Academy terms

1. Provider and scope

These terms set out how the wirelab Academy works — an online course service at akademia.wirelab.pl (and wirelab.pl/en/academy). They are the terms of service required by Article 8 of the Polish Act of 18 July 2002 on the provision of electronic services.

Provider: Adrian Wojtyła, wirelab (wirelab.pl), address: Krefeld. Contact: nairda [at] wirelab [dot] pl.

These terms cover free courses only. If paid courses are introduced, the rules for buying them will be described and presented for acceptance before any sale starts — they do not bind you without your consent. The terms are available free of charge at this address before you sign up and at any time afterwards; you can print or save them.

A “consumer” means a natural person using the Academy for purposes not directly related to their business or profession. The consumer provisions also apply to a natural person concluding an agreement directly related to their business, if the agreement is not of a professional nature for them.

2. What the Academy is and how the agreement is made

The Academy offers online courses in electronics and programming: text lessons, code samples, schematics, downloadable materials and, in some courses, video lessons. At present all courses are free. Some lessons marked as “preview” are available without an account.

The agreement for a learner account is concluded for an indefinite period when you create an account (fill in the form and accept these terms). Enrolling in a course gives access to its lessons indefinitely or for the period shown on the course page before enrolment.

The provider may update courses — fix errors, extend and restructure lessons, adapt them to new tool versions — and add new courses. Such changes may not reduce your access to a course you are enrolled in except under section 11.

Points (XP), levels and certificates: studying in the Academy earns you points and levels, and once you complete every lesson of a course you can download a certificate of completion (PDF) with a unique code. It only confirms that you completed an online course — it is not a diploma and grants no professional qualifications. A public verification page for the code shows the course, the date and your first name with the initial of your surname (your full name only if you turn that on in your settings). The provider may revoke a certificate issued as a result of abuse (e.g. getting round the progress rules); certificates are revoked when an account is deleted.

The provider may withdraw a course for an important reason: outdated content that cannot reasonably be fixed, a risk to learners’ safety, a legal requirement or closing the Academy. A withdrawn course takes no new enrolments. If you are enrolled in a course being withdrawn, we will email you at least 30 days before access ends (unless the law or safety requires immediate withdrawal), so you can finish learning and download the materials offered for download.

3. Learner account

• Signing up requires an email address, a password and accepting these terms; a name is optional. You confirm your email address with a link — enrolling is possible once it is confirmed.
• You may create an account on your own if you are at least 16. A person aged 13–15 may use the Academy with the consent of a parent or legal guardian, who reads these terms. A person under 16 may agree to news about new courses only with a parent’s or guardian’s consent. The Academy is not intended for children under 13.
• One person — one account. The account is personal and may not be transferred or shared.
• Keep your password safe: at least 8 characters, not used on other sites, never shared. The provider will never ask for your password. If you think someone knows it, change it in account settings and write to nairda [at] wirelab [dot] pl.
• The Academy account is separate from the forum account and from the client account (the /account portal).

4. Technical requirements and risks

You need a device with internet access, a current version of a common browser (e.g. Chrome, Firefox, Safari, Edge) with JavaScript and strictly necessary cookies (the sign-in session) enabled, and a working email address. Video playback needs a connection fast enough for streaming. Some materials (e.g. project files) may require free software named in the course.

Using the internet carries risks such as malware, account takeover and phishing. Sign in only on the Academy site, keep your software up to date and do not open links from suspicious messages pretending to come from the Academy.

5. Acceptable use

Use the Academy lawfully, in line with these terms and good practice. In particular, you may not:

• share your account or sign-in details with anyone else;
• distribute, publish or resell course materials (including recordings and video excerpts) or download them other than as the service allows — subject to your rights under section 6;
• bypass security measures, scrape content automatically (bots) or disrupt the service;
• provide unlawful content.

6. Course materials and licence

Course materials (videos, texts, schematics, code samples, files) are works protected by copyright; the rights belong to the provider or to persons who have authorised the provider. When you enrol, the provider grants you a free, non-exclusive, non-transferable licence, without the right to sublicense, to use that course’s materials worldwide for your own learning, in the following fields of exploitation:

• viewing and playing the materials in the Academy service — for as long as your access to the course lasts;
• downloading files offered for download in the course, storing, printing and copying them on your own devices for your own use — without time limit, including after your access ends;
• running, modifying and using the code samples and schematics from the course in your own projects, including commercial ones (e.g. in a device or app you build) — without the right to distribute them as training material, as a collection of examples or in any other form that competes with the course.

The licence does not cover publishing, sharing or distributing course materials in any other way. If a specific material (e.g. a code repository) states a different licence (e.g. an open-source one), that licence applies. Nothing in these terms limits what the law allows as permitted use, including the right to quote. You are free to use the knowledge you gain.

