Terms of Service

1. Introduction and Acceptance of Terms

Welcome to Eightfold Path! These Terms of Service ("Terms") govern your access to and use of Eightfold Path LLC's ("we," "our," "us," or "Eightfold Path") website, mobile applications, AI-powered services, and related services (collectively, the "Services").

By accessing or using our Services, you agree to be bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use our Services.

These Terms form a legally binding contract between you and Eightfold Path LLC. If you are using our Services on behalf of an organization, you represent that you have authority to bind that organization to these Terms.

2. Description of Services

Eightfold Path is a modern learning platform for Buddhism that provides:

• Noah AI - An AI-powered chatbot trained on Noah Rasheta's teachings, books, podcast episodes, and courses
• Podcast Library - Access to the Secular Buddhism Podcast episodes with full transcripts
• Educational Content - Articles, courses, and written materials on Buddhist philosophy and practice
• Community Features - Discussion forums and community engagement (for subscribers)
• Subscription Services - Paid tiers with enhanced features and unlimited access

Our Services are designed to help you learn and practice Buddhism in a modern, accessible way. We may add, modify, or discontinue features at any time with or without notice.

3. Account Creation and Access

3.1 Minimum Age

You must be at least 18 years old or the minimum age required to consent to use the Services in your location, whichever is higher, to create an account and use our Services.

3.2 Account Information

To access certain features, you must create an account. You agree to:

• Provide accurate, current, and complete information when creating your account
• Maintain and update your account information to keep it accurate
• Maintain the security and confidentiality of your account credentials
• Notify us immediately if you become aware of any unauthorized access to your account
• Accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account

3.3 Account Sharing

You may not share your account login information, credentials, or access with anyone else. Each account is intended for use by a single individual. Sharing accounts violates these Terms and may result in termination of your access.

3.4 Account Closure

You may close your account at any time through your account settings or by contacting us at [email protected]. Upon account closure, your access to the Services will be terminated, and your data will be handled according to our Privacy Policy.

4. AI Services and Disclaimers

4.1 Nature of AI Services

Noah AI is an artificial intelligence system trained on content from Noah Rasheta's books, podcast episodes, courses, and other educational materials. The AI generates responses based on patterns in this training data and may use underlying language models provided by third-party providers such as Anthropic, OpenAI, Google, or others.

4.2 AI Accuracy and Limitations

Important: Artificial intelligence and large language models are evolving technologies that may produce inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading information. When using Noah AI, you acknowledge and agree that:

• Responses may contain errors - AI-generated responses may include factual inaccuracies, outdated information, or "hallucinations" (confident but incorrect statements)
• Not always accurate - Even when responses appear detailed and specific, they may not be factually correct
• Should not be sole source - You should not rely on Noah AI as your only source of information without independently verifying important details
• May reflect training data biases - Responses may reflect perspectives, biases, or limitations present in the training materials
• No guarantee of completeness - Responses may not reflect correct, current, or complete information

4.3 Not Professional Advice

Noah AI is for educational and mindfulness purposes only. It is not a substitute for:

• Professional mental health counseling or therapy
• Medical advice, diagnosis, or treatment
• Legal, financial, or professional advice
• Religious or spiritual guidance from qualified teachers

If you are experiencing a mental health crisis, medical emergency, or need professional support, please contact appropriate healthcare providers, emergency services, or crisis hotlines. Noah AI cannot provide emergency assistance or professional intervention.

4.4 Secular Buddhist Perspective

Content provided by Noah AI reflects secular Buddhist perspectives as taught by Noah Rasheta. These perspectives may differ from traditional Buddhist teachings or other interpretations. Eightfold Path does not claim to represent all Buddhist traditions or viewpoints.

4.5 Third-Party AI Models

Noah AI may use underlying language models provided by third-party providers (such as Anthropic's Claude, OpenAI's GPT models, Google's Gemini, or others). We are not responsible for the accuracy, reliability, or availability of these underlying models. We are an interface to these services, not the creators of the underlying AI technology.

