOW THE LIMITATION OR EXCLUSION OF LIABILITY OR INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES SO THIS CLAUSE MAY OR MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.
    3. You acknowledge that none of us or our parents or their respective Affiliates, suppliers, agents, directors, officers, employees, representatives, general partner, subsidiaries, successors, and assigns, or otherwise is able to forcibly remove, prevent or otherwise interfere with the ability of any person to register a domain name on the registry operated by the Protocol.  You hereby forbear to sue us or our parents or their respective Affiliates, suppliers, agents, directors, officers, employees, representatives, general partner, subsidiaries, successors, and assigns for any claims or damages whatsoever associated with your use, inability to use any domain names to be registered on the registry maintained by the Protocol, and you acknowledge that the aforementioned in this Clause are not liable for any such use or inability to use any domain names to be registered on the registry maintained by the Protocol.
    4. In connection with this waiver and release, you acknowledge that you are aware that you may hereafter discover claims presently unknown or unsuspected, or facts in addition to or different from those which you now know or believe to be true.  Nevertheless, you intend by these Terms to release fully, finally and forever all such matters under these Terms.  In furtherance of such intention, the releases set forth in these Terms shall be and shall remain in effect as full and complete releases notwithstanding the discovery or existence of any such additional or different claims or facts relevant hereto.
    5. We do not warrant that the Services, or e-mail sent by us or our representative, are free of errors or viruses, worms or “Trojan horses”, or any other harmful, invasive, or corrupted files, and we are not liable for any damage you may suffer as a result of such destructive features.  You agree that none of us or our parents or their respective Affiliates, suppliers, agents, directors, officers, employees, representatives, general partner, subsidiaries, successors, and assigns, or otherwise shall have any responsibility or liability for: (a) any injury or damages, whether caused by the negligence of us, our parents, or their respective Affiliates, suppliers, agents, directors, officers, employees, representatives, general partner, subsidiaries, successors, and assigns, or otherwise arising in connection with the Services and shall not be liable for any lost profits, Losses, punitive, incidental or consequential damages, or any claim against us by any other party; or (b) any fault, inaccuracy, omission, delay, or any other failure in the Services caused by your computer equipment or arising from your use of the Services on such equipment.  We are also not responsible for the reliability or continued availability of the telephone lines, wireless services, communications media, networks, smart contracts, and equipment you use to access the Services.  You understand that we and/or third-party contributors to the Services may choose at any time to inhibit or prohibit their content from being accessed under these Terms.
  12. Indemnification
    1. You agree to, at your own expense, indemnify, defend, and hold harmless HNS, its Affiliates, officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, and suppliers (collectively the “HNS Parties“) from and against all claims, losses, liabilities, expenses, damages, and costs, including but not limited to reasonable attorneys’ and experts’ fees, resulting from or arising out of:
      1. your access to or use of the Service, or any activities conducted through the Services;
      2. any deletion, addition, insertion or alteration to, or any unauthorized use of, the Services by you;
      3. any violation of these Terms by you;
      4. any infringement or alleged infringement of any IPR or privacy rights by you;
      5. any misrepresentation, negligence, or willful misconduct by you; and/or
      6. any breach of any warranty, representation, or obligation made by you in these Terms.
    2. You agree to promptly give us written notice of all such claims, Losses, liabilities, expenses, damages, and costs so described in Clause 12.1 where they have arisen.  You further agree to pay any and all costs, damages, and expenses, including, but not limited to, reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs awarded against or otherwise incurred by the HNS Parties by or in connection with or arising from any such claim, suit, action, or proceeding attributable to any such claim.
    3. We reserve the right to assume the exclusive defense and control of any matter subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will cooperate with us in asserting any available defenses, including providing any necessary information and assistance as reasonably requested by us.  You shall not settle any indemnifiable claim without our prior written consent.  This indemnification obligation shall survive the termination or expiration of these Terms and your use of the Services.
  13. General 
    1. Force Majeure.  Neither HNS nor its Affiliates will be liable for any delay or failure to perform any obligation under these Terms where the delay or failure results from a Force Majeure Event.  Where HNS and/or its Affiliates is affected by a Force Majeure Event, HNS shall promptly notify you of the occurrence of the Force Majeure Event and describe in reasonable detail the nature of the event, its anticipated duration, and the steps being taken to mitigate the impact of the event.  HNS shall use its best efforts to mitigate the effects of the Force Majeure Event and to resume performance under these Terms as soon as reasonably possible.  If the Force Majeure Event continues for more than thirty (30) days, either party may terminate these Terms upon written notice to the other party. 
    2. Notices.  Any notices, demands or other communications, may be deemed served by HNS by publishing them on the Website or by email or such other methods as prescribed in these Terms from time to time.  All such notices, demands or other communications are deemed served on you when: 
      1. published on the Website; 
      2. if by email, when sent to your email address notified to HNS in writing.  Such email notice shall be effective on the date and time of transmission by the email server used by HNS and/or our service provider, unless HNS receives a non-delivery reply message or any error message indicating that the email was not successfully sent to your mailbox or your mail server or the mailbox of your designated service provider within twenty four (24) hours from the time of transmission of the email from the email server used by HNS or our service provider; or 
      3. such other methods as prescribed by us from time to time. 
