gofundnode legal

GoFundNode — Operator Independent Contractor Agreement (HISTORICAL — SUPERSEDED by ADR-046)

⛔ HISTORICAL / SUPERSEDED — NOT THE ACTIVE OPERATOR AGREEMENT. DO NOT RELY ON OR EXECUTE THIS DOCUMENT.

Superseded by ADR-046 (2026-06-03), which is controlling. The active operator relationship is node-resource supply, not contractor labor, and operator payout is fiat through an embedded payout provider (Stripe Connect or equivalent), not USDC / wallet / treasury settlement. The replacement instrument is the Independent Node Resource Supply Agreement (in the approved ADR-046 package; it lands after counsel's pre-GA review). This file does not author or replace it.

Everything below — the "independent contractor" labor framing (§1.2), the arms-length-compute / employer- indicia analysis (§1.3–§1.4), and any USDC / wallet / treasury settlement language — reflects the prior crypto-first posture and is NOT active. The body is preserved unedited (supersede-not-scrub) so the record shows a deliberate, dated course change; it must not be read as the current operator terms.

TEMPLATE — REQUIRES RETAINED COUNSEL REVIEW BEFORE PRODUCTION USE. NOT LEGAL ADVICE.

Effective date: TBD upon counsel sign-off and execution.
Document owner: JuiceVendor Labs inc. (operating the GoFundNode service) (the "Platform", "we", "us").
Counterparty: the natural person registering and operating a master-node Electron application (the "Operator", "you").
Source-of-truth: docs/OPERATOR-ONBOARDING.md, docs/OPERATOR-PAYOUTS.md, docs/CREDIT-SYSTEM.md, docs/architecture/GOFUNDNODE_ADRS.md.

1. Acceptance, capacity, and independence

1.1 Capacity (§14.8). The Operator represents that the Operator is (a) at least 18 years of age (or such higher age of majority as applies in the Operator's jurisdiction of residence) and (b) legally capable of entering into a binding contract under the laws of the Operator's jurisdiction of residence. Minors may not register as Operators. The Platform may at any time request reasonable evidence of capacity and may suspend or terminate the Operator's account if capacity cannot be evidenced.

1.2 Independent contractor (§8.5). The Operator is an independent contractor. This Agreement does not create an employment relationship, agency, partnership, joint venture, or fiduciary relationship between the Operator and the Platform. The Operator is not entitled to any employment benefits, including but not limited to paid leave, unemployment insurance contributions, workers' compensation, health insurance, retirement contributions, or any tax withholding that would apply to an employee.

1.3 Arms-length compute provision. The Operator provides compute capacity to the Platform on an arms-length basis. The Operator:

1.4 No employer-like indicia. The Platform does not, and shall not under this Agreement:

(The architectural basis for §1.3–§1.4 is CLAUDE.md §2 "stateless edge" + §6 "node runtime direction" + §8.5 of the Legal Handoff: the operator runs a long-running supervisor that pulls work it has pre-approved, on hardware the operator chose, at times the operator decided to be available. This is what an arms-length contractor relationship looks like in compute provisioning.)

2. The services

2.1 The Operator runs the master-node Electron application, which (i) authenticates to the Platform's scheduler, (ii) announces availability when running and not otherwise occupied, (iii) receives signed task leases for tenants and task categories the Operator has approved, (iv) executes those leases in a visible Chromium window using a Platform-controlled profile per ADR-009, (v) exports the resulting artifacts, and (vi) tears down local task state.

2.2 The Operator's commitments are to operate the application in good faith, not to attempt to evade the Platform's anti-fraud or settlement-verification mechanisms, and to maintain the security of the Operator's installed application credentials.

2.3 The Platform's commitments are to dispatch only tasks within the Operator's approved tenant/category set, to compensate completed work per §3, and to provide the settlement transparency described at docs/OPERATOR-PAYOUTS.md.

3. Compensation

3.1 Rate-card. The Operator is paid per completed task per the rate card published at docs/CREDIT-SYSTEM.md §5 and the operator-share environment variables defined at docs/CREDIT-SYSTEM.md §8. The compensation formula is:

Operator payout (USD-equivalent) = actualCredits × GFN_CREDIT_USD_VALUE × GFN_OPERATOR_SHARE × reliabilityMultiplier(tier)

3.2 Reliability multiplier. The Operator's reliability tier (A through D, plus F) modifies the share per the schedule below. Tier movements are based on rolling completion-quality metrics defined at docs/MASTER-NODE-LEDGER.md.

TierMultiplierTier movement criteria
A1.10Top-decile completion + zero substantiated incidents in 90 days.
B1.00Baseline.
C0.90Higher-than-baseline failure/refund rate.
D0.75Probationary; persistent quality issues.
F0.00Freeze + clawback. See §4.

