Terms of Service

1.    Introduction

Welcome to the WhiteStar Communications Inc. ("WhiteStar," "us," "we", or "our") Terms of Service (these "Terms").  WhiteStar was founded on the principles of freedom of expression, freedom of association, and freedom of communication. We also recognize the sacrosanct human rights of privacy and integrity of data. To that end, WhiteStar and its affiliates will make every effort to uphold these values as we conduct our business. WhiteStar aims not to be a publisher in any form, rather WhiteStar’s goal is to serve as a true platform, and as such we have no access to the private content that users generate and send on our platform.

While the above paragraph outlines WhiteStar's general guiding principles, these Terms and our accompanying Privacy Policy (as defined in our separate published Privacy Policy) give the details on how WhiteStar uses your personal data and the terms you agree to follow when you use our services. These Terms are important and affect your legal rights, so please read them carefully. 

By accessing or using the websites located at https://www.whitestar.io/, https://www.hyperspacenetwork.io/, or https://www.societyapp.io/ or our apps including, but not limited, to WhiteStar HyperSpace, WhiteStar Files, WhiteStar StarTalk, WhiteStar StarDrop, WhiteStar Dashboard, WhiteStar SOCIETY, WhiteStar Chat, WhiteStar KEYP, WhiteStar Desktop, or WhiteStar Shell application (any and all "WhiteStar applications", "WhiteStar Apps", both on mobile platforms and non-mobile platforms), you agree to be bound by these terms and all of the terms incorporated herein by reference.  By installing, accessing, browsing or using WhiteStar Apps, you confirm your acceptance of these Terms of Service. When installing WhiteStar Apps you will also be asked to explicitly accept these Terms of Service by checking an accept box. 

By accepting these Terms, you represent that you are 18 years of age or older and that, if you have accepted these Terms on behalf of any person or entity, you represent that you have legal authority to do so and that such person or entity agrees to be responsible to us if you or such person or entity violates these Terms. If you do not agree to every provision of these Terms, you may not, and we do not authorize you to, access or use WhiteStar Apps.

By accessing or using WhiteStar Apps, you represent and warrant that you have not been previously suspended or removed from WhiteStar Apps, or engaged in any activity that could result in suspension or removal from WhiteStar Apps.

These Terms may be revised at any time for any reason, and WhiteStar may provide you notice of these changes by any reasonable means. Except to the extent that your express consent to any revised Terms is required under data protection law, by continuing to access, browse or use WhiteStar Apps, you confirm your acceptance of the revised Terms and all the terms incorporated herein by reference. We strongly recommend that you periodically visit our website to review these Terms. If you do not agree to the revised Terms, you may not access or use WhiteStar Apps.

2.    Registration and Personal Data

In order to access and use certain areas or features of WhiteStar Apps or services (which we may refer to as simply WhiteStar Apps), you will need to register for an account. Each registration is for a single user only.  

By creating an account, you agree to (a) provide accurate, current and complete account information, (b) maintain and promptly update, as necessary, your account information, (c) maintain the security of your account credentials, and (d) immediately notify us if you discover or otherwise suspect any security breaches related to WhiteStar Apps or your account.  Any changes to your registration information must be made within the WhiteStar Apps. If you provide information that is untrue, inaccurate, not current or incomplete, we may suspend or terminate your account and refuse any and all current or future use of WhiteStar Apps or services.

By creating an account, you also consent to receive electronic communications from WhiteStar (examples include but are not limited to via email, text message, push notification or by posting notices to WhiteStar Apps). These communications may include notices about your account (e.g., payment authorizations and other transactional information) and are part of your relationship with us. You agree that any notices, agreements, disclosures or other communications that we send to you electronically will satisfy any legal communication requirements, including, but not limited to, that such communications be in writing. 

3.    Access and Use

All of WhiteStar’s Apps and services, including but not limited to WhiteStar Apps, mobile, non-mobile and web Apps are licensed to you and not sold. Subject to and conditioned upon the payments required by your Subscription (as defined below) and compliance with all other conditions of these Terms, WhiteStar hereby grants you a personal non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable right to access and use WhiteStar Apps during the term of your Subscription, solely for use by you, for your individual purposes in accordance with these Terms.

