Terms of Service

The agreement between you and NightOC for use of the Service.

1. Acceptance of Terms

These Terms of Service ("Terms") constitute a legally binding agreement between you ("you" or "User") and NightOC LLC ("NightOC," "we," "us," or "our") governing your access to and use of the NightOC mobile application (the "App"), the website at nightoc.com (the "Website"), and all related features and services (collectively, the "Service").

By downloading, installing, registering for, or otherwise using the Service, you (a) acknowledge that you have read, understood, and agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy; and (b) represent that you have the legal capacity to enter into these Terms. If you do not agree, do not access or use the Service.

2. Eligibility and Account Requirements

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. If you are between 13 and the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction, you may use the Service only with the consent and supervision of a parent or legal guardian who agrees to be bound by these Terms.

You represent and warrant that: (a) the information you provide to us is accurate and current; (b) you will keep your account information updated; (c) you are not on any U.S. government list of restricted parties; (d) you are not located in a country subject to a U.S. government embargo, or that has been designated as a "terrorist supporting" country.

We reserve the right to refuse the Service to anyone for any reason at our sole discretion.

3. Description of the Service

NightOC is a local information platform serving the Chinese-speaking community of Orange County, California. The Service curates publicly available information from government agencies, law enforcement notices, official social media, and other public sources, translates and adapts it into Chinese, and provides community features including commenting, bookmarking, and reporting.

The Service is offered free of charge. We reserve the right to introduce paid features in the future, in which case the applicable charges and additional terms will be disclosed before purchase.

4. Your Account

4.1 Anonymous Accounts

Upon first use, the App creates an anonymous account identified by a randomly generated User ID. This account allows you to comment, bookmark, and report content. Anonymous account data resides on your device and on our servers. If you uninstall the App or change devices without first registering an email, your account and associated data cannot be recovered.

4.2 Email-Verified Accounts

You may upgrade to an email-verified account by providing an email address and confirming it via a one-time verification code. Email-verified accounts can be signed into across devices and allow recovery of your data.

4.3 Account Security

You are responsible for safeguarding the device and email account used to access the Service. You agree to notify us immediately of any unauthorized use of your account. We are not liable for losses arising from your failure to safeguard access.

4.4 One Account Per Person

You may not create multiple accounts to evade enforcement actions, manipulate community signals, or otherwise abuse the Service. Operating accounts in a coordinated manner (such as for spamming, vote inflation, or coordinated harassment) is prohibited.

5. User Content and License

5.1 Definition

"User Content" means any content you submit, upload, transmit, or display through the Service, including comments, reported text descriptions, nickname, selected avatar, and messages sent via Contact Us.

5.2 Ownership

You retain ownership of intellectual property rights in your User Content. We do not claim ownership of your User Content.

5.3 License You Grant to NightOC

By submitting User Content, you grant NightOC a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free, fully paid-up, sublicensable, transferable, perpetual, and irrevocable license to use, host, store, reproduce, modify (for formatting and translation purposes only), publish, publicly display, publicly perform, and distribute your User Content in connection with operating, providing, and promoting the Service. This license remains in effect after you delete the User Content or your account, but only for content that has been previously shared or quoted by other users or that we are legally required to retain.

5.4 Your Representations

You represent and warrant that: (a) you own or have all necessary rights to submit the User Content; (b) your User Content does not infringe any third-party rights including intellectual property, privacy, publicity, or contractual rights; (c) your User Content does not violate any applicable law or these Terms.

5.5 No Compensation

You agree that we are not obligated to pay you for any User Content you submit and that we have no duty to use, display, or retain your User Content.

6. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree NOT to use the Service to:

• Post, upload, or distribute content that is unlawful, defamatory, fraudulent, obscene, sexually explicit, pornographic, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, harassing, threatening, abusive, or invasive of another's privacy;
• Post content that promotes violence, terrorism, self-harm, or illegal activity;
• Post commercial advertising, spam, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or other unsolicited promotional content;
• Post false, misleading, or deceptive information, including impersonation of any person or entity;
• Infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, right of publicity, or other intellectual property right;
• Collect or harvest information about other users, including their personal information, without their consent;
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service, other accounts, or our servers, networks, or systems;
• Use bots, scrapers, crawlers, or other automated means to access the Service or extract data, except for publicly available search engine indexing of the Website;
• Reverse-engineer, decompile, disassemble, or otherwise attempt to derive the source code of the App, except to the extent applicable law expressly permits;
• Tamper with, disable, or circumvent any security feature of the Service, including the cryptographic signing of API requests;
• Use the Service in any manner that could damage, disable, overburden, or impair our servers or networks;
• Use the Service for any purpose competitive to NightOC or to build a competing service;
• Violate any applicable local, state, federal, or international law or regulation.

