Terms & Conditions of the Use of Steven Academy Services

Terms & Conditions of the Use of Steven Academy Services

Section 1: General Provisions

Article 1. Purpose

The terms and conditions set forth herein serve to establish the basic rights and responsibilities of the joining members and of Steven Academy (hereinafter referred to as “the Company”) in using and providing English education services at the Steven Academy Website (www.stevenacademy.com, hereinafter referred to as “the Website”), respectively.

Article 2. Validity, Application, and Amendments

(1) The Company shall include these terms and conditions in the membership registration pages of the Website and shall provide a link to the terms and conditions throughout the Website for its members.

(2) The terms and conditions herein are valid upon their publication on the Website. A member who declares his or her consent to these terms and conditions and who proceeds with the membership registration process becomes subject to such terms and conditions. Said member shall also be subject to the amendments to these terms and conditions when the concerned amendment takes effect.

(3) The Company may amend these terms and conditions for just cause and within a scope that does not violate the relevant laws and regulations or that unfairly infringes upon the members’ rights.

(4) In the event of the amendment of the terms and conditions set forth herein, the Company shall announce to its members the concerned amendment’s effectivity date (hereinafter referred to as “Date of Effectivity”) and the key changes that the concerned amendment will bring about, not later than seven (7) days prior to the intended Date of Effectivity, in any one (1) of the following ways:

1. announcement through the Website;

2. e-mail notification to the most recent member e-mail address on record; <br>

3. SMS (short message service) notification through the mobile phone number that the member received upon registration; or

4. a public announcement in a daily publication.

(5) The members have the right to reject the amendments to these terms and conditions, and to subsequently refuse the Website services and to terminate their membership. The continued use of the services after the Date of Effectivity of an amendment, however, shall be deemed as the member’s consent to the concerned amendment

Article 3. Unstipulated Terms & Conditions

The terms and conditions not stipulated herein are subject to the related laws and regulations, the other service usage agreements between the member and the Company, and the Company’s service use guidelines and policies

Article 4. Definitions

(1) The terms used herein are defined as follows:

1. Member: A person who visited the Website, agreed to the terms and conditions of use and entered a service use agreement with the Company, and was assigned a unique ID and a password for Website access

2. ID: An identification that is unique to a member and that is necessary for the member to access the Website services. This identification is a combination of letters and numbers chosen by the member and approved by the Company.

3. Password: A combination of letters and numbers set up and managed by the individual member. The password is used to confirm the member’s identification during the signing-in process, and to protect the member’s personal information.

4. Bookstore: A virtual bookstore within the Website that sells textbooks and related publications

(2) The terms that are not defined under Article 4-1 but that are used herein shall be defined according to the definitions set forth by the related laws and regulations and the Company’s service guidelines.

Section 2: Service Use Agreements

Article 5, Membership Approval

The Website usage agreement for a person who wishes to register as a Website member shall be concluded with the Company upon the Company’s approval of the application.

Article 6. Membership Registration Information

All member applicants are required to provide basic information regarding themselves (ID no., name, date of birth, password, address, telephone no., e-mail address, etc.) upon registration as a Website member, via the online registration form.

Article 7, Approval of Membership Applications

(1) The Company shall approve the membership applications of all persons who will provide it with accurate member information (as per Article 6 herein) and who will agree to the terms and conditions set forth herein.

(2) The Company reserves the right to withhold membership approval under any one (1) of the following circumstances:

1. when the Website is experiencing technical difficulties that prevent normal services;

2. when the application is made using a false name or a name that does not belong to the applicant;

3. when the required membership registration information are incomplete or incorrect;

4. when the applicant has prior history of membership revocation pursuant to Article 22-2 herein (not applicable to persons reregistering as members after one (1) year has elapsed since the revocation of their previous membership standing);

5. when the application is made by a person who is less than 14 years of age, or by a person whose membership requires the legal consent of a parent, legal guardian, or a court-appointed representative (these and similar applications are subject to the Company’s separate membership policies); or

6. when the Company has just cause to reject the application.

(3) The services’ availability and accessibility may vary depending on the individual member standings.

Article 8. Changes to the Usage Agreement

(1) The members may view and modify their own membership information as per the procedure set forth by the Company.