3.3 Settlement. Settlement to the Operator's registered USDC wallet on Solana mainnet is processed per docs/OPERATOR-PAYOUTS.md. Minimum payout threshold is 200 credits (USD-equivalent $1.00); the Operator may accrue and claim batched payouts. There is no fiat payout rail.

3.4 No guarantee of work volume. The Platform does not guarantee any minimum volume of dispatched tasks. Dispatch is a function of the dispatch ladder (docs/HANDOFF-NOTES.md §2) and the Operator's approved categories, region, hardware, and reliability tier.

4. F-tier freeze, forfeiture, and clawback

4.1 F-tier criteria. F-tier is reserved for proven fraud, abuse, or violation of operational guardrails that materially harms tenants, applicants, or the Platform. Examples: forged artifact submission, deliberate target manipulation outside the approved task scope, attempted operator profile bleed (ADR-009), or sanctions-screening evasion.

4.2 Procedure. F-tier classification follows: (a) the Platform's good-faith determination based on evidence, (b) freeze of pending unpaid earnings, (c) written notice to the Operator stating the basis and the evidence, (d) a fourteen (14) day appeal window during which the Operator may respond in writing or via the dispute path at docs/legal/terms/DISPUTE_PATH.md, and (e) determination after appeal.

4.3 Forfeiture and clawback. On final F-tier determination after appeal, the Platform may (i) forfeit pending unpaid earnings in proportion to the harm caused (a clawback to remediate the substantiated harm), and (ii) terminate the Operator's account. Forfeited earnings:

4.4 Sanctions freeze (distinct from F-tier). If the Operator is found to be on the OFAC SDN list or in an OFAC comprehensive-sanctions jurisdiction, the Platform freezes the Operator's account and pending earnings. Frozen-sanctions assets are blocked under OFAC rules, not platform-retained, and remain blocked until released by OFAC license or until OFAC delisting. See §11 and ADR-038 (D-3).

5. Tax (§7.1 — load-bearing)

5.1 Operator bears own income tax liability. The Operator is responsible for income tax, self-employment tax, and any social security or analogous contributions in the Operator's jurisdiction of tax residence, applicable to compensation received under this Agreement. The duty to pay these taxes has always belonged to the Operator as an independent contractor; nothing in this Agreement creates, shifts, or augments that duty.

5.2 Platform files statutory information returns. The Platform files statutory information returns where required, including but not limited to U.S. IRS Form 1099-NEC for U.S.-resident Operators whose calendar-year compensation meets or exceeds the reporting threshold ($600 at the time of this template's drafting; subject to change by the IRS). For Operators in other jurisdictions, the Platform files analogous reports as required by the law of the Operator's jurisdiction of tax residence and / or the Platform's jurisdiction of establishment.

5.3 Drafting note (preserved verbatim from §7.1): the construction in §5.1 + §5.2 is intentional. The Platform does not "shift the duty to the Operator via the Terms" — the duty exists at law independent of the Terms. The Platform also does not disclaim its own reporting obligations. This bifurcation is the load-bearing posture: Operator bears its own tax; Platform reports.

5.4 Tax-ID collection at first cashout (D-5). The Operator is not required to provide a tax identification number (TIN, SSN, EIN, VAT-ID, or jurisdictional equivalent) at signup. The Platform collects the tax identification at first cashout (the moment of first payout request meeting the reporting-threshold trigger or, where required by Platform anti-fraud policy, at the first cashout regardless of threshold). Architectural basis: ADR-040 (D-5).

5.5 W-9 / W-8 / equivalents. U.S. Operators provide a W-9 at first cashout; non-U.S. Operators of U.S.-source income provide a W-8BEN or analogous documentation. The Platform may withhold and remit per the form provided.

5.6 Operator indemnity. The Operator indemnifies the Platform against any tax liability or penalty assessed against the Platform that arises from incorrect or incomplete tax information provided by the Operator.

6. Sanctions and prohibited jurisdictions

6.1 Sanctions warranty. The Operator represents and warrants that (a) the Operator is not on the OFAC SDN list, (b) the Operator is not a national or resident of any OFAC comprehensive-sanctions jurisdiction (Cuba, Iran, DPRK, Syria, Crimea / so-called DNR / so-called LNR), (c) the Operator is not subject to comparable sanctions under EU, UK, or UN regimes, and (d) the Operator is not otherwise prohibited by applicable law from receiving compensation under this Agreement.