7. Moderation and Enforcement

We may, but are not obligated to, monitor or review User Content. We reserve the right (but assume no obligation) to:

• Remove, hide, edit, or refuse to publish any User Content for any reason or no reason, with or without notice;
• Suspend, restrict, or terminate any account for any violation of these Terms or applicable law;
• Apply automatic content filters and rate limits;
• Investigate any reported violation and cooperate with law enforcement.

Repeated or serious violations may result in permanent ban of the offending account and, where appropriate, related devices and email addresses. We are not required to provide reasons or appeals procedures, although we will use commercially reasonable efforts to do so.

8. News Content and Editorial Disclaimer

The news, summaries, translations, and commentary provided through the Service ("Editorial Content") are curated by NightOC from publicly available sources, including but not limited to government websites, law enforcement bulletins, official social media accounts, and licensed news feeds.

We use commercially reasonable efforts to ensure accuracy and timeliness but make no guarantee as to the completeness, accuracy, currency, or reliability of any Editorial Content. Translations involve interpretation; the English-language original (where applicable) controls in case of any discrepancy. You agree that any reliance on Editorial Content is at your sole risk.

9. Intellectual Property

Our IP. The name "NightOC," "不夜橙," our logos, the App design, the curated layout of Editorial Content, and any original commentary, illustrations, or compilations created by NightOC are owned by NightOC LLC and protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws of the United States and other countries.

Limited License to You. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, NightOC grants you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to download, install, and use the App on devices you own or control, and to access the Website, solely for your personal, non-commercial use.

Reservation. All rights not expressly granted to you in these Terms are reserved by NightOC and its licensors. Nothing in these Terms grants you any right or license to use the NightOC brand or trademarks without our prior written consent.

Public Domain Material. Government public records and content released into the public domain remain in the public domain. NightOC does not claim copyright in such underlying source material.

10. DMCA / Copyright Infringement

NightOC respects intellectual property rights and complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). If you believe content available through the Service infringes your copyright, please send a notice including all information required by 17 U.S.C. § 512(c)(3) to hello@nightoc.com with the subject line "DMCA Notice." Your notice must include:

1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or authorized agent;
2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to be infringed;
3. Identification of the material to be removed and information reasonably sufficient to locate it (e.g., a URL or screenshot);
4. Your contact information (address, telephone, email);
5. A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
6. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner.

We will respond to valid notices in accordance with the DMCA. Misrepresentations in a DMCA notice may subject the sender to liability under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f).

11. Third-Party Services and Links

The Service may include links to third-party websites, services, or resources (for example, news source attributions, government information pages, or App Store links). These third-party properties are not under our control. NightOC does not endorse and is not responsible for the content, privacy practices, or accuracy of any third-party material. Your dealings with third parties are solely between you and them.

12. Mobile Application; App Store Provisions

The following provisions apply if you obtained the App through Apple's App Store or Google Play:

12.1 Acknowledgment

These Terms are concluded between you and NightOC only, and not with Apple Inc. ("Apple") or Google LLC ("Google"). NightOC, not Apple or Google, is solely responsible for the App and the content thereof.

12.2 Scope of License

The license granted to you for the App is limited to a non-transferable license to use the App on any Apple- or Google-branded products that you own or control and as permitted by the Usage Rules of the applicable platform.

12.3 Maintenance and Support

NightOC is solely responsible for providing any maintenance and support for the App, to the extent such services are required under applicable law. Apple and Google have no obligation whatsoever to furnish any maintenance and support services for the App.

12.4 Warranty

NightOC is solely responsible for any product warranties, whether express or implied by law, to the extent not effectively disclaimed. In the event of any failure of the App to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple, and Apple will refund the purchase price (if any) for the App; to the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Apple will have no other warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the App.

12.5 Product Claims

NightOC, not Apple or Google, is responsible for addressing any claims by you or any third party relating to the App or your possession and/or use of the App, including: (i) product liability claims; (ii) any claim that the App fails to conform to any applicable legal or regulatory requirement; and (iii) claims arising under consumer protection, privacy, or similar legislation.

12.6 Intellectual Property Rights

In the event of any third party claim that the App or your possession and use of the App infringes that third party's intellectual property rights, NightOC, not Apple or Google, will be solely responsible for the investigation, defense, settlement, and discharge of any such infringement claim.

12.7 Legal Compliance

You represent and warrant that: (i) you are not located in a country that is subject to a U.S. Government embargo, or that has been designated by the U.S. Government as a "terrorist supporting" country; and (ii) you are not listed on any U.S. Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.

