Terms of Service

OpenCOA is run by Oxbow Edge LLC, a New York limited liability company doing business as "OpenCOA." When you use our cannabis lab data platform (the "Service"), you're agreeing to these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If that's not something you want to agree to, don't use the Service.

1. Eligibility and Age Restriction

You have to be at least 21 years old to use this Service. By using it, you're telling us that:

• You're 21 or older
• It's legal for you to look at cannabis information where you live
• You'll follow the laws that apply to you, whether local, state, or federal

2. Description of Service

OpenCOA is an informational platform. Here's what we do:

• Pull together Certificates of Analysis (COAs) from licensed cannabis testing labs and show them in one place
• Check lab data against New York State Office of Cannabis Management (OCM) records
• Let you upload, search, and save COA documents
• Publish educational info about cannabinoids and terpenes

And here's what we're not:

• A store or marketplace for cannabis products
• A doctor or healthcare provider
• A cannabis testing lab
• Anyone's guarantee that a product is safe or good

3. User Accounts

3.1 Registration

Some features need an account. If you sign up, you agree to:

• Give us accurate information when you register
• Keep your login credentials safe
• Tell us right away if someone else gets into your account
• Take responsibility for anything done under your account

3.2 Account Termination

We can suspend or close accounts that:

• Break these Terms
• Upload fake, altered, or misleading COAs
• Harass or abuse other users
• Try to get around security measures or scrape data in bulk

3.3 Paid Services, Refunds, and Cancellations

OpenCOA has a free tier. Browsing, searching, and viewing COAs stays free for everyone, whether or not you pay for anything. We also offer a one-time Lifetime Membership and a few recurring subscription plans. Here's how the money side works.

Lifetime Membership (one-time purchase)

• Lifetime Membership is a one-time payment. You pay once, you get access to member features for as long as the platform is around.
• Member features include things like My Stash, Community Notes, your member profile, and whatever new member features we add later.
• We might add, change, or retire specific features with reasonable notice.
• Changed your mind? You can get a refund within 30 days of your purchase, no questions asked. After 30 days, all sales are final.

Recurring Subscriptions

We also offer recurring plans, including monthly API access tiers and other paid plans we roll out over time. If you subscribe:

• You get billed in advance on whatever schedule we showed you at checkout (usually monthly), and billing keeps going until you cancel.
• Subscription fees are non-refundable. We don't do prorated refunds for unused time, partial periods, or early cancellation. Pick the plan that fits.
• You can cancel any time from your account settings. Cancelling stops the next charge. You keep your access through the end of whatever period you already paid for.
• Features, quotas, and pricing can change with reasonable notice. If something material changes on a plan you're currently paying for, we'll tell you before it takes effect.
• Sometimes we offer free trials or beta access. Those are at our discretion, and since nothing was charged, there's nothing to refund.

If OpenCOA Shuts Down the Service

If we stop offering the Service, or stop offering a paid product you're currently paying for:

Lifetime Membership: "Lifetime" refers to the lifetime of the platform. If the platform ends, your access ends. No refund will be issued for a Lifetime Membership in the event of a service shutdown.

Recurring Subscriptions: Prorated refunds for the unused portion of the current billing period will be issued only if funds are available at the time of shutdown. Refunds are not guaranteed.

If We Close Your Account for Cause

If we close your account because you broke these Terms (uploading fraudulent COAs, abuse, fraud, chargebacks, or anything in Section 9), no refund will be issued. Any remaining subscription time or membership benefits are forfeited.

Disputes and Chargebacks

If you believe you were charged by mistake or are owed a refund under this section, email support@opencoa.org before contacting your bank or card issuer.

Card transactions: Filing a chargeback with your card issuer without contacting us first may result in immediate account closure.

ACH transactions: ACH disputes follow a different process than card chargebacks. If you believe an ACH debit was unauthorized or incorrect, you may instruct your bank to initiate an NACHA return (return codes R07 "authorization revoked" or R10 "customer advises not authorized"). Contacting support@opencoa.org first allows us to resolve the dispute directly. A pattern of unauthorized-return claims may result in account suspension pending investigation.

How Refunds Come Back

When we issue a refund, it goes back to the same payment method you used. No cash refunds, no store credit.

Lightning / Bitcoin refunds: the Lifetime Membership is priced in US Dollars ($4.20), and the sats amount you paid was computed from that USD price at the time of purchase. Any refund is issued in US Dollars equal to that USD price. OpenCOA does not hold or pay out in cryptocurrency.