6.2 Screening (D-3 hard-gate-on-flagged-only). The Platform screens Operator identifying information against the OFAC SDN list and analogous EU/UN sanctions lists at registration and periodically thereafter. The Platform's screening is hard-gating only on flagged hits, not a comprehensive identity-verification regime applied to all Operators. Architectural basis: ADR-038 (D-3).

6.3 Discovery flow. On identification of a sanctions hit, the Platform:

  1. Freezes the Operator's account and pending earnings (block).
  2. Notifies the Operator where notification is permitted under sanctions law.
  3. Holds the frozen assets per §4.4 (OFAC blocking, not Platform retention).
  4. Routes for licensed-counsel review per docs/legal/terms/DISPUTE_PATH.md §3.

6.4 Withholding under sanctions licensed payout. If OFAC issues a specific license permitting the Platform to release frozen assets to the Operator or a designated payee, the Platform processes the release per the license terms.

7. Data and privacy

7.1 Operator data is controller data. The Platform processes the Operator's account contact, wallet address, KYC/tax-ID (when collected per §5.4), and account-side telemetry as a controller per docs/legal/terms/PRIVACY_POLICY.md.

7.2 Applicant PII transits as processor data. Applicant PII transmitted to the Operator's machine for task execution is processed by the Platform as a processor for the originating tenant (e.g., apply.fun) per docs/legal/terms/DPA_TEMPLATE.md. The Operator is a sub-processor by virtue of this Agreement. The Operator agrees to:

7.3 Encryption. Payloads are sealed per the three-layer envelope at ADR-015. The Operator agrees not to attempt to extract envelope keys or to circumvent the seal.

7.4 No personal browsing data. The Platform does not collect the Operator's personal browsing history, cookies, saved passwords, clipboard, or other content not produced by execution of an assigned task.

8. Confidentiality

8.1 The Operator agrees to keep confidential (i) the Platform's HMAC and internal API keys, (ii) the contents of task payloads (whether applicant PII or system metadata), (iii) the Platform's non-public technical documentation made available to the Operator, and (iv) any information the Platform identifies as confidential.

8.2 The Operator's obligation survives termination for three (3) years, except for trade secrets which remain confidential indefinitely under applicable law.

9. Intellectual property

9.1 The master-node Electron application is licensed to the Operator under the terms documented at packages/master-node/ (open-source license terms apply to the application code; the Platform reserves rights in service marks, the GoFundNode name, and platform-side software).

9.2 Task outputs (filled forms, artifacts produced during execution) are not the Operator's intellectual property and are deemed the Customer's property (subject to the Customer's separate relationship with its applicants where applicant content is involved).

10. Limitation of liability

10.1 Neither party is liable to the other for indirect, incidental, consequential, special, exemplary, or punitive damages.

10.2 The Platform's aggregate liability to the Operator under this Agreement is capped at the compensation paid or due to the Operator during the twelve (12) months preceding the claim. Nothing in this §10 limits liability that cannot be excluded under applicable law (e.g., fraud, willful misconduct, or statutory unwaivable rights).

11. Term and termination

11.1 This Agreement commences on the Operator's first successful registration and continues until terminated.

11.2 Either party may terminate at will with no notice.

11.3 The Platform may terminate immediately for breach of §§4, 6, 7, or 8 or for F-tier determination.

11.4 Upon termination:

12. Dispute resolution

12.1 The Operator's dispute path is documented at docs/legal/terms/DISPUTE_PATH.md §3.

12.2 For amounts above EUR 5,000 or where Levels 1 and 2 do not resolve the matter, the parties shall submit to binding arbitration administered by the Arbitration Court of the Estonian Chamber of Commerce and Industry, seat Tallinn, language English, substantive law Estonia.

12.3 Nothing in this §12 prevents either party from seeking injunctive relief in a court of competent jurisdiction to protect IP or confidentiality or to enforce sanctions obligations.

13. Miscellaneous

13.1 Entire agreement. This Agreement, the Privacy Policy, the Dormancy Policy, and the documents incorporated by reference constitute the entire agreement between the parties.

13.2 Amendment. Material amendments require thirty (30) days' notice to the Operator's email of record. Continued operation of the application after the notice period constitutes acceptance.

13.3 Assignment. The Operator may not assign this Agreement.

13.4 Severability. If a provision is held unenforceable, the remainder shall remain in effect.

13.5 Governing law. Estonia, excluding conflict-of-law principles.

13.6 Notices. Notices to the Platform: notices@gofundnode.com (or a successor address published in the Operator documentation). Notices to the Operator: the email of record at operators.contact_email.

14. References

END — TEMPLATE — REQUIRES RETAINED COUNSEL REVIEW BEFORE PRODUCTION USE. NOT LEGAL ADVICE.