Terms and Conditions of Service Use of STOVE
1. Why are you reading this?
By using our gaming platform, you have agreed to comply with the terms and conditions set out in this document ("the User Agreement"). If you do not agree to the User Agreement, please do not use our services. If you are younger than the relevant “age of majority” pursuant to the applicable laws and regulations of your country of residence (“minor”), you must obtain permission from a parent or legal guardian to create an account or use our gaming platform. If you do not know whether you are minor or not in your country of residence, or do not understand this section, please do not use or access the gaming platform until you have asked your parent or legal guardian for help.
If you are the parent or legal guardian of a minor that creates an account or that uses or accesses the gaming platform, you (i) agree to this User Agreement on the minor’s behalf; (ii) acknowledge that you are responsible for all use by the minor of the gaming platform, including any purchases made; (iii) are responsible for the minor’s compliance with this User Agreement; and (iv) will ensure that any of your participation in the services will not, in any event, result in any violation of applicable laws and regulations relating to child protections.
2. Definitions
Unless the context suggests otherwise, the terms below have the following meanings:
• "Character" refers to the game data that a user selects and controls within the service we provide.
• "Cyber Points" refers to the virtual credit that is provided for free to members to use special services based on certain standards we set such as member's purchase of Paid Service or activities in STOVE
• "gaming platform" or "STOVE" means Online STOVE, the online platform we provide for guest users and members to enjoy our services (including to play games online)
• "guest user" means a user who has not created an account or password to use our gaming platform or access our services, but has been granted with an guest account by the Company which will allow such user to use our gaming platform or access our services
• "member" means a user (including guest user) who has agreed to the User Agreement, has agreed to use our gaming platform or access our services in compliance with this User Agreement
• "Operation Policy" means the separate policy that governs certain segments of our services and the gaming platform
• "Paid Service" means the services that a user can use in Online STOVE after purchasing services through the payment methods provided by us. Each paid service can be defined as follows:
o "Flat rate system" means a service that can be used for a fixed duration by paying the fee amount we set
o "Paid content" means various digital contents with fee (including paid contents such as items, package games, etc.) and those related services we provide
o "Periodic payment" means a service that is periodically charged through a payment method registered by a user (monthly or on each preselected day) to automatically renew the usage period
o Other payment means a service that can be used by paying a specially arranged fee according to our policy
• "Southeast Asia Territory" means the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, Thailand and Indonesia.
• "STOVE account" means an account created by the users, who will be given the right to fully use the services provided by STOVE pursuant to the User Agreement by completing the e-mail verification process through STOVE; provided, however, that the e-mail verification process will not be applied to the users accessing from Southeast Asia Territory. And even though with an STOVE account, there may be some of the services that require separate verification process to use.
• "STOVE Cash" means the virtual credit a user pays in order to purchase our services
• "UGC" means user-generated content that is produced, created, posted or published on the gaming platform by users
• "user" means you, that is, someone who uses our gaming platform, and incudes guest users and members
• "use" means use of our services, including logging into our gaming platform, downloading, installing or running any of our games
• "website" or "our website" means https://www.onstove.com
• "we", "our", "us", "Company" means Smilegate Holdings Inc. Further information about our company can be found on our website.
3. Changes to this document
We may amend this User Agreement from time to time. If we do, we will let you know by posting a notice on our website 7 days prior to the amendments taking effect. If we are making significant changes to the User Agreement, we will endeavor to post this notice 30 days prior to the amendments taking effect. In addition, we may inform you of amendments via email or other communication channels. By continuing to use our services, you agree to comply with the terms and conditions set out in the amended User Agreement.
It is your responsibility to ensure that you are familiar with the terms and conditions of the User Agreement. You can find the latest version of the User Agreement on our website or by logging into our gaming platform.
If you do not agree to comply with the amended terms and conditions, you may choose to terminate your account or stop using our gaming platform.
4. Compliance with relevant laws and agreements
You agree to comply with all relevant laws and regulations that apply to use of our gaming platform. This includes Korea’s Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Utilization and Information Protection and the Act on Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce Transactions.
Where you have paid for content via our gaming platform, such arrangements may be governed by a separate set of terms and conditions. You agree to comply with those separate terms and conditions and that those terms and conditions will prevail in the event of any inconsistency with the User Agreement.
