Terms Of Service

General TermsOfService

There are two ways of approaching the terms of service. One is by stating a general principle, the other is by attempting to detail every eventuality and inevitably failing because covering every eventuality is simply impossible.

The Fire and Ice grid

Are you breaking the law? This is a complicated question. The ownership of the Fire and Ice grid is based in the UK

Are you paying any appropriate taxes on the services you are purchasing? Again

If you rent land from the Fire and Ice grid and do not keep up payments your land will be removed. OAR backups will be kept for our standard backup period. During the time we hold backups of your items and regions they will be made available to you.

If we receive proof that you are breaking the laws of a country which has precedent your services will be suspended or terminated depending on the severity of the crime and any legal advice taken.

That’s it, most countries have similar laws pertaining to behaviour towards other individuals. If in doubt look at the Equality Act in the UK, which is almost identical in other European Countries. Similarly, most countries have similar laws regarding theft, fraud, money laundering and other major crime areas. Responsibility for this lies solely with the individual using the service to learn, understand and follow the laws/rules/codes of conduct in the country in which they live. If you bring the attention of the police or governmental bodies to the grid because you have broken a law expect us to remove your services and co-operate in full with them.

In order to protect the grid against illegal activity we reserve the right to close accounts and remove services without notice for any reason.

Region Ratings (PG

Fire And Ice do not define Pg, Mature or Adult. All residents of the Fire And Ice grid (including hypergrid visitors) should be legally adult in their country of residence. Consequently, such ratings relate to the expected behaviour and not an individuals age. In Fire And Ice’s public regions, a real-world approach is used. If an avatar is in an open area and their behaviour would go unchallenged, it is okay. Open spaces should be treated as public parks or cities. Inside buildings in a space where someone would not be expected to walk randomly is considered private. Privately owned regions may set their own rules to define precisely what Pg, Mature and adult means in those specific regions.

Child Avatars

Child avatars are allowed on the Fire and Ice Grid. We recognise that many adults use a child avatar for many different reasons. However, if a person uses a child avatar, they may not engage in sexual, provocative or suggestive behaviour. Any occurrences will likely result in both a ban and the details being passed to enforcement authorities.

Behaviour In Fire and Ice Public Areas

Public Area Definition: All group chats

The expected behaviour is the same as a public street in any city in a real-world context. Aggressive or coercive behaviour is not allowed. Deliberately antagonistic behaviour is also not allowed. A real-world comparison can be made. If police officers were present and would take no action against the behaviour type

Specific topics such as religion and politics are considered sensitive. A passing reference to these subjects is allowed; however

Copywrite and Intellectual Property Rights Infringement Procedures

The following procedures are designed to protect intellectual property and Copywrite. The basis for these procedures is taken from the UK Government Advice on Copywrite Enforcement (https://www.gov.uk/guidance/enforcing-your-copyright)

As the first course of action, we strongly recommend engaging in mediation with the user who is displaying material you believe infringes your intellectual property rights. The Fire And Ice Grid will only get involved after failed mediation (situation dependent) or receipt of court documents verifying your claim.

When Mediation fails, depending on the reason for the failure as a service provider the Fire And Ice grid may remove items on your behalf prior to court proceedings. The situations in which we will consider this are laid out below.

1. The user of our service fails to respond to your mediation request.

2. The user of our service acknowledges your claim and refuses to remove the content.

3. The user of our service acknowledges your claim and subsequently ignores it.

If your claim is disputed by our user, it is up to you to file court proceedings. Upon receipt of court verified documentation verifying your claim we will act in accordance with the court rulings.