Terms and Conditions for posting, storing, and distributing comments on the Online Platform

I. Glossary of terms used in the Terms and Conditions.
1. Unless otherwise specified in the Terms and Conditions, the following terms shall have the following meanings:
a) User - means a natural person using the Service on the basis of the Terms and Conditions. A natural person may be a User if:
• they have full legal capacity or obtain the consent of their legal representative or legal guardian if they have limited legal capacity, and
• uses the Service for purposes unrelated to their business or professional activity, for non-profit purposes and for purposes unrelated to the promotional or advertising activities of the User and/or other persons and/or any goods and/or services.
b) Defence24 - means Defence24 Sp. z o. o. with its registered office in Warsaw, ul. Foksal 18, 00-372 Warsaw, entered in the Register of Entrepreneurs kept by the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw in Warsaw, 12th Commercial Division of the National Court Register, under KRS number: 0000427851, NIP: 113-285-75-83, REGON: 146224999, share capital: PLN 400,000.00.
c) Defence24 Portal - means the internet portal operated by Defence24 in the internet domains to which Defence24 has rights, in particular in the internet domain defence24.pl.
d) Online Platform - means any website made available by Defence24, including defence24.pl, defence24.com, energetyka24.com, cyberdefence24.pl, infosecurity24.pl, space24.pl, academy24.pl
e) Form - means a website on the Online Platform that allows the User to post their comments on the Online Platform and conclude a contract with Defence24 for the provision of the Service.
f) Comment - means an opinion posted, stored, and disseminated on the Online Platform by the User regarding specific content on the Website (in particular articles, information, photos, audiovisual content) and/or a comment by another User of the Website, representing the User's own opinion.
g) Account - means an account within the meaning of the terms and conditions of any service provided by Defence24.
h) Nickname - means the User's chosen designation, which they use to identify the authorship of their comment.
i) Service - the ability to post, store and distribute Comments
on the Online Platform.

II. Preliminary Provisions
1. These Terms and Conditions set forth the rules and requirements for the posting, storage, and dissemination of comments on the Online Platform.
2. The Online Platform is made available to Users by Defence24 Sp. z o.o., with its registered office in Warsaw, ul. Foksal 18, 00-372 Warsaw, entered into the Register of Entrepreneurs maintained by the District Court for the Capital City of Warsaw in Warsaw, 12th Commercial Division of the National Court Register, under KRS number 0000427851, NIP: 113-285-75-83, REGON: 146224999.
3. The software, design, functional layout, and graphic elements of the Online Platform, as well as its databases and content not originating from Users, constitute the subject of copyright and/or other rights vested in Defence24 and/or other entities and are protected by law.
4. The posting, storage, and dissemination of comments by Users on the Service shall be carried out in accordance with these Terms and Conditions.
5. Posting comments on the Online Platform, and in particular submitting to Defence24 the form intended for the use of the Service, shall be deemed equivalent to:
• the User’s confirmation that they have read these Terms and Conditions;
• the User’s declaration of acceptance of all provisions of the Terms and Conditions;
• the User’s consent to the immediate provision of the Service after fulfilling the conditions set forth herein;
• the conclusion by the User and Defence24 of an agreement for the use of the Service under the terms and conditions specified herein.

III. Rules for the Use of the Service
1. The Service enables the User to post, store, and disseminate their comments in the areas of the Online Platform designated for the posting and dissemination of comments by Users. Users’ comments are disseminated together with the User’s Nickname.
2. The User shall post Comments on the Online Platform via the appropriate Form available on the Online Platform , in which the User shall enter the content of their Comment and their Nickname, and shall accept the provisions of these Terms and Conditions and give the consent specified in Section IV hereof, subject to the following sentence.
3. The Comment and the User’s Nickname may contain such number of characters (including spaces and punctuation marks) as indicated to the User when completing the Form referred to in the preceding clause of these Terms and Conditions.
4. Subject to other provisions of these Terms and Conditions, Comments posted, stored, and disseminated by Users on the Online Platform shall meet the following requirements:
• They shall directly relate to the content of the Online Platform (article, information, photograph, audiovisual content) and/or to the comment to which they are posted;
• They shall constitute substantive statements conveying a clear and relevant opinion of the User, without emotionally charged content;
• They shall not contain content that adversely affects the behaviour of other Users of the Online Platform or that does not contribute to substantive discussion, in particular content that provokes or encourages others to express aggressive views;
• They shall not contain content that attributes to other persons unverified and/or false and/or unfounded allegations;
• They shall not contain content infringing or potentially infringing copyright;
• They shall not contain remarks or correspondence addressed to the editorial staff of the Online Platform, which shall be submitted in the manner specified in Clauses V.12, VII, and VIII hereof;
• They shall not contain content contrary to law, the principles of social coexistence, or good morals, nor infringe the rights of third parties, including the good name of Defence24;
• They shall not contain inappropriate content in the context of information about the death, illness, or accident of a given person;
• They shall not contain any advertising and/or promotional content relating to the User and/or other persons and/or any goods and/or services.
• They shall not contain any internet addresses or links (references, hyperlinks) to any websites;
• They shall not contain personal data, contact details, and/or email addresses;
• A Comment shall not be posted by the User more than once;
• A Comment shall not contain content constituting an attack on other Users of the Online Platform and shall not contain content that discriminates on the basis of gender, race, nationality, language, or religion;
• Comments shall not consist of “chains” composed of random combinations of letters and/or punctuation marks that do not constitute intelligible content;
• They shall not contain content constituting spam (entirely unrelated to the posting and presentation of the User’s own opinion) or content that merely imitates the presentation of the User’s own opinion.
5. Comments shall be published in all areas of the Online Platform designated for the posting and dissemination of comments by Users.
6. A Comment posted and disseminated by the User on the Online Platform shall be disseminated together with the content of the Online Platform and/or the Comment to which it relates. Accordingly, if the content of the Online Platform or the Comment to which a given Comment relates is removed from the Online Platform, Defence24 shall be entitled to take the actions specified in Clauses VI.17 and VI.18 of these Terms and Conditions.
7. For technical reasons, the time at which the User submits the Form enabling the use of the Service shall not be deemed identical to the time at which the Comment is made publicly available on the Online Platform.
8. Comments disseminated by Users on the Online Platform may be read and/or rated and/or reviewed by other persons free of charge.
9. The User posts, stores, and disseminates Comments on the Online Platform on their own behalf, for their own benefit, and at their own responsibility. Defence24’s provision of the Service is limited solely to making technical solutions available.
10. The User’s use of the Service, and in particular their acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, shall constitute:
• the User’s acknowledgment and acceptance that the Comments they post, store, and disseminate on the Online Platform may be read and/or rated and/or reviewed by other Users free of charge;
• the User’s consent to the free reading and/or rating and/or reviewing of their Comments by other persons;
• the User’s acknowledgment and acceptance that their Comments are disseminated together with the User’s Nickname.

IV. Conditions for Using the Service
1. Posting, storing, and disseminating Comments on the Online Platform is available to logged-in Users.
2. In order to post, store, and disseminate Comments on the Online Platform as a logged-in User, the User must complete the following steps (all of which must be performed cumulatively):
• creating a Defence24 Account;
• logging into the Defence24 Portal;
• accepting the provisions of these Terms and Conditions.
3. Notwithstanding the provisions of Clause IV.2 hereof, the use of the Service may be made conditional upon the User performing certain specified actions, of which the User shall be informed by an appropriate notification when attempting to use the Service.
4. The personal data of Users shall be processed by Defence24 for purposes related to the use of the Service, to tailor the Service to the User’s interests, to ensure the security of the Service (including the detection of various types of bots and abuses), as well as for the purpose of conducting statistical measurements and improving the Service so that it meets the expectations of Users.
5. The controller of the Users’ personal data, within the meaning of Regulation (EU) 2016/679 of the European Parliament and of the Council of 27 April 2016 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data, and repealing Directive 95/46/EC (General Data Protection Regulation), is Defence24.
6. Detailed rules and information regarding the processing of personal data by Defence24 are set out in the Privacy Policy.
7. The User is obliged to provide only true and accurate data in the Form. The User shall be solely responsible for the accuracy of the data entered into the Form. Providing false data entitles Defence24 to cease providing the Service to the User.
8. The use of the Service, and in particular the submission of the Form to Defence24, shall constitute:
• the User’s declaration that they have acknowledged and accepted all provisions of these Terms and Conditions;
• the User’s declaration that the data contained in the Form are true and accurate.

V. Rights and Obligations of the User
1. Defence24 shall make every effort to ensure that the Service can be used by users of all popular web browsers, operating systems, types of computers, and types of internet connections. However, Defence24 does not guarantee and shall not be liable for ensuring that every combination of these factors enables the use of the Service. Furthermore, the Online Platform software and Forms may require specific configurations of the User’s computer.
2. For the purpose of collecting information about Users, Defence24 uses files known as “cookies.” Detailed rules and information regarding cookies are set out in the Privacy Policy.
3. Without the prior consent of Defence24, the User may not transfer to any third party any rights or obligations related to the use of the Service.
4. The User is obliged to post, store, and disseminate on the Online Platform only those Comments that meet the requirements set forth in these Terms and Conditions. The User undertakes to compensate Defence24 for any damage incurred as a result of the posting, storage, or dissemination by the User of Comments that do not meet the requirements set out in these Terms and Conditions.
5. The User is obliged to hold all rights to the Comments they post, store, and disseminate on the Online Platform, to the extent necessary to enable their posting, storage, and dissemination on the Online Platform, as well as their free reading and/or rating and/or reviewing by other persons. This obligation includes, in particular, holding the economic copyrights to such Comments within the meaning of the Act of 4 February 1994 on Copyright and Related Rights (consolidated text: Journal of Laws of 2022, item 2509). Acceptance of these Terms and Conditions shall constitute a declaration that the rights held by the User to the Comments, and the right to permit their reading and/or rating and/or reviewing by other persons under the terms set out herein, are unrestricted in any way.
6. The use of the Service, and in particular the submission of a declaration of acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, shall constitute a declaration that the User’s Comments do not infringe copyrights within the meaning of the Act of 4 February 1994 on Copyright and Related Rights (Journal of Laws of 2022, item 2509), nor any other rights of third parties within the meaning of applicable laws. The User shall be obliged to compensate Defence24 for any damage suffered by Defence24 in connection with possible claims of third parties relating to the infringement of copyrights or any other rights in the Comments posted, stored, or disseminated by the User on the Service.
7. The User shall be obliged to make appropriate settlements with all persons holding any rights to the Comments posted, stored, and disseminated by the User on the Online Platform, should such entitled persons assert claims arising from their rights.
8. The User shall perform all actions required by law that are necessary for posting, storing, and disseminating Comments on the Online Platform, as well as for allowing other persons to read and/or rate and/or review such Comments in accordance with the provisions of the Terms of Service.
9. In the event that the User is not the author of the Comments or is a co-author of the Comments, the User shall hold, on the basis of an agreement concluded with the persons holding any rights to the content of the Comments and/or with a collective management organization for copyright and related rights (where such intermediation is required by applicable law), the right to post, store, and disseminate the Comments on the Online Platform and to permit other persons to read and/or rate and/or review them under the conditions set forth in the Terms of Service.
Prior to posting on the Online Platform any Comments of which the User is not the author or of which the User is a co-author, the User shall contact the persons or organization referred to in the preceding sentence, determine the terms of posting and disseminating the Comments on the Online Platform, and conclude with them the relevant agreements. The User may not post on the Online Platform any Comments of which the User is not the author or of which the User is a co-author without prior agreeing with the persons and relevant organizations indicated in this clause of the Terms of Service upon the terms of posting and disseminating the Comments on the Online Platform, including any dissemination fees payable to such persons and organizations in connection therewith.
The User shall be liable for compensating any damage suffered by Defence24 arising from claims of third parties holding any rights to the Comments posted, stored, and disseminated by the User on the Online Platform, as well as from claims of collective management organizations for copyright and related rights.
10. The User posts, stores, and disseminates Comments on the Online Platform on their own behalf, for their own account, and at their own risk. The provision of the Service by Defence24 is limited solely to making technical solutions available. This means, in particular, that Defence24 does not post, store, or disseminate Users’ Comments in its own name or at its own risk; such actions are undertaken by Users on their behalf, for their own account, and at their own risk.
11. The User shall comply with the provisions of applicable law, the Terms of Service, principles of social coexistence, and good practices.
12. The User may, at any time, cease using the Service. The removal by the User of a Comment from the Online Platform is possible by sending to Defence24 an appropriate declaration of resignation from using the Service. The declaration referred to in the preceding sentence shall be sent to the following email address: [email protected], and shall include, in particular, the User’s Nickname, the date and time the Comment was posted, the name of the Online Platform, and an indication (e.g., the title) of the content to which the Comment was posted. Defence24 shall remove the User’s Comment from the Online Platform within seven (7) business days from the date of receipt of the User’s statement referred to in the preceding sentence. The provision of the preceding sentence of this section of the Terms of Service shall not apply to Comments preserved at the request of an authorized person or authority pursuant to applicable law and/or where the obligation to preserve a Comment of specific content arises from applicable law, provided that in such cases Defence24 shall simultaneously block (prevent) access to the User’s Comments in the Online Platform.

VI. Scope of Liability and Rights of Defence24
1. Defence24 reserves the right to suspend or disrupt the availability and use of the Online Platform and/or the Services and/or the Forms if such suspension or disruption is caused by: the necessity of repair, expansion, modification, or maintenance of equipment or software; or by reasons beyond the control of Defence24 (force majeure, actions or omissions of third parties).
2. Defence24 shall not be liable for any lost profits incurred by the User or third parties in connection with the use of the Service and/or the Services.
3. Defence24 shall not be liable for the loss of data and/or Users’ Comments caused by equipment or software failure, or by circumstances beyond the control of Defence24.
4. Defence24 shall not be liable for the non-performance or improper performance of the Service if such non-performance or improper performance was due to non-intentional fault.
5. Defence24 shall not be liable for the non-performance or improper performance of the Service if such was caused by third parties (in particular telecommunications operators, providers of telecommunications connections, or electricity suppliers).
6. Defence24 shall not be liable for any content received or transmitted by Users via the Internet, or for the content of Users’ Comments and Nicknames, including any data (including personal data) and/or information contained therein.
7. Defence24 shall not be liable for any damage caused by actions or omissions of the User, in particular for the use of the Service in a manner inconsistent with applicable laws and/or the provisions of these Terms and Conditions, as well as for damages arising from the provision of incomplete or false data.
8. Defence24 reserves the right to disclose the User’s data (including personal data) and the content of their Comments to authorized persons or authorities if the obligation to disclose such data and content to authorized persons or authorities arises from the laws in force in the territory of the Republic of Poland.
9. Defence24 may refuse to provide the Service to the User if this is justified by security considerations or in other cases specified in the Terms and Conditions, in particular where the User uses the Service in a manner contrary to the Terms and Conditions or to generally applicable laws, or as required by the laws in force in the territory of the Republic of Poland.
10. Defence24 reserves the right to expand and/or modify the software intended for the use of the Service without prior notice to Users.
11. Defence24 reserves the right to change the graphic design and/or the layout of the websites intended for the provision of the Service without prior notice to Users.
12. Defence24 reserves the right to expand and/or modify the forms and scope of use of the Service without prior notice to Users.
13. Defence24 reserves the right to discontinue making the Service available and providing the Service (to terminate the Service) at any time, in particular for valid technical and/or organisational reasons, including with effect on the date of the submission of the statement referred to in the following sentence. Defence24 shall inform Users of the discontinuation of the availability and provision of the Service by posting an appropriate statement of Defence24 on the websites of the Onlile Platform.
14. The Defence24 portal, the Online Platforms, and the Service as a whole constitute a work to which all rights are vested in Defence24.
15. The governing law for all legal relations arising from these Terms and Conditions shall be the law of Poland, regardless of the User’s place of residence. The place of conclusion and performance of the agreement for the use of the Service shall be the place where Defence24 has its registered office. The Service within the Online Platform shall be provided on the territory of the Republic of Poland, at the place where Defence24 has its registered office. Any disputes arising from the legal relations resulting from these Terms and Conditions between Defence24 and the User shall be subject to the jurisdiction of Polish courts and shall be resolved by the competent common courts of Poland.
16. The sole sources of Defence24’s obligations are these Terms and Conditions and the provisions of mandatory law in force on the territory of the Republic of Poland.
17. Defence24 shall be entitled to block (disable) access to a User’s Comment and/or to discontinue the provision of the Service to the User in the following cases:
• the User’s breach of applicable laws and/or the provisions of these Terms and Conditions;
• withdrawal of the User’s consent for Defence24 to process their personal data for the purposes of using the Service;
• provision to Defence24 of personal data that is untrue;
• receipt by Defence24 of an official notification or obtaining credible information regarding the unlawful nature of the User’s comment posted, stored, and disseminated within the Online Platform;
• discontinuation of the availability and provision of the Service (termination of the Service);
• deletion of the Service content and/or the comment to which the User’s Comment relates, in accordance with Clause
III.6 of these Terms and Conditions.
18. In the event of discontinuation of the provision of the Service to the User, Defence24 shall delete the User’s Comment from the Defence24 server. The provision in the first sentence of this Clause shall not apply in the case of Comments retained at the request of an authorized person or authority under the provisions of law in force in the territory of the Republic of Poland and/or where the obligation to retain a Comment of specific content arises from the provisions of law in force on the territory of the Republic of Poland, provided, however, that in such cases Defence24 shall simultaneously block (disable) access to the User’s Comment.
19. Defence24 shall not be liable for the loss by the User of their password used to log in to their Account, nor for such password coming into the possession of third parties (regardless of the manner in which it was obtained). This provision shall not apply where the loss of the User’s password or its acquisition by third parties, as described in the preceding sentence, occurred due to reasons attributable to Defence24 or for which Defence24 is liable under the provisions of law in force on the territory of the Republic of Poland.
20. Defence24 hereby informs that it exercises due diligence in receiving and reviewing any communication addressed to Defence24 regarding the unlawful nature of a Comment posted and stored within the Online Platform.