5. Identity details
We may ask you to fill out your identity details such as your date of birth and etc. You agree that you will provide us with accurate, truthful and complete information where required. When accessing particular services, it may be necessary to submit documents or follow procedures to verify your personal information. If you provide false information about your age, we will not be liable – to the extent permitted by law – for any losses or damages you suffer as a result of your use of, or access to, the gaming platform. If you provide false, incorrect or invalid email address, you will not be able to receive any payment documentations (ex. receipt) and any notices sent by email, and you may be restricted from using the services provided by STOVE (including Paid Service). You may view or modify your identity details via the gaming platform. For further details respecting our handling of your personal information, see out Privacy Policy.
You are responsible for any damages or losses Company or you suffer as a result of the modifications you made to your identity details. Also, you are responsible for notifying us if your identity details change and, to the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for any damages or losses you suffer as a result of you failing to notify us.
6. Using the gaming platform as a guest user
If you use our gaming platform as a guest user, you acknowledge that we may not be able to match your service records (e.g. gaming history) or purchase records with your guest account.This may mean that after you create your STOVE Account, we may not be able to link these records to your STOVE account.
7. Securing your account
You must not provide details of your account login or password to any other person. You must not allow any other person to use your account, including to allow another person to access your account in order to circumvent our restricted access systems. You are solely responsible for all activity that occurs under your account.
You agree to use your best efforts to keep all information relating to your account safe and secure, including your password. In addition, you shall change your password regularly. To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for any damages or losses you suffer as a result of you failing to adequately secure your account, including your device, password, or other details of your account.
If you have found that your account has been used or misused by a third party, you must notify us immediately and follow our instructions. We are not responsible for any damages or losses caused by your failure to notify us or follow our instructions.
We may change your member ID in the following circumstances:
• if doing so would enable us to provide more effective services to you
• if required due to integration with another service
• if required to do so under law or our policies.
8. Personal information
In accordance with applicable laws and our Privacy Policy, we will implement safeguards to protect your personal information.
We will endeavor to protect your personal information, in accordance with applicable laws and our Privacy Policy. By using and accessing the services and the gaming platform, and agreeing to this User Agreement, you agree to our collection, use and disclosure of your personal information as described in this User Agreement and our Privacy Policy.
We have the right to request additional information from you about yourself for the purpose of improving our services and introducing new services. You have the right to choose not to participate in such requests for information.
Our Privacy Policy does not apply to third party sites which you access via our gaming platform or website.
9. Your obligations to us
You shall not do any of the following:
• use incorrect information for the application or alteration of personal information
• misuse a third party's information (including personal and payment information)
• impersonate as our employee, game master, or staff
• modify information posted by us
• transfer or post information (computer program, etc.) prohibited by us
• produce, distribute, use or advertise any computer program or device not provided or authorized by us
• infringe our intellectual property rights (copyright, etc.) or those of a third party
• defame or disturb our business or a third party's business
• publicize or post (i) any violent, threatening, abusive or obscene information, (ii) any sexual words or texts, videos or audio, including any nudity, pornography or bestiality, or (iii) any racially, sexually, religiously, politically or otherwise offensive or objectionable information, including material that depicts violence or criminal activity or any other information that are against good public order and customs
• bully, harass, intimidate, abuse or harm, attempt to bully, harass, intimidate, abuse or harm, or encourage or incite bullying, harassment, intimidation, abuse or harm of or against another person
• perform any action that exploits, intimidates, harms, threatens or humiliates a child
• sell, transfer for profit, provide as security, or lend any game data (account, Character, game item, etc.)
• deceive another user to make profits or monetary gain
• use our services for gambling or any other illegal activities
• introduce in-game bugs
• change or modify STOVE client program without our permission, or hack our server, or change any of the information posted on our website without our consent, or use our services abnormally
• use the services for making a profit, selling, advertising, or doing political activities without our consent
• create an account, or use or access the gaming platform if your account, use or access has previously been terminated by us due to a violation of law or our terms and conditions governing use of our gaming platform, including the User Agreement
• use VPN or other circumvention methods to access or use the gaming platform or services not intended for the geographic location where you reside or for other improper purposes
• perform actions or use or access the gaming platform or services in a manner that is prohibited by relevant laws or actions that are against socially accepted ideas
• performactions prohibited by relevant laws or actions that are against socially accepted ideas.
• encourage or publicise activities listed above.
You are required to be familiar with the terms and conditions that apply to your use of the services, including these terms and conditions and other terms and conditions that may be set out in our Operation Policy, notices related to our services, and information we notify you about. In addition, we may prescribe specific requirements in these materials and you agree to comply with them, including in relation to:
• Restriction of "account (ID)”, Character name, nickname and guild name of a user
• Restriction of chat content and chat methods
• Restriction of use of message board
• Restriction of ways of using services
• Other things deemed necessary by us to provide the services without violating fundamental rights to the use of services.