(2) The members are responsible for updating their membership profile in case any change in the information provided by them at the time of their membership registration occurs, using the procedure and forms set forth by the Company.

(3) The Company disclaims all responsibility for the wrong shipment of promotional goods, the failed delivery of important notices, and other mistakes and errors resulting from erroneous membership information provided to it by a member.

Section 3: Use of Services

Article 9. Commencement of Service Use

(1) Limited services shall be made available to the members immediately upon the approval of their membership by the Company. Certain services, including those requiring payment, shall be made available to them upon their settlement of the relevant fees and charges, or from a date or point in time designated by the Company.

(2) In the event of the suspension of the Company’s service, the Company will notify its members of such matter either individually or through the Website.

Article 10. Service Availability

(1) The Website shall be available 24 hours a day and 365 days a year, except when a malfunction occurs or when system maintenance, expansion, or replacement will be undertaken. In the event of the suspension of the service for any of these reasons, the Company will announce such suspension before it takes place, or if unforeseen, following it.

(2) The Company reserves the right to categorize its services and to grant access only to specific categories of services at certain times of the day or on certain days of the week. In this case, the Company must notify its members of the service availability schedules.

Article 11. Service Modification and Suspension

(1) The Company reserves the right to implement modifications to its Website services, but it must notify its members of the Website service modifications that are being implemented.

(2) The Company reserves the right to limit or suspend some or all of its Website services under any one (1) of the following circumstances:

1. unavoidable downtimes due to the expansion, maintenance, or installation of service hardware components;

2. unavoidable downtimes due to circumstances that are not within the Company’s control;

3. downtimes caused by sudden spikes in the service load and other matters preventing normal servicing;

4. transition to a new service, and other similar circumstances deemed appropriate by the Company; or

5. downtimes caused by power outage, a natural disaster, a national emergency, or other instances of force majeure.

(3) As per Article 11-2 herein, in the event of the suspension of the Company’s services, the Company must notify its members of such matter prior to the suspension, except for cases of service suspension brought on by causes that are beyond Company’s control (unforeseen and unintended hardware malfunction, force majeure, etc.).

(4) Power outages can result in limited or zero accessibility to the Website services.

(5) In the event of service suspension due to the Company’s fault, the Company must provide additional or supplementary lessons to the members free-of-charge.

Article 12. Member ID and Password Administration

(1) The members shall be responsible for the administration of their own IDs and passwords and shall be held liable for the consequences of their negligent administration, unauthorized disclosure, and/or lending of their individual IDs and passwords.

(2) Upon becoming aware of theft, unintended exposure, or third-party use of his/her ID and password, the concerned member must notify the Company of such matter without delay and must follow the subsequent instructions of the Company.

(3) If a redundant ID exists or a member ID can hinder the Website services, the Company reserves the right to request the concerned user to reselect his or her ID within a suitable timeframe. In addition, the Company reserves the right to batch-modify member IDs in response to the Website integration and other changes to the key Company policies, insofar as the said batch modification does not affect the material essence of the IDs. In the latter case, the Company must first notify its members of the modification to be made.

Article 13. Member Posts

(1) Member posts include text, images, files, and links uploaded to the Website by a Website member.

(2) The members shall be solely responsible for the losses and damages that they may incur as a result of the posts that they made. Therefore, the members are advised to exercise caution and to check the relevant laws and regulations before uploading any content to the Website.

(3) The members are prohibited from making or conveying the types of posts listed below, and the Company may delete, relocate, or refuse uploads of any post that it deems to be of such nature. Further, the Company reserves the right to establish, implement, and enforce a separate and detailed policy concerning member posts, and the members must abide by the said policy.

1. posts that are slanderous or defamatory in nature to the Company, other Website members, and/or third parties;

2. posts that promote the disruption of the public order, morals, or manners;

3. posts that are deemed associated with illicit activities or actions;

4. posts that infringe upon the copyrights and other rights of the Company or of third parties;

5. posts that induce political or religious disputes in a manner that violates the law or rights of others;

6. posts containing gratuitous or unauthorized advertisements or offers;

7. posts created under the guise of another or that have forged or plagiarized contents;

8. multiple posts with the same or similar contents, and other posts that are not in line with the stated purpose of the post itself; and

9. posts that are deemed to be violations of related laws, regulations, or policies.