    3. Entire Agreement. These Terms and any other documents incorporated herein by reference, constitutes the sole and entire agreement of the parties with respect to the subject matter of the Terms and supersedes all prior and contemporaneous understandings, agreements, representations and warranties, both written and oral, with respect to such subject matter. 
    4. Records.  You acknowledge and agree that our records of the communications, transactions, instructions or operations made or performed, processed or effected through the Website between: (a) you or any person purporting to be you, acting on your behalf or purportedly acting on your behalf, with or without your consent; and (b) HNS or any relevant person authorized by HNS relating to the Website or the Services, shall be binding on you for all purposes whatsoever and shall be conclusive evidence of such communications, transactions, instructions or operations.  You agree that such records are admissible as evidence and that you shall not challenge or dispute the admissibility, reliability, accuracy or the authenticity of the contents of such records merely on the basis that such records were in electronic form or were produced by or are the output of a computer system, and hereby waive any of your rights (if any) to so object. 
    5. No Waiver.  The rights and remedies of each party to these Terms shall not be affected by any failure to exercise or delay in exercising any right or remedy or by the giving of any indulgence or by anything whatsoever except a specific waiver or release in writing and any such waiver or release shall not prejudice or affect any other rights or remedies of such party.  No single or partial exercise of any right or remedy shall prevent any further or other exercise thereof or the exercise of any other right or remedy. 
    6. Severability.  If any provision or part thereof of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision or part thereof shall be removed, or modified to the minimum extent necessary to effect our commercial intention, and the remaining provisions shall remain unchanged, valid and enforceable. 
    7. Third Party Rights.  Except as otherwise expressly provided in these Terms, a person who is not a party to these Terms has no right to enforce or to enjoy the benefit of any provisions of these Terms.
  14. Governing Law
    1. These Terms and the relationship between the Parties herein shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of Hong Kong.
  15. Dispute Resolution and Service of Process
    1. In the event of any dispute, claim, or controversy arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services, including the existence, validity, interpretation, performance, breach or termination thereof or any dispute regarding non-contractual obligations arising out of or relating to the same (a “Dispute“), the parties agree to first attempt to resolve the Dispute through good faith negotiations.  If the parties are unable to resolve the Dispute within thirty (30) days of such negotiations, such Dispute shall be referred to and finally resolved by arbitration administered by the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (“HKIAC”) under the HKIAC Administered Arbitration Rules (“Rules”) in force when the Notice of Arbitration is submitted under the Rules.  The seat of arbitration shall be Hong Kong.  The number of arbitrator(s) shall be one (1).  The arbitration proceedings shall be conducted in English.  This Clause shall be governed by the laws of Hong Kong.
    2. The arbitrator’s decision and awards shall be final and binding on the parties, and the parties agree to be bound by the arbitrator’s decision and to perform any award or judgment issued by the arbitrator.  Judgment upon the award rendered by the arbitrator may be entered in any court having jurisdiction thereof.  The prevailing party in any arbitration or legal proceedings shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs from the non-prevailing party.
    3. Any claim or cause of action you may have with respect to these Terms or the Services must be commenced within one (1) year after the claim or cause of action arises, regardless of any statute or law to the contrary.  If a claim or cause of action is not brought within this time frame, it shall be permanently barred.
    4. Nothing in this Clause shall preclude us from applying for urgent interlocutory relief from any court of competent jurisdiction.  You further agree that any arbitration award made pursuant to any arbitration commenced pursuant to this Clause may be enforced by us against your assets wherever those assets are located or may be found, and a judgment upon any such arbitration award may be entered into by any court of competent jurisdiction thereof and for this purpose, you expressly submit to the jurisdiction of any such court.
    5. Without prejudice to our right to serve process in any other manner permitted by law, we may effect service on you of any writ, summons or other process or documents by leaving it at or sending it by ordinary post to your last known address (whether to a post office box or to a place of residence or business or otherwise). Such process shall be deemed validly served on you:
      1. in the case of service by leaving at your last knowing address any writ, summons or other process or documents: immediately; and 
      2. in the case of service by post of any writ, summons or other process or documents:
      3. to any address in Hong Kong: two (2) days after it was posted by us; or
      4. to any address outside Hong Kong: fourteen (14) days after it was posted by us,
      5. and you hereby agree that you shall be deemed to have adequate and sufficient notice of such process.
  16. Definitions
    1. “Account Data” means personal information about a User’s use of the Services.
    2. “Affiliate” means from time to time in relation to an entity, another entity Controlling, Controlled by, or under common Control with, that entity.
    3. “Agreement” has the meaning ascribed to it in Clause 1.2.
    4. “Applicable Laws” means in relation to either party, all laws, statutes, orders, rules, provisions, regulations, directives, and guidelines which have legal effect, whether local, national, international or otherwise existing from time to time, including all Regulators’ rules, requirements, standards, guidelines and recommendations which have legal effect, as applicable to such party or as applicable to that party’s obligations under these Terms.
