Terms of Service for Bladesmiths Network

1. About Bladesmiths Network

Bladesmiths Network is an online community and social network intended to provide a place for knife makers, bladesmiths, collectors and people interested in the craft to share information, images, ideas and experiences.

The Service is built around craftsmanship: knives as culinary and trade tools, workshop skills, forging and metallurgy, and the education and community that go with them.

The Service is operated by Bladesmiths.net (“we”, “us”, “our”).

Our Privacy Policy and Cookie Policy form part of these Terms and explain how we handle personal information and cookies.

2. Eligibility

You must be legally permitted to use the Service in your country or jurisdiction.

You must provide accurate information when creating your account and must keep that information reasonably up to date.

You are responsible for ensuring that your use of the Service complies with the laws applicable to you.

You must be at least 13 years old to use the Service. If you are under the minimum age required to use the Service in your country, you must not create an account or use the Service.

The Service is open to members aged 13 and over, but the law of the United Kingdom does not allow a knife to be sold to anyone under 18. On the Marketplace, anyone can look at what is for sale and share a listing, but to contact a seller you must be old enough to buy a knife in the seller's country, in your own and in the country you are connecting from: the higher limit applies (18 in the United Kingdom, Australia, France, Spain, Ireland, Germany, Canada and Estonia; 16 in Denmark and Austria). Where the limit is 18 you must confirm your age (with the Confirm Age button on your profile). To list an item for sale you must be a maker or business account aged 18 or over who has confirmed their age, and you are responsible for selling and sending knives lawfully.

We may restrict or remove accounts where we reasonably believe that the information provided is false, misleading or otherwise violates these Terms.

3. Your Account

Some features of the Service require you to create an account.

You are responsible for:

• keeping your login credentials secure;
• maintaining the security of your account;
• providing accurate information;
• all activity carried out through your account; and
• notifying us if you believe your account has been accessed without your permission.

You must not share your account with another person or allow another person to use your account where doing so would compromise the security or integrity of the Service.

You can switch on two-step sign-in in your account settings. When it is on, we email a six digit code to the address on your account each time you sign in with your password, and you must enter it to finish signing in. Moderators and administrators always sign in this way. If you start signing up with Google and do not finish, we delete the unfinished sign-up after 7 days.

We may require you to verify your email address or provide additional information where reasonably necessary to protect the Service or its users.

4. User Content

The Service allows users to create, upload, post, submit, transmit or otherwise make available content, including photographs, videos, text, comments, messages, profiles and other material (“User Content”).

You retain ownership of User Content that you create and submit to the Service.

By submitting User Content, you grant us a non-exclusive, worldwide, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, display, distribute and technically modify that content as reasonably necessary to operate, maintain and provide the Service.

This licence does not give us ownership of your User Content and ends when the content is deleted from the Service, except where retention is reasonably necessary for legal, security, backup or other legitimate operational purposes.

On a phone or tablet, the Share Copy button in a post’s menu lets you pass that post’s pictures, video and words to another app, such as Instagram or Facebook. You can do this with your own posts. You can also do it with another member’s post, but only if you have their permission, and you must credit them. By posting on the Service, you agree that other members may use Share Copy on your posts for the purpose of sharing them to other apps, but this does not give anyone else the right to claim your work as their own, to sell it, or to use it for any other purpose. A copy is a separate post in that app, made by the person who shared it and governed by that app’s own terms. It is not linked to the Service. If the original post is deleted here, or we remove it, the copy is not deleted or changed. The person who shares a copy is responsible for it. If you find a copy of your work that you did not agree to, report it to us and to the app where it was posted, and we may take action against the member who shared it.

Most User Content, such as posts, comments, builds and messages, is for signed-in members only. Some is public: your profile, an event page (its title, host, time, place and picture) and a Marketplace listing can be seen by anyone, including people who are not signed in, and can appear in search engines. Do not put anything in them that you do not want the public to see.

You are responsible for the User Content that you submit.

You must have the necessary rights and permissions to submit any User Content that you upload to the Service.

