Terms of Use

1. About these Terms

These Terms of Use ("Terms") are an agreement between you and Runtime (sole proprietorship, owner: Suheon Park) ("we", "us") for the AI-generated podcast service "Earcast (이어)" ("Earcast" or the "Service"). By creating an account you agree to these Terms and acknowledge our Privacy Policy.

2. Who can use Earcast

1. You must be at least 18 years old, or at least 16 if you live in Singapore, Hong Kong or the Republic of Korea. We ask you to confirm this at sign-up and may close accounts we learn belong to younger users.
2. You sign in with Google or Apple. We do not offer a separate username and password.
3. Your account is identified by your sign-in provider and the identifier it issues — not by email. The same email used with two providers creates two separate accounts.
4. At sign-up you choose your content language. It decides which catalog you see (English or Korean) and cannot be changed later.
5. You are responsible for your sign-in account and device. Do not let others use your account.

3. What Earcast provides

1. Audio episodes about Korean culture — language, food, music, film and drama, beauty, history and travel — that you can play, resume and speed up.
2. Daily picks: every day, episodes chosen from the topics you follow are added to your library automatically, plus one episode outside your topics to help you discover something new. If you already have several unplayed episodes, or there is nothing new to add, nothing is added that day.
3. Search, a discovery feed, listening statistics and subscriptions.
4. Everyone receives the same episodes; personalization only changes which episodes we offer you and when.
5. We may change, add or remove features. We will tell you in advance about significant changes.

4. AI-generated content

1. Episodes are written and voiced with the help of artificial intelligence. The voices are synthesized; they are not real people speaking, and the hosts are fictional characters.
2. We check scripts against their sources, but AI-generated content may contain inaccuracies or omissions.
3. Episodes are for general information and enjoyment. They are not legal, medical, financial, travel-safety or other professional advice. Check important facts — prices, opening hours, visa or travel rules — with official sources.
4. We credit our sources and, where possible, link to them. If you find an error, tell us; we may correct or withdraw the episode.

5. Plans, subscriptions and payment

1. Earcast has a free plan with a daily play limit and paid subscription plans with a higher or no daily limit. The plan names, prices, billing period and limits are shown on the subscription screen before you buy.
2. Subscriptions are purchased through the Apple App Store or Google Play and charged to your store account. Prices are shown in your local currency by the store and may include taxes.
3. Subscriptions renew automatically for the same period and price unless you cancel at least 24 hours before the end of the current period. Your account is charged for renewal within 24 hours before the period ends.
4. You can manage or cancel your subscription in your store account settings (iPhone: Settings › your name › Subscriptions; Android: Google Play › Payments & subscriptions). Earcast's plan screen links there.
5. If you cancel, you keep paid features until the end of the period you already paid for, then move to the free plan. Your library stays.
6. Upgrades take effect immediately as handled by the store. Downgrades take effect at the next renewal.
7. If an introductory offer or free trial is offered, its length and what happens when it ends are shown before you start it. Any unused part of a free trial is forfeited when you buy a subscription, where the store applies that rule.

6. Refunds

1. Because payments are processed by Apple or Google, refund requests go to the store under its refund policy (Apple: reportaproblem.apple.com; Google Play: the order in your Google Play account). We cannot issue store refunds ourselves.
2. When a refund is confirmed, we remove the related paid access as soon as the store notifies us.
3. Nothing in these Terms limits any right to withdraw or obtain a refund that you have under the mandatory consumer laws of the country where you live.

7. Daily play limits

1. Whether a play counts against your limit is decided by our servers; numbers shown on your device are for reference.
2. A "day" for play limits starts at 5:00 AM Korea Standard Time (UTC+9) for all users. Replaying the same episode on the same day does not count twice, and an episode that has been counted can be replayed for 15 days without counting again.
3. The app tells you before a play counts — by showing remaining plays or asking you to confirm — unless you choose not to be asked again that day.
4. We may change limits; changes that are worse for you will be announced in advance.