10. Services
We may make changes to the gaming platform and our services at any time, at our sole discretion, including for the purpose of maintaining order and quality of the games.
While we will endeavor to provide services on our gaming platform in accordance with the service period notified to you (on our website or otherwise), we cannot guarantee this will occur when we encounter operational and technical issues. Moreover, we will suspend services or use of the gaming platform if we consider this is necessary so that we can conduct activities to maintain our systems, add or replace servers, add new game content, install patches or upgrades etc. If we plan to suspend the services or use of the gaming platform, we will endeavor to post details of this on our website prior to the suspension. However, if we have not provided prior notice, we will endeavor to provide notice after the event.
You are reminded that using the services and downloading apps may incur data usage fees and other fees as determined by your mobile carrier or internet service provider.
Notwithstanding the above, we reserve the right to suspend services and use of the gaming platform without providing any prior notice in the following circumstances:
1. when maintenance, regular inspection or replacement of information communications facilities, or modifications of services or game contents are necessary
o in this event, we may suspend services for certain hours each week or every two weeks and will notify you 24 hours prior to such suspension
2. when necessary action is needed to take measure against hacking, network error, or abnormal use of the service by users, or when unexpected instability of services occur
o in this event, we may suspend services without prior notice and may only notify you after the suspension
3. if relevant laws prohibit the provision of services at a certain time or in a certain way
4. when services cannot be provided properly due to natural disaster, emergency situation, blackout, service facility error or excessive use of services
5. if we face important operational needs, such as spin-off, merger, business transfer, business discontinuance, or profit aggravation of services and the like
o in the event of items 3-5, we may suspend services by posting a notice on the website 30 days prior to the suspension unless we consider such suspension inevitable, in which case we may only notify you after the suspension. You agree that you will not be entitled to file a complaint or ask for compensation for free services (which means services that you can use without making any form of payments) or Paid Services (including, but not limited to, a continuous paid usage contract and for the limited-period paid items) that has no remaining usage duration. For paid items without a duration limit, the termination date of the services will be taken to be the last available day of such item.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for any damages or losses of free services provided by us unless such damage or loss is caused intentionally by us or by our gross negligence.
We will compensate you for damage and loss you incur due to any suspension of Paid Services, only in accordance with the following, and, subject to any consumer rights under laws applicable in the country or region of your residence, there will be no other compensation available:
• if we fail to provide the Paid Services for 4 hours a day (accumulative) without prior notice due to our fault, we will provide a user who has paid for the Paid Services with credit for 3 times the number of hours we failed to provide the services
• if we have suspended services for server maintenance with prior notice but the maintenance takes longer than 10 hours, we will provide a user who has paid for the Paid Services with credit for the number of hours the services were suspended for in excess of 10 hours
• with regard to Paid Services where a time extension cannot be applied, we may provide compensation by way of offering another Paid Service or STOVE cash in an amount equivalent to the loss; provided, however, that such loss will be determined at our reasonable discretion.
We utilise systems to control access to age-restricted content. Accordingly, if you, or an account holder for whom you are responsible, are below the age rating for particular content, we may restrict your access to that content, or prevent you, or that account holder, from viewing, purchasing and using that content.
11. Providing information to you
We will post information of the games we provide on our website or gaming platform, including:
1. Company name
2. Game name
3. Rating or classification (as applicable in the country or region of your residence)
4. Rating classification No. in the Republic of Korea (if any)
5. Production date
6. Registration number of the game producer or distributor in the Republic of Korea (if any)
7. Minimum device or technical requirements for using the game service
8. Other information deemed necessary by Company
We may provide various information necessary for using the services through notices, e-mail, SMS, push notifications, and other available channels. However, you have the right to refuse to receive promotional notifications, with the exception of transaction information and customer service responses based on relevant laws, by notifying us via the website or by changing the game settings.
We will comply with relevant laws to acquire prior consent from you, as required, when sending promotional information to you via telephone, fax, and SMS. However, we may send information regarding member's transactions or customer inquiries to you without such limitations.
We may post advertisements about the operation of services on the website, gaming platform, or via email. You may refuse to receive email advertisements by notifying us of your choice. Our gaming platform and website will display various advertisements (e.g. banners and/or external links), and provide access to third party websites. Third party websites are not part of our service offering to you and we do not guarantee their reliability and stability. We are not responsible for any damage and loss that you may suffer from accessing third party websites.
