Last updated: March 2026 - Enhanced with comprehensive model attributions and licensing information
By accessing, registering for, or using the Phonos web application ("Service"), you ("User") agree to be legally bound by these Terms of Service ("Terms"). If you do not agree to these Terms, you must not access or use the Service. Your continued use of the Service constitutes acceptance of any modifications to these Terms.
1.1 Relationship to Parent Terms: These Terms are supplementary to and shall be read in conjunction with the general Terms of Service of FyreFly Systems available at fyreflysystems.de. In the event of any conflict or inconsistency between these Terms and the general Terms of Service of FyreFly Systems, these Terms shall prevail to the extent of the inconsistency with respect to your use of the Phonos Service.
Phonos is a web application providing computational protein analysis, molecular docking, DNA sequence generation, and structural biology research tools for educational and research purposes. The Service utilizes state-of-the-art third-party machine learning models and artificial intelligence technologies, including ESMFold, AlphaFold2, DiffDock, ProteinMPNN, Metal3D, Boltz2, and Evo2, to deliver its functionality. These models are developed by leading research institutions including Meta AI Research, DeepMind/Google, MIT, University of Washington Baker Lab, EPFL, and MIT CSAIL.
2.1 External AI Services: The Service integrates Google Gemini AI ("Gemini") to provide conversational assistance, project chat functionality, file analysis features, and AI-powered search capabilities. When you use these features by mentioning @gemini, requesting AI assistance, or using the search functionality, your queries, project context, and file content may be transmitted to Google's Gemini API for processing. This is an optional feature that you control through your usage. Google Gemini is subject to Google's Terms of Service and Privacy Policy.
2.2 Infrastructure Services: The Service runs on cloud infrastructure provided by Nebius AI ("Nebius"). Your use of the Service is subject to Nebius' acceptable use policies and service terms. Nebius provides GPU compute resources necessary for running AI/ML models. Nebius may process certain technical data for infrastructure management purposes.
2.3 NVIDIA DGX Cloud (Demo Only): NVIDIA DGX Cloud infrastructure is used exclusively for demonstration and testing purposes. No production user data is processed on NVIDIA DGX Cloud. All production AI/ML workloads run on Nebius AI infrastructure within the European Union.
To access certain features of the Service, you must register for an account. You agree to: (a) provide accurate, current, and complete registration information; (b) maintain and update your information to keep it accurate and current; (c) maintain the security and confidentiality of your login credentials; (d) accept responsibility for all activities that occur under your account; and (e) immediately notify us of any unauthorized use of your account. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate accounts that violate these Terms.
4.1 Working Period: The designated working period for the Service is daily from 05:00 to 23:00 Central European Time (CET/CEST).
4.2 Maintenance Period: The period from 23:00 to 05:00 CET/CEST is designated as a maintenance and non-operational period. During this time, the Service may be unavailable without prior notice, and no uptime guarantees apply.
4.3 Uptime Commitment: During the working period, we commit to a minimum service availability of fifty percent (50%). This means the Service may be unavailable for up to fifty percent (50%) of the working period for maintenance, updates, or technical issues. We do not guarantee uninterrupted access to the Service.
4.4 No Liability for Downtime: We shall not be liable for any damages, losses, or inconvenience arising from Service unavailability, whether during the working period or maintenance period.
5.1 Third-Party Components: The Service incorporates machine learning models, libraries, and technologies developed by third parties. A comprehensive list of all models, their creators, licenses, and required attributions is available on our Licenses & Attributions page. These components are subject to their respective licenses, including but not limited to: Apache License 2.0, MIT License, BSD 3-Clause License, and Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International (CC BY 4.0).
5.2 Specific Models Used: The Service currently integrates the following AI/ML models:
5.3 Academic Citation: If you use outputs from our Service in academic publications or research, you must cite the relevant model papers as specified on our Licenses & Attributions page, in addition to any citation of the Phonos platform. Failure to provide proper academic attribution may constitute a breach of the underlying model licenses.
5.4 Model Restrictions: Your use of the Service is subject to the license terms of all incorporated third-party models. You agree not to: (a) extract, reverse-engineer, or isolate the underlying models; (b) use outputs in violation of third-party license terms; (c) use the Service for purposes prohibited by underlying model licenses; or (d) redistribute model outputs in a manner that violates applicable licenses.
5.5 No Warranty for Third-Party Components: We make no representations or warranties regarding third-party models and technologies. Any issues arising from third-party components are subject to the terms and conditions of the respective third-party providers.
5.6 License Compliance: You acknowledge that you are responsible for ensuring your use of the Service and its outputs complies with all applicable third-party license terms. We reserve the right to modify or discontinue features that rely on third-party components if required by license changes. All models listed are available for both academic and commercial use under their respective permissive licenses.
5.7 Google Gemini AI: The Service integrates Google Gemini AI for optional conversational assistance and file analysis features. Your use of Gemini-powered features is subject to Google's AI/ML Products Terms of Service and Google's Privacy Policy. When you use Gemini features, your input data (queries, project context, file content) is transmitted to Google's servers for processing. Google may use this data in accordance with their terms. We do not control Google's data processing practices. You can find Google's terms at https://policies.google.com/terms and privacy policy at https://policies.google.com/privacy.
6.1 Service Ownership: The Service, including its original content, features, and functionality (excluding third-party components described in Section 5), is owned by Phonos/FyreFly Systems and is protected by international copyright, trademark, and other intellectual property laws.
6.2 Limited License: Subject to these Terms, we grant you a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable, revocable license to access and use the Service for research and educational purposes. Premium and Enterprise plan holders are granted additional rights for commercial use as specified in their plan terms.