12.8 Third Party Beneficiary

You and NightOC acknowledge and agree that Apple and Apple's subsidiaries, and Google and its subsidiaries, are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms, and that, upon your acceptance of these Terms, Apple or Google (as applicable) will have the right (and will be deemed to have accepted the right) to enforce these Terms against you as a third-party beneficiary thereof.

13. Modifications, Suspension, and Termination

13.1 Changes to the Service

We may modify, suspend, or discontinue any feature or component of the Service at any time, with or without notice. We are not liable to you or any third party for any such modification, suspension, or discontinuation.

13.2 Changes to These Terms

We may revise these Terms from time to time. The "Last Updated" date will reflect the most recent revision. Material changes will be communicated through the App and, where appropriate, by email to registered users. Your continued use of the Service after revised Terms take effect constitutes your acceptance of the revised Terms.

13.3 Termination by You

You may terminate your use of the Service at any time by uninstalling the App and emailing us to request account deletion. See the Privacy Policy, Section 12, for account deletion procedure.

13.4 Termination by Us

We may suspend or terminate your access to the Service immediately and without notice if: (a) you violate these Terms or any applicable law; (b) we suspect fraudulent, abusive, or illegal activity; (c) extended periods of inactivity occur; or (d) operation of the Service ceases. Upon termination, sections that by their nature should survive (including User Content license, intellectual property, disclaimers, limitations of liability, indemnification, and dispute resolution) will survive.

14. Disclaimer of Warranties

Without limiting the foregoing, NightOC does not warrant that: (a) the Service will meet your requirements; (b) the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; (c) Editorial Content will be accurate, reliable, or complete; (d) any defects will be corrected; or (e) the Service or servers used in connection with the Service are free of viruses or harmful components.

Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion of certain warranties. To that extent, the above exclusions may not apply to you.

15. Limitation of Liability

These limitations apply regardless of the form of action, whether based on contract, tort, negligence, strict liability, or any other legal theory. Some jurisdictions do not allow the exclusion or limitation of certain damages. To that extent, these limitations may not apply to you.

Basis of the Bargain. You acknowledge that the disclaimers and limitations in these Terms are essential elements of the bargain between you and NightOC and that NightOC would not provide the Service without them.

16. Indemnification

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless NightOC, its affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, employees, agents, licensors, and service providers from and against any and all claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, awards, losses, costs, expenses, or fees (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or relating to: (a) your User Content; (b) your use of or inability to use the Service; (c) your violation of these Terms; (d) your violation of any law or third-party right (including intellectual property, publicity, or privacy rights); or (e) any dispute between you and another User.

We reserve the right, at our own expense, to assume exclusive defense and control of any matter otherwise subject to your indemnification, in which case you agree to cooperate with our defense.

17. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

17.1 Governing Law

These Terms and any dispute arising out of or relating to the Service are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of California, USA, without regard to its conflict-of-law principles, and applicable U.S. federal law. The United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods does not apply.

17.2 Informal Resolution First

Before filing any formal legal claim, you agree to attempt to resolve the dispute informally by sending us a written notice describing the dispute and the relief sought to hello@nightoc.com. We will attempt to resolve the dispute in good faith within thirty (30) days of receipt.

17.3 Venue

If informal resolution fails, all disputes will be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in Orange County, California, and you and NightOC consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.

17.4 Time Limit

Any cause of action arising out of or relating to the Service must commence within one (1) year after the cause of action arose; otherwise it is permanently barred.

17.5 Equitable Relief

Notwithstanding the above, either party may seek temporary or preliminary injunctive relief in any court of competent jurisdiction to protect its intellectual property rights.

18. General Provisions

• Entire Agreement. These Terms, together with the Privacy Policy and any additional terms specific to particular features, constitute the entire agreement between you and NightOC and supersede all prior agreements.
• No Waiver. Our failure to enforce any provision is not a waiver of our right to do so later.
• Severability. If any provision is found unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force.
• Assignment. You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms freely.
• No Agency. Nothing in these Terms creates any agency, partnership, joint venture, or employment relationship between you and NightOC.
• Force Majeure. NightOC is not liable for any failure or delay in performance due to causes beyond our reasonable control, including acts of God, natural disasters, war, terrorism, riots, labor disputes, government actions, power outages, internet failures, or third-party service failures.
• Notices. Notices to you may be given via the App, the Website, or your registered email. Notices to us must be sent to hello@nightoc.com.
• Translations. If these Terms are translated into any language other than English, the English version controls in the event of any conflict.
• Export Compliance. The Service is subject to U.S. export controls. You agree not to export, re-export, or transfer the App in violation of applicable export laws.
• Headings. Section headings are for convenience only and do not affect interpretation.

19. Contact

NightOC LLC
Email: hello@nightoc.com
Mailing inquiries: please email first; physical mailing address provided upon written request.