12. Collecting information
We may save, archive, and view chat contents between users. This is not a confidential service, and users should have no reasonable expectation of privacy with respect to the service.
We may view such contents when it is needed to mediate disputes between users, to handle user’s complaints, or to maintain order within the game. However, the abovementioned information shall be kept and viewed by us only, and third parties without official authority under the law cannot view such contents.
We will notify you of the reason for and range of viewing the chat contents before reviewing such information. However, in the case of account theft, selling an account or item for cash, verbal violence, in-game fraud, deception, bug abuse, violation of the law, harassment, bullying, pornographic materials, and when there is a need to review your chat information to investigate, process, confirm, and review serious violations stated in this User Agreement, including this item, we will provide the reviewed information to the user whose account it involves in such review.
We may collect and use your information such as device settings, system specifications, and error information (except for the personal information of which collection and/or use is limited by laws) to stabilize the program and to fix bugs in order to improve the quality of our services.
13. Service trial
We may provide you with certain services for trial purposes during a certain period of time.
During the trial period, game and service data can be modified, added, or removed to improve the stability of services, and we will not be responsible to restore the data during this period.
Also, game money, character, and usage information that you acquire during the trial may be reset when the service ends.
Should an unexpected problem occur during the trial period, we may terminate the service without prior notice to you.
14. Game specific terms and conditions
When providing services related to a game, we may ask you to agree to game specific terms other than these terms and conditions. In order to play such games, you will need to agree to these separate terms and conditions.
15. Paid Content
When providing you with access to Paid content, we may set the usage duration of the Paid contents based on our own internal policy. The usage duration of Paid content can be found in the guidelines for use of each Paid content, or can be found on the screen displayed during the payment process.
Prior to using Paid content, you must check whether your device and/or network meets the requirements of the device and quality of wired/wireless network stated in detailed guidelines for the usage of the relevant Paid content.
If you cannot use the Paid content due to our fault, during the usage duration purchased by you, we will provide the same or similar contents that can be used during the remaining duration or provide compensation with STOVE Cash equivalent to the loss; provided, however, that such loss will be determined at our reasonable discretion.
16. Messenger Service
We may provide a messenger service to members. If required, members will need to install relevant programs to use the messenger service.
Regarding the messenger service, we may request members to agree to a separate set of terms and conditions, and by installing and using the messenger program, the member would be deemed to agree to such terms and conditions.
All programs, including the messenger program, cannot be reverse engineered, decompiled, or disassembled without our consent, unless and only to the extent that applicable copyright law expressly permits doing so. If the program is modified or processed (reverse engineered, decompiled, or disassembled) by a third party other than us or our nominee, we, to the maximum extent permitted by law, hold no responsibility for any damage or loss members have suffered from using such modified or processed software. A messenger or patch programs that are not downloaded from the official download link provided by us may contain modification or processing tools that we prohibit. Therefore, you must download the messenger or patch program from the official download link provided by us.
17. Profile Service
We may provide a profile service which publicizes basic information of members while they are using services.
A profile created by a member can be viewed by only selected members by changing the profile settings.
A member can upload a photo, picture, or an image in the profile. However, if a photo, picture, or an image that belongs to a third party is used, it can only be used in the following circumstances:
• When the member holds a legal license granted by, and has all applicable rights and consents from, the copyright holder (or by an agent authorized by such copyright holder);
• When the member uses it within the permitted scope authorized by the copyright holder (or by an agent authorized by such copyright holder); or
• When the member may legally use it according to the copyright law and/or relevant laws.
We may restrict the use of or remove the photo, picture, or image uploaded by a member in the following circumstances:
• If the owner claims violation of copyright, portrait rights, moral rights and other relevant rights;
• If pornography, defamation, insults, and other improper contents are included;
• If the purpose is to use them for behaviors prohibited by these terms and conditions; or
• If the content exhibits anything prohibited by relevant laws.
We reserve the right to take necessary actions to deal with any breaches of this item.
18. Payment for services
We may provide services to our users for free or for a fee. For example, you may need to pay for certain content prior to gaining access to such content. It is your responsibility to check whether the content or services you are seeking to access is available for free or for a fee.
After applying to use the Paid Service, you must make prompt payment of the relevant fees through the payment methods nominated by us. However, if you choose to remit funds without a banknote as a payment option (if available), you must remit the due amount within 3 days. If not, the transaction is deemed withdrawn. You are solely responsible for paying any applicable taxes relating to the Paid Service.