Messages in the Hangout live chat are deleted automatically after 30 days.

Direct messages are private conversations between two members. They are not end-to-end encrypted. Our moderators can read a direct message only when a member reports it (and, with it, up to five messages before it in that conversation).

A direct message that you delete disappears for you and for the other member, but we keep a copy, as we do of every message in the conversations of an account that is deleted, in a restricted archive. The archive is used only to investigate abuse and to handle legal claims, can be read only by our administrators, and is kept for 12 months, or longer where needed for an open investigation or legal claim. See our Privacy Policy.

5. Content Standards

You must not use the Service to submit or distribute content that:

• is unlawful or facilitates unlawful activity;
• infringes another person’s copyright, trademark, privacy or other legal rights;
• is fraudulent, deceptive or deliberately misleading;
• contains malicious software, viruses or other harmful code;
• impersonates another person or organisation in a misleading manner;
• constitutes harassment, threats or targeted abuse;
• encourages serious violence or criminal activity;
• contains child sexual abuse material or sexual exploitation of children;
• unlawfully shares another person’s private or personal information;
• is intended to facilitate the commission of a crime;
• attempts to circumvent security, access controls or other technical restrictions;
• constitutes spam or other abusive automated activity; or
• otherwise seriously interferes with the safe or normal operation of the Service.

These standards apply to direct messages as well. You must not use direct messages to harass, threaten or abuse another member, to send spam or unwanted promotion, or to keep messaging someone who has declined your message request or blocked you.

Content relating to knives, blades, metalworking, forging, hunting, collecting, historical weapons or similar subjects is not automatically prohibited simply because the subject matter may involve potentially dangerous objects.

However, content must still comply with applicable law and these Terms, including the rules on knives and prohibited items in the next section.

We may also restrict content where reasonably necessary to comply with applicable law, protect users, protect the Service or comply with our legal obligations.

6. Knives, Prohibited Items and the Marketplace

In the United Kingdom it is a criminal offence to market a knife as suitable for combat or violence. For that reason, and because it is not what this community is for, you must not post content that markets or presents any knife or bladed article as suitable for combat, fighting, violence or self-defence.

We do not allow posts, pictures, videos, text or tags that show, promote or advertise:

• zombie knives and zombie-style machetes;
• flick knives and switchblades;
• gravity knives;
• butterfly knives (balisongs);
• knives disguised as other objects, for example belt-buckle knives; or
• any other knife or weapon that it is unlawful to make, show, sell or possess where it is shared.

These are rules of this site, and we apply them strictly. We may also remove other content that we consider unsuitable for the Service.

You are responsible for following the law of the place where you live. Something being lawful where you are does not mean we will allow it here.

The Marketplace lets members list knives, knife-making supplies and tools. Bladesmiths Network does not sell anything, is not a party to any sale, does not take payment, hold money or goods or arrange delivery, and does not check or guarantee any item, price or seller. Any sale or agreement is between the buyer and the seller only.

If you list an item, you are responsible for it. It must be as you describe it, you must be entitled to sell it, and the sale and delivery must follow the law that applies, including the law on selling knives to people under 18 and on selling and delivering knives online (in the United Kingdom, the Offensive Weapons Act 2019 and the rules made under it). Nothing that is prohibited in this section may be listed. If you are buying, take care before you pay or meet anyone.

Listings follow the same rules on reporting and moderation as other content (sections 7 and 8): a reported listing may be hidden until a moderator decides, and we may remove a listing or stop an account from listing. The age limits for contacting sellers are set by us from the law as we understand it, and we may change them.

7. Illegal Content and Reporting

We take reports of illegal content seriously.

To report a post, comment, thread, reply, Marketplace listing, Hangout message, direct message or member, use the report button on it, choose the reason that fits best and, if you wish, add a note. If you do not have an account, email [email protected] and tell us where the content is and why you think it is illegal or breaks these Terms.

