Terms of Service

Contents

• Who we are
• Agreeing to these terms
• Your account
• Servers and their owners
• What you post
• Copyright complaints
• Uploads, voice and limits
• Acceptable use
• Dust and the Store
• Apps
• Other services
• Reporting problems
• Suspension and termination
• Deleting your account
• Changes to Orbit and these terms
• Your consumer rights
• Disclaimers and liability
• Complaints and disputes
• Governing law
• Contact

Who we are

Orbit is an independent development project run by an individual developer based in Queensland, Australia ("Orbit", "we", "us"). These terms cover the Orbit service at orbithq.chat and app.orbithq.chat, the Orbit Windows app, and any other Orbit apps that link to them.

Agreeing to these terms

By making an account or using Orbit, you agree to these terms. Our Privacy Policy explains what we collect and how we use it; it is part of how Orbit works but is not repeated here. If you do not agree, please do not use Orbit.

Your account

• Minimum age. You must be at least 13 to use Orbit. If you are under 18, or under the age of majority where you live, a parent or guardian must agree to these terms for you, and is responsible for how you use Orbit. However, where the law requires it, we may enforce a higher minimum age in some places. For example, in Australia we may be required to keep people under 16 off Orbit. We may ask you to confirm your age, and we may close accounts that do not meet the minimum age for where the account holder lives. If we learn that someone under 13 has an account, we will delete it.
• Age-restricted channels. Some channels are marked 18+. To open them you confirm that you are 18 or older. Only confirm if it is true. Where the law requires it, we may ask you to verify your age, as described in the Privacy Policy.
• Joining. Orbit is invite-only for now, so you need an invite link to sign up. We may open sign-ups to everyone later.
• Your email address. Give us an email address you control and verify it. Some things, such as posting in public servers, need a verified address.
• One person, one account holder. Your account is for you. Keep your password safe, do not share your account or sell it, and tell us at support@orbithq.chat if you think someone else has used it. You are responsible for what happens on your account.
• Usernames. Do not choose a username or display name that impersonates someone, infringes someone's rights, or is offensive. We may change or reclaim a name that breaks these rules.
• New accounts. To limit spam, new and unverified accounts have tighter limits for a while, for example on invites, servers, uploads and mentions.

Servers and their owners

What owning a server means

Orbit permits the use of its platform and keeps ownership of the platform. A server's "owner" has free use of their server, and controls and makes the decisions on how it is run, within these terms.

• The owner is a role in Orbit. Anyone can create a server, and the account that creates it becomes its owner. The owner has full control of the server's settings, channels, roles, members and Apps, and can give other people roles to help run it. Being the owner is a role in the service, not legal ownership of property.
• What it does not include. Owning a server does not give you any ownership of Orbit's software, design or systems, or of other members' content. Members keep their rights in what they post, subject to the licence they give Orbit (see What you post). The owner decides how the server is arranged and run, not who owns what people post in it.
• "Free use". Orbit does not charge for having or running a server. We may introduce optional paid features later, and would give notice under Changes to Orbit and these terms.
• Passing ownership on. An owner cannot leave their own server, but can hand it to another member with Transfer ownership in the server's settings. The owner picks a current member and confirms with their password. For a server with more than 10 members, the owner also confirms by email. When an owner deletes their account, they choose, for each server they own, a current member to take over, or delete the server. That handover happens as soon as they confirm, even if they later cancel the deletion. A server that changes owner loses any Verified, Partnered or Official status.
• If Orbit staff erase an owner's account, for example at the owner's request, each server they own passes to its longest-standing eligible member, or is deleted if nobody else is in it.
• Deleting a server. Only the owner can delete a server, by confirming with their password. For a server with more than 10 members, the owner also confirms by email.
• No selling servers or accounts. Servers, usernames and accounts may not be sold, traded, rented or transferred for money or anything else of value. Handing a server over for free through the app, as described above, is fine. Selling a server would sell access to its members, so this is part of Acceptable use.
• Abandoned servers. We may archive a server when both of these are true: nobody has used it for 12 months (no messages or other activity by anyone), and its owner has not been active on Orbit in the last 6 months. An archived server is taken out of Discover and made read-only. Archiving deletes nothing. We will try to email the owner at least 30 days before archiving, and the owner can ask support@orbithq.chat to restore it.
• Orbit can act on a server. If a server breaks these terms, we may remove its content, restrict it, take it out of Discover or remove it, as described in Suspension and termination. Appeals work the same way.