(4) The Company may temporarily restrict access to the posts (hereinafter referred to as "Temporary Measure”) that it suspects are among the types of posts stipulated in Article 13-3 or that it deems are causing or can cause disputes among the parties related to the post.

(5) As a rule, Temporary Measures, as per Article 13-4, shall be implemented for no longer than thirty (30) days. They can remain in effect beyond thirty (30) days, however, if no authoritative interpretation or ruling by a relevant governing body, or agreement between the concerned parties, is reached within the set term.

Article 14. Member Post Copyrights

(1) The posts created by the members shall receive the protection of copyright laws. The copyrights and other intellectual rights for all the contents created by the Company are the property of the Company.

(2) The members’ consent is required for the following domestic and international use of member posts by the Company:

1. resizing, simplification, and other forms of modification to member posts for the purpose of promoting select member posts within the Website, including replication, transmission, display, and distribution;

2. display and distribution of member posts within the Website services, except when refused by the concerned member; and

3. releasing member posts to the media and communications companies, and the broadcasting thereof for the purpose of promoting the Company’s services. The Company, however, is prohibited from disclosing the personal information of its members to the media and to communications companies without the explicit permission of the concerned members.

(3) The stipulations of Article 14-2 notwithstanding, the Company is required to seek and obtain prior member consent if it wishes to use the concerned member’s post(s) for purposes other than those stated in Article 14-2 (e.g., distribution of member posts to a third party in a commercial transaction). The Company’s request for member post use, member consent, withdrawal of consent, and other procedures concerning member post use shall be conducted in a manner chosen by the Company (telephone, e-mail, fax, etc.). If the Company has gained member consent, it must indicate the authorship of the concerned member post(s) and provide the concerned member with compensation.

(4) The posts created by the members on the Website are the sole responsibility of the members who created them. Therefore, the Company shall not be held liable in any dispute over ownership- or copyright-related disputes concerning member posts. Ownership and copyright liabilities shall fall solely on the member who made the post under dispute.

(5) When a member terminates his/her membership or gets his/her membership revoked pursuant to Article 22-2, all the posts registered to the concerned member’s account shall be erased. Posts scrapped or linked by a third party, and posts registered within the common services by other similar means, however, will not be erased upon termination or revocation of membership.

(6) The Company reserves the right to relocate member posts to other sections of the Website in the event of a merger with another company, the sale of the Company, the integration of the Website with other Websites owned and operated by the Company, etc.

Article 15. Services

(1) The Company shall provide the following services:

1. video lessons;

2. education news, information, and consultation;

3. book sales; and

4. other miscellaneous English education-related services.

(2) Services shall become available to the members immediately upon their service usage request, unless otherwise specified by the Company.

(3) Certain services are paid services, and their respective fees, conditions, and settlement methods shall be disclosed separately.

(4) Certain services require the installation of third-party applications. The Company shall provide separate instructions regarding the installation/dismantlement of such applications.

(5) The Company may provide the various information that it deems necessary for the use of the services by its members by means of e-mail, mail, SMS, and others, and the members reserve the right to refuse the said communiqués through a means designated by the Company.

(6) Parent, legal-guardian, or court-appointed representative consent is necessary for minors to purchase the paid services.

(7) As a rule, refunds shall be made in the same manner as the original payment method. If the original payment method is not available as a refund method, however, the Company may provide the concerned refund as cash payment.

(8) The Company reserves the right to modify, add, and remove its services but is required to make available the details of its service modification, addition, or removal in the concerned service page.

Article 17. Bookstore Service Use

(1) The members may access the bookstore service of the Company’s Website.

(2) If it is unable to meet a book order from a member due to the absence of a stock of it or other reason(s), the Company must notify the concerned member without delay and must take the necessary action in relation to it, such as refund.

(3) The Company must inform its book-ordering members of the available shipment options, the costs of each shipment option, and the expected delivery times of each shipment option, and must compensate the members in the event of delayed delivery due to the Company’s fault.

(4) The members may request an exchange or a refund within seven (7) days of the delivery to them of the book that they ordered. Neither an exchange nor a refund will be allowed, however, under the following circumstances or cases:

1. the loss of or damage to the product due to the member’s fault (excluding damages to the packaging made for the purpose of checking the content);

2. a considerable reduction of the product’s value due to its use or partial consumption by the member;

3. a considerable reduction of the product’s value due to the lapse of a significant amount of time since its purchase, making the resale of the said product difficult;

4. when the order involves products that can be replicated into books of similar quality, where the cover and other packaging of the original has been damaged; and

5. when the member is informed by the Company in advance of its “no refund, no exchange” policy.

(5) Refunds for products ordered from the bookstore service shall be made in the same manner as the original method of payment. In addition, refund for books purchased shall only be made after the return of the book in question.

(6) For purchases made by a minor (less than 18 years of age), refunds shall be made to a bank account belonging to a parent of the member.

(7) When shipping a book to a member, the Company may provide basic information regarding the member (i.e., name, address, and telephone number) to the delivery service provider. In addition, the Company shall stipulate the member privacy protection and management provisions in its contracts with delivery service providers.

(8) The members shall shoulder the return shipment costs for refunds and exchanges due to a simple change of mind on their part.

Section 4: Rights and Responsibilities of the Contracting Parties

Article 18. The Company’s Responsibilities

(1) The Company shall not engage in any activity prohibited by the terms and conditions set forth herein, or in any activity that disrupts the public morals and manners. It is the Company’s responsibility to exert every effort to provide continued and stable services as prescribed herein.

(2) The Company must immediately repair and/or recover damaged or malfunctioning equipment so that it may continue to provide stable services, unless there is just cause for delay.

(3) The Company must deploy a security system to protect the privacy information of its members and to ensure stable services.

(4) The Company must immediately take action on the service-use-related suggestions and complaints submitted by the members if and when it deems these to be fair and legitimate. If immediate action cannot be taken, the Company must inform the concerned member of its reason(s) and when it expects to take action on the member’s suggestion or complaint.

Article 19. Member Responsibilities

(1) Unless otherwise specified by the Company, the usage rights of a member are limited to the individual member and may not be transferred or conferred to a third party or used as collateral.

(2) The members are prohibited from the following in their use of the services, and can have their membership rights limited or stripped if caught engaging in any of the following:

1. false statement of member information during membership registration or profile update, and use or sharing of another member’s ID or personal information;

2. commercial use or third-party disclosure/provision of information gained from the Company’s services without the explicit consent of the Company, including the publication, broadcasting, reproduction, transmission, and sharing of such information (for the use of information for public or member interests, the member may submit a request to the Company and seek its consent);

3. infringement of third-party rights and properties;

4. engaging in the sale of products and/or services via the Website services, except with the official recognition of the Company, or providing, sharing, exposing, or selling the Company services to a third party by means of hacking, ID sharing, or other similar methods;

5. obstruction of the Company Website and services, disruption of service use by other members, or impersonation of a Company management executive, employee, or affiliate; and

6. distribution of symbols, characters, voices, sounds, and visual materials that disrupt the public order and the standards of decency.

(3) In using the Website services, the members shall be responsible for the administration of their membership information and shall immediately update their membership information through the membership profile change page available in the Website in the event of a change in the membership registration information described in Article 6.

Article 20. Privacy Protection

The Company shall not disclose, distribute, or provide any information regarding its members to a third party without the consent of the individual members concerned, except in the case of legally processed government agency requests, criminal-investigation requests, and other requests in line with the national interest. Pursuant to the governing laws and regulations, the Company shall exert every effort to protect its members’ private information, including but not limited to member registration information. The Company shall also abide by the governing laws and regulations and its internal Privacy Protection Policy in protecting the personal information of its members.

Section 5: Membership Termination and Use Limitations

Article 21. Membership Termination and Use Limitations

(1) The members may request that their membership be terminated at any time, by using the Website’s membership cancellation option. There being no unavoidable circumstance such as those described in Article 11-2, Company is to process all membership cancellation requests immediately.

(2) The Company reserves the right to limit or terminate the membership of any member who violates the law or the terms and conditions set forth herein, or who engages in an activity that is contradictory to the public order and the standards of decency. In such case, however, the Company must notify the concerned member before taking any action regarding the matter. In addition, the Company must give the concerned member an opportunity to correct the cause of his/her termination or to defend his/her action(s) before terminating him/her.

