1. Who This Agreement Is Between

In plain terms: This agreement is between us and you, the parent or guardian — not your child. Your child uses the service; you agree to the terms and stay responsible for the account.

1.1 These Terms of Service (“Terms”) form an agreement between MJM Productions, doing business as The Cocoon Collective™ (“we,” “us,” “our”), and the adult parent or legal guardian (“you,” “Account Holder”) who creates and maintains an account for a child under their care (“Child,” “Player”).

The Cocoon Collective™ is a trade name under which MJM Productions operates. It is not a separate legal entity. Your agreement is with MJM Productions.

1.2 No person under 13 may enter into this agreement. A Child does not accept these Terms and holds no contractual relationship with us. The Account Holder accepts on the Child’s behalf and remains responsible for account activity.

1.3 By creating an account you represent that you are the Child’s parent or legal guardian and are legally able to consent on their behalf.

1.4 Trademarks. “The Cocoon Collective™” and cocoon-collective.org are trademarks owned by MJM Productions. Minecraft is a trademark of Mojang AB. The Cocoon Collective™ is not affiliated with, endorsed by, or sponsored by Mojang AB or Microsoft.

2. Who May Use the Service

In plain terms: This is built for children aged 6 to 12. At 13 they age out — not because they stop being welcome, but because the law treats a 13-year-old differently and this service is built specifically for children under that line.

2.1 The Service is designed for children aged 6 to 12 inclusive.

2.2 The thirteenth birthday. A Player who reaches 13 will transition off the Service. We will notify the Account Holder in advance and describe available options. This is a deliberate structural boundary, not a penalty — the Service’s entire architecture assumes every user is a child under 13, and that assumption stops holding at 13.

2.3 One Player per account. Accounts may not be shared, sold, transferred or gifted.

2.4 We may decline to create, or may close, any account at our discretion where we believe a Player is outside the intended age range or the account is not held by a parent or guardian.

3. What We Collect, and What Never Reaches the Game

In plain terms: Your child’s real name, your email and anything else identifying never touch the game server. The game only ever sees a random ID number. You hold the key that connects the two — we don’t hold it in usable form. This is the single most important design decision in the whole platform.

3.1 Separation of identity. Personal information provided at registration will be held at the account layer, encrypted. The game servers will receive only an opaque identifier. We are building the Service so that no real name, email address, postal address, telephone number or payment detail is transmitted to, stored on, or accessible from any game server.

3.2 The parent key. We intend that encryption of the link between account identity and game identifier be controlled by a key held by the Account Holder. This architecture is designed and not yet implemented. We will not represent it as operative until it is.

3.3 Display names. Players are identified in-world by a chosen game handle. Handles must not contain a real name, school name, place of residence, age, telephone number, or any other identifying detail. We may change any handle that does.

3.4 What we never do. We do not sell personal information. We do not share it with advertisers or data brokers. We do not serve advertising to children. We do not market to children. We do not use children’s data to train advertising or recommendation systems. These are absolute and not subject to change without fresh parental consent.

3.5 Your rights. You may request a copy of your Child’s data, request correction, or request deletion at any time. Deletion of the account terminates this agreement.

3.6 A separate Privacy Policy governs collection, use, retention and disclosure in detail and is incorporated by reference.

4. Safety Monitoring and Your Consent

In plain terms: We watch for patterns that suggest a child is being manipulated or targeted. We look at how a conversation moves, not at storing what was said. If something is flagged, you are told. We are asking your permission for this, in plain sight, rather than burying it.

4.1 What we will monitor. We are building the Service so that interactions — chat, voice, movement, trades and proximity — will be subject to automated review for behavioral patterns associated with harm to children, including grooming, coercion, isolation, solicitation of personal information, and attempts to move a Child to another platform.

4.2 Pattern, not transcript. Our design intent is to classify the shape of an interaction rather than retain its content. We will not describe this system as operating until it does.

4.3 Human review. We intend that interactions classified as high concern be reviewed by a person, and that automated systems never terminate an account unaided. 

4.4 Notification. Where we identify a pattern of concern involving your Child, we will notify you. Notification is informational and is not an accusation against your Child.

4.5 Limits. No monitoring system detects all harm. Automated classification produces both false positives and false negatives. This Service is not a substitute for parental supervision, and no provision of these Terms should be read as a warranty that your Child will be safe. We commit to specific practices, not to outcomes.