5. User Content and AI Inputs/Outputs

5.1 Your Inputs

When you interact with Noah AI, you may submit questions, prompts, or other content ("Inputs"). You retain ownership of your Inputs to the extent permitted by law. However, by submitting Inputs, you grant Eightfold Path a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to:

• Use, process, and store your Inputs to provide and improve our Services
• Use de-identified Inputs to train and improve Noah AI (unless you opt out in your account settings)
• Review Inputs for safety, security, and policy compliance

5.2 AI Outputs

Responses generated by Noah AI ("Outputs") are provided to you for your personal, non-commercial use. Subject to your compliance with these Terms, we grant you a license to use, copy, and share Outputs for personal purposes. However:

• You may not use Outputs to train competing AI models or services
• You may not represent Outputs as your own original work without attribution
• You may not use Outputs for commercial purposes without our written permission
• You are responsible for verifying the accuracy of Outputs before relying on them

5.3 Your Responsibilities

You are responsible for all Inputs you submit to our Services. By submitting Inputs, you represent and warrant that:

• You have the right to submit the Inputs
• Your Inputs do not violate any laws, regulations, or third-party rights
• Your Inputs comply with our Acceptable Use Policy (Section 6)
• You will not use our Services to generate harmful, illegal, or abusive content

6. Intellectual Property - Our Content

All content on the Platform, including but not limited to:

• Podcast episodes and transcripts from the Secular Buddhism Podcast
• Books, articles, and written materials authored by Noah Rasheta
• Courses, lesson plans, and educational content
• The "Noah AI" personality, prompts, and system design
• Website design, logos, graphics, and branding
• Software, code, and technical implementations

...is the intellectual property of Noah Rasheta, Eightfold Path LLC, or their respective owners and is protected by copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.

You may not:

• Reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from our content without written permission
• Use our content for commercial purposes without authorization
• Remove copyright notices or attribution
• Use our trademarks, logos, or branding without permission
• Attempt to reverse engineer or extract our training data or AI prompts

Limited personal use (such as sharing links to episodes or quoting brief excerpts with attribution) is permitted. For commercial use or extensive reproduction, please contact us at [email protected].

7. Acceptable Use Policy

You agree to use our Services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with these Terms. You agree not to:

7.1 Prohibited Activities

• Illegal activities - Use the Services for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable laws or regulations
• Harmful content - Submit Inputs or use Outputs to create content that is abusive, harassing, threatening, defamatory, or harmful to others
• Violence or hate - Generate or promote content that incites violence, hatred, or discrimination based on race, religion, gender, sexual orientation, or other protected characteristics
• Privacy violations - Submit personal information about others without their consent, or attempt to extract personal information from the AI
• Spam or abuse - Use the Services to send spam, unsolicited messages, or engage in abusive behavior

7.2 Technical Restrictions

• Reverse engineering - Attempt to decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, or otherwise reduce our Services to human-readable form (except where prohibited by applicable law)
• Scraping or crawling - Use automated tools (bots, scripts, scrapers) to extract data from our Services without written permission
• Rate limit bypass - Attempt to circumvent rate limits, usage restrictions, or subscription tiers
• Jailbreaking - Attempt to manipulate, "jailbreak," or prompt-engineer the AI to bypass safety measures or generate prohibited content
• Account sharing - Share your account credentials or allow others to use your account
• Competing services - Use our Services to develop competing products or services, or to train competing AI models

7.3 Service Interference

You agree not to interfere with or disrupt our Services, including:

• Introducing viruses, malware, or harmful code
• Attempting to gain unauthorized access to our systems
• Overloading or overwhelming our servers
• Bypassing security measures or authentication systems

8. Subscription Tiers and Payments

8.1 Subscription Tiers

Eightfold Path offers the following subscription tiers:

• Free Tier - Limited to 5 chatbot messages per day, access to podcast episodes and basic blog content. Account registration required.
• Supporter Tier - $15/month or $150/year. Unlimited chatbot access, all courses, full blog content, community features, and email newsletter.
• Premium Tier - $30/month or $300/year. All Supporter features plus access to the Dharma Study Program (1-year cohort), priority support, and exclusive content.