Running a server

• What owners and moderators can do. Within their server they can set its rules, create and delete channels, set roles and permissions, mark channels 18+, delete messages, time out, kick or ban members, turn Apps and features such as GIFs on or off, make the server public in Discover, and delete the server.
• Owners are responsible for their servers. A server's own rules sit on top of these terms and cannot allow anything these terms forbid. Owners must not use their server for anything in Acceptable use, and should act on breaches they know about.
• Orbit is not each server's moderator. We do not watch what is posted in servers, and moderation decisions inside a server are made by that server's team. We act on reports and on breaches of these terms we become aware of.
• What Orbit staff can do. To keep Orbit safe, staff can remove a server from Discover, give or remove a server's Verified, Partnered or Official status, remove people from voice rooms, end sessions, disable accounts, remove content and turn Apps off for a server. Staff tools never show the messages of private conversations or call audio, and never let staff act as another person.

What you post

"Content" means anything you put on Orbit: messages, images, files, GIFs you pick, notes, reactions, profile details, server names, icons and banners, and the like.

• It stays yours. You keep any rights you have in your content.
• The licence you give us. So Orbit can work, you give us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to store, copy, transmit, display and adapt your content only to run, secure and improve Orbit. "Adapt" covers things like resizing images, making previews and thumbnails, removing image metadata, and indexing messages so people who can see them can search them. We do not sell your content or use it to target ads. The licence ends when your content is deleted, except for copies that remain for a short time in backups (kept at most 14 days) and copies other people made, described next.
• Other people can keep what they can see. People who can see your content can forward or quote it, and those copies can stay after you delete the original. If you delete your account, your messages stay, shown as "Deleted user" with no name or picture, unless you choose to delete them all. The licence continues for content that stays.
• You must have the right to post it. Only post content you own or are allowed to share, and that does not break the law or anyone else's rights, including copyright, trade marks and privacy.
• Copyright complaints. If you think something on Orbit infringes your copyright, see Copyright complaints.
• Feedback. If you send us ideas or suggestions, we may use them without owing you anything.

Copyright complaints

We respect copyright and expect everyone on Orbit to do the same. Orbit runs its own notice-and-takedown process, set out below, and this is how we handle copyright complaints. We follow it whether or not any legal safe harbour applies to us, and it does not limit anyone's rights under the law, including the right of a copyright owner or a person whose content was removed to go to court.

Sending a notice

If you own the copyright in something, or are allowed to act for the owner, and you think it has been posted on Orbit without permission, email support@orbithq.chat with:

• the work you say is being infringed, such as a link to it or a description of it;
• where it is on Orbit, with enough detail for us to find it, such as the server, the channel and a link to the message;
• your name, postal address, email address and phone number;
• a statement that you believe in good faith that the use is not allowed by the copyright owner, their agent or the law; and
• a statement that the information in your notice is accurate, and that you own the copyright or are allowed to act for the owner.

We may not act on a notice that leaves any of this out. Sending a notice you know is false can make you liable to the person you complained about.

What we do

When we receive a complete notice, we may remove the content or block access to it. We tell the person who posted it what was removed and why, and give them a copy of the notice, which can include the complainant's name and contact details so the two can sort it out directly.

Responding with a counter-notice

If your content was removed and you believe that was a mistake, for example because you own it, have permission, or the law allows your use, you can send a counter-notice to the same address within 14 days of hearing from us. It must include:

• what was removed and where it was;
• your name, postal address, email address and phone number;
• a statement that you believe in good faith that the content was removed by mistake or misidentified, and why; and
• a statement that the information in your counter-notice is accurate, and that you agree to be contacted by the complainant about it.

We send the counter-notice to the person who complained. If they do not tell us within 10 business days that they have started court proceedings about it, we may put the content back. If they have, the content stays down until the matter is resolved.

Repeat infringers

We close the accounts of people who repeatedly infringe copyright: an account with three upheld notices within 12 months is closed, and we may act sooner in serious cases. A notice that was withdrawn or successfully answered with a counter-notice does not count.