If a report gives a serious reason (for example a restricted or illegal knife, other illegal content, an underage member, adult content, violence or threats, or a scam), we hide the content from everyone except its author and our moderators straight away, until a moderator has decided.

A report about a direct message does not hide it, because it is a private conversation: a moderator reads the reported message with up to five messages before it, and either removes the message or closes the report.

A moderator then either removes the content or puts it back. We aim to decide every report within 48 hours. Removed content is deleted from the Service. The author is told in the Service what was decided and why, and the person who reported is told the outcome. We record the time of each report and of each decision.

Appeals. If a moderator removes or hides something of yours, you can appeal within 7 days of the decision: use the “Appeal this decision” link in the notice we send you. If your account is suspended or banned and you cannot sign in, appeal at bladesmiths.net/appeal. An appeal is reviewed by a different moderator from the one who made the decision (unless nobody else could), and you get a written answer. If the appeal succeeds, the content is restored or the suspension or ban is lifted. Pictures and videos removed by a moderator are kept until the 7 days have passed or the appeal is decided.

Decisions to “remove permanently”, which we reserve for the most serious illegal content, cannot be appealed through the Service, and the files are deleted as usual. After the 7 days, or for those decisions, you can still email [email protected] and we will look at it again. Appealing does not affect your legal rights.

If a court, the police, Trading Standards or another authority sends us a legal or content removal notice, send it to [email protected] with the subject “Legal notice”. We act on valid notices within 48 hours.

Our single point of contact, for members and for authorities, is [email protected].

We may remove, restrict access to or otherwise take action concerning content where we reasonably believe that doing so is necessary to comply with the law, these Terms, or to protect users or the Service.

We may also preserve information relating to reported content where required or reasonably necessary for legal, safety or security purposes.

We say only what we do: at the moment we do not publish a transparency report.

8. Moderation

We may moderate content and activity on the Service.

Moderation may include:

• removing or restricting access to content;
• adding warnings or restrictions;
• limiting particular account functionality;
• suspending accounts; or
• permanently terminating accounts.

We may take action where we reasonably believe that a user or their content violates these Terms, applicable law, or presents a significant risk to other users or the Service.

Our moderators and administrators act through tools that keep an audit log of what they do: report decisions, content removals, suspensions, bans and changes to a member’s role. Each entry records who did it, what was done, to whom (by username) and a short note.

We do not guarantee that all content violating these Terms will be identified or removed.

Moderation is decided by people, not by automated decision-making.

We tell the author of removed content what we decided and why. If you disagree, you can appeal within 7 days (see section 7), or contact [email protected] and we will look again.

9. Accounts and Termination

You may stop using the Service and delete your account at any time, yourself, from your account settings. You confirm with your password (or, if you sign in only with Google, by typing your username) and tick a box to say that you understand the consequences.

Deleting your account is permanent and cannot be undone. It takes effect straight away: you are signed out everywhere and we delete your profile, posts, pictures, comments, likes, saves, follows, builds and the details you sign in with. We cannot restore any of it afterwards.

A small number of things remain after you delete your account: log entries made by our moderators, which hold only a username and a short note (see the Privacy Policy), and backup copies of our database, which are overwritten as backups expire. Other members who already saw or quoted your content elsewhere may still have it, and we cannot remove copies that other people made.

We may suspend or terminate your account where:

• you materially breach these Terms;
• you repeatedly breach these Terms;
• we are required to do so by law;
• your activity creates a security or safety risk;
• your account is being used for fraudulent or unlawful activity; or
• continued access to the Service is otherwise reasonably necessary to protect the Service or its users.

A suspension stops you signing in for a set period, after which your account works again. A ban ends your access to the Service and lasts until we lift it; unless we say otherwise, a ban is permanent. While you are suspended or banned you cannot sign in, and you must not try to get round it, for example by creating another account.

We may suspend or ban members for breaking these Terms or our community guidelines, and the reason is recorded in our moderation log.

Where reasonably practicable, we may provide you with an explanation of the reason for suspension or termination.

Termination does not affect rights or obligations that arose before termination.