    5. “Control” means in relation to an entity the legal, beneficial or equitable ownership, whether directly or indirectly, of fifty percent (50%) or more of its fully diluted voting share capital (or other ownership interest, if not a corporation), or the equivalent right under contract to control management decisions with regard to the relevant subjects, and “Controlling” and “Controlled” shall be defined accordingly.
    6. “Dispute” has the meaning ascribed to it in Clause 15.1.
    7. “Documents” has the meaning ascribed to it in Clause 5.2.
    8. “Force Majeure Event” means, in relation to a party, any event or circumstance beyond the reasonable control of such party and not caused by such party’s default or negligence, including failures of public telecommunications or transportation infrastructure, failure or shortage of power supplies, technical and computer-related faults and breakdowns, server outage, website vandalism, computer virus invasion or attack, hacker attack, temporary or permanent website closure or shutdown (caused by governmental control or otherwise), acts of God or nature, terrorism or war, accidents, nature disasters (including fire, earthquakes, landslides, lightning, meteors, floods, tsunami, tornados, storms, hurricane and typhoons), explosions, states of emergency, freight embargoes, riots or civil disturbances, wars, acts of sabotage, strikes, embargo, labour disputes, mob violence, act or failure to act of government or other competent regulatory authority including but not limited to a Regulator, plague, epidemic, pandemic, outbreaks of infectious disease and/or any other public health crisis (including quarantine or other similar restrictions), or similar events.  For the avoidance of doubt, it shall include an incident in relation to government acts, directives, approvals, consent, laws, regulations or licensing requirement, including any restriction on the supply of the Services pursuant to the Applicable Laws or any decision by a governmental authority preventing the supply of the Services.
    9. “HNS Parties” has the meaning ascribed to it in Clause 12.1.
    10. “Intellectual Property” means all technology and intellectual property, regardless of form, including: (a) copyrights, published and unpublished works of authorship, including audiovisual works, collective works, computer programs (including source code and object code), compilations, databases, derivative works, user interfaces, graphics, literary works, maskworks, and sound recordings (“Works of Authorship”); (b) inventions and discoveries, including articles of manufacture, business methods, compositions of matter, improvements, machines, methods, and processes and new uses for any of the preceding items (“Inventions”); (c) text, images, service marks, symbols, devices, designs, trade dress and other designations, and combinations of the preceding items, used to identify or distinguish a business, good, group, product, or service or to indicate a form of certification, including logos, product designs, and product features (“Trademarks”); and (d) information that is not generally known or readily ascertainable through proper means, whether tangible or intangible, including algorithms, ideas, designs, formulas, know-how, methods, processes, programs, prototypes, systems, and techniques (“Confidential Information”).
    11. “IPR” means all rights in, arising out of, or associated with Intellectual Property in any jurisdiction, including: (a) rights in, arising out of, or associated with Works of Authorship, including rights in user interfaces, graphics, databases and rights granted under applicable copyright laws; (b) rights in, arising out of, or associated with Inventions, including rights granted under applicable patent laws; (c) rights in, arising out of, or associated with Trademarks, including rights granted under applicable trademark laws; (d) rights in, arising out of, or associated with Confidential Information, including rights granted under applicable trade secrets laws; (e) personality rights such as rights in, arising out of, or associated with a person’s name, voice, signature, photograph, or likeness, including rights of personality, privacy, and publicity; (f) moral rights such as rights of attribution and integrity and other moral rights of an author; and (g) rights in, arising out of, or associated with domain names.
    12. “Losses” means any and all loss, damages, liabilities, actions, proceedings, claims, demands, costs, expenses, charges, tax, duties, levies, interest, penalties, fines, assessments, disbursements, reimbursement orders and other expenses (including all legal, professional and other expenses and amounts reasonably paid in settlement) paid, suffered or incurred by a person or entity, whether incurred directly, indirectly or consequentially.
    13. “NFT” has the meaning ascribed to it at Clause 8.1.
    14. “Platform Data” means any data that is derived or aggregated in anonymized form from (a) Your Data or (b) Account Data, including any hardware metrics (if applicable), software event logs, globally unique identifiers for files, usage data or trends with respect to the Services.
    15. “Protocol” has the meaning ascribed to it at Clause 3.2.
    16. “Regulator” means any governmental, statutory or regulatory body and any other competent ministry, authority, agency or institution that may, from time to time, in any jurisdiction have responsibility to regulate, supervise and/or otherwise exercise state authority in relation to either party or the activities contemplated by these Terms.
    17. “Services” has the meaning ascribed to it at Clause 1.1.
    18. “Terms” has the meaning ascribed to it at Clause 1.1.
    19. “Third-Party Sites” has the meaning ascribed to it at Clause 6.1.
    20. “User” means users of the Services.
    21. “Website” means the website(s) or online portal(s) through which HNS offers and renders the Services, including but not limited to hashgraph.name.
    22. “Your Data” means all information, data, content and other materials, in any form or medium, that is submitted, posted, collected, transmitted, stored or otherwise provided by or on behalf of you through the Services or to us in connection with your use of the Services, but excluding Account Data, Platform Data, and any other information, data, data models, content or materials owned or controlled by us and made available through or in connection with the Services.
Explore
Drag