Article 22. Prohibition of Transfer

(1) The members are prohibited from transferring or conferring their service usage rights and other contractual rights to a third party, and hold the copyright and all other rights over the posts made by them.

(2) In the event of acquisition by a third party, a merger with a third party, or the transfer of its service operation rights to a third party, effectively bringing forth a change in the provider of said services, the Company must notify its members of such matter in advance. Upon such notification, the members who oppose the sale, merger, or service operation transfer may terminate their membership.

Section 6: Compensation and Others

Article 23. Compensation

(1) The Company must compensate its members for any damage it incurs either deliberately or due to a severe error on its part.

(2) In the event of service interruption or error resulting from the deliberate action(s) or a severe error on the part of the Company, the Company shall compensate its members under the following scheme:

1. In the event of an unannounced and temporary system-wide service interruption brought on by the deliberate action(s) or a severe error on the part of the Company, the Company must provide additional or supplementary lessons to the members free-of-charge.

2. In the event of an interruption in a paid service caused by gross negligence on the part of the Company, the Company shall restore the concerned paid service or provide exchange and refund options to the member.

(3) The members must compensate the Company for the damages and/or losses it incurs as a result of the members’ illegal action(s) or violation(s) of the terms and conditions set forth herein while using the Website services, and must compensate and settle all claims to and from third parties.

Article 24. Refund Regulations

(1) The Company’s refund policies reflect the stipulations of Contract Regulation Act, Online-Digital-Content Industry Promotion Act, and Electronic Commerce Act.

(2) The acts listed under Article 24-1 stipulate that a refund cannot be made in the following cases, among others:

1. when the unavailability of refund is clearly stated in the product information or description;

2. for sample products; and

3. for the provision of temporary or partial usage.

(3) The services that the Company shall provide fall under the category of “sample products” and, more specifically, “sampling viewing.”

Article 25. The Company’s Refund Policies

(1) The acts listed under Article 24-1 notwithstanding, the Company shall offer more advantageous refund policies to ensure greater member convenience.

(2) The members can request for a refund or an exchange of the services that they purchased from the Company. Upon receiving such a request, the Company shall review the request, review its refund policies, and process the request as urgently as possible.

(3) The members may request a refund or an exchange of the services they purchased under the following circumstances:

1. Refund

- Standard Policy

A full refund for lessons can be requested within ten (10) days of their approval, during the Lesson Sampling period. Refund cannot be made when more than one (1) lesson has been viewed.

2. Exchange

To exchange a refundable lesson for another lesson, the members may not directly exchange the lessons but must first request a refund of the original lesson and then purchase the new lesson.

3. Service Interruption by the Company

If the Company is unable to continue the paid services due to one of the causes stipulated in Article 22-2, it must notify the members and must process the refunds as urgently as possible.

4. Forced Membership Revocation

The refund policies under Article 25 do not apply to the memberships that have been revoked due to a violation of the relevant law(s) or of the terms and conditions set forth herein.

Article 26. Disclaimer

(1) The Company disclaims its service provision responsibilities under force majeure events preventing its continued provision of services.

(2) The Company disclaims all its responsibilities in relation to the service use and access limitations with reference to a member who violates the terms and conditions set forth herein.

(3) The Company disclaims all its responsibilities in relation to the members’ unmet expectations of the benefits and results that may arise from their use of the Company’s services, and regarding the damages and losses incurred by its members from the selection and use of the available services and materials.

(4) The Company disclaims all its responsibilities in relation to the reliability, accuracy, and content of the information, data, and facts stored or posted in the Company’s Website by third parties.

(5) The Company disclaims all its responsibilities in relation to the issues that may arise from the members’ accessing of links to third-party Websites from the Company’s Website (hereinafter referred to as “Linked Websites").

Article 27. Jurisdiction and Governing Laws

(1) All service-use-related litigations between the Company and a member shall be submitted to the competent civil courts.

(2) The legal disputes between the Company and its members are subject to the laws and regulations of the Republic of Korea.

[Supplementary Provisions]

Article 1. Date of Effectivity

The terms and conditions herein came into effect on June 1, 2009.