7. Working safely with electronics and liability

The courses involve working with electronic circuits. Working with mains voltage, batteries, a soldering iron or a vehicle’s electrical system carries a risk of electric shock, burns, fire and damage to equipment. The courses do not replace safety regulations or required qualifications (e.g. for work on electrical installations). Follow manufacturers’ instructions and safety rules, and work on mains voltage only if you are qualified to do so. Minors should do practical exercises under adult supervision.

The provider takes care to keep the materials accurate and is liable for damage under the general rules of law, including for personal injury and for damage caused by errors in the materials. The provider is not liable for the consequences of acting contrary to the course instructions, safety rules or manufacturers’ instructions.

The provider may temporarily limit access to the Academy for maintenance, updates or outages; it tries to keep interruptions short and announces planned work in advance where possible.

8. Complaints

You can file a complaint about how the Academy works, access to a course, the content of the materials or an account suspension by email to nairda [at] wirelab [dot] pl. Include your account email, a description of the problem and what you expect — this helps us handle it but is not a condition for accepting the complaint.

We will reply by email within 14 days of receiving the complaint. If we do not reply within that time, the complaint is deemed accepted. If we accept a complaint, we will fix the problem without delay (e.g. restore access or correct the material).

9. Right of withdrawal

If you are a consumer, you may withdraw from the agreement within 14 days of concluding it (creating the account) without giving a reason and at no cost. It is enough to send a statement before the deadline, e.g. by email to nairda [at] wirelab [dot] pl (you may, but need not, use the model withdrawal form from Annex 2 to the Polish Consumer Rights Act), or to delete your account in account settings.

After withdrawal the agreement is treated as never concluded: we delete the account and anonymise the data as on account deletion (section 10). Regardless of this period, you can end the agreement at any time (section 10).

10. Deleting the account, suspension and termination

You can end the agreement at any time, without giving a reason, without notice and at no cost — by deleting your account in account settings or by writing to nairda [at] wirelab [dot] pl. After deletion you lose access to courses and your progress; you may keep files you downloaded earlier (section 6). Your data is anonymised as described in the privacy policy.

The provider may suspend the account and end the agreement with immediate effect only if you seriously or persistently breach these terms, namely: sharing your account, distributing course materials contrary to section 6, bypassing security or disrupting the service, or providing unlawful content. Except where immediate suspension is necessary for the security of the service or other people, we will first ask you by email to stop the breach within a set period of at least 7 days.

We will tell you about a suspension and termination by email, giving the reason and circumstances. You can respond in a complaint (section 8); if it turns out to be unjustified, we will restore the account without delay, together with your enrolments and progress.

The provider may end the agreement with 30 days’ notice by email only for an important reason: closing the Academy or ending free courses, a change in the law or an authority’s decision that prevents providing the service, or no account activity for at least 24 months (after a prior email reminder).

11. Changes to these terms

The provider may change these terms only for the following important reasons: a change in the law or a court or authority decision requiring a change; a change in the scope or way the service is provided (including new features or paid courses); the need to keep the service secure or prevent abuse; removing ambiguities or editorial errors.

We will email you at least 14 days before a change takes effect, sending the new terms and a description of the changes. If you do not accept them, you can end the agreement before that date by deleting your account, at no cost. Changes do not affect rights acquired before they take effect and, in particular, do not shorten existing course access. Rules for paid courses do not bind you until you accept them at purchase.

12. Governing law, language and disputes

The agreement is governed by Polish law. If you are a consumer, this choice of law does not deprive you of the protection of the mandatory rules of the country where you normally live. Disputes are settled by the court having jurisdiction under general rules; a consumer may also sue in the courts of their place of residence where the law allows.

These terms are available in Polish and English; the agreement is concluded in the language of the version you accept. Unclear provisions are interpreted in favour of the consumer.

Consumers may use out-of-court complaint and redress procedures, e.g. a permanent consumer arbitration court at a regional Trade Inspection office, mediation, or free help from a municipal or district consumer ombudsman or a consumer organisation in Poland. Consumers from another EU country can contact the European Consumer Centre in their country (ECC-Net). Information is available on the website of the Polish Office of Competition and Consumer Protection (uokik.gov.pl). The provider agrees to out-of-court resolution of disputes with consumers, including before a permanent consumer arbitration court at a regional Trade Inspection office.

13. Personal data

How personal data is processed in the Academy is described in the wirelab privacy policy, section “Academy”. Account data is not payment for the courses: we process it for the purposes described there — running the account, providing courses and security — and use it to tell you about new courses only with your separate, voluntary consent.