Terms of Service

Article 1 (Purpose)

The purpose of these Terms is to set out the rights, obligations, and responsibilities between Maxsoft (the “Company”) and users, as well as the conditions and procedures for using THE TELL and its related services (the “Service”) provided by the Company.

Article 2 (Definitions)

The terms used in these Terms are defined as follows.

Service

The interrogation-driven mystery game that the Company provides under the name THE TELL, together with all content and features incidental thereto.

Member

A person who agrees to these Terms, enters into a service agreement with the Company, and uses the Service.

Case File Bundle

Paid mystery content that consists of multiple cases and is sold as a single product, such as arc packs and season passes.

Access Right

The right granted to a Member’s account, through paid purchase, to view and use a particular Case File Bundle or paid content.

Paid Content

Case File Bundles, individual cases, and other digital content that a Member may use only upon payment of a fee.

Trial Product

Trial content, such as onboarding cases and daily cases, that the Company provides free of charge so that a Member may decide whether to use Paid Content.

Article 3 (Publication and Amendment of the Terms)

The Company shall post the contents of these Terms on the initial screen of the Service or on a linked screen so that Members can easily be aware of them.

1. The Company may amend these Terms to the extent that it does not violate applicable laws, including the Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions and the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce.
2. Where the Company amends these Terms, it shall specify the effective date and the reasons for the amendment and give notice from seven (7) days before the effective date until the day before it. However, where the amendment is unfavorable to Members, the Company shall give notice from thirty (30) days before the effective date and, where necessary, notify Members individually by electronic means.
3. Where the Company, in announcing the amended Terms, has clearly notified Members that they will be deemed to have consented unless they express their refusal by the effective date, and a Member does not expressly refuse, the Member shall be deemed to have consented to the amended Terms.
4. A Member who does not agree to the amended Terms may express refusal to the Company before the effective date and terminate the service agreement.

Article 4 (Effect and Order of Priority of the Terms)

These Terms take effect when a Member agrees to them and the Company accepts the application for use.

The Company may establish separate terms of use or operating policies for individual Paid Content or specific services; where such individual terms and operating policies conflict with these Terms, the individual terms and operating policies shall prevail. Matters not provided for in these Terms shall be governed by applicable laws and commercial practice.

Article 5 (Registration, Withdrawal, and Loss of Membership)

1. The service agreement is formed when a user, after agreeing to these Terms, applies for membership in accordance with the procedures established by the Company and the Company accepts the application.
2. The Company may refuse an application, or subsequently terminate the service agreement, where an applicant has misappropriated another person’s identity, has entered false information in the registration details, or has otherwise applied in violation of applicable laws or these Terms.
3. A Member may apply to withdraw at any time through the account settings within the Service or through customer inquiry, and the Company shall process such application without delay, except as otherwise provided by applicable laws.
4. Where a Member withdraws, any Access Rights held shall be extinguished, and the refund of any fees already paid shall be governed by the Company’s Refund and Withdrawal Policy.
5. Where a Member obstructs the normal operation of the Service in violation of these Terms or applicable laws, the Company may, after prior notice, restrict or revoke the Member’s membership. However, the Company may omit such notice where the violation cannot be corrected or where the matter is urgent.

Article 6 (Provision, Change, and Suspension of the Service)

The Company shall, in principle, provide the Service 24 hours a day, 365 days a year. However, the Company may change or temporarily suspend all or part of the Service in any of the following cases:

1. Where operationally necessary, such as system inspection, maintenance, replacement, or server expansion;
2. Where an unavoidable cause arises, such as a power outage, a communications failure, or a surge in usage;
3. Where a change in content composition is required, such as the reorganization or replacement of cases.

Where the Company changes or suspends the Service, it shall announce the reasons and the period in advance. However, where there is an urgent situation that makes prior notice impossible, the Company shall announce it without delay afterwards.

Where the Company terminates the Service, it shall give notice at least thirty (30) days before the termination date and shall take measures to protect Members’ interests, such as refunding an amount corresponding to the unused portion of the paid Access Rights held by Members within their validity period, or transferring them to an equivalent alternative service.

Article 7 (Obligations of the Company)

The Company shall endeavor to provide the Service continuously and stably in accordance with applicable laws and these Terms.

The Company shall protect Members’ personal data in accordance with applicable laws, including the Personal Information Protection Act, and matters concerning the processing of personal data shall be set out in the Privacy Policy.

Where the Company recognizes that an opinion or complaint raised by a Member is justified, it shall handle it promptly; where prompt handling is difficult, it shall notify the Member of the reasons and the processing schedule.

Article 8 (Obligations of the User)

A Member shall not engage in any of the following acts:

1. Misappropriating or fraudulently using another person’s account, personal data, or payment means;
2. Sharing one’s own account with another person, or transferring, lending, or selling it;
3. Using Paid Content by fraudulent means, such as circumventing normal payment procedures or exploiting vulnerabilities in the system;
4. Obtaining core information such as the solutions of the Service by fraudulent means, or disseminating it so as to obstruct other users’ use;
5. Accessing the Service abnormally by automated means, or causing an excessive load on the Company’s servers;
6. Infringing the intellectual property rights of the Company or a third party, or engaging in acts contrary to law or public order and morals.

A Member is responsible for managing their own account information, and the Company shall not be liable for any damage arising from negligent management or unauthorized use, unless there is intent or negligence on the part of the Company.

Article 9 (Paid Services)

The Company sells Paid Content (such as Case File Bundles), and the name, price, composition, and conditions of use of each item of Paid Content are displayed on the payment screen before purchase. A Member purchases the relevant Paid Content by confirming the displayed information and making payment.

