Payment Terms

Contributions are not being accepted at this time. Payment processing stays disabled until legal and tax review is complete and the operator explicitly enables it. These draft terms describe how contributions would work if activated.

A contribution is a voluntary payment to support independent commentary. It is not a charitable donation, is not tax-deductible, and is not a campaign contribution. You receive no product, digital good, badge, certificate, membership, or other benefit in exchange, and no specific outcome is promised.

Payments would be processed by Stripe. The operator is the seller/merchant of record. Card data is handled by Stripe and is never stored by this site. Stripe’s terms and fraud controls apply in addition to these terms.

• You choose the amount, within a published minimum and maximum.
• Charges are in the published currency; the amount is shown before you confirm at Stripe.
• A contribution is recorded only after Stripe confirms a completed payment to our server via a verified webhook. Reaching the payment-return page is not itself a confirmation.

At launch, contributions may be limited to U.S. cards and U.S. billing addresses unless counsel and the processor approve a broader scope. Stripe’s sanctions and prohibited-use controls are not bypassed. [PLACEHOLDER: final allowed regions and any state restrictions to be set with counsel.]

Refunds, chargebacks, and disputes are governed by the Refund & Chargeback Policy. The operator keeps records of gross payments, fees, refunds, chargebacks, and payer country for tax and accounting. Contributions may be taxable income to the operator; they are not tax-deductible to you. [PLACEHOLDER: tax treatment to be confirmed with a professional.]