We reserve the right to modify subscription tiers, pricing, or features at any time. We will provide reasonable notice of material changes to existing subscribers.

8.2 Billing and Payment

Paid subscriptions are billed in advance on a monthly or annual basis, depending on the plan you select. Payments are processed securely through Stripe. By subscribing, you authorize us to charge your payment method automatically on each billing cycle.

You are responsible for:

• Providing accurate payment information
• Keeping your payment method current and valid
• Paying all fees associated with your subscription
• Any taxes or fees imposed by your jurisdiction

8.3 Cancellation

You may cancel your subscription at any time through your account settings or by contacting us at [email protected]. Your subscription will remain active until the end of your current billing period. After cancellation, you will retain access to paid features until the period expires, then your account will revert to the Free tier.

8.4 Refunds

Refunds are handled on a case-by-case basis. Generally:

• We do not provide refunds for partial billing periods after cancellation
• We may provide refunds for technical issues or service failures at our discretion
• Annual subscriptions canceled within 30 days may be eligible for a prorated refund
• Refund requests should be submitted to [email protected]

8.5 Price Changes

We reserve the right to change subscription prices at any time. Price changes will not affect your current subscription period but will apply to renewals. We will notify you of price changes at least 30 days in advance.

8.6 Fair Use Policy for Unlimited Access

Subscription tiers marketed as "Unlimited" (including Student and Admin tiers) are subject to our Fair Use Policy. This policy is designed to ensure all users have a quality experience and to prevent automated abuse or excessive usage that could impact service availability for others.

Under normal personal use, you will never encounter these limits. Our fair use guidelines include:

• Soft cap of 300 AI messages per day - This is sufficient for even the most dedicated practitioners. Most users send 10-50 messages per day. If you exceed 300 messages, you'll receive a friendly reminder, but you can continue using the service.
• Reasonable request pacing - Automated or scripted access is prohibited. Rapid-fire requests (less than 5 seconds between messages) may be flagged for review.
• Single-user access - Accounts may not be shared or used by multiple people simultaneously. Each account is intended for use by a single individual.

Fair Use Enforcement:

• 300-499 messages/day: Friendly warning notification (no restrictions)
• 500-749 messages/day: Responses may be slightly delayed (2-3 seconds) to ensure service quality
• 750-999 messages/day: Account flagged for verification - we may contact you to confirm legitimate use
• 1000+ messages/day: Account temporarily restricted pending manual review

Users who consistently exceed fair use limits or exhibit automated usage patterns may be contacted by our team, have their access temporarily limited, or have their account reviewed. We reserve the right to modify these limits as needed to maintain service quality for all users.

If you believe your account has been incorrectly flagged or if you have a legitimate need for higher usage, please contact us at [email protected].

9. Termination

9.1 Termination by You

You may stop using our Services and close your account at any time through your account settings or by contacting us. Upon termination:

• Your access to the Services will be terminated
• Your subscription will be canceled (no refunds for partial periods)
• Your data will be handled according to our Privacy Policy

9.2 Termination by Us

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate your access to the Services immediately, without notice, if we believe:

• You have violated these Terms or our Acceptable Use Policy
• You have engaged in fraudulent, abusive, or illegal activity
• Your use of the Services poses a security risk or threatens other users
• We are required to do so by law or legal process
• We decide to discontinue the Services (we will provide reasonable notice when possible)

If we terminate your account due to a violation of these Terms, you will not be entitled to any refund, and you may be prohibited from creating a new account.