You shall not use WhiteStar Apps for any purposes beyond the scope of the access granted in these Terms. You shall not at any time, directly or indirectly, and shall not permit anyone to: (i) copy, modify, or create derivative works of WhiteStar Apps, in whole or in part; (ii) rent, lease, lend, sell, license, sublicense, assign, distribute, publish, transfer, or otherwise make WhiteStar Apps; (iii) reverse engineer, disassemble, decompile, decode, adapt, or otherwise attempt to derive or gain access to any software component of WhiteStar Apps, in whole or in part; (iv) remove any proprietary notices from WhiteStar Apps; or (v) use WhiteStar Apps in any manner or for any purpose that infringes, misappropriates, or otherwise violates any patent, copyright, trademark, trade secret, database protection or other intellectual property or proprietary rights laws ("Intellectual Property Rights") in any part of the world. WhiteStar reserves all rights not expressly granted to you in these Terms. Except for the limited rights and licenses expressly granted under these Terms, nothing in these Terms grants, by implication, waiver, estoppel, or otherwise, to you or any third party any Intellectual Property Rights or other right, title, or interest in or to any of WhiteStar’s intellectual property. 

4.    Terms of Subscriptions 

Subscriptions. We offer a paid subscription plan for certain WhiteStar Apps amd services. For more information about our Subscriptions, please visit the Subscription page on our website, or our respective stores on Google Play and or the Apple App store. 

Continuous Subscriptions. When you register for a subscription to WhiteStar Apps, you expressly acknowledge and agree that (a) WhiteStar (or our third party payment processor) is authorized to charge you at intervals consistent with your selected subscription frequency (e.g., one-time, monthly, etc.) for your subscription, in addition to any applicable taxes and other charges, for as long as your subscription continues, and (b) your subscription is continuous until you cancel it or we suspend or stop providing access to WhiteStar Apps or subscription in accordance with these Terms.

Subscription Modifications and Cancellations. You may modify or cancel your subscription through the existing Google Play and or Apple App store subscription management systems. Modifications or cancellations may take up to [5 business days] to process, or as otherwise defined and administered by Google and or Apple.  Any payment that is made prior to the processing of any subscription change cannot be modified or cancelled, and you will be responsible for all charges (including any applicable taxes and other charges) incurred for such charges.  

5.    Payment and Billing Information

By providing a credit card or other payment method that we accept, you represent and warrant that you are authorized to use the designated payment method and that you authorize us (or our third party payment processor) to charge your payment method for the total amount of your subscription or other purchase (including any applicable taxes and other charges) (collectively, as applicable, an "Order"). If the payment method cannot be verified, is invalid or is otherwise not acceptable, your Order may be suspended or cancelled. You must resolve any problem we encounter in order to proceed with your Order. In the event you want to change or update payment information associated with your WhiteStar Apps you must do so through your Google Play and or Apple App store account management. 

6.    Pricing and Availability

All prices are shown in U.S. dollars and applicable taxes and other charges, if any, are additional. We reserve the right to adjust prices as we may determine in our sole discretion, at any time and without notice; provided, however, that if we change the amounts or other charges associated with your Subscription, we will provide notice of such changes prior to your next payment being due in accordance with these Terms as required by the Google Play and or Apple App store. We will not, however, be able to notify you of changes in any applicable taxes. Your use of the Subscription after our delivery of such notice will confirm your acceptance of such changes, unless you cancel your Subscription(s) in accordance with the cancellation policies set forth herein, as applicable. All of our Apps and services are subject to availability, and we reserve the right to reject all or part of an Order, to discontinue offering certain services without prior notice.

7.    Taxes 

The Google Play and or Apple App stores will collect applicable sales tax on services for which they determine we have a duty to collect sales tax. If an item is subject to sales tax, you agree that the amount of taxes shown at checkout may be adjusted. Several factors may cause this, such as variances between processor programs and changes in tax rates. For Apps and services not sold on Google Play or the Apple App store, for which we still have a duty to collect sales taxes, you will be responsible for covering any and all sales taxes applicable.

8.    Trademarks

The WhiteStar and WhiteStar Apps logos, and any other WhiteStar or WhiteStar Apps service names, trademarks, logos, or other indicia ("Marks") that may appear on WhiteStar Apps are the property of WhiteStar or its affiliates, and may not be copied, imitated or used, in whole or in part, without our prior written permission. Nothing contained on WhiteStar Apps shall be construed as granting, by implication or otherwise, any license or right to use any such Mark without the prior written permission of WhiteStar. Your misuse of any such Mark, or any other content, is strictly prohibited.

