Terms of Participation

Draft for legal review — not yet reviewed by legal counsel.

These terms apply to anyone who uses itpunks.com or takes part in the ITpunks programme run by Technology LT (Vilnius, Lithuania): talent participants, company contacts, and mentors. By submitting a form on the website or joining a project, you agree to the terms below that apply to your role.

If you are a company or mentor entering into a specific project, the written project agreement or mentor agreement takes priority over these general terms wherever the two conflict.

1. Definitions

• "ITpunks" means the programme and website operated by Technology LT at itpunks.com.
• "Participant" or "talent" means a person who applies to and takes part in the programme.
• "Company" means an organisation that submits a challenge or sponsors a project.
• "Mentor" means a person who guides a project team or leads a guest session.
• "Challenge" means a problem a company submits for a possible project.
• "Project" means a scoped piece of work run by a participant team, based on an approved challenge.
• "Cohort" means a group of projects and participants running on the same schedule.
• "Project agreement" means the separate written agreement for a specific project referred to throughout these terms.

2. Using the website

The website and its content (text, design, code, brand) belong to Technology LT or its licensors unless stated otherwise. You may browse it and apply through it for personal, non-commercial purposes. You may not scrape, copy, resell or misuse the site, submit false information, attempt to bypass our anti-abuse controls, or use the site to harm others. We may suspend access for anyone who does.

We provide the website "as is" and do not guarantee it will always be available, error-free or uninterrupted.

3. Terms for talent participants

3.1 What ITpunks is

ITpunks connects you with real projects from real companies, run in teams with mentor support. It is a learning programme, not a job offer. A typical cohort project runs about ten weeks with a team of four, though the length and team size of a specific project can vary.

3.2 Cost

Participation is free. We do not charge fees, and we do not use income-share agreements or any arrangement that requires you to repay us out of future earnings.

3.3 Nature of the work

Unless a separate written agreement says otherwise, projects are unpaid learning projects: you are not an employee, worker or contractor of Technology LT or of the sponsoring company, and no wage or minimum-wage entitlement arises from participation itself. Many participants use a project as their university practice/internship period. If a company wants you to keep working for them after a project, that must be a separate paid arrangement, agreed directly between you and the company.

3.4 Intellectual property

Unless your project's agreement says otherwise, work you help create on a company-sponsored project is assigned to that company under the project agreement. You keep the right to describe your work and show a sanitised, non-confidential version in your personal portfolio, CV or interviews, even after the project ends.

[LEGAL REVIEW: confirm the IP assignment wording is enforceable for participants who may be minors, and whether a licence-back to the participant, rather than full assignment, would better balance participant and sponsor interests.]

3.5 Confidentiality

Where a project involves confidential company information, you must keep it confidential during and after the project, under the NDA or confidentiality terms given to you before starting.

3.6 Conduct

You are expected to represent your own work honestly (including being transparent about your use of AI tools when asked), treat teammates, mentors and company contacts respectfully, show up for the availability you committed to, and not misrepresent your identity, age or qualifications.

3.7 No guarantee of outcomes

We do not guarantee you a place, a project, any particular evaluation, an internship, a job offer, or employment with any company. Being matched to a project, an honest evaluation and a record of your contributions are the outcomes we work to provide.

3.8 Ending participation

You may withdraw at any time by telling us. We may remove a participant for breach of these terms, misconduct, prolonged unavailability, or if a sponsoring company withdraws a project.

3.9 If you are under 18

See our Privacy Notice for how guardian consent works. Additional rules on working hours and safeguarding may apply and are confirmed with you and your guardian before a project starts.

[LEGAL REVIEW: the classification of unpaid project work for minors and adults (internship regulation, employment classification, working-time rules) needs confirmation before any cohort involving minors runs.]

4. Terms for companies

4.1 Submitting a challenge

Submitting a challenge does not guarantee it will run. We review every challenge for learning value, scope, confidentiality and feasibility, and may ask for changes, decline it, or suggest a different format.

4.2 Not outsourcing

ITpunks projects are learning projects, not a substitute for hired staff, freelancers or agencies. Participants are not your employees or contractors, must not be directed as such, and must not be billed by the hour or treated as a delivery guarantee.

4.3 No warranty on deliverables

Project outputs (prototypes, reports, code, designs) are produced by people who are learning, for a learning purpose. They are provided "as is", without any warranty of fitness for a particular purpose, production-readiness or merchantability, and without a service-level agreement.

4.4 Project agreement

Before a project starts, we agree a short written project agreement covering scope, your commitment (typically a senior contact for a few hours a week), intellectual property, confidentiality and any financial contribution. These general terms alone do not create a project — the project agreement does.

4.5 Confidential and personal data

If your challenge involves confidential information, systems access or personal data, tell us before submission so we can put the right confidentiality or data-processing terms in place.

4.6 Hiring participants

You may offer employment, an internship or a contract to a participant you meet through ITpunks. This is agreed directly between you and the participant; Technology LT is not a party to that employment relationship.

[LEGAL REVIEW: confirm whether a recruitment/placement fee should apply when a company hires a participant, and add it here if so.]

5. Terms for mentors

5.1 Nature of the role

Guest sessions and project mentoring are voluntary unless a separate written agreement says otherwise — for example, a mentor whose company sponsors the project and provides mentoring as part of its commitment.

5.2 Confidentiality

You must keep confidential anything you learn about a company's challenge or a participant's personal situation, beyond what is needed to mentor effectively.

5.3 Honest evaluation

Evaluations you sign must reflect your honest professional judgement of the participant's work, not a favour to the participant or the company.

6. Liability

To the extent permitted by law, Technology LT is not liable for indirect, incidental or consequential loss arising from your use of the website or participation in the programme, including loss of profit, data or business opportunity. Nothing in these terms excludes liability that cannot be excluded under Lithuanian or EU law, such as liability for death, personal injury or fraud.

[LEGAL REVIEW: confirm the liability limitation is properly scoped and enforceable against company and mentor counterparties, and whether a liability cap should be added in project agreements.]

7. Governing law and disputes

These terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of Lithuania. Disputes that cannot be resolved informally are submitted to the courts of Kaunas, Lithuania.

[LEGAL REVIEW: confirm jurisdiction and venue, especially for non-Lithuanian companies, participants or mentors, and whether a prior alternative dispute-resolution step should be added.]

8. General provisions

If any part of these terms is found unenforceable, the rest continues to apply. These terms, together with any project agreement or mentor agreement you sign, are the entire agreement between you and Technology LT on the subject; anything discussed elsewhere (email, calls, social media) is not part of it unless confirmed in writing. If we do not act on a breach of these terms straight away, that does not mean we give up the right to act on it later.

These terms are published in both English and Lithuanian.

[LEGAL REVIEW: confirm which language version prevails in case of conflict between the two.]

9. Changes to these terms

We may update these terms as the programme evolves. We will post the updated version here with a new date; continued use of the website or participation after that means you accept the changes. Material changes affecting an active project will also be communicated to you directly.

10. Contact

Questions about these terms: info@itpunks.com.