VII. Correspondence
1. The User shall direct all correspondence concerning the use of the Service to the following e-mail address: [email protected].
2. Defence24 shall not be liable for the inability to send correspondence to the User resulting from the provision by the User of an incorrect or false e-mail address, or from the loss by the User of the ability to use a given e-mail address and the failure to provide Defence24 with a new e-mail address to which correspondence should be sent.
3. Defence24 shall send correspondence to the notifier, as defined in Clause VI.20 of these Terms and Conditions, to the e-mail address provided to it by the notifier or from which Defence24 has received correspondence from the notifier.

VIII. Complaints
1. The User may submit complaints regarding the posting, storage, and dissemination of Comments by e-mail to [email protected], as well as in writing, including by registered mail, to the registered office address of Defence24.
2. In the content of the complaint, the User should, in particular, provide their Nickname, the time and date the comments were posted, the name of Online Platform, and the designation (e.g., title) of the content to which the comment was posted.
3. Defence24 shall review complaints within seven (7) business days from the date of receipt thereof; however, this period may be extended by no more than an additional fourteen (14) days if the resolution of the complaint requires more time. Defence24 shall inform the User of the extension of the complaint review period, indicating the length of the extension and the reason for it. Such information on the extension and its reason shall be provided to the User before the expiry of the seven (7) business day period referred to in the first sentence of this Clause. If the submitted complaint contains deficiencies preventing its examination, Defence24 shall, if it deems this necessary for the proper consideration of the complaint, promptly request the complainant to remedy such deficiencies, specifying a period of no less than seven (7) business days and the scope of the supplementation, together with a notice that failure to supplement the complaint within the specified time limit will result in the complaint being left without consideration. Upon the ineffective lapse of the prescribed period, the complaint shall be left without consideration.
4. Defence24 shall send its response to the complaint to the e-mail address indicated by the User.

IX. Amendments to the Terms and Conditions
1. These Terms and Conditions shall enter into force upon their publication on the Online Platform’s website.
2. The Terms and Conditions shall be made available to Users free of charge and continuously on the Service’s website in a manner enabling Users to obtain, reproduce, and store their content at any time.
3. Defence24 reserves the right to amend the Terms and Conditions. Users shall be informed of the content of any amendment to the Terms and Conditions at least fourteen (14) days prior to its introduction by making available a summary of the amendments and keeping this information accessible for a period of no less than fourteen (14) days. The amendment to the Terms and Conditions shall enter into force upon the expiry of the aforementioned fourteen (14) day period.
4. Continued use of the Online Platform by the User after the amendment to the Terms and Conditions has been made shall be deemed confirmation that the User has read the amendments to the Terms and Conditions and a declaration by the User of acceptance of all amendments thereto.
5. The provisions of the Terms and Conditions that are contrary to the applicable consumer protection laws shall not apply to Users who are consumers within the meaning of the applicable law. Furthermore, consumers shall be entitled to use out-of-court dispute resolution methods electronically via the European Union’s Online Dispute Resolution (ODR) platform, which enables the submission of complaints and the pursuit of claims arising from a concluded agreement.