1. Unless otherwise specified, the validity period of an Access Right to Paid Content is perpetual, and a Member may repeatedly view the relevant content during the validity period.
2. An Access Right belongs to the account of the Member who purchased it and may not be transferred or lent to a third party, or exchanged for or refunded in cash.
3. The handling of Access Rights where the Company terminates the Service or a Member withdraws shall be governed by Article 6 and the Company’s Refund and Withdrawal Policy.

The Company provides information on the transaction conditions and use of Paid Content in accordance with applicable laws, including the Content Industry Promotion Act, so that Members can clearly understand it.

Article 10 (Seller and Payment)

The seller and the party responsible for payment processing of Paid Content differ according to the Member’s country of payment, as follows.

Domestic payments: Payments made within the Republic of Korea are processed by the Company (Maxsoft), as the direct seller, through domestic payment gateways. In this case, the Company is responsible for billing, collection, and refund of the price.

International payments: Orders placed outside the Republic of Korea are sold by Paddle.com Market Ltd (“Paddle”), the Company’s authorised reseller and Merchant of Record (MoR), rather than by the Company. Paddle handles payment processing, the assessment, collection, and remittance of taxes such as sales tax, VAT, and GST, as well as refunds and chargebacks for the relevant transaction. International purchases are also subject to the Paddle Buyer Terms (https://www.paddle.com/legal/checkout-buyer-terms). Even in this case, the Company remains responsible, as the provider and licensor of the content, for the provision of the Service itself.

Article 11 (Withdrawal of Subscription and Refunds)

A Member may request withdrawal of subscription and a refund in respect of the purchase of Paid Content in accordance with applicable laws, including the Act on the Consumer Protection in Electronic Commerce.

Specific matters, such as the requirements for and limitations on withdrawal of subscription, the procedures and methods for refunds, and the processing of refunds for international payments, shall be governed by the Refund and Withdrawal Policy that the Company separately establishes and posts. The Company does not restrict the consumer’s right of withdrawal guaranteed by applicable laws.

Article 12 (Use by Minors)

Children under the age of 14 may not register as Members of the Service, and the Company does not collect such children’s personal data in accordance with applicable laws.

Where a Member who is a minor makes a payment for Paid Content, the consent of their legal representative must be obtained. Where a minor makes a payment without the consent of their legal representative, the minor or their legal representative may cancel the payment in accordance with Article 5 of the Civil Act. However, cancellation may be restricted where, for example, the minor used deception to make others believe that the legal representative’s consent had been obtained or that the minor was an adult.

Article 13 (Postings and Intellectual Property)

The copyright and other intellectual property rights in the Service and in all content included in the Service, such as cases, scenarios, text, images, audio, and programs, belong to the Company or the rightful holders. A Member may not reproduce, transmit, distribute, or display such content, or use it for commercial purposes, without the Company’s prior consent.

The rights to user content created by a Member in the course of using the Service, such as nicknames and interrogation logs, belong to that Member. However, the Member grants the Company permission to use such content free of charge to the extent necessary for the operation, improvement, and promotion of the Service; where the Company wishes to use it beyond this scope, it shall obtain the Member’s consent.

Where the Company determines that content created by a Member violates applicable laws or these Terms, it may delete such content or restrict its posting without prior notice.

Article 14 (Use of Generative Artificial Intelligence)

The Company uses generative artificial intelligence to produce case content and to provide the dialogue (interrogation) feature with characters. This article also serves as the prior notice required under the Framework Act on the Development of Artificial Intelligence and Establishment of a Foundation for Trust (Republic of Korea).

All characters, organisations, and events appearing in the Service are fictitious and bear no relation to any real person or entity. Character responses are produced by generative artificial intelligence and may be untrue or inaccurate.

Text a Member enters during an interrogation may be transmitted to artificial intelligence service providers in order to generate a response. The processors and the items transmitted are set out in the Privacy Policy.

Article 15 (Liability and Disclaimer)

Where damage is caused to a Member by the Company’s intent or negligence, the Company shall be liable to compensate for such damage in accordance with applicable laws.

The Company shall not be liable for any damage caused by force majeure beyond the Company’s control, such as a natural disaster, a power outage, or the suspension of service by a telecommunications carrier, or for damage arising from causes attributable to the Member. The Company also does not guarantee the reliability of information or materials posted on the Service, or the results that a Member expects to obtain through the Service.

No provision of these Terms shall exempt the Company from liability arising from its intent or gross negligence, and any exemption clause that violates applicable mandatory provisions, including the Act on the Regulation of Terms and Conditions, shall be void to that extent. Where a matter is not provided for in these Terms, or where its interpretation conflicts with a mandatory provision, the relevant mandatory provision shall prevail.

Article 16 (Dispute Resolution)

Where a dispute arises between the Company and a Member, the parties shall endeavor to resolve it amicably in accordance with the principle of good faith.

A Member may apply for dispute mediation to a dispute mediation body established under applicable laws, such as the Content Dispute Resolution Committee or the Consumer Dispute Settlement Commission of the Korea Consumer Agency, in order to resolve a dispute relating to use of the Service. The Company shall establish and operate procedures for handling Members’ justified opinions or complaints.

Article 17 (Governing Law and Jurisdiction)

These Terms and the service agreement between the Company and a Member shall be governed by the laws of the Republic of Korea. Where a lawsuit is filed between the Company and a Member in connection with use of the Service, the competent court shall be the court having jurisdiction under the Civil Procedure Act.

However, where a Member is a consumer whose habitual residence or address is outside the Republic of Korea, this Article shall apply only to the extent that it does not deprive the Member of the protection afforded by the mandatory consumer protection provisions of the Member’s country of residence.