Terms of Service

1. The Service

AvA Chat is an online chat service that lets registered users send direct messages, participate in group chats, receive Site Announcements, share files and GIFs, use optional push notifications, send and respond to message requests, and block other users. The Service is provided as one website instance for its invited users. It is not a multi-tenant product, a franchise network, or a separately operated set of sites under these Terms.

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue features at any time. The Service may be unavailable because of maintenance, outages, hosting issues, or other reasons beyond our reasonable control.

2. Eligibility and accounts

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. If you are under the age of majority in your place of residence (typically 18 years old), your parent or legal guardian must review and agree to these Terms on your behalf, assume responsibility for your account activity, and consent to your use of the Service.

You agree to provide accurate registration information, keep your password confidential, and notify us promptly if you believe your account has been compromised. You are responsible for activity that occurs under your account. You may not create an account using someone else’s identity, share your account, or maintain multiple accounts to evade restrictions, blocks, or enforcement actions.

3. Acceptable use

You may use the Service only for lawful, personal communication consistent with these Terms. You agree not to:

• Harass, threaten, stalk, defame, or otherwise harm other users
• Send spam, unsolicited bulk messages, or abusive message requests
• Post or share illegal content, including child sexual abuse material, or content that promotes violence or criminal activity
• Share content that infringes someone else’s intellectual property, privacy, or other rights
• Upload malware, phishing material, or other harmful files
• Impersonate any person or misrepresent your affiliation with any person or entity
• Attempt to bypass blocks, mutes, message-request limits, or Site Announcements posting rules
• Access another user’s account without permission
• Probe, scan, interfere with, overload, or disrupt the Service or its underlying systems
• Reverse engineer, scrape, or automate access to the Service except as allowed by ordinary browser use or with our prior written permission
• Use the Service for commercial advertising, solicitation, or resale without our permission

4. Messaging features

Site Announcements

The Site Announcements channel is reserved for the Operator (including the administrator account). Other users may read announcements and mute notifications for that channel, but may not post there.

Message requests

New direct conversations begin as a message request. The requester may send one message until the recipient accepts. Recipients may accept or decline. Until a request is accepted, normal two-way chatting is not available.

Blocking

You may block other users. Blocking is intended to prevent further messaging between you and the blocked user on the Service. We may also take action against accounts that abuse messaging features.

5. Your content and DMCA copyright policy

You retain ownership of the messages, files, images, GIFs, and other materials you submit (“User Content”). You are solely responsible for User Content you share and for having any rights needed to share it.

By submitting User Content, you grant the Operator a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to host, store, transmit, display, and otherwise process that content solely as needed to operate, maintain, secure, and improve the Service (for example, delivering messages to recipients, showing them in conversation history, generating notifications, and applying retention or deletion practices). This license ends when your content is deleted from the Service, except for residual copies that may remain for a limited time in backups or logs.

We do not claim ownership of your User Content and do not use it for advertising. We may remove or restrict content that violates these Terms or applicable law, or that creates risk for users or the Service.

DMCA Notice and Takedown Procedure

We respect the intellectual property rights of others and comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA). If you believe that any material available on the Service infringes your copyright, you may send a written copyright infringement notification to our designated agent at nsharp@willamette.edu. Your notification must include:

• A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner
• Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed
• Identification of the material claimed to be infringing and location on the Service
• Your contact information (address, telephone number, and email address)
• A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use is not authorized
• A statement made under penalty of perjury that the information provided is accurate

6. Privacy

Our collection and use of personal information is described in the Privacy Policy. By using the Service, you acknowledge that other registered users may see your profile information and any content you share with them, and that messages in shared conversations are visible to the participants in those conversations.

7. Third-party services

The Service relies on third-party providers for functions such as authentication, database and realtime hosting, file storage, and GIF search. Your use of those features may also be subject to those providers’ terms and policies. We are not responsible for third-party services we do not control.

8. Intellectual property

The Service software, design, branding, and related materials (other than User Content) are owned by the Operator or its licensors and are protected by intellectual property laws. These Terms do not grant you any right to copy, modify, distribute, or create derivative works from the Service except as needed for ordinary personal use.

9. Suspension and termination

You may stop using the Service at any time. We may suspend, restrict, or terminate your access, with or without notice, if you violate these Terms, if required by law, or if we discontinue the Service. Upon termination, your right to use the Service ends. Provisions that by their nature should survive (including ownership, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnity, and governing law) will survive termination.

10. Disclaimers

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS” AND “AS AVAILABLE.” TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, WE DISCLAIM ALL WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT. WE DO NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, SECURE, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF HARMFUL COMPONENTS, OR THAT MESSAGES, FILES, OR OTHER DATA WILL NEVER BE LOST, DELAYED, OR ACCESSED BY UNAUTHORIZED PERSONS.

Chat services involve communication among users. We do not control user behavior and are not responsible for User Content or for interactions between users, except as required by law.

11. Limitation of liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, THE OPERATOR AND ITS AFFILIATES, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AND AGENTS WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, OR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO YOUR USE OF (OR INABILITY TO USE) THE SERVICE, WHETHER BASED ON WARRANTY, CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), STATUTE, OR ANY OTHER LEGAL THEORY, EVEN IF WE HAVE BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

EXCEPT FOR LIABILITY RESULTING FROM GROSS NEGLIGENCE, WILLFUL MISCONDUCT, OR INTENTIONAL HARM, AND TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW, OUR TOTAL LIABILITY FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF OR RELATING TO THE SERVICE OR THESE TERMS WILL NOT EXCEED ONE HUNDRED U.S. DOLLARS (US $100) OR THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US TO USE THE SERVICE IN THE TWELVE MONTHS BEFORE THE CLAIM, WHICHEVER IS GREATER.

Some jurisdictions do not allow certain disclaimers or limitations. If Oregon or other applicable law does not allow a particular limitation, that limitation applies only to the extent permitted.

12. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless the Operator and its affiliates, officers, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, losses, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) arising out of or related to your User Content, your use of the Service, or your violation of these Terms or applicable law.

13. Changes to these Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time. When material changes are made, we will notify you by revising the “Last updated” date above and providing notice through an in-app prompt, email, or Site Announcement. Continued use of the Service after updated Terms are communicated constitutes acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the updated Terms, you must stop using the Service.

14. Governing law and venue

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to them or the Service are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon and the applicable federal laws of the United States, without regard to conflict-of-law principles that would require application of another jurisdiction’s laws.

You agree that the state and federal courts located in Oregon have exclusive jurisdiction over disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service, and you consent to personal jurisdiction and venue in those courts, except where prohibited by law. If you are a consumer entitled by law to bring claims in your home jurisdiction, nothing in this section limits that right beyond what applicable law allows.

15. Miscellaneous

These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy, are the entire agreement between you and the Operator regarding the Service and supersede prior understandings on that subject. If any provision is held unenforceable, the remaining provisions remain in effect. Our failure to enforce a provision is not a waiver. You may not assign these Terms without our consent; we may assign them in connection with a reorganization, transfer of the Service, or similar event. Section headings are for convenience only.

16. Contact

Questions about these Terms or legal notices may be directed to: nsharp@willamette.edu or by messaging the admin account on the Service.