Terms of Service

Effective 28 July 2026

The Story of the Internet (the “Service”), at ofstory.net, is operated by TWAMD LLC. By using the Service you agree to these Terms.

1. Who may use the Service

You must be at least 13 years old. If you are under 18, use the Service only with a parent or guardian's consent and supervision.

2. What the Service is

The Service is a public, never-ending story the internet writes together. Visitors vote once each day, and the winning word becomes a permanent part of one shared story. There are no accounts. The title campaign and countdown do not start until a separate, explicit owner approval arms them; this presentation update does not launch the Service.

When armed, the initial campaign runs for seven Chicago calendar days. Title voting closes at 8:00 PM Central on the evening before the planned 8:00 AM reveal. A tied title is decided only by a human visitor with a 30-second claim; there is no random or machine-selected winner. If an unresolved tie remains at 8:00 AM, the first Daily ballot waits. A later human choice stays sealed until the next 8:00 AM so the story still gets a full first day.

3. Contributions

If the Service accepts a word, title, vote, report, or other submission, you are responsible for it. For text intended for the public story, you grant us and the public a perpetual, worldwide, royalty-free license to store, display, reproduce, and distribute that contribution as part of the Service and its promotion.

During the title campaign, one title may be submitted for each confirmed email address. You may edit that title until nomination close, but you cannot withdraw it. A duplicate or invalid title does not spend the nomination slot. Approval is not guaranteed.

4. Acceptable use

You agree not to submit or attempt to submit:

Illegal content or content that promotes illegal acts.
Hateful, threatening, harassing, or targeted abusive content.
Sexual content involving minors or child sexual abuse material.
Someone's private, contact, or financial information.
Content you do not have the right to submit.
Spam, advertising, malware, or prohibited links.

You also agree not to automate or manipulate participation, disrupt the Service, or evade its safeguards. Ordinary profanity is allowed; the prohibited categories above are not. Because voting is anonymous, the Service uses best-effort technical and behavior signals. A suspicious vote may be counted in full or silently excluded; a shared connection alone does not cause exclusion. These controls are friction, not proof of one person or a guarantee against manipulation.

5. Direct word placement and payments

One direct word placement costs 3 US dollars. The Service checks safety, availability, duplicates, and the named ballot before opening Stripe-hosted Checkout. Stripe places a temporary authorization hold. We request capture only after the exact word is secured on that same named ballot.

Payment buys ballot placement only. It does not buy votes, a preferred position, a better chance to win, ownership, or a share of any result. A losing word does not receive a refund because it received the placement that was purchased.

Each placement stays attached to one named ballot. That ballot's expected opening is owner-set and may move later. A quiet day, unresolved tie, or approved postponement may delay the same named ballot, but the same word and payment remain attached and the word is not moved to a different ballot. Checkout can start only while the Service reports that ballot available. An open Stripe Checkout Session keeps its original expiry; moving the date does not extend it.

During a review hold, no new Checkout Session starts. An already-issued Session keeps its original expiry and may complete while provider and placement truth are reconciled. If the promised placement cannot be secured, we do not capture the authorization. If a payment was captured but the promised placement was not delivered, we issue a full refund after provider reconciliation. If the campaign is explicitly cancelled by the owner and the named ballot never opens, captured payments likewise receive a full refund after provider reconciliation. The word never moves to another ballot.

A placed word may still be removed for safety under these Terms. Safety removal does not automatically create a refund. Refunds and disputes do not rewrite a completed ballot or story result.

There is no stored balance, credit pack, wallet, restore code, promotion, paid title, or second paid action. Stripe may collect an email and send the payment receipt; the Service does not use that email to create an identity.

6. Moderation and removal

We may remove, hide, replace, or restrict content or access, including in response to reports or automated safety review. We do not guarantee that any particular contribution will be accepted, selected, preserved, or displayed.

7. Intellectual property and copyright

The Service's name, design, and software are owned by TWAMD LLC. If you believe material on the Service infringes your copyright, contact us with the work, location, your contact information, and the statements required for a valid notice.

8. Disclaimers

The Service is provided “as is” and “as available,” without warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not promise uninterrupted, secure, error-free, accurate, inoffensive, or coherent operation or content.

9. Limitation of liability

To the fullest extent permitted by law, TWAMD LLC is not liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, or for lost profits or data. Our total liability for a Service-related claim is limited to the greater of what you paid us in the preceding 12 months or 100 US dollars.

10. Other terms

You agree to indemnify TWAMD LLC for claims and costs caused by your contributions or breach of these Terms. We may suspend access to protect the Service or its users. These Terms are governed by United States and Arkansas law, and disputes must be brought in Arkansas state or federal courts.

11. Changes and contact

We may update these Terms; the effective date shows the latest version. Reach us through the contact form. The Service is operated by TWAMD LLC.