Terms of Service
Version v2-2026-04-26 · Last updated 2026-04-26.
1. Acceptance
By accessing chokala.gg (the "Site"), subscribing to the newsletter, sending a tip, contributing to a fundraiser, or otherwise using the Site, you agree to these Terms of Service ("Terms") and to the Privacy Policy. If you do not agree, do not use the Site or send any payment.
2. Definitions
- "Creator" means the individual operator of chokala.gg.
- "Site" means chokala.gg and all sub-paths and services offered through it.
- "You" means the visitor, subscriber, supporter, or person sending a Tip or fundraiser contribution.
- "Tip" means a voluntary payment made to the Creator through the Site, including a tip earmarked toward a stated purpose and a fundraiser contribution.
- "Fundraiser" means a posted fundraising goal with a stated purpose, target amount, and (optionally) a deadline and milestones.
3. Tips and payments
Tips are voluntary payments from You to the Creator. Tips are processed through PayPal in Goods & Services mode and are subject to PayPal's own user agreement and policies. Tips are not charitable contributions and are not tax-deductible. The Creator is not a registered charity in any US state.
Tips may constitute taxable income to the Creator. They do not entitle You to any specific deliverable, service, or benefit beyond what is expressly described at the time the Tip is sent.
Tips are non-refundable except as described in Section 4 (general) and Section 16 (fundraisers and earmarked tips).
4. Refund policy
The Creator may, at the Creator's sole discretion, issue a refund of a Tip if You request one in writing within fourteen (14) days of the original payment date. After fourteen (14) days, the Creator does not offer in-house refunds, except as provided in Section 16 for fundraiser contributions.
This 14-day discretionary window is separate from, and does not limit, any rights You may have under PayPal's Buyer Protection program (which currently provides a 180-day window for filing disputes for eligible Goods & Services transactions). Buyer Protection is administered entirely by PayPal under PayPal's own terms; the Creator and the Site are not parties to that process and are not liable for its outcome.
5. Tax responsibility
You are solely responsible for any taxes that may apply to You as a result of sending a Tip. The Creator is solely responsible for any taxes that may apply to the Creator as a result of receiving Tips. PayPal may issue the Creator an IRS Form 1099-K when annual payment volume crosses the applicable federal threshold ($2,500 for tax year 2026, per IRS Notice 2024-85). State thresholds may be lower (currently including MA, VT, VA, MD, IL, and DC). The Site does not provide tax advice.
6. Limitation of liability
To the maximum extent permitted by law, the Creator's and the Site's total aggregate liability arising out of or relating to these Terms or Your use of the Site shall not exceed the total fees, if any, You paid to the Creator through the Site in the twelve (12) months immediately preceding the event giving rise to the claim. In no event will the Creator or the Site be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages, including but not limited to lost profits, lost data, lost goodwill, or business interruption, even if advised of the possibility of such damages.
7. Indemnification
You agree to indemnify and hold harmless the Creator and the Site from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of (a) Your misuse of the Site, (b) Your violation of these Terms, or (c) Your violation of any applicable law or third-party right.
The Creator and the Site agree to indemnify and hold You harmless from and against any claims, damages, liabilities, costs, and expenses (including reasonable attorneys' fees) arising out of the Creator's or the Site's willful misconduct in connection with the Site, subject to the limitation of liability in Section 6.
8. User content
If You submit a tip message, comment, or other text content (collectively, "User Content"), You do so at Your own risk. You represent that You own or have the right to submit the User Content and that it does not violate any law or third-party right. The Creator may, but is not required to, moderate, edit, or remove User Content at any time without notice.
The Site is an interactive computer service within the meaning of 47 U.S.C. § 230. The Creator and the Site are not the publisher or speaker of any User Content provided by another person.
9. Termination
You may stop using the Site at any time. The Creator may suspend or terminate Your access to the Site at any time, with or without cause and with or without notice, including for any violation of these Terms. Sections 3 (last paragraph), 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 10, 11, 12, 13, and 16 survive termination.
10. Governing law and venue
These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of California, without regard to its conflict-of-laws principles. Any dispute that is not subject to the arbitration provision in Section 11 shall be brought exclusively in the state or federal courts located in San Francisco County, California, and You consent to personal jurisdiction in those courts.
11. Arbitration and class-action waiver
Except for claims that may be brought in small-claims court and except for claims for injunctive relief related to intellectual-property rights, You and the Creator agree that any dispute arising out of or relating to these Terms or Your use of the Site will be resolved exclusively through binding individual arbitration administered by the American Arbitration Association ("AAA") under its Consumer Arbitration Rules then in effect. The arbitration may be conducted in California or, at Your election, remotely by telephone or video. The arbitrator's decision will be final and may be entered as a judgment in any court of competent jurisdiction.
Class-action waiver. You and the Creator agree that each may bring claims against the other only in Your or its individual capacity and not as a plaintiff or class member in any purported class or representative proceeding. Unless both You and the Creator agree otherwise, the arbitrator may not consolidate more than one person's claims and may not preside over any form of representative or class proceeding.
30-day opt-out. You may opt out of this arbitration agreement by sending written notice of Your decision to opt out to the contact address in Section 15 within thirty (30) days of Your first acceptance of these Terms. Your notice must include Your name, the email address You used on the Site, and a clear statement that You wish to opt out. Opting out will not affect any other portion of these Terms.
If any portion of this Section 11 is found to be unenforceable, that portion shall be severed and the remainder shall remain in effect, except that if the class-action waiver is found unenforceable, this entire Section 11 shall be void.