When a user using the Periodic Payment option (i) fails to make a proper payment on the day it is due, or (ii) if a Paid Service for such Periodic Payment is terminated or modified, or (iii) if a user has not used a service for over 6 months, we may revoke the Periodic Payment service contract. However, if the Periodic Payment service contract ends due to the termination of Paid Service for Periodic Payment, we will give prior notice to the user explaining termination of the contract and the reason for termination.
Any Paid Service (with the exception of STOVE Cash) purchased by a user shall be used within 1 year from the day of purchase, unless there exists a certain usage duration set at the time of purchase of Paid Service.
19. Paid Services
Separate terms and conditions for Paid Service (“ToPS”) will be applied to the Paid Service and STOVE Cash.
We may set terms for using Paid Service such as payment withdrawal method, withdrawal effect, recharge or use of STOVE Cash, and refund of excessive payment in the ToPS.
We will post the ToPS on the Homepage or customer center webpage, or through providing a linked screen, so that users can easily find it.
20. Cyber Points
We may provide Cyber Points to members according to certain standards we set (e.g. it can be provided to users purchasing Paid Services or achieving certain activity conditions within STOVE), and the Cyber Point may perish if not used before the expiration date set by Company, unless prohibited by law.
If an error is found in the accumulation of Cyber Points, the member can request we correct the error for a certain period of time, and we may make a correction to the Cyber Points after reviewing the case and notify the user of the result.
We may terminate the Cyber Points service for operational or technical reasons. However, in such cases, we will notify the user at least 1 month prior to the termination of the service. In this case, Cyber Points not used before the termination of the service shall perish.
21. Ownership of Copyright, etc.
1. We own the copyright and all intellectual property rights on any and all contents made or produced by us with regard to our services. We grant users limited rights only to use games, Characters, game items, game money, Cyber Points and etc. related to our services; and these cannot be shared with, transferred, sold or provided as security to a third party.
2. You may not copy, transfer, publish, distribute, broadcast or use for commercial purpose or let a third party use any information obtained while using the services provided by us, of which intellectual property rights are owned by us or a supplier, without the prior consent of the owner of such rights.
3. We or the legal rights holders own and retain all rights, including intellectual property rights, and authorities related to the game program and spin-off products (i.e. all rights related to Character, scenario, animation, music, effect, etc. related to the game) provided in the services; and any information related to a member’s Character, name of the Character, item and all other information within the game licensed to user in accordance to Paragraph 7. The abovementioned information may be added, removed or modified whenever we deem it necessary for planning or operating of the game.
4. When the User Agreement is terminated, you shall immediately delete contents described under Paragraph 1, including the game client.
5. A member shall be responsible for the legal measures and results in case of a dispute with a third party over copyright, personal rights, etc. with respect to the UGC provided by the member to the services. We explicitly deny any and all responsibilities related to the UGC.
6. We do not allow infringement of copyright or intellectual property rights by the use of the services. If we receive a report or acknowledge that UGC uploaded or posted in our services materials that would infringe other’s rights, we may suspend or remove the UGC and related services according to the procedures set out in applicable copyright laws and other relevant laws and regulations. In addition, if we conclude that the UGC violates Article 9 of this User Agreement, or it interferes with our service operation, we may, without prior notice, remove, move to other places or refuse to post the respective UGC.
7. Each member agrees and allows us or such party as designated by us to use UGC under the conditions set out in this User Agreement; the purpose and the method are as follows:
1) Company may create derivative works by any means including translating, arranging, modifying, adapting, and/or recording UGC.
2) Company may duplicate, perform, transmit, display, distribute, and/or rent (Collectively referred as to “Duplicate”) UGC and its derivative works or allow its members or third parties to Duplicate UGC and its derivative works.
3) When Company wants to Duplicate certain UGC or allow its members or third parties to Duplicate it for profit, Company must seek agreement with the author of the UGC.
8. Terms and conditions for us to use the UGC created by a member according to Paragraph 7 of this Article are as below:
1) The media/platform for the UGC to be used includes a PC, a portable device, an application, etc. already known or all types of media, device or technology to be developed.
2) The purpose of UGC usage may be commercial or non-commercial.
3) The scope of UGC use shall include copy, modification, editing, performance, exhibition, broadcast, distribution, rent, public transmission, creation of secondary copyright material, other uses and etc. You irrevocably consent (in accordance with applicable copyright laws) to us using, copying, modifying, editing, performing, exhibiting, broadcasting, distributing, renting, publicly transmitting and creating secondary copyright material in respect of your UGC without any further reference to you or attribution of authorship.