ACH refunds: refunds for ACH debits are issued as an ACH credit to the same bank account you authorized. If that account is closed or the authorization has been revoked before a refund is issued, contact us at support@opencoa.org to arrange an alternative. Refunds do not carry interest or fees.

Bank Account (ACH) Authorizations

When you authorize a recurring ACH debit (e.g., our API Researcher tier), the specific terms of that authorization (the amount, the frequency, the merchant name, and the revocation procedure) are captured on the authorization page and emailed to you for your records. A copy is retained by OpenCOA for at least two (2) years from the date the authorization terminates, as required by NACHA operating rules.

Revoking an ACH authorization: Email support@opencoa.org at least three (3) business days before the next scheduled debit. Revocation stops future debits but does not cancel debits already processed or in transit, and does not end access for the period already paid. If a debit is returned unpaid (for example, due to insufficient funds), your bank may assess a return fee, and we may reattempt collection consistent with NACHA rules.

4. User-Submitted Content

4.1 COA Uploads

When you upload a COA, you're telling us that:

• The document is real and hasn't been altered
• You have the right to share it
• Sharing it doesn't step on anyone else's rights

Uploads go through automated extraction and human review before they show up on the site. We can reject or remove any upload for any reason.

4.2 Community Notes

You can leave notes or comments on COA pages. Your notes shouldn't:

• Contain false, misleading, or defamatory statements
• Make health or therapeutic claims you can't back up
• Be spam, ads, or promotional content
• Harass, threaten, or abuse anyone
• Break the law

4.3 License to User Content

When you submit content, you're giving OpenCOA a non-exclusive, royalty-free, worldwide license to use, display, copy, and share that content as part of running the Service. You still own what you wrote.

5. Intellectual Property

The Service, along with its design, features, and original published content, belongs to OpenCOA and is protected by copyright and other IP laws. Please don't:

• Copy, modify, or redistribute the Service without permission
• Use bots or scrapers to harvest data in bulk
• Strip or change copyright or trademark notices
• Use the OpenCOA name or logo without written permission

COAs themselves come from third-party labs and cannabis operators. OpenCOA doesn't claim to own that underlying data.

6. Disclaimers

7. Limitation of Liability

THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" WITH NO WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED. To the fullest extent the law allows:

• OpenCOA disclaims all warranties, including merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, and non-infringement
• OpenCOA isn't liable for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages
• OpenCOA's total liability won't go beyond $100 USD or the total amount you've paid us for the Service, whichever is greater

Some places don't allow these kinds of limits on warranties or damages. Where that's the case, these limits apply as far as the law lets them.

8. Indemnification

You agree to protect OpenCOA, its officers, directors, employees, and agents from any claims, damages, losses, or costs (including reasonable attorney fees) that come out of:

• Your use of the Service
• You breaking these Terms
• You stepping on someone else's rights
• Content you submit to the Service

9. Prohibited Uses

Don't use the Service to:

• Upload fake, fraudulent, or misleading COA documents
• Impersonate any person or company
• Mess with or disrupt the Service or its infrastructure
• Try to get into systems or data you're not supposed to see
• Use bots or scrapers without permission
• Collect other users' information without their consent
• Do anything illegal

10. Changes to These Terms

We can change these Terms. If we make a material change, we'll:

• Post the updated Terms with a new "Last updated" date
• Send email for significant changes
• Put a visible notice on the site

If you keep using the Service after changes take effect, that counts as accepting them. If you don't agree, stop using the site and delete your account.

11. Governing Law and Disputes

The Service is operated by Oxbow Edge LLC, a New York limited liability company. These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of New York, without regard to conflict of law principles. The Service is built for use inside the United States and falls under US federal and New York State law. Any disputes will be handled in the state or federal courts located in New York County, New York, and by using the Service you're consenting to personal jurisdiction in those courts.

12. Severability

If a court finds any part of these Terms unenforceable, the rest stays in effect. The unenforceable part will be trimmed back just enough to make it enforceable.

13. Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, are the whole agreement between you and Oxbow Edge LLC (d/b/a OpenCOA) about the Service. They replace any earlier agreements.

14. Contact

Questions about these Terms? Get in touch.

• Email: legal@opencoa.org
• Mail: Oxbow Edge LLC, 418 Broadway, Ste N, Albany, NY 12207
• Web: https://opencoa.org/faq

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OpenCOA operates in line with New York State cannabis regulations (9 NYCRR § 130). This platform is informational. It doesn't sell, buy, or distribute cannabis products.