4.5a Current state. As of the date of these Terms, the monitoring described in this Section is designed but not deployed. We will not describe it as active until it is, and we will notify Account Holders when it becomes active. Until then, Sections 4.1 through 4.3 state intent, not present capability.

4.6 Consent. By creating an account you consent to the monitoring described in this section. If you do not consent, do not create an account. Monitoring is not severable — it is the Service.

5. Communication Rules

In plain terms: Conversations between players stay on our platform. If someone asks your child to talk somewhere else — Discord, text, a game chat, anywhere — that is exactly the moment we most need to know about it. We can only protect what we can see.

5.1 In-platform communication required. Players must conduct player-to-player communication relating to activity on the Service through the Service’s own communication features.

5.2 Off-platform solicitation prohibited. A Player may not request, offer or share contact details for any off-platform channel, including but not limited to social media handles, messaging applications, telephone numbers, email addresses, server addresses, or accounts on other games or services.

5.3 Why this is a term and not a suggestion. Protections that apply here — monitoring, age-appropriate design, parental visibility, our obligations under COPPA — do not follow a conversation off this platform. Moving a child to an unmonitored channel is a recognised precursor to harm, and it is the single most common step in the pattern.

5.4 Voice. We intend to provide voice communication for younger Players who cannot yet type reliably, and it will be subject to the same monitoring as text. Voice is not currently available and a provider has not been selected. We will not enable voice until it can be monitored.

5.5 Video prohibited. The Service does not offer video communication and will not. Players may not use any means to introduce video into the Service.

5.6 Recording and streaming. A Player may not publish, stream, broadcast or distribute Service content that identifies another Player — by handle, voice or gameplay — without that Player’s Account Holder’s consent. We recognise we cannot prevent recording; this term establishes that doing so without consent is a breach and grounds for action.

6. Conduct

In plain terms: Be kind, don’t wreck other people’s things, don’t hurt the animals, don’t cheat, and don’t try to make someone else’s game worse. That last one is the real rule — everything else is a version of it.

6.1 Players must not:

• direct abusive, threatening, demeaning, sexual or hateful communication at any person;
• bully, harass, exclude, intimidate or target another Player;
• damage, take or destroy another Player’s build or property without permission;
• harm any animal in the world. This prohibition is absolute and is enforced by the Service’s design rather than by rule alone;
• cheat, exploit, or use unauthorised software to obtain advantage;
• share or solicit personal information — their own or anyone else’s;
• attempt to move a conversation off the Service (see Section 5);
• impersonate staff, another Player, or any non-player character;
• use any mechanic whose primary purpose is to worsen another Player’s experience.

6.2 The governing principle. Conduct is judged against one question: does this help you, or does it hurt someone else? Clever, unexpected play that advantages the Player doing it is welcome. Play whose purpose is to disadvantage someone else is not. The distinction is obvious to everyone in the room, including the six-year-olds.

6.3 No player-versus-player harm. The Service does not permit Players to damage one another. Every game is structured so that the winning move is care or skill, never harm.

7. When Rules Are Broken

In plain terms: We fix things rather than punish, wherever we can. But if a child is being contacted off-platform, or someone is genuinely dangerous, we escalate quickly and we tell you.

7.1 Restorative first. Our default response is corrective and educational: an in-world intervention, a conversation, a repaired relationship. Most breaches are children learning, and are treated that way.

7.2 Off-platform contact — three stages.

Stage	Response
First	Account Holder notified. Informational. No penalty to the Child.
Second	Formal warning and temporary suspension. Account Holder must acknowledge this Section before reinstatement.
Third	Account terminated.

7.3 Immediate action. We may suspend or terminate immediately, without stages, where we identify sexual content involving a child, solicitation, credible threats, encouragement of self-harm, or conduct we reasonably believe presents a risk of serious harm.

7.4 Reporting to authorities. We will report suspected or apparent attempts to or acts of child sexual exploitation to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and to law enforcement as required by 18 U.S.C. § 2258A. This obligation overrides any expectation of confidentiality in these Terms.

7.5 Adult accounts. Where an adult is found to have obtained access to the Service, or to have contacted a Child through it, we will terminate immediately and permanently and will preserve and refer relevant records.