6.3 Output Ownership: Subject to third-party license restrictions described in Section 5, you retain ownership of original content you create using the Service. However, we retain rights to aggregated, anonymized data for Service improvement. Model outputs may be subject to the licenses of the underlying AI models (Apache 2.0, MIT, CC BY 4.0), which generally permit commercial use with proper attribution.
6.4 Open Source Acknowledgment: We acknowledge and respect the open-source nature of the models we integrate. For full license details, attributions, and citation requirements, please refer to our Licenses & Attributions page.
7.1 User Responsibility: You are solely responsible for all content you upload, submit, or process through the Service ("User Content"). You represent and warrant that you have all necessary rights to use such content and that it does not violate any third-party rights or applicable laws.
7.2 License Grant: By submitting User Content, you grant us a worldwide, non-exclusive, royalty-free license to use, process, and store such content solely for the purpose of providing and improving the Service.
7.3 Data Retention: We may retain User Content and processed data for the duration necessary to provide the Service. Upon account termination, we may delete your data in accordance with our data retention policies.
You agree not to use the Service to: (a) violate any applicable laws or regulations; (b) infringe upon intellectual property rights of others; (c) transmit malicious code or interfere with Service operations; (d) attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Service or related systems; (e) use the Service for commercial purposes without authorization; (f) process content that is illegal, harmful, threatening, abusive, or otherwise objectionable; (g) impersonate others or misrepresent your affiliation; or (h) use automated systems to access the Service without permission.
9.1 Fees: Certain features of the Service may require payment. All fees are stated in Euros and are non-refundable unless otherwise specified or required by applicable law.
9.2 Subscription: Subscription fees are billed in advance on a recurring basis. You authorize us to charge your payment method for all applicable fees.
9.3 Price Changes: We reserve the right to modify pricing with thirty (30) days' notice. Continued use after price changes constitutes acceptance.
10.1 "As Is" Basis: THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT, OR COURSE OF PERFORMANCE.
10.2 No Accuracy Guarantee: We do not warrant that: (a) the Service will meet your requirements; (b) results obtained will be accurate, reliable, or complete; (c) the Service will be uninterrupted, timely, secure, or error-free; or (d) any errors will be corrected.
10.3 Research Tool: The Service is intended as a research and educational tool. Outputs should not be relied upon as definitive or authoritative without independent verification.
11.1 Exclusion of Damages: TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY APPLICABLE LAW, IN NO EVENT SHALL PHONOS, ITS DIRECTORS, EMPLOYEES, PARTNERS, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, OR AFFILIATES BE LIABLE FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOSS OF PROFITS, DATA, USE, GOODWILL, OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES, RESULTING FROM: (a) YOUR ACCESS TO OR USE OF OR INABILITY TO ACCESS OR USE THE SERVICE; (b) ANY CONDUCT OR CONTENT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE SERVICE; (c) ANY CONTENT OBTAINED FROM THE SERVICE; OR (d) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS, USE, OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR CONTENT.
11.2 Liability Cap: OUR TOTAL LIABILITY TO YOU FOR ALL CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO THESE TERMS OR THE SERVICE SHALL NOT EXCEED THE AMOUNT YOU PAID US IN THE TWELVE (12) MONTHS PRECEDING THE CLAIM, OR ONE HUNDRED EUROS (€100), WHICHEVER IS GREATER.
You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Phonos and its officers, directors, employees, and agents from and against any claims, damages, obligations, losses, liabilities, costs, or debt arising from: (a) your use of the Service; (b) your violation of these Terms; (c) your violation of any third-party right, including intellectual property or privacy rights; or (d) your User Content.
13.1 Termination by Us: We may terminate or suspend your account and access to the Service immediately, without prior notice or liability, for any reason, including breach of these Terms.
13.2 Termination by You: You may terminate your account at any time by contacting us or using the account deletion feature if available.
13.3 Effect of Termination: Upon termination, your right to use the Service will immediately cease. Provisions of these Terms that by their nature should survive termination shall survive, including ownership provisions, warranty disclaimers, indemnification, and limitations of liability.
Your privacy is important to us. Our collection and use of personal information is governed by our Privacy Policy. By using the Service, you consent to the collection and use of information as described therein. We collect and store only the data necessary to provide our services and comply with legal obligations. We do not sell your personal information to third parties.
We reserve the right to modify these Terms at any time. We will provide notice of material changes by posting the updated Terms on the Service and updating the "Last updated" date. Your continued use of the Service after such modifications constitutes acceptance of the updated Terms. It is your responsibility to review these Terms periodically.
16.1 Governing Law: These Terms shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, without regard to its conflict of law provisions.
16.2 Jurisdiction: Any disputes arising out of or relating to these Terms or the Service shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the courts located in Germany.
16.3 EU Consumer Rights: If you are a consumer in the European Union, you may also be entitled to invoke any mandatory provisions of the law of your country of residence, and nothing in these Terms affects your rights as a consumer to rely on such mandatory provisions.
17.1 Entire Agreement: These Terms constitute the entire agreement between you and Phonos regarding the Service and supersede all prior agreements.
17.2 Severability: If any provision of these Terms is held to be invalid or unenforceable, such provision shall be struck and the remaining provisions shall remain in effect.
17.3 Waiver: No waiver of any term shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or any other term.
17.4 Assignment: You may not assign or transfer these Terms without our prior written consent. We may assign these Terms without restriction.
For questions about these Terms of Service, please contact us at: help@fyreflysystems.de
For technical issues and bug reports, use the Report Bug button in the dashboard header after login. Bug reports may include your entered issue details and technical metadata (current URL/view, browser user agent, platform, language, viewport/screen size, timezone, and IP address) for troubleshooting and support purposes.