10. Intellectual Property

The Service, including its software, design, branding, logos, layout and original materials, is owned by or licensed to us and is protected by applicable intellectual property laws.

You may use the Service for its intended purpose.

You must not copy, reproduce, modify, distribute, sell, lease, reverse engineer or commercially exploit substantial parts of the Service without our prior written permission, except where permitted by law.

Nothing in these Terms transfers ownership of our intellectual property to you.

11. Copyright Complaints

If you believe that User Content on the Service infringes your copyright, please contact us with sufficient information to allow us to identify:

• the copyrighted work concerned;
• the material you believe infringes that work;
• where the material appears on the Service;
• your contact details; and
• information reasonably supporting your claim of ownership or authorisation to act on behalf of the rights holder.

We may remove or restrict access to material where appropriate.

12. Links to Other Websites

The Service may contain links to third-party websites or services.

We do not control those websites and are not responsible for their content, availability, security, privacy practices or terms.

You should review the terms and privacy policies of third-party services before using them.

13. Availability of the Service

We will make reasonable efforts to keep the Service available and functioning, but we do not guarantee that it will always be available, uninterrupted or error-free.

The Service may occasionally be unavailable because of:

• maintenance;
• upgrades;
• technical problems;
• security incidents;
• failures affecting third-party services;
• circumstances outside our reasonable control; or
• changes to the Service.

We may change, suspend or discontinue features of the Service from time to time.

14. User Interactions

Bladesmiths Network provides a platform for users to interact with one another.

We are not responsible for the conduct, statements, content or actions of individual users.

You should exercise appropriate caution when communicating with other users, and particularly before meeting anyone or sharing personal details.

You are responsible for deciding whether to trust information provided by another user.

15. Prohibited Commercial and Automated Activity

You must not use the Service to send unsolicited bulk communications, spam or unwanted promotional material.

You must not use bots, crawlers, scraping tools or other automated systems to access or collect information from the Service unless we have expressly authorised the activity or it is permitted by applicable law.

You must not attempt to interfere with the operation or security of the Service.

16. Privacy

Our Privacy Policy explains how we collect, use, store and disclose personal information.

You can read our Privacy Policy here:

https://bladesmiths.net/privacy

Our Cookie Policy explains how cookies and similar technologies are used:

https://bladesmiths.net/cookies

17. Disclaimers

The Service is provided for community and informational purposes.

Information and opinions posted by users belong to those users and do not necessarily represent the views of Bladesmiths Network.

We do not guarantee that information posted by users is accurate, complete, current or suitable for any particular purpose.

In particular, information relating to knife making, forging, machinery, tools, materials, heat treatment, chemicals, workshop practices or other potentially hazardous activities should not be treated as professional safety advice.

You are responsible for making your own assessment of the safety and legality of any activity you undertake.

18. Limitation of Liability

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where doing so would be unlawful.

Subject to that limitation, we will not be responsible for losses that were not reasonably foreseeable or that arise from matters outside our reasonable control.

We are not responsible for loss or damage resulting from:

• your misuse of the Service;
• your interactions with other users;
• User Content created by other users;
• third-party websites or services;
• interruption or unavailability of the Service; or
• unauthorised access caused by your failure to keep your account secure.

Nothing in these Terms affects any statutory rights that you may have as a consumer.

19. Changes to These Terms

We may update these Terms from time to time.

When we make changes, we will update the “Last updated” date at the beginning of these Terms.

Where changes are significant, we may provide additional notice, such as an email or notification on the Service.

Your continued use of the Service after the updated Terms become effective means that you accept the updated Terms.

20. Governing Law

These Terms are governed by the laws of England and Wales, and the courts of England and Wales have jurisdiction over any dispute about them.

If you are a consumer, nothing in these Terms is intended to remove or restrict any mandatory rights or protections that apply to you under the laws of the country in which you live.

21. Contact Us

If you have questions about these Terms, wish to report a violation, or need to contact us regarding the Service, please email [email protected].

Bladesmiths Network

https://bladesmiths.net/