9.3 Effect of Termination

Upon termination, your right to access and use the Services will immediately cease. Sections of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination (including Sections 5, 6, 10, 11, and 12) will survive.

10. Limitation of Liability

TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW:

10.1 Service Provided "As Is"

Our Services are provided "as is" and "as available" without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, or non-infringement. We do not warrant that:

• The Services will be uninterrupted, secure, or error-free
• Defects will be corrected
• The Services are free of viruses or other harmful components
• AI responses will be accurate, complete, or reliable

10.2 Limitation of Damages

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Eightfold Path LLC and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages, including but not limited to:

• Loss of profits, revenue, data, or use
• Business interruption
• Personal injury or property damage
• Damages resulting from reliance on AI-generated content
• Damages resulting from unauthorized access to your account

Our total liability for any claims arising from or related to the Services shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the 12 months preceding the claim, or $100, whichever is greater.

10.3 AI-Specific Disclaimers

We are not responsible for:

• Inaccurate, incomplete, or misleading AI responses
• Decisions made based on AI-generated content
• Harm resulting from reliance on AI advice or information
• Content generated by third-party AI models we use
• Changes to AI behavior or capabilities

11. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Eightfold Path LLC and its officers, directors, employees, agents, and affiliates from and against any claims, liabilities, damages, losses, costs, expenses, or fees (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising from:

• Your use of the Services
• Your violation of these Terms
• Your violation of any law or third-party rights
• Content you submit or generate using our Services
• Your account or any activity under your account

12. Changes to Terms and Services

12.1 Changes to Terms

We may revise and update these Terms from time to time at our discretion. We will notify you of material changes by:

• Posting the updated Terms on our website
• Sending an email notification to your registered email address
• Displaying a notice on our Services

Your continued use of the Services after changes become effective constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. If you do not agree to the changes, you must stop using the Services and may close your account.

12.2 Changes to Services

We reserve the right to modify, suspend, or discontinue any part of the Services at any time, with or without notice. We may:

• Add or remove features
• Change subscription tiers or pricing
• Modify or discontinue specific services
• Update AI models or capabilities

We will not be liable for any changes, suspensions, or discontinuations of the Services.

13. Governing Law and Dispute Resolution

13.1 Governing Law

These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Utah, United States, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.

13.2 Dispute Resolution

Any disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Services shall be resolved through:

1. Informal Resolution - We encourage you to contact us first at [email protected] to resolve any issues informally.
2. Binding Arbitration - If informal resolution fails, disputes shall be resolved through binding arbitration in accordance with the rules of the American Arbitration Association, conducted in Salt Lake City, Utah.
3. Exceptions - Either party may seek injunctive relief in state or federal courts located in Salt Lake City, Utah, to prevent irreparable harm.

You waive any right to a jury trial and agree to resolve disputes on an individual basis (no class actions).

14. General Provisions

14.1 Entire Agreement

These Terms, together with our Privacy Policy, constitute the entire agreement between you and Eightfold Path regarding the Services and supersede all prior agreements and understandings.

14.2 Severability

If any provision of these Terms is found to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

14.3 Waiver

Our failure to enforce any provision of these Terms does not constitute a waiver of that provision or any other provision.

14.4 Assignment

You may not assign or transfer these Terms or your account without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms or transfer our rights and obligations without restriction.

14.5 Export Controls

You may not export or provide access to the Services in violation of U.S. export control laws or to anyone on restricted party lists. You represent that you are not located in an embargoed country or on any restricted party list.

14.6 Force Majeure

We shall not be liable for any failure or delay in performance due to circumstances beyond our reasonable control, including natural disasters, war, terrorism, labor disputes, or failures of third-party services.

15. Contact Information

If you have questions about these Terms, please contact us:

• Email: [email protected]
• Through our Services: Visit the Help section
• Privacy Policy: Review our Privacy Policy for information about how we handle your data