4) The conditions for use of UGC shall be non-exclusive and continuous transferrable free right, and the UGC is impossible to cancel and subject to sublicensing.
9. For the future, a member may withdraw the permission to use his/her UGC in accordance with Paragraph 7 of this Article based on the procedures notified or individually instructed by us.
10. A user who has suffered a legal damage from the information posted on the message board and etc. provided by us may explain the infringement of his/her rights to us and request removal of such information or make a request to post a refutation message. In such cases, we will quickly take necessary actions and notify the applicant of the request of the result.
11. Paragraph 4 of this article shall be effective during our operation of the services and shall continue to apply after withdrawal of membership.
12. Members retain the intellectual property rights for any derivative works based on their UGC, except when such intellectual property rights are attributed to Company or a third party by relevant laws or per this User Agreement.
22. Community Service
• We may provide community services such as boards and timelines, etc. where users can upload postings (“Community Service”).
• Users shall comply with terms and conditions for use, operation policy (“related terms”) and operation guidelines applicable to Community Service (“Operation Guideline”) when using this Community Service.
• There shall be a community manager (“Community Manager”), managing the community for each individual community established by a user; and the Community Manager shall manage the community according to the related terms and Operation Guideline.
• Community Manager holds the overall authority for operation within the scope of related terms and Operation Guideline when users use the community and shall continuously manage the community in order to prevent users from any harm or disadvantage with respect to their postings.
• User shall not upload postings with contents prohibited by this User Agreement, the related terms and Operation Guideline when using the Community Service, and the user who uploads such posting shall be held accountable for the violation.
• We and the Community Manager may delete any posting prohibited by this User Agreement, the related terms and Operation Guideline, and the user who uploads such posting may be regulated according to this User Agreement, the related terms, Operation Guideline and applicable laws.
• If a community is not properly managed for a long period in spite of continuous postings prohibited by this User Agreement, related terms and Operation Guideline, we may force the community to close in order to maintain order within Community Service.
23. Membership Withdrawal
A member has the right to terminate these terms and conditions (“Withdrawal of Membership”). However, to prevent the illegal use of Service for a certain period after the Withdrawal of Membership, we may keep the personal information of the member and restrict re-signing up for the game in accordance with the Privacy Policy.
Despite the abovementioned paragraph, a user can apply for Withdrawal of Membership from each individual mobile game provided by us. When a member applies for Withdrawal of Membership from each individual mobile game, such Withdrawal of Membership will be completed after a certain grace period set by each game's policy. Such grace period set by each game’s policy shall not exceed 30 days.
When a member requests Withdrawal of Membership, it can be processed accordingly through the customer center or other Withdrawal of Membership methods provided within the services.
24. Termination by us
We may terminate a user’s use of our services with prior notice when a user breaches any of his/her responsibilities stated in these terms and conditions. However, we may terminate without any prior notice to the user when the user has violated a law or has caused damage to the Company intentionally or by being grossly negligent. Such intentional or grossly negligent breach, violation of a law or damage to the Company is determined at our own discretion.
When we terminate your use, we will notify the user of the following in writing, e-mail or other methods of the reason for termination and the termination date.
You will lose your right to use any Paid Services and will not be able to claim any refund or compensation from us.
25. Service restrictions against users
We may restrict use in the following cases:
• Partial Character restriction: Restricts chat and other features of Character for a certain period of time.
• Character restriction: Restricts user's Character for a certain period or permanently.
• Account restriction: Restricts use of User’s account for a certain period or permanently.
• User restriction: Restricts use of Service by User for a certain period or permanently.
When we have the just and proper reason for restriction (e.g. when a user breaches any of his/her responsibilities stated in these terms and conditions), we will not make up for the loss to the user caused by the restriction.
Based on the Act on Promotion of Information and Communications Network Use and Information Protection of the Republic of Korea and enforcement decree thereof, we may terminate use for users who have not used service for 1 year (hereinafter referred to as “Dormant Account”) and discard personal information and take necessary actions. In such cases, we will inform user of the actions to be taken, retention period of personal information and type of personal information to be kept 30 days prior to such action.
Despite the previous section, we may keep the personal information of the user if a separate storage period is set by relevant laws or by the request of the user.
Users may raise a formal objection to the restriction by following the procedure we issue. If we consider that the formal objection has merit, we will resume providing services promptly.
In addition, specific regulations of terms and conditions of service that may restrict the user shall be set by each game's operation policy.
