Terms of Service

By accessing Polity, contributing funds, submitting creative artwork, or casting ballots in community elections, you confirm that you are at least 18 years of age (or the age of legal majority in your jurisdiction) and agree to be legally bound by these Terms and our Privacy Policy. If you do not agree to these Terms, you may not use our services.

Polity facilitates civic participation by coordinating crowdfunding escrows to purchase Digital Out-Of-Home (DOOH) media space on third-party commercial billboard networks. Polity does not operate physical billboard hardware; we coordinate community buying power, democratic curation, and automated programmatic execution with outdoor media partners.

Polity is explicitly architected to prevent plutocratic capture, where wealthy donors override grassroots consensus:

• Democratic Rights Grant: Contributing the verified minimum amount (\$10) to an active campaign grants the verified backer exactly one (1) Voting Right and one (1) Submission Right for that campaign.
• Non-Dilution Guarantee: Donating larger amounts (e.g., \$100, \$500, or \$1,000) accelerates the funding of the billboard treasury and extends the flight duration for subsequent seasons, but will never award additional votes, weighted ballots, or editorial privileges.
• Anti-Sybil Verification: To protect 1-person, 1-voice integrity, Polity uses institutional-grade anti-fraud payment fingerprinting and verified email authentication. Creating multiple accounts or using multiple payment methods to obtain unauthorized extra ballots constitutes a material breach of these Terms and will result in disqualification of all associated ballots.

All financial transactions on Polity follow strict escrow custody principles:

• Minimum Launch Target (MLT): Each campaign specifies an MLT (typically \$5,000) necessary to contract billboard media time. All contributions are held securely in escrow until the MLT is achieved.
• The 100% Refund Guarantee: If a campaign fails to hit its MLT before the 30-day funding deadline expires, the campaign is marked as FAILED, and 100% of each contributor’s media pledge is automatically refunded. Polity absorbs payment processing costs in the event of an unfunded campaign.
• Fee Structure: In addition to your direct media contribution, checkout includes a passthrough payment processing fee (Stripe 2.9% + \$0.30) and an operational platform fee (5% + \$0.50) to fund server infrastructure, algorithmic tallying, and escrow operations.
• Non-Refundability Upon MLT Completion: Once a campaign successfully achieves its MLT and transitions into the creative submission or voting phases, contracts with media partners are initiated. At this point, contributions become irrevocable and non-refundable.

Digital billboards occupy prominent public spaces and are subject to stringent municipal, state, federal, and vendor regulations. By uploading a design proposal, you agree that your creative adheres to the following mandatory standards:

Editorial & Vendor Review: All submissions must pass human moderation and outdoor vendor compliance (such as Blip Billboards or respective display operators) before appearing on community ballots. Polity and billboard operators hold absolute editorial discretion to decline content that violates physical billboard display criteria or applicable advertising laws.

Intellectual Property License: You retain ownership of your original design. However, by submitting artwork to Polity, you grant Polity, its affiliates, and media partners a royalty-free, worldwide, non-exclusive license to display, broadcast, resize, and promote your submission across digital screens, website archives, and media case studies.

Campaign winners are elected through our open-source, deterministic Partial Instant Runoff Voting engine:

• Ranked Preferences: Voters may rank one, several, or all approved candidate designs. If your first choice is eliminated in an early round, your vote automatically transfers to your next available preferred candidate.
• Finality: Once the voting window closes (typically 72 hours), ballots are compiled, consensus is tallied, and the elected design is locked for vendor deployment. All ballot calculations are auditable and reproducible via our public algorithm.

Polity campaigns are designed for ongoing civic impact through Perpetual Seasons:

• Surplus Treasury Rollover: Funds raised above the Minimum Launch Target—or received while a campaign is live on display—are never absorbed as platform profit. Surplus funds roll forward into subsequent Seasons.
• Seasonal Refresh: When a live flight period concludes (typically after 30 days), the campaign enters a Seasonal Refresh. The proposal and voting windows reopen, enabling the community to elect fresh creative responsive to current civic events without needing an entirely new crowdfunding cycle.
• Backer Rights in Later Seasons: Backers who join after the initial crowdfunding period receive their 1 Voting Right and 1 Submission Right for the subsequent Season.

Polity is currently operating in Beta. While we endeavor to maintain high reliability and seamless media flight execution:

• “As-Is” Provision: The platform is provided on an “as-is” and “as-available” basis without warranties of any kind, whether express or implied.
• Third-Party Billboard Networks: Screen availability, electrical outages, weather events, digital hardware malfunctions, or vendor schedule adjustments are outside of Polity’s physical custody. In the event of confirmed billboard downtime, we work with vendors to secure equivalent make-good impressions or extended airtime.
• Limitation of Damages: To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, Polity and its founders shall not be liable for any indirect, incidental, special, consequential, or punitive damages arising out of your participation or use of the platform.

If you have questions regarding these Terms, vendor compliance standards, or platform governance, please contact our team: