Terms of Service

1. Acceptance of Terms & Regulatory Agreement

These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your enterprise access to and use of the Aether POS point-of-sale software, terminal operating systems, cloud management console, and API platform (collectively, the "Services"). By deploying, accessing, or utilizing our software and terminal hardware, you confirm that you have read, understood, and agreed to be legally bound by these terms.

2. Key Definitions

• "Merchant," "Client," or "You": Any retail business, corporate organization, administrator, or employee using the platform.
• "Company," "We," or "Us": Aether POS Systems Inc. and its designated operational subsidiaries.
• "Hardware & Terminals": Physical payment terminals, registers, receipt printers, barcode scanners, and local edge servers provided or supported by Aether POS.
• "Transaction Payload Data": Encrypted transaction logs, inventory counts, store metrics, and masked payment tokens governed by PCI-DSS standards.

3. Account Registration & Terminal Provisioning Governance

4. Acceptable Use & Operational Restrictions

You agree to use our software and hardware solely for legal retail sales, inventory management, and checkout operations. The following actions are strictly prohibited:

1. Hardware Tampering & Decompilation: Reverse-engineering terminal firmware, probing hardware debug ports, or modifying register operating systems.
2. Fraudulent Payment Processing: Using the platform to process unauthorized credit card transactions, money laundering, or illegal trade.
3. Malicious Code Injection: Uploading malicious scripts, automated scrapers, or exploits into inventory files or cloud database sync pipelines.
4. Unauthorized Terminal Redistribution: Sublicensing, renting, or transferring provisioned POS hardware or software licenses without prior written consent.

5. Intellectual Property Rights & Data Ownership

Aether POS and its licensors retain all right, title, and interest in and to the platform, including POS software code, terminal firmware, UI design, analytics engines, and trademarks.

• Software License: We grant you a limited, non-transferable, non-sublicensable, revocable license to run POS applications on authorized terminals and access cloud reporting.
• Merchant Data Ownership: You retain complete ownership of raw inventory catalogs, store sales data, customer loyalty profiles, and financial metrics uploaded to the system.
• Processing Rights: You grant Aether POS the right to process uploaded data solely to provide, secure, route, and optimize transaction and inventory workflows.

6. Payment Processing & Offline Mode Disclaimers

• Acquirer Integration Required: Payment processing functionality requires active credentials with an authorized merchant acquiring bank or payment gateway.
• PCI Compliance Shared Responsibility: While Aether POS provides PCI-DSS Level 1 certified software, merchants remain responsible for maintaining local store network security.

7. Limitation of Liability & Warranties

The platform and hardware are provided on an "AS-IS" and "AS-AVAILABLE" basis without express or implied warranties except as covered under standard hardware warranty agreements:

• Aether POS explicitly disclaims warranties of uninterrupted register uptime or error-free network routing.
• We shall not be held liable for indirect, incidental, revenue loss, or consequential damages resulting from store network outages or delayed payment settlement.
• Our total cumulative liability for claims arising under these Terms shall not exceed the amount paid by you for POS software licensing during the 12 months preceding the claim.

8. Software Billing, Hardware Fees & Renewals

1. Software Subscription Fees: SaaS licenses for terminal endpoints and cloud sync are billed in advance on a monthly or annual recurring basis.
2. Hardware Purchases & Lease: Terminal device sales or lease agreements are subject to additional fulfillment terms specified during order execution.
3. Cancellation & Offboarding: You may cancel your subscription via account settings. Upon termination, store data exports remain available for 30 days prior to secure system purging.

9. Dispute Resolution & Legal Jurisdiction

These Terms are governed by and construed in accordance with applicable commercial laws without regard to conflict-of-law provisions.

• Informal Resolution: Parties agree to attempt informal technical and commercial negotiation prior to initiating formal arbitration.
• Binding Arbitration: Any unresolved dispute shall be settled via binding commercial arbitration rather than court proceedings, waiving rights to class action participation.