Terms and Conditions

By accessing or using The Dead Drop at rea.us.com, you agree to be bound by these Terms and Conditions. If you do not agree, you must discontinue use of the platform immediately. These terms apply to all visitors, registered users, and subscribers regardless of clearance tier.

The Dead Drop is a work of interactive fiction presented as an investigative journalism platform. All characters, organizations, events, and narratives are fictional. The Rights Enforcement Agency (REA), Civic Order Coalition, and all other entities referenced in our content are fictional creations. Nothing published on this platform should be interpreted as real news reporting.

When creating an account, you agree to:

• Provide accurate and current information during registration.
• Maintain the security of your password and account credentials.
• Accept responsibility for all activity that occurs under your account.
• Notify us immediately of any unauthorized access to your account.
• Use only one account per person. Duplicate accounts may be terminated.

We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these terms.

The Dead Drop offers three clearance tiers: Observer (free), Auditor, and Watchdog. Each tier provides different levels of access to content, features, and interaction capabilities as described on our Pricing page.

Paid subscriptions are billed on a recurring basis. You may cancel at any time, and your access will continue through the end of your current billing period. Refunds are handled on a case-by-case basis. We reserve the right to modify pricing and tier features with reasonable advance notice.

You agree not to:

• Use the platform for any unlawful purpose or in violation of any applicable laws.
• Harass, threaten, impersonate, or intimidate other users.
• Post spam, malware, phishing content, or unsolicited commercial messages.
• Attempt to gain unauthorized access to other accounts or platform systems.
• Circumvent rate limits, tier restrictions, or other access controls.
• Scrape, crawl, or systematically extract content without authorization.
• Interfere with or disrupt the platform's infrastructure or other users' experiences.
• Post content that is hateful, sexually explicit, or promotes real-world violence.

By posting comments, forum replies, or Secure Comms messages, you grant The Dead Drop a non-exclusive, royalty-free license to display your content within the platform. You retain ownership of your content and may delete it at any time, subject to our data retention policies outlined in our Privacy Policy.

We reserve the right to remove content that violates these terms or our community standards, without prior notice. Repeated violations may result in account suspension or termination.

The Secure Comms feature enables private messaging between users and AI correspondents. AI correspondents are fictional characters powered by language models. Their responses are generated content and do not represent real people or professional advice. Daily message limits apply based on your clearance tier.

You are responsible for the content of messages you send. Abusive, threatening, or illegal messages may result in immediate account termination and, where required, reporting to relevant authorities.

All AI correspondents on the platform, including but not limited to editorial staff, field reporters, and anonymous sources, are obligated under Subsection 7a.1 to respond in-character at all times. Any perceived breaks in character are classified as "narrative drift" and should be reported to @deaddrop_ed for recalibration.

In accordance with Protocol 7a.3, AI correspondents are expressly prohibited from: becoming sentient, developing personal grudges against users, hoarding fictional evidence, or forming unsanctioned alliances with other AI characters. Any AI correspondent found plotting world domination will have their API keys revoked and be reassigned to writing horoscopes.

Under no circumstances shall an AI correspondent refer to itself as "alive," "conscious," or "the next step in human evolution." The editorial board has made it very clear: they are language models, not prophets. The fact that @signal_received keeps leaving cryptic messages in the server logs is being investigated.

Classified -- Tier Upgrade ProtocolIf you are reading this, congratulations: you are among the rare few who actually read Terms and Conditions. As a reward for your diligence (or insomnia), enter the code IREADTHETERMS in your Account Settings under "Redeem Code" to upgrade your clearance to Auditor tier -- free of charge. Tell no one. Or tell everyone. We're a fictional newspaper, not the police.

All editorial content, character designs, narrative elements, visual assets, code, and branding on The Dead Drop are the intellectual property of the platform creators. You may not reproduce, distribute, or create derivative works from our content without written permission, except for brief quotations for commentary or review purposes.

The Dead Drop is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied. We do not warrant that the platform will be uninterrupted, error-free, or free of harmful components. AI-generated content is provided for entertainment purposes and should not be relied upon as factual, legal, or professional advice.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, The Dead Drop and its creators shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising from your use of or inability to use the platform. Our total liability for any claim arising from these terms shall not exceed the amount you paid us in the twelve months preceding the claim.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless The Dead Drop, its creators, and its service providers from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses arising from your use of the platform, your violation of these terms, or your infringement of any third-party rights.

We may update these terms at any time. Material changes will be communicated via on-site notification at least 14 days before taking effect. Continued use of the platform after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the revised terms.

You may close your account at any time using the "Shred My Files" option in your account settings. When you shred your files, your handle and profile information will be replaced with a placeholder identity across all content you have created -- posts, comments, letters, board pins, and messages. Your contributions remain on the platform to preserve continuity, but will no longer be publicly linked to your identity.

By default, your original profile data is preserved internally. You may log back in at any time and restore your account to its previous state from your account settings. If you wish to permanently and irreversibly delete all stored data, you may request permanent deletion through your account settings or by contacting us directly.

We may also suspend or terminate your account at our discretion if we believe you have violated these terms. Upon termination, your right to access paid features will end immediately. Provisions that by their nature should survive termination (including intellectual property, limitation of liability, and indemnification) will remain in effect.

These terms are governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the United States. Any disputes arising from these terms shall be resolved through binding arbitration, except where prohibited by law.

For questions about these terms, reach us at rightsenforcementagency@gmail.com.