8. Event and invite codes

We may give out codes that unlock a plan for a limited time. A code's plan, period and conditions are shown when you enter it. Codes have no cash value, cannot be sold or transferred, and may be withdrawn if obtained or used in breach of these Terms.

9. Our content and your license

1. Earcast and its episodes are owned by us or our licensors.
2. We give you a personal, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to stream episodes in the app for your own non-commercial use.
3. You may not copy, record, download outside the app, redistribute, broadcast, publicly perform or create derivative works from episodes or scripts without our written permission.
4. We may stop offering an episode at any time — for example when a license ends or a rights holder asks us to — and it will disappear from your library and search.

10. What you must not do

• copy, record, scrape or extract episodes, audio files or scripts
• get around technical protections, such as access controls on audio links
• use bots, crawlers or other automated means to access the Service
• reverse engineer, decompile or disassemble the app
• use someone else's account, or create multiple accounts to get around limits
• share one store subscription across several accounts
• disrupt the Service or exploit vulnerabilities
• use the Service commercially without our permission, or break any law

If you do, we may restrict or close your account, normally after telling you, or immediately where urgent action is needed.

11. Deleting your account

1. You can delete your account at any time in Settings.
2. Deleting your account does not cancel a store subscription. Cancel it in your store account first; we will remind you before you delete.
3. What happens to your data is explained in our Privacy Policy. If you sign up again later, it is a new account and your old library and history cannot be restored, although an active store subscription can be linked again.
4. We may suspend or terminate the Service or your account for breach of these Terms. If we shut the Service down permanently, we will tell you at least 30 days in advance.

12. Disclaimers

To the extent permitted by law, the Service is provided "as is" and "as available". We do not promise that it will be uninterrupted, error-free or that episodes will be complete or accurate (see section 4). We are not responsible for outages caused by events outside our reasonable control, including failures of app stores, sign-in providers or network operators.

13. Limitation of liability

To the extent permitted by law, we are not liable for indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, or for loss of profits or data, and our total liability for any claim relating to the Service is limited to the amount you paid us in the 12 months before the claim. Nothing in these Terms limits liability that cannot be limited by law, including for death or personal injury caused by negligence, for fraud, or your statutory rights as a consumer.

14. Apple App Store

If you downloaded Earcast from the Apple App Store:

• These Terms are between you and us, not Apple. Apple is not responsible for the Service or its content.
• Apple has no obligation to provide maintenance or support for the app.
• If the app fails to conform to any applicable warranty, you may notify Apple and Apple will refund the purchase price of the app (if any); Apple has no other warranty obligation to the extent permitted by law.
• Apple is not responsible for any claims relating to the app, including product liability, legal or regulatory compliance, or consumer protection claims.
• Apple is not responsible for investigating or defending a claim that the app infringes a third party's intellectual property rights.
• You confirm that you are not located in a country subject to a US Government embargo or designated as "terrorist supporting", and that you are not on a US Government list of prohibited or restricted parties.
• Apple and its subsidiaries are third-party beneficiaries of these Terms and may enforce them against you.

15. Changes to these Terms

We will announce changes in the app at least 7 days before they take effect, and at least 30 days before changes that are worse for you. If you do not agree, you can stop using Earcast and delete your account; continuing to use it after the change requires your agreement to the new version.

16. Governing law and disputes

1. Please contact us first — most problems can be solved quickly.
2. These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Korea. If you are a consumer, you also keep the protection of the mandatory laws of the country where you live, and you may bring a claim in the courts there.
3. If any part of these Terms is found unenforceable, the rest remains in effect.

17. Contact

Business operator

Runtime (sole proprietorship, owner: Suheon Park)

Business registration no.

346-16-02865

Address

1804, Bldg. 102, 111 Munjang-ro, Gumi-si, Gyeongsangbuk-do, Republic of Korea

Email

runtime364@gmail.com