26. Temporary restrictions
We may restrict a user account in the following circumstances until investigation is complete:
• If the account is reported to be hacked or stolen
• If the user is suspected to have used an illegal program or work in an illegal gaming workshop
If we consider there is a need to restrict the account due to circumstances giving rise to concerns similarly raised in the above scenarios.
In these scenarios, we will provide the user with an amount equivalent to the period of suspension and extend the user's service usage period. If such extension is not available, we may compensate by providing an equivalent Paid Service or STOVE Cash to the user. However, if the user is found to have violated the terms as listed in this item, no compensation shall be provided.
For each case of violation, we will take the details of violation, number of violations, and violation results into consideration and set the specific reason for restriction and procedure as per the Operation Policy.
When we restrict use of the services, this will be notified to the user by e-mail or posting on the start screen of the service screen or on the website. However, in the case of partial Character restriction (including chatting or gift/item exchange restriction) in-game, prior notice may be limited. We will inform the user of:
• Reason for usage restriction
• Type and period of restriction
• How to raise objections.
To raise an objection to restriction, the user shall submit a document explaining the reason for raising objections to us in writing or by e-mail within 15 days after the restriction.
After accepting the objection from the user, we will reply to the user about the objection in writing or by e-mail, telephone, in-game counseling or other methods within 15 days. If we do not reply to the user within 15 days, we will notify the user of the reason and processing schedule. We will take necessary actions depending on the content of the reply.
27. Compensation
If Paid Service you purchased is lost due to our fault, we will restore it to the original status. If the lost data cannot be restored, we will make compensation with another Paid Service equivalent to the one lost, or refund the amount that was spent for the purchase of the Paid Service.
If you violate these terms and conditions and cause damage to us, you will be liable for damage or loss which we suffer.
If damage is caused while you are using partnership services provided by us, and if you agreed to the terms and conditions of the partnership service, the provider of the partnership service shall be responsible for the damage or loss.
28. Limitation of Liability
Except for intentional conduct or gross negligence, and except as provided in Article 27, above, in no case will we be liable for an damages or losses arising through your use of, or the unavailability of our service, however caused. Without restricting the generality of the foregoing, we will not be liable for:
• providing services in the event of an outbreak of war, natural disaster, emergency situation, or technical malfunction hard to solve with current technology
• interruption of services, service errors or termination of user’s use of service caused by the user
• any damage or loss of the user caused by improper or discontinued network service, unless it was caused intentionally by us or by our gross negligence
• service error and/or discontinuance of services caused by the scheduled repair, exchange, regular maintenance, temporary maintenance, construction and other inevitable reasons, unless it was caused intentionally by us or by our gross negligence
• any and all problems caused by user's device or network circumstances that were not caused intentionally by us or by our gross negligence
• information, data, reliability, or accuracy of information posted by the user or a third party within the services or the website, unless it was caused intentionally by us or by our gross negligence
• disputes between you and a third party related to our services, and do not have any responsibility to compensate for any loss caused by such disputes
• services not meeting your expectations of or damage or loss caused by your choice of services
We have no responsibility regarding any in-game virtual assets, rating, rank, or points of the User.
To the maximum extent permitted by law, we are not responsible for the termination of partnership service, usage malfunction and other problems related to the partnership service unless it was caused by our fault.
We will be exempt from any responsibility in case of (i) damage or loss caused by user’s system error, (ii) damage or loss caused by absence or incorrectness of personal information or e-mail address to the maximum extent permitted by law, unless it was caused intentionally by us or by our gross negligence.
We may restrict service hours depending on the type of the user in accordance with relevant laws or government policies, and shall not be responsible for problems caused by such service restrictions.
Some services we provide are provided via engaging other service providers, and to the maximum extent permitted by law, we shall not be responsible for damage or loss caused by the service of other service providers, unless it was caused by us intentionally or by our gross negligence.
You acknowledge and agree that you are liable for the consequences of any activities you engage in which are contrary to the User Agreement, including any infringement of our intellectual property rights or a third party's intellectual property rights. You also agree to indemnify us for any losses, costs and expenses which we suffer directly or indirectly as a result.
We have agreements with third party businesses to enable us to provide the gaming platform to you and are bound by the terms and conditions of those agreements. If you have a dispute with one of these businesses in connection with your use of the gaming platform, you agree that you will contact the business directly, that you will not involve us in your dispute and that we are not responsible for any losses, damage, or harm which you may suffer in relation to the use of our gaming platform.