8. Subscriptions, CoCoin, and Money

In plain terms: You can pay us; your child can’t. A subscription makes things faster, never exclusive — nothing in the game is locked behind money. Nothing that shows achievement can ever be bought.

8.1 Subscriptions will be purchased by the Account Holder. Prices, billing cycle and renewal terms will be disclosed at purchase. Subscriptions are not currently offered.

8.2 Children cannot purchase. No purchase mechanism is or will be exposed to a Player. All spending decisions rest with the Account Holder.

8.3 CoCoin. CoCoin is in-game currency with no monetary value. It cannot be exchanged for money, transferred between accounts for consideration, or redeemed outside the Service. CoCoin is earned through play, and will additionally be creditable by the Account Holder once purchasing is available.

8.4 No pay-to-win, no purchased status. Subscription accelerates progress; it does not gate content. No rank, title, achievement or honour may be purchased with money or with CoCoin. Everything that signals accomplishment is earned through play. This is a permanent commitment.

8.5 Cancellation. You may cancel at any time. Cancellation stops future billing. Accumulated CoCoin and progress remain with the account.

8.6 Refunds. Unused subscription periods are refundable on request within 72 hours of payment. No exceptions. Renewals or cancellations may be made at any time, and freely cancelled at any time.

9. Content and Ownership

In plain terms: What your child builds is theirs in spirit. We need permission to keep it on our servers and show it to other players — that’s all the licence is for. We won’t put your child in an advertisement.

9.1 Players retain such rights as they hold in their builds, writings and creations on the Service.

9.2 You grant us a non-exclusive, royalty-free licence to host, store, reproduce, display and adapt Player content solely for operating the Service.

9.3 Promotional use requires separate consent. We will not use a Child’s creations, handle, voice or likeness in marketing without express, separate, revocable written consent from the Account Holder.

9.4 We may remove content breaching these Terms.

10. Availability

In plain terms: This is a small operation. Things will break, and we’ll be honest when they do.

10.1 The Service is provided as-is. We do not warrant uninterrupted or error-free operation.

10.2 We may modify, suspend or discontinue features. Where a change materially reduces what you have paid for, we will notify you and offer a pro-rata refund.

10.3 If we shut down. Should the Service close, we will give the Account Holder no less than thirty (30) days’ notice, an opportunity to export your Child’s creations, and a pro-rata refund of prepaid subscription.

11. Liability

In plain terms: The lawyers need this section. It doesn’t reduce what we owe your child in practice, and nothing here limits our responsibility for our own serious wrongdoing.

11.1 To the maximum extent permitted by law, our aggregate liability is limited to amounts paid by you in the twelve months preceding the claim.

11.2 Nothing limits liability for gross negligence, wilful misconduct, fraud, or any liability that cannot lawfully be limited — including, where applicable, liability relating to child safety.

11.3 We believe firmly in the right to seek redress for wrongs and violations of law in the jurisdictions in which we operate.  With respect to claims relating to or arising out of these terms of service, our community guidelines or privacy policy, or otherwise relating to our operation of the service, may only be commenced in a court of competent jurisdiction in the State of California, Santa Clara County. In addition, You explicitly consent to the personal jurisdiction of the Courts of the State of California and Federal tribunals located in the State of California. 

12. Changes and Termination

12.1 Material changes will be notified at least thirty (30) days in advance. Changes affecting privacy, monitoring or safety require fresh affirmative consent.

12.1 Assignment. We may assign these Terms, and the account relationship they govern, to a successor entity — including a newly formed company operating the same service — on notice to you. Your rights under these Terms and under our Privacy Policy carry over unchanged. 

12.2 You may terminate your account with us at any time. We may terminate access to the Service any time, for any reason, or for no reason, without penalty. Any termination of a subscriber’s access without cause will receive a refund of any unused advanced subscription fees for months not commenced.

12.3 Sections 3, 4.5, 7.4, 9, 11 and this Section survive termination.

13. Governing Law

This agreement is made in the State of California, in Santa Clara County, and is made under the laws of this State.  Any dispute hereunder shall be governed by the laws of the State of California, and, where applicable, the laws and regulations of the United States of America.  

14. Contact

legal@cocoon-collective.org ~ www.cocoon-collective.org