12. Severability
If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid, illegal, or unenforceable, that provision shall be enforced to the maximum extent permitted by law and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
13. Changes to these Terms
The Creator may update these Terms from time to time. Material changes will be announced on this page or by email at least thirty (30) days before they take effect. Your continued use of the Site after the effective date constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. The current version identifier appears at the top of this page.
14. Accessibility
The Creator is committed to making the Site accessible. See the Accessibility Statement for our current target, known limitations, and how to report an accessibility issue.
15. Contact
Questions about these Terms, opt-out notices under Section 11, and other legal correspondence: legal@chokala.gg.
16. Fundraisers and earmarked tips
The Site allows the Creator to post a Fundraiser (a fundraising goal with a stated purpose, a target amount, and optionally a deadline and milestones) and to accept Tips earmarked toward that purpose. Earmarked Tips and Fundraiser contributions are voluntary payments from You to the Creator and are governed by these Terms in the same manner as ordinary Tips, except as modified by this Section 16.
Good-faith application of funds. When You send a Tip earmarked toward a stated purpose, or contribute to a Fundraiser, the Creator commits to a good-faith effort to apply the funds toward that stated purpose. The Creator nonetheless retains discretion over the timing, mechanics, and reasonable adjustments necessary to carry out the stated purpose. Earmarked Tips and Fundraiser contributions are not held in trust and do not create a fiduciary relationship between You and the Creator.
Tax framing. Earmarked Tips and Fundraiser contributions are voluntary payments to the Creator. They are not charitable contributions and are not tax-deductible. The Creator is not a registered 501(c)(3) organization and is not registered as a charitable solicitor in any US state. The tax treatment described in Section 5 applies.
If a Fundraiser does not meet its goal by its deadline. If a Fundraiser has a stated deadline and the target amount is not reached by that deadline, the Creator may, at the Creator's sole discretion, either (a) refund Fundraiser contributions to contributors within fourteen (14) days after the deadline (less any non-recoverable payment-processor fees), or (b) apply the contributed funds to a related cause that advances the same general purpose. The Creator will notify contributors of the chosen path by the email address used for the contribution. Contributors who do not consent to path (b) may request a refund within fourteen (14) days of that notification.
Donor visibility. By default, contributor names are not displayed publicly. If You want Your name to appear on a public supporter list for a Fundraiser, You may opt in via the checkbox provided in the contribution flow. You may withdraw that consent at any time by contacting the address in Section 15; the Creator will remove Your name from the public list within a reasonable time after receiving the request.
No guarantee of outcome. The Creator does not guarantee that any specific milestone, deliverable, or outcome described in a Fundraiser will be achieved. Fundraiser descriptions are good-faith statements of intent and are subject to change as circumstances require.
17. Fan accounts
Ricoetta offers optional fan accounts to supporters who wish to track their contribution history and receive recognition through our supporter tier system. Creating a fan account is entirely voluntary and is not required to make tips or access public site content.
Account creation. You must be at least 18 years old to create a fan account. By creating an account, you confirm your age and that the information you provide is accurate. We may suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms. Fan accounts are currently available to US residents only; see §17.6 below.
Content rules. You may provide a short bio (≤500 characters, plain text) and links to your social media handles on supported platforms. By submitting content, you grant Ricoetta a non-exclusive license to display this content on the site. You agree not to submit content that is unlawful, defamatory, infringing, harassing, sexually explicit, or that impersonates another person. We reserve the right to remove any content at our sole discretion. To report content that violates these rules, see /fan-takedown; we respond within 24–48 hours.
Supporter tiers. Ricoetta recognizes supporters through tier badges based on cumulative voluntary tipping. Tiers are calculated automatically and may be adjusted at any time, including in response to refunds, chargebacks, or recalculations. Tier badges are a recognition mechanism, not a purchased product, and do not entitle you to specific deliverables. Higher-tier supporters may occasionally receive thank-you content at the creator’s discretion.
Refunds and tier adjustments. If you receive a refund or initiate a chargeback for a tip, your cumulative contribution will be recalculated and your tier may be adjusted accordingly. Repeated chargebacks may result in account suspension.
Suspension and termination. We may suspend or terminate fan accounts at our discretion, including for violation of these Terms, abuse of the tipping or tier system, or at the request of the account holder. You may delete your account at any time from your fan dashboard.
Data retention. When you delete your account, your profile data is erased within 30 days. Payment records are retained in anonymized form for tax and legal compliance purposes as described in our Privacy Policy.
EU/UK exclusion. Fan accounts are currently available to US residents only. Anonymous tipping remains available worldwide; only the optional fan-account features are US-gated. See §17.6 of Privacy for the rationale.
18. Stream live pages and share content
Creators may opt to publish a public live page for any scheduled stream (the "/live/<slug>" surface). When enabled, the page displays the stream title, description, topics, the creator’s active public goals, and creator-authored share text used by the page’s share buttons.
Creator responsibility. The creator is solely responsible for the description, topics, share text, and platform URL they enter. Visitors who tap a share button transmit the creator’s share text to the destination platform; Ricoetta is not the speaker for that content and does not endorse, verify, or moderate it before transmission. Defamatory, misleading, infringing, or unlawful share text is the creator’s liability, not Ricoetta’s. We may remove a live page at our discretion if it violates these Terms.
Platform availability. The platform URL on a live page links to a third-party service (e.g., Twitch, YouTube, Kick). We do not control whether that platform’s content remains available; if the link goes dead or is removed by the third party, the live page may show a "stream ended" state until the creator updates or archives it.
These Terms reference the Privacy Policy and the Accessibility Statement, which are incorporated by reference.
Version v2-2026-04-26 — MVP. Full attorney review pending; tracked in ../chokalagg-internal-living-docs/internal-docs/legal-pass-required.md.