Where you suffer any loss in connection with the gaming platform, you must take all reasonable steps to minimise your loss, including notifying us without delay if there are steps we can take to help minimise your loss. Further, subject to Your Consumer Rights set out in Article 30, we are not liable:
• for any loss that was not reasonably foreseeable to you and us; and
• to the extent that your loss was contributed to by you or any other matter outside our reasonable control.
29. Complaints
For your convenience, we provide ways to submit user claims on the start screen of our gaming platform or on our website. We have a department that handles user feedback or claims.
When feedback or claims submitted by users are acknowledged as being just, we will take necessary actions within a reasonable period of time, having regard to the nature of the complaint. However, if the estimated time to take such necessary action is too long, the reason for the delay and schedule will be notified to the user on the website, by e-mail or in writing.
If a third party mediator is involved to mediate a dispute between Company and the user, Company may follow the mediation suggested by the mediator with proving sanctions against the user in good faith.
30. Guarantee
We provide services "as is" without any explicit or implicit guarantee. Therefore, we do not guarantee any service status, continuous usage of service, marketability, suitability for certain purpose, or non-infringement in any way other than it is stated in these terms and conditions, and you are responsible for any and all risk occurred while using our services unless it was caused intentionally by us or by our gross negligence.
However, the abovementioned limitation, and any other limitations and exclusions under this User Agreement, may not be applied when relevant laws enforceable in the country or region of your residence do not allow any exclusion or limitation of your rights, including any implicit guarantee or consumer rights.
31. User Notifications
We may notify you via email or by electronic message within our services. Alternatively, we may notify you by sending notifications to all users by way of posting the notification on our website or the gaming platform or on a pop-up screen for 7 days or more. User shall comply with any policies or notices we issue from time to time.
32. Events that may cause us to reject your application for an account or end our relationship with you
If you provide incorrect or false information when submitting the application form we request or illegally use another person's personal information, the rights granted to you shall be withdrawn, and in such circumstances we may revoke or terminate our relationship with you and not provide you with any compensation (including any refund, except as required by applicable law).
We may choose not to accept an application for use of our services or revoke such acceptance and remove an account in the following circumstances:
• If an application does not include the information we request.
• If you fail to make payments or payment information cannot be corroborated.
• If a credit card, wired/wireless phone, bank account or the like of a third party is illegally used to make payments for our services
• If you access our services from a country we have not yet decided to provide service in, and if there is a need for us to restrict provision to users who access the service from certain countries or by agreements made with foreign service providers
• If the purpose of application for use of our services, or the use of, or access to, the services itself, violates the law
• If we decide at our sole discretion that you are or have engaged in illegal behaviors (e.g., use of illegal programs, fraud, hacking, etc.) or there exists possibility of such illegal behaviors by you to interrupt our business
• If the purpose of application for use is to make profits
• If the number of requested "account (ID)" exceeds the limit for each service
• If your use has been terminated by us previously for violation of the User Agreement and you have submitted a new application
• other cases where we consider such case improper to accept, due to circumstances similar to those listed above.
In the following cases, we may postpone acceptance or revocation and removal of an account until the reason for postponing is cleared:
• If we do not have enough facilities or are experiencing technical problems
• If there is an ongoing service error or a payment error
• other cases equivalent to the cases listed above, which Company considers acceptance of the application for use of services impossible.
We may categorize users who have submitted an application based on Company policies and relevant laws to differentiate range of services, service hours, and service menus. We may request additional information to make modifications to the range of services or to provide additional services.
33. Jurisdiction and Governing Law
In the event of a dispute, you agree to use your best endeavors to resolve such matter with us amicably. If a resolution cannot be reached, the matter may be submitted to the competent court in accordance with the Civil Procedure Act of the Republic of Korea. However, if you reside in a country outside of Korea, such disagreement, dispute, or controversy shall be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Seoul Central District Court in Seoul, Korea.
This User Agreement will be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws and regulations of the Republic of Korea. If consumer laws applicable in the country or region of your residence require local law to govern or give you the right to resolve disputes in another forum despite this User Agreement, then this Article applies to the maximum extent permitted under the applicable consumer laws.
Notwithstanding any terms in this User Agreement, you may have other rights under laws enforceable in the country or region of your residence. This User Agreement does not alter, modify or exclude any rights under those laws to the extent that those laws do not permit us to do so.
If any provision of this User Agreement is invalid under the law enforceable in the country or region of your residence, that provision is enforceable in that country or region to the extent that it is not invalid, whether it is in severable terms or not.