9.    Legal Requirements; Privacy Policy

Provided users comply with all applicable laws and with these Terms, WhiteStar’s general approach is not to discontinue services to any user. WhiteStar is also committed to processing and protecting personal data collected through WhiteStar Apps when you use WhiteStar Apps and services in compliance with its obligations under applicable privacy laws, laws governing the privacy of your personal data, including, if applicable to you, the European Union General Data Protection Regulation. In general, we do not retain any user private content, any information about our users other than as set out in WhiteStar’s Privacy Policy located at https://www.whitestar.io/ (our "Privacy Policy"), or any of the private content you send or receive without permission of the owner of the private content. For additional information about your rights and your personal data, what data is collected, how it is processed, protected, shared, and how long it is retained, please see our Privacy Policy.

Where WhiteStar has a good faith belief that such action is necessary to comply with a judicial proceeding, court order, warrant, administrative order, civil investigative demand, subpoena, or other valid process, WhiteStar may disclose IP addresses, personal information retained, and any contents of WhiteStar Apps where it is legally compelled to do so. 

NOTE: WhiteStar has no knowledge of or access to private user Messages, Content and private User Conversations. Therefore we cannot see the private content you share or who you share it with on our Apps.

We implement a number of security features to help guarantee and ensure to the greatest extent possible that your information is safe. All financial transactions are made securely. Please see our Privacy Policy for additional information relating to the privacy and security of information collected hereunder.  

10.    User Content 

You are solely responsible and liable for all data, information and other materials ("User Content") that you submit, upload, post, e-mail or otherwise transmit ("Transmit") in connection with WhiteStar Apps.  In addition, we have no access to, control over, and shall have no liability for, any damages resulting from the use (including without limitation republication) or misuse by any third party of information made public through WhiteStar Apps. 

You agree that you will not, and will not permit anyone else to, directly or indirectly: 

• Transmit any User Content that is unlawful under any applicable law;
• Utilize WhiteStar Apps to distribute goods, digital or physical, that are prohibited by law.
• Transmit any User Content: (i) that you do not have the right to Transmit, under any law or contractual or fiduciary relationships, including, without limitation, any inside information or proprietary or confidential information; (ii) that infringes any patent, copyright, trademark or other intellectual property right or misappropriates any trade secret or right of privacy of any third-party;
• Transmit any User Content that constitutes defamation, libel, or slander;
• Transmit any User Content that constitutes criminal or targeted harassment, bullying, or threats of violence against others;
• Transmit any User Content for the purpose of spamming others;
• Transmit any User Content in a manner that does or is intended to mislead, confuse, or deceive others;
• Remove, circumvent, disable, damage or otherwise interfere with security features of WhiteStar Apps, including any technical measures we may use to prevent or restrict unauthorized access to WhiteStar Apps, features that prevent or restrict use or copying of any content accessible through WhiteStar Apps, or features that enforce limitations on the use of WhiteStar Apps;
• Intentionally interfere with or damage operation of WhiteStar Apps, including by uploading or disseminating viruses, worms, or other malicious code;
• Use any robot, spider, scraper or other automated means to access WhiteStar Apps;
• Modify WhiteStar Apps in any manner or form; or
• Sell, transfer or allow another person to access your account password or WhiteStar Apps account.
• Undertake any other illegal activity on WhiteStar Apps or utilizing WhiteStar Apps.

11.    Rights in User Content

We do not claim any ownership interest in your User Content. WhiteStar will only share personal information that you provide in accordance with our Privacy Policy and when legally necessary.

You acknowledge and agree that we may copy, display and use your User Content for the purpose of providing WhiteStar Apps to you, including transmitting the User Content to other users specified by you, and White Star may also disclose or use any User Content that you Transmit for purposes limited to: (a) enforcing these Terms; (b) complying with any laws, regulations or rules of any federal, state or local government or agency; and (c) responding to claims that any User Content violates the rights of third parties or applicable law.

12.    Indemnification

You shall indemnify, hold harmless, and, at WhiteStar’s option, defend WhiteStar from and against any and all losses, damages, liabilities, costs (including reasonable attorneys’ fees) ("Losses") incurred by WhiteStar resulting from any third-party claim, suit, action or proceeding relating to or arising from your use of WhiteStar Apps, any User Content that you Transmit to or through WhiteStar Apps, any violation of these Terms by you, or any other act or omission by you, including your violation of any rights of another, arising from your use of WhiteStar Apps or any of its features. You further agree that WhiteStar shall have control of the defense or settlement of any third-party claims, unless WhiteStar exercises its option to require you to defend WhiteStar.

