Terms of Service

These Terms of Service ("Terms") form a binding agreement between Baranet Software LLC ("Baranet," "ForoCivic," "we," "us," or "our") and each person or entity that accesses or uses the Services.

If you access or use the Services on behalf of an entity, you represent that you have authority to bind that entity to these Terms.

By accessing or using the Services, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, you must not access or use the Services.

ForoCivic is a software platform designed to support structured civic participation, issue intake, public discussion, resident and staff workflows, moderation, records-support functions, and related administrative tools.

Unless expressly stated in a separate signed agreement, Baranet does not provide legal advice, election advice, records-retention advice, public-meeting compliance advice, or official governmental determinations.

You may use the Services only if you are legally capable of entering into a binding contract and are not prohibited from using the Services under applicable law.

You may be required to create an account, verify an email address, or complete other onboarding or verification steps before accessing certain features.

You agree to provide accurate, current, and complete information and to maintain the security of your credentials.

Certain Services are made available through organization-scoped workspaces, including municipalities and public agencies.

Organization administrators, moderators, clerks, staff, and similar authorized users may create issues, manage participation spaces, assign roles, configure policies, review records, and exercise role-based controls.

If you are granted elevated permissions, you agree to use them solely for legitimate organizational purposes and in compliance with applicable law and organizational policy.

You must keep your account credentials confidential and must notify us promptly at support@forocivic.com if you suspect unauthorized access or misuse.

We may suspend or limit an account if we reasonably believe it has been compromised or used in violation of these Terms.

"User Content" means any content, data, material, files, comments, arguments, submissions, messages, attachments, profile information, issue content, reactions, votes, or other information that you upload or submit through the Services.

You retain ownership of your User Content, subject to the license granted in these Terms.

You represent and warrant that you own or control all rights necessary to submit User Content and that your User Content does not violate these Terms, any applicable law, or any third-party rights.

You grant Baranet Software LLC a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free, sublicensable license to host, store, reproduce, process, adapt, format, display, publish, distribute, transmit, analyze, and otherwise use your User Content as reasonably necessary to operate, secure, administer, maintain, improve, and support the Services.

This license includes the right to generate summaries, analysis outputs, moderation artifacts, records-support exports, and other workflow outputs derived from User Content as necessary to provide the Services.

This license continues only for so long as necessary to operate the Services and satisfy legitimate business, security, legal, archival, or backup needs.

You may not use the Services to violate any law, regulation, court order, or enforceable governmental requirement.

You may not impersonate others, submit fraudulent or misleading content, harass or threaten others, distribute malware, probe or circumvent security controls, scrape protected data without authorization, or interfere with service integrity.

You may not use the Services to post unlawful, infringing, defamatory, or abusive content, or to automate abuse or manipulation of civic participation processes.

Baranet and authorized Organization personnel may review, remove, restrict, hide, reclassify, preserve, or escalate content or accounts when necessary to enforce these Terms, apply organizational rules, protect users, respond to abuse, or comply with law.

We are not obligated to host or continue hosting any specific content.

Some Organization workspaces may be associated with municipalities or public bodies. User submissions may become subject to public-records laws or retention requirements.

Baranet does not control how a participating Organization satisfies its legal obligations relating to public records or transparency.

Certain actions may require email verification, invitation-based access, residency checks, organization assignment, or other verification controls.

Verification within ForoCivic does not constitute a legal determination of residency or eligibility unless the responsible Organization expressly states otherwise.

Certain Services may be provided pursuant to a pilot agreement, order form, subscription plan, statement of work, or other signed commercial agreement.

In the event of a conflict between these Terms and a separately signed commercial agreement, the signed commercial agreement controls for the purchased or contracted services.

Unless otherwise stated in writing, fees are in U.S. dollars, are non-refundable except as required by law, and may be charged through designated payment methods or invoicing processes.

Except for User Content and third-party materials, the Services and all software, workflows, designs, branding, interfaces, and related materials are owned by Baranet Software LLC or its licensors and are protected by intellectual-property and other applicable laws.

Subject to your compliance with these Terms, Baranet grants you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable right to access and use the Services for their intended purpose.

If you provide suggestions, ideas, enhancement requests, bug reports, or other feedback relating to the Services, you grant Baranet Software LLC a worldwide, perpetual, irrevocable, transferable, sublicensable, royalty-free right to use that feedback for any lawful purpose.

Use of the Services is also subject to the ForoCivic Privacy Policy.

If you use the Services as an Organization administrator or operator, you are independently responsible for your own compliance obligations with respect to data you collect, export, review, or process using the Services.

The Services may interoperate with or contain links to third-party services. Baranet does not control third-party services and is not responsible for their content, availability, or security practices.

Your use of third-party services is governed by those third parties' own terms and policies.

By using the Services, you consent to receive transactional, security, operational, and legal communications from Baranet by email, platform notice, or other reasonable electronic means.

You cannot opt out of communications reasonably necessary to provide the Services, maintain security, or comply with legal obligations.

ForoCivic may generate structured summaries, classifications, issue analyses, participation snapshots, or other machine-assisted outputs.

These outputs are intended to support review and administration, not to replace human judgment.

Baranet may modify, suspend, limit, or discontinue any portion of the Services at any time, with or without notice, to the extent permitted by law.

We may release features in alpha, beta, preview, pilot, or experimental form.

THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

BARANET SOFTWARE LLC DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, TITLE, AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Baranet Software LLC and its affiliates will not be liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, or for any loss of profits, revenue, goodwill, use, data, or business interruption.

Baranet's aggregate liability for all claims arising out of or relating to the Services or these Terms will not exceed the greater of (A) the amount you paid to Baranet for the Services in the twelve (12) months before the event giving rise to the claim or (B) one hundred U.S. dollars (US $100).

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Baranet Software LLC and its affiliates, officers, directors, employees, contractors, agents, licensors, and service providers from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, judgments, losses, costs, and expenses arising out of or relating to your use of the Services, your User Content, or your violation of these Terms.

Baranet may suspend or terminate your access to the Services, in whole or in part, immediately or at any time if we reasonably believe you violated these Terms, your use poses risk to the Services, or we are required to do so by law.

Sections that by their nature should survive termination will survive, including intellectual-property provisions, licenses, disclaimers, indemnification, limitation of liability, dispute provisions, and accrued payment obligations.

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Texas, without regard to conflict-of-laws principles, except to the extent superseded by applicable federal law.

Any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in or serving Lubbock County, Texas.

Nothing in these Terms prevents Baranet from seeking injunctive or equitable relief for actual or threatened misuse of the Services, unauthorized access, breach of confidentiality, or infringement of intellectual property rights.

You may not use the Services in violation of U.S. export-control or sanctions laws.

You represent that you are not located in, under the control of, or a national or resident of any country or territory subject to comprehensive sanctions applicable to the Services and that you are not on any applicable restricted-party list.

Baranet may update these Terms from time to time. If we make material changes, we will use reasonable efforts to provide notice.

Your continued use of the Services after revised Terms become effective constitutes acceptance of those revised Terms.

These Terms, together with the ForoCivic Privacy Policy and any applicable signed commercial agreement, constitute the entire agreement between you and Baranet Software LLC regarding the Services and supersede prior understandings.

If any provision of these Terms is held invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any provision will be deemed a further or continuing waiver of that provision or any other provision.

Baranet Software LLC

Attn: ForoCivic Legal

Business Address: To be provided

Support Email: support@forocivic.com

Legal Email: legal@forocivic.com

DMCA / IP Notices: dmca@forocivic.com