Terms of service

Last updated: 2026-06-23. Plain-language. The lawyer-formal binding version lives at /legal/terms-formal and supersedes this if there's ever a conflict.

The deal

You sign up for an account, put $5 (or more) on file, and use the services. We provide the services, measure the energy your workloads consume, and bill you for that energy. Either side can end the relationship at any time.

Who we are

The party providing the services is openIE (legal entity to be named on the formal-terms page, pending final formation). Until then, the contracting party is David Jean Charlot, trading as openIE. We'll publish entity details and update this clause when the GmbH/B.V. is formed; existing balances and credits carry over.

Your responsibilities

• Keep your tokens private. Tokens grant access; rotate them in the portal if you suspect compromise.
• Pay for the energy you use. The bill is the sum of the receipts. We will warn you if your balance is about to go negative; we will pause workloads before invoicing a debt.
• Don't use the services for illegal purposes. Standard list: malware distribution, illegal content, non-consensual data of any kind, things that aren't fair game in your jurisdiction.
• Respect rate limits. You don't have per-minute caps; you have a balance ceiling and (optionally) a per-workload energy_budget. Use them.

Our responsibilities

• Run the services as advertised. See the SLA for the uptime promise.
• Measure the energy honestly. Every receipt is signed by a 3-of-5 ed25519 quorum and verifiable independently. See Energy receipts.
• Keep your data confidential. See the Privacy policy and the DPA.
• Notify you of breaches within 72 hours of confirmation (faster if your jurisdiction requires it).
• Notify you of material changes to the services 30 days in advance, with the option to download your data and leave.

Service eligibility

• You must be 18 or older, or have legal capacity to enter into contracts in your jurisdiction.
• We can't serve customers under US/EU sanctions (OFAC, EU consolidated list).
• For HIPAA / regulated-health workloads, we require a separate BAA before processing protected information.

Suspension & termination

We can suspend or terminate your account for material breach (illegal use, repeated unpaid balance, abuse). You can close your account anytime. On closure:

• Unused paid balance is refundable for 12 months after closure.
• Your data is purged from active stores within 30 days; backups within 90 days.
• Receipts are retained for 7 years for audit purposes (or longer where law requires).

Liability

We aren't liable for indirect / consequential damages. Total liability for any 12-month period is capped at what you paid us in that period, with a $100 floor. This is the standard cloud-services cap and isn't controversial; see the formal version for the exact wording.

Disputes

Governing law: Delaware, USA (will change to a Dutch / German / Estonian entity's home law on entity formation; you'll be notified). Disputes go through a single-arbitrator JAMS arbitration in the entity's home district unless your jurisdiction requires otherwise (e.g. EU consumer protections).

Updates

We can update these terms with 30 days' notice (sent to the account email, posted in the changelog). If you don't accept, close the account before the effective date. Continued use = acceptance.

The formal version

The legally binding version lives at /legal/terms-formal (link will appear here at v1 GA). Until then, these plain-language terms apply.