TSN Intelligence Subscription Terms

TSN Intelligence Subscription Terms

Version: 1.0

Status: Approved internal production candidate

Effective date: 2 September 2026

Supplier: The Spokesdude Network (Pty) Ltd

Registration number: 2019/071214/07

Business and legal-service address: 342 J11 Road, Imbali Unit J, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, 3219, South Africa

Email: info@thespokesdude.com

Telephone: +27 81 459 4840

Website: https://thespokesdude.com

Implementation status: This text is approved by the TSN internal legal/compliance executive function for implementation as version 1.0. It is not represented as having been reviewed or approved by an external South African attorney. TSN should preserve the exact accepted version and acceptance evidence for every paid member.

1. Scope and acceptance

These Subscription Terms govern access to and use of TSN Intelligence, a subscription business-intelligence service operated by The Spokesdude Network (Pty) Ltd ("The Spokesdude Network", "TSN", "we", "us" or "our").

By selecting a paid TSN Intelligence membership, reviewing the applicable transaction information, affirmatively accepting these Terms and proceeding to payment, the person or organisation subscribing ("Member", "you" or "your") agrees to be bound by these Terms.

These Terms must be read together with TSN's Privacy Policy and any transaction-specific disclosures presented before payment. Mandatory rights under applicable South African law prevail over any conflicting provision of these Terms.

2. About TSN Intelligence

TSN Intelligence is a recurring business-intelligence membership designed primarily for South African small and growing businesses and their decision-makers.

Depending on the applicable membership tier, the service may include:

• TSN SME Intelligence Briefs;
• business, economic, technology and regulatory Signals;
• Intelligence Alerts;
• executive summaries;
• data visualisations;
• opportunity and risk analysis;
• TSN 30-Day SME Action Boards;
• templates, checklists, worksheets and decision tools;
• downloadable premium resources;
• historical Intelligence archives; and
• additional decision-support content introduced by TSN from time to time.

TSN Intelligence is intended to help Members understand developments that may affect business conditions and support better-informed business decisions. It is not a substitute for personalised professional advice.

3. Supplier information

TSN Intelligence is supplied by:

The Spokesdude Network (Pty) Ltd

Registration number: 2019/071214/07

Registered in: Republic of South Africa

Business and legal-service address: 342 J11 Road, Imbali Unit J, Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, 3219, South Africa

Email: info@thespokesdude.com

Telephone: +27 81 459 4840

Website: https://thespokesdude.com

Transaction-specific information, including the selected plan, complete price, billing frequency, payment method, recurring nature of the payment and applicable Terms version, must be displayed before payment is submitted.

4. Membership categories

4.1 TSN Briefing

TSN Briefing is the free membership level. It may include selected public or free-member Signals, previews, charts, summaries and other content selected by TSN.

Free membership does not include unrestricted access to premium TSN Intelligence content.

4.2 TSN Intelligence Founding Membership

The initial paid offer is the TSN Intelligence Founding Membership, available to a maximum of the first 100 successfully paid qualifying Members.

The launch prices are:

• Monthly Founding Membership: R199 per month
• Annual Founding Membership: R1,990 per year

The applicable price and billing frequency will be shown before checkout.

A Founding Member place is allocated only after TSN receives and verifies successful payment through its approved payment process. Creating an account, starting checkout, or submitting an unsuccessful payment does not reserve a Founding Member place.

5. Founding Member price protection

A Member who successfully joins under the Founding Membership offer receives the applicable Founding Membership price for the first 12 months of continuous paid membership, calculated from the membership activation date.

Price protection applies only while that paid membership remains continuous and in good standing.

If the membership is cancelled, expires or otherwise terminates and the Member later subscribes again, the then-current membership price may apply.

The 12-month protection period is not a promise that the R199 monthly or R1,990 annual price will continue indefinitely.

Any change to a Member's price after the protection period will be communicated in accordance with applicable law and the applicable subscription arrangement.

6. Payment provider

TSN currently uses Payfast to process TSN Intelligence subscription payments.

Payment processing may also be subject to Payfast's applicable terms, privacy practices and payment-security controls.

TSN does not require or intend to store complete payment-card details on its own systems.

TSN may change payment providers in future, provided that doing so does not unlawfully deprive Members of accrued