13.    Disclaimers

WhiteStar Apps and services, and their respective applicable content are provided on an "as is", "as available" and "with all faults" basis.  To the fullest extent permissible by law, WhiteStar does not make any representations or warranties or endorsements of any kind whatsoever, express or implied, as to: (a) WhiteStar Apps; (b) the content; (c) user content; (d) WhiteStar’s "internet of things" functionality; or (e) security associated with the transmission of information on WhiteStar Apps.  In addition, WhiteStar hereby disclaims all warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, the warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, that any results will be achieved, non-infringement, title, custom, trade, quiet enjoyment, system integration and freedom from computer virus.

WhiteStar does not represent or warrant that WhiteStar Apps will be error-free or uninterrupted; that defects will be corrected; or that WhiteStar Apps or any server that makes WhiteStar Apps available is free from any harmful components, including, without limitation, viruses. WhiteStar does not make any representations or warranties that the information (including any instructions) on WhiteStar Apps is accurate, complete, or useful. You acknowledge that your use of WhiteStar Apps is at your sole risk. WhiteStar does not warrant that your use of WhiteStar Apps is lawful in any particular jurisdiction, and WhiteStar specifically disclaims such warranties. Some jurisdictions limit or do not allow the disclaimer of implied or other warranties so the above disclaimer may not apply to you to the extent such jurisdiction's law is applicable to you and these terms.

By accessing or using WhiteStar Apps or services you represent and warrant that your activities are lawful in every jurisdiction where you access or use WhiteStar Apps. WhiteStar specifically disclaims any responsibility or liability to any person or entity for any loss, damage (whether actual, consequential, punitive or otherwise), injury, claim, liability or other cause of any kind or character based upon or resulting from WhiteStar Apps or its functions.

14.    Limitation of Liability; Waiver

You assume total responsibility and risk for your use of WhiteStar Apps and services, and their functions. You acknowledge and agree that, in connection with your use of WhiteStar Apps and their functions, including "internet of things" functions, you may be exposed to a variety of hazards and risk, foreseen and unforeseen, which may or may not be inherent in those activities. These inherent risks include but are not limited to, serious personal injury, property damage and death. By using WhiteStar Apps and/or services and its related functions, you agree and understand that injuries and damages can occur by natural causes or by the acts of other persons or third parties, either as a result of negligence or because of other reasons. You are personally responsible for all costs and/or risks associated with your participation in such activities.

WhiteStar Apps may contain integrations with third-party services (for example, Microsoft Active Directory). WhiteStar does not control and is not responsible for the content, functionality, or data handling practices of these third parties.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall WhiteStar be liable for any indirect, special, incidental, or consequential damages of any kind (including, but not limited to, loss of revenue, income or profits, loss of use or data, loss or diminution in value of assets or securities, or damages for business interruption) arising out of or in any way related to the access to or use of WhiteStar Apps or services (including, but not limited to, user content, and links to third party sites), or the order, receipt or use of any product or service, or otherwise related to these terms (including, but not limited to, any damages caused by or resulting from reliance on any information obtained from WhiteStar, or from events beyond WhiteStar’s reasonable control, such as interruptions, deletions of files or emails, errors or omissions, defects, bugs, viruses, trojan horses, delays in operation or transmission or any failure of performance, whether or not resulting from acts of God, communications failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access to WhiteStar records, programs or systems), regardless of the form of action, whether based in contract, tort (including, but not limited to, simple negligence, whether active, passive or imputed) or any other legal or equitable theory (even if the party has been advised of the possibility of such damages and regardless of whether such damages were foreseeable).

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, in no event shall the maximum aggregate liability of WhiteStar arising out of or in any way related to WhiteStar Apps and services exceed the amount paid to WhiteStar for any products or services in the ninety (90) days prior to the event giving rise to such liability. The foregoing limitations shall apply even in the event your remedies hereunder fail of their essential purpose, and the foregoing shall constitute WhiteStar’s sole liability and obligation in respect hereof, regardless of the form of action, whether based in contract, tort (including, but not limited to, simple negligence, whether active, passive or imputed), or any other legal or equitable theory.

