PLATFORM TERMS OF SERVICE

1.1. Technology Marketplace Only: bountymin operates strictly as an automated software and technology intermediary connecting open-source project maintainers, financial backers ("Bounty Creators"), and independent software engineers ("Bounty Hunters" or "Solvers").

1.2. No Employment or Agency: Nothing in these Terms creates an employment, partnership, joint venture, or agency relationship between bountymin and any user. Bounty Hunters act entirely as independent contractors who freely select which open-source issues to solve.

2.1. Age Requirement: You must be at least 18 years of age or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction to create bounties, pledge funds, or receive Stripe Connect payouts.

2.2. Trade Sanctions & Embargoes: You represent and warrant that you are not located in, organized under, or a resident of any country or territory subject to United States, European Union, or United Nations trade sanctions (including Cuba, Iran, North Korea, Syria, and the Crimea/Donetsk/Luhansk regions of Ukraine), and you are not listed on the US Department of Treasury’s OFAC Specially Designated Nationals (SDN) list.

3.1. Upfront Funding Requirement: When a Creator places a bounty or contributes to a Multi-Backer pool, the specified amount is charged upfront via Stripe Checkout and held in platform balance until a valid Pull Request is verified.

3.2. Platform Technology Fee: Upon successful claim resolution, bountymin retains a 10% Platform Technology Fee on bounties (and a 5% Fee on micro-tips). The remaining 90% (or 95%) is transferred automatically into the solver's local bank account.

3.3. Multi-Backer Crowdfunding: Multiple individual backers can contribute to the same GitHub issue. All contributions pool together into a single Escrow balance.

4.1. Automatic Open-Source Licensing: By submitting a Pull Request to claim any bounty, the Bounty Hunter explicitly agrees that all submitted code, documentation, and commits are released under the target repository's existing open-source license (e.g., MIT, Apache 2.0, BSD-3, GPL).

4.2. Original Work Warranty: The solver warrants and covenants that:

• All submitted code is their own original work or appropriately attributed third-party code permitted under compatible open licenses.
• The code contains no malware, backdoors, logic bombs, ransomware, or unauthorized telemetry.
• The code does not infringe upon any third-party patent, trademark, trade secret, or copyright.

5.1. Resolution Criteria: A bounty is resolved when a Pull Request resolving the issue specifications is merged into the target repository's default branch.

5.2. Automated 7-Day Grace Period: To safeguard against code regressions, accidental merges, and fraudulent claims, bountymin enforces a default 7-day Grace Period. If no dispute is lodged, funds transfer automatically on day 7. Maintainers may click "Approve Instant Payout" to bypass the grace period.

5.3. Dispute Resolution Protocol: If a dispute is filed via /dispute, bountymin arbitration reviews public commit histories, test suites, and issue criteria to issue a final, binding payout determination.

6.1. Unassigned Bounty Refund: If a funded GitHub issue remains unassigned or unsolved after sixty (60) calendar days, the Creator has the legal right to click "Request Refund" in their Dashboard to return 100% of their pledged funds to their original payment method via Stripe.

6.2. Closed / Invalid Issues: If a repository maintainer closes an issue as "Invalid" or "Won't Fix" with no active solver PRs, pledged backer contributions become immediately refundable.

7.1. Independent Contractor Tax Liability: Solvers receive bounty payouts as independent contractors and are solely responsible for determining, reporting, and paying all applicable local, state, and federal income taxes, VAT, or GST.

7.2. Tax Documentation Collection: Through Stripe Connect Express onboarding, solvers agree to complete necessary tax documentation (Form W-9 for US residents, or Form W-8BEN/W-8BEN-E for international non-US residents) for annual 1099-NEC/1099-K reporting when thresholds are met.

Users shall not engage in:

• Wash-funding or self-awarding bounties between colluding accounts to manipulate platform rankings or launder funds.
• Submitting AI-generated spam or unauthorized copy-pasted code with no functional relevance to the issue.
• Extortion, harassment, or threatening open-source maintainers to force bounty payouts.

9.1. "AS IS" and "AS AVAILABLE" Disclaimer: TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, THE SERVICES, PLATFORM, SMART BOT, REPOSITORY WEBHOOKS, AND APIS ARE PROVIDED STRICTLY "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE.

9.2. Third-Party Code & Pull Requests: bountymin DOES NOT AUDIT, VET, COMPILE, EXECUTE, OR GUARANTEE THE SECURITY, QUALITY, SAFETY, LEGALITY, OR PERFORMANCE OF ANY CODE, PULL REQUESTS, OR SCRIPTS SUBMITTED BY BOUNTY HUNTERS. REPOSITORY MAINTAINERS AND CREATORS ASSUME 100% OF THE RISK WHEN REVIEWING, MERGING, OR DEPLOYING THIRD-PARTY CODE.

9.3. Consequential Damages Exclusion: IN NO EVENT SHALL BOUNTYMIN, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, OR LICENSORS BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFITS, REVENUE, DATA, GOODWILL, REPOSITORY CORRUPTION, OR BUSINESS INTERRUPTION) ARISING OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES.

9.4. User Indemnification: You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless bountymin and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any third-party claims, liabilities, damages, losses, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of or in any way connected with: (a) your access to or use of the Services; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) any code or Pull Request you submit; or (d) your infringement of any third-party intellectual property or privacy rights.

10.1. Governing Law: These Terms and any claim, controversy, or dispute arising out of or related to these Terms or the Platform shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Delaware, United States, without regard to its conflict of law principles.

10.2. Mandatory Informal Dispute Resolution: Before initiating any formal legal or arbitration proceeding, both you and bountymin agree to attempt in good faith to resolve any dispute informally for at least thirty (30) days by contacting legal@bountymin.com.

10.3. Binding Individual Arbitration: Any dispute, controversy, or claim arising out of or relating to these Terms that cannot be resolved through informal negotiation shall be settled by binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association (AAA) or JAMS in accordance with its Commercial Arbitration Rules.

10.4. Class Action & Jury Trial Waiver: YOU AND BOUNTYMIN AGREE THAT EACH PARTY MAY BRING CLAIMS AGAINST THE OTHER ONLY ON AN INDIVIDUAL BASIS AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS, COLLECTIVE, REPRESENTATIVE, OR PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION OR PROCEEDING.

11.1. Modifications to Terms: bountymin reserves the right to amend or update these Terms at any time. When material revisions are made, we will update the "Last Updated" date above and provide notice via our platform dashboard or GitHub Bot announcements. Continued use of the Platform after such changes constitutes acceptance.

11.2. Severability & Entire Agreement: If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, that provision will be enforced to the maximum extent permissible, and the remaining provisions of these Terms will remain in full force and effect.