Uploads, voice and limits

• Uploads. You can attach images and text files to messages. Uploads have size and type limits, shown in the app, and every image is checked and has its location and camera metadata removed. We may refuse or remove uploads that break these terms.
• Voice and video. Voice and video calls are end-to-end encrypted, and Orbit does not record them. Do not record or share other people's calls without their permission where the law requires it. Server owners can set who may speak, share video or share their screen, and inactive people may be moved to a server's AFK channel.
• Limits. Orbit has limits on things like message length, how often you can send messages or make requests, and how many servers, channels and roles you can create. They keep Orbit fast and fair, and they may change. Do not try to get around them.

Acceptable use

You must not use Orbit to:

• Break the law, or post illegal content. That includes any content that sexualises children, which we report to the authorities.
• Harass or threaten people, bully, stalk, encourage self-harm, or attack people because of who they are.
• Share private information about someone without their permission, or share intimate images of anyone without their consent.
• Post sexual or graphic content outside channels marked 18+, or in any way that targets people under 18.
• Spam: unwanted bulk messages, invites, mentions or friend requests, scams, phishing, or misleading links.
• Impersonate another person, a server, Orbit or Orbit staff, or mislead people about who you are or who something comes from.
• Scrape or harvest Orbit or its users' information, or use bots, scripts or automation, except incoming webhooks that a server's team has set up.
• Abuse rate limits or overload Orbit, for example by flooding requests or using many accounts to get around limits, bans or caps.
• Break or test Orbit's security: get into accounts or data that are not yours, probe for weaknesses, spread malware, or interfere with how Orbit works. If you find a security problem, please tell us at support@orbithq.chat instead of using it.
• Cheat the Dust economy, for example by farming rewards with extra accounts, bots or fake activity.
• Sell, trade, rent or transfer accounts, usernames, servers, Dust or Store items for money or anything else of value, or offer to. Handing a server over for free is fine (see No selling servers or accounts).

Dust and the Store

Dust is Orbit's in-app currency. You earn it by using Orbit, for example by checking in daily, chatting, joining voice, filling in your profile and inviting friends, and you spend it in the Orbit Store on cosmetic items such as user tabs, profile banners, card designs and avatar frames.

• Dust is not money. It has no cash value, cannot be bought, cannot be exchanged for money, goods or services outside Orbit, and is never refunded in money. It is not a deposit, a stored-value product or property you own: it is a limited permission to use a feature of Orbit.
• It stays in Orbit. Dust and Store items cannot be sold, traded or moved to another account or outside Orbit. If we turn on gifting between people, any gift stays inside Orbit and follows these terms.
• We run the economy. We set how Dust is earned, daily limits, prices and what is in the Store, and we may change them. Items can be added, retired or changed. We may correct balances that are wrong, and remove Dust or items gained by mistake or by breaking these terms.
• Dust is platform-wide. Server Apps cannot give out or spend Dust.
• If your account ends. Dust and items are tied to your account. If your account is deleted or closed, they are gone. If we ever stop offering Dust or the Store, we will give notice in Orbit first.
• Optional ads. If Orbit offers optional ads you can choose to watch for Dust, those follow the same rules. See the Privacy Policy for how ads work.

Apps

Servers can turn on built-in Apps, such as Events, Polls, Starboard, Counting, Birthdays and Giveaways. Apps are tools for each server's community, run by that server's team, and the rest of these terms apply to them.

Giveaways

Orbit only provides the Giveaways tool. Each giveaway is run at the sole discretion of the server owner, or whoever in the server runs it (together, "the promoter").

• Orbit is not the promoter. Orbit is not a lottery operator, a trade promotion provider or the promoter of any giveaway. We do not run, sponsor, endorse or guarantee any giveaway, and a giveaway on Orbit is not an official lottery or a regulated draw run by Orbit.
• The promoter is responsible for everything about it. That means the rules, who can enter, the draw (the tool picks winners at random, but the promoter sets it up, starts it and decides on any rerolls), choosing and contacting winners, supplying and delivering prizes, making sure prizes are valid (for example, that a code works), any taxes, and following every law that applies to them. Permits, licences or registration may be required depending on where the giveaway is run and where its entrants live. Before running a giveaway, the promoter must check the laws of their own state, territory or country, and those of their entrants, and get any permits needed.
• Orbit's tool does not charge. The Giveaways tool never charges entrants and never takes Dust to enter. Any conditions a server adds to its giveaway, such as roles, membership or activity in the server, or anything it asks for outside Orbit, are the promoter's own decision and entirely the promoter's responsibility, including any legal consequences.
• Paid or restricted entry is the promoter's risk. Orbit does not police what a server does around its giveaway. For example, a server might charge its own paid supporters a subscription outside Orbit and then run giveaways only for them. That can count as paying to enter, which may make it a different kind of promotion under the law, such as a lottery or gambling, rather than a free trade promotion. If a server limits a giveaway to people who have paid it, or ties entry to anything else of value, the server alone is responsible for whether that is lawful, including any licences or permits. Orbit is not a party to it and, to the extent permitted by law, is not liable for it.
• Prizes. Prizes must be real, lawful and as described. Alcohol, gambling, 18+ items and anything illegal are not allowed as prizes.
• Disputes go to the promoter. Questions or disputes about a giveaway, a prize or a winner are between the entrants or winners and the promoter. We do not replace prizes or settle those disputes.
• What Orbit does. We act on reports of fake or used codes and banned prizes, and we may remove giveaways or turn the Giveaways app off for a server.
• Our liability. To the extent permitted by law, Orbit is not liable for any giveaway, any prize, or any dispute between a server and its entrants or winners. This does not affect your consumer rights.
• The promoter's indemnity. To the extent permitted by law, if someone makes a claim against Orbit arising from a giveaway you run, including about its prizes, its draw or a permit, you agree to cover Orbit's resulting losses and reasonable costs, except to the extent Orbit caused them.
• Giveaways run by Orbit. If Orbit itself runs an official giveaway, the promoter rules above do not apply to it. Orbit's own giveaways are always free to enter, and their rules are published when they run.
• The notice when you create one. Before posting a giveaway, the promoter must tick a box beside this notice: "I understand (the server's name) runs this at its own discretion and is the promoter. Orbit is only the platform, charges nothing to enter, and isn't responsible for prizes, delivery, eligibility, the draw or legal compliance." The notice links to this section. It is a short reminder of this section, and this section applies in full.

Other services

• GIFs from KLIPY. GIFs in Orbit come from KLIPY. GIF content is KLIPY's, not Orbit's, and using it is also subject to KLIPY's terms and privacy policy. You can turn GIFs off with Show GIFs in Settings, and server owners can turn them off for their server.
• The Windows app and the Microsoft Store. The Windows app is distributed through the Microsoft Store. Downloading, installing and updating it are handled by Microsoft under Microsoft's own terms, and the Store's reviews and ratings are Microsoft's. See the Privacy Policy.
• Links and other sites. Messages can contain links to other sites. We do not control those sites and are not responsible for them.

Reporting problems

If someone breaks these terms, tell the server's moderators first, or use the reporting options in the app where they are available. You can always email support@orbithq.chat with what happened, where, and links or message details if you have them. You can leave a server at any time.

If someone is in danger, contact your local emergency services first.

Suspension and termination

• What we can do. If you break these terms, or we reasonably believe you have, or we need to in order to protect people, Orbit or comply with the law, we may remove content, limit features, remove you from voice, take a server out of Discover or remove it, end your sessions, or suspend or close your account. We choose what fits how serious the problem is.
• Telling you. When we remove your content, limit your account, or suspend or close it, we tell you what we did and the reason, by email or in Orbit, unless telling you would put someone at risk, break the law or help someone get around our safety measures.
• Appeals. If you think we got it wrong, you can appeal once by emailing support@orbithq.chat within 30 days of our decision. Say which account or content it is about and why you think the decision was wrong. Where we can, someone other than the person who made the decision looks at it again. We reply within 14 days, telling you whether we upheld, changed or reversed the decision. If we reverse it, we restore what we can. A decision on an appeal is final within Orbit, but it does not affect your other rights, including those in Complaints and disputes.
• Ban evasion. If your account is closed, do not make another one without our permission.
• You can leave any time by deleting your account.

Deleting your account

You can delete your account yourself in Settings, My account. Your account waits 14 days before it is erased, and signing in during that time cancels the deletion. You can also delete it at once with a code we email to your verified address. Servers you own must be handed to another member or deleted first. Your messages stay, shown as "Deleted user", unless you choose to delete them all. The Privacy Policy explains exactly what is removed and what stays.

Changes to Orbit and these terms

• Orbit changes. We are always working on Orbit, so features may be added, changed or removed. Orbit is free and offered as it is from day to day, and it may sometimes be unavailable for maintenance or because something went wrong.
• These terms change. If we change these terms, we update this page and its effective date.
• Notice of significant changes. For a change that materially affects your rights or how you use Orbit, we give you at least 14 days' notice before it takes effect, with an announcement in Orbit and an email to your verified address. The notice says what is changing and when.
• When a change applies straight away. A significant change takes effect sooner only where the law requires it, or where it is needed to protect people's safety or Orbit's security. Changes that do not affect your rights, such as fixing typos or making wording clearer, take effect when they are posted.
• If you do not agree. You can stop using Orbit and delete your account before a change takes effect. If you keep using Orbit after that, the new terms apply.

Your consumer rights

Under the Australian Consumer Law, and similar laws in other places, you may have guarantees and rights that cannot be excluded, restricted or changed by a contract. Nothing in these terms excludes, restricts or changes those rights. Where the law lets us limit our liability for failing to meet a guarantee, our liability is limited, at our choice, to supplying the service again or paying the cost of having it supplied again.

Disclaimers and liability

Subject to your consumer rights, and to the extent the law allows:

• Orbit is provided as it is and as available. We work hard to keep Orbit running and safe, but we do not promise that it will always be available or free of errors, or that messages, files or other content will be kept, be recoverable or be free of loss.
• Do not rely on Orbit to keep your data. Orbit is not a storage or backup service. Do not use it as the only place you keep anything you need to be always available, and keep your own copies of anything important.
• Our backups are for us. We keep backups for our own recovery, for at most 14 days, as the Privacy Policy says. We do not promise to restore any particular person's or server's content from them.
• Exporting your data. We may add a way to export or back up your own data later. Until then, you can ask for a copy of your personal information as described in the Privacy Policy.
• Lost data. To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for data that is lost, deleted, corrupted or unavailable.
• Other people's content and conduct. Content on Orbit comes from the people who post it, servers are run by their owners, and giveaways and their prizes are run and supplied by the servers that offer them (see Giveaways). We are not responsible for them, or for other services such as KLIPY or the Microsoft Store.
• Indirect loss. We are not liable for indirect or consequential loss, or for loss of profits or opportunity, arising from your use of Orbit.
• A cap. Our total liability to you for all claims about Orbit is limited to AUD 50.
• Your responsibility. You are responsible for how you use Orbit and for your content. If you break these terms or the law and someone makes a claim against us because of it, you agree to cover our reasonable costs, except to the extent we caused the problem.

Nothing in these terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, such as for fraud or for death or personal injury caused by negligence.

Complaints and disputes

If you have a complaint about Orbit or a dispute with us, please try to sort it out with us first:

• Write to us. Email support@orbithq.chat with your name, the account involved, what the problem is and what you would like us to do.
• We respond. We acknowledge your complaint within 5 business days and give you our answer within 30 days. If we need more time, we tell you why and when to expect an answer.
• Going further. If we cannot resolve it, either of us can take the dispute to the courts of Queensland, Australia.

There is no arbitration and no waiver of class or group actions. This step does not stop you from contacting a consumer protection agency, such as the ACCC or the Office of Fair Trading Queensland (or the fair trading office where you live), at any time, and it does not limit your rights under the Australian Consumer Law. Either of us can go to court straight away if urgent relief is needed.

Governing law

These terms are governed by the laws of Queensland, Australia. You and we agree to the non-exclusive jurisdiction of the courts of Queensland. If you live elsewhere, you keep any protections the law where you live gives you that cannot be waived.

If a part of these terms cannot be enforced, the rest still applies. If we do not enforce a part straight away, we can still enforce it later. You cannot transfer your rights under these terms to someone else. These terms and the Privacy Policy are the whole agreement between you and us about Orbit.

Contact

Questions about these terms, reports, appeals, copyright notices and complaints: support@orbithq.chat. Privacy requests: privacy@orbithq.chat.