To the fullest extent permitted by applicable law, you, on behalf of your heirs, executors, administrators, legal and personal representatives, hereby release, waive, acquit and forever discharge WhiteStar and its affiliates from and against, and covenant not to sue any such company for, all claims you have or may have arising out of or in any way related to these terms.

If you are a California resident, you hereby waive your rights under California civil code 1542, which states "a general release does not extend to claims which the creditor does not know or suspect to exist in his or her favor at the time of executing the release, which if known by him or her must have materially affected his or her settlement with the debtor."

15.    Modifications to WhiteStar Apps 

We reserve the right in our sole discretion to modify, suspend or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, WhiteStar Apps and services (or any features or parts thereof) at any time.

16.    Special Admonitions for International Use

WhiteStar Apps are hosted in the United States of America. If you are located outside the United States of America and you contact us, please be advised that any information you provide to us will be transferred to the United States of America and that by submitting information, you explicitly authorize such transfer.

17.    Termination 

Notwithstanding anything contained in these Terms, we reserve the right, without notice and in our sole discretion, to terminate your right to access or use WhiteStar Apps and/or services, and you acknowledge and agree that we shall have no liability or obligation to you in such event and that you will not be entitled to a refund of any amounts that you have already paid to us, to the fullest extent permitted by applicable law.

18.    Governing Law and Jurisdiction 

WhiteStar operates WhiteStar Apps and services from North Carolina, U.S.A. These Terms and the transactions they contemplate, including without limitation their interpretation, construction, performance and enforcement shall be governed by the laws of the State of North Carolina, U.S.A., including its statutes of limitations, but without reference to conflict or choice of law provisions, as applicable to contracts made and performed entirely within such State.  The International Convention on the Sale of Goods, and other international treaties that are not mandatory with respect to contracts made and performed entirely in North Carolina, shall not apply.  Except as otherwise provided in Section 18, the exclusive forum for the resolution of any dispute relating to these Terms shall be in the state courts North Carolina, U.S.A., or the United States District Court for the Eastern District of North Carolina and each of the parties agrees to personal jurisdiction of such courts with regard to any dispute relating to these Terms, and you agree to service of process on you by e-mail to the address you have submitted on WhiteStar Apps, if any, and by any other means permitted by law.

19.    Notice

All notices, demands, or consents given by you under these Terms will be in writing and will be deemed given when delivered to WhiteStar at the following contact: 

WhiteStar Communications Inc.
Attn: Legal
1000 Park Forty Plaza, Suite 330
Durham, North Carolina, 27713

Any notices to you may be made via either e-mail or postal mail to the address in WhiteStar’s records or via posting on WhiteStar Apps.  Please report any violations of these Terms to WhiteStar at the contact listed above.  

20.    Severability

If any term, clause or provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, then that term, clause or provision will be severable from these Terms and will not affect the validity or enforceability of any remaining part of that term, clause or provision, or any other term, clause or provision of these Terms.

21.    Procedure for Making Claims of Copyright Infringement 

We expect users of WhiteStar Apps to respect the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe in good faith that any of the content on WhiteStar Apps infringes your copyright, please provide our copyright agent the written information specified below.  

1. An electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright interest;
2. A description of the copyrighted work that you claim has been infringed; 
3. A description of where the material that you claim is infringing is located on WhiteStar Apps; 
4. Your address, telephone number and email address;  
5. A statement by you that you have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law; and 
6. A statement by you, made under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are the copyright owner, or are authorized to act on behalf of the owner, of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

WhiteStar’s copyright agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement can be reached as follows:

WhiteStar Communications Inc.
Attn: Legal
1000 Park Forty Plaza, Suite 330
Durham, North Carolina, 27713

22.    Miscellaneous

These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and WhiteStar relating to your access to and use of WhiteStar Apps and/or services. These Terms, and any rights and licenses granted hereunder, may not be transferred or assigned by you without the prior written consent of WhiteStar. No waiver of any provision of these Terms will constitute a waiver of such provision in any prior, concurrent or subsequent circumstance, and WhiteStar’s failure to assert any right or provision under these Terms shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision. Except as otherwise provided herein, these Terms are intended solely for the benefit of the parties and are not intended to confer third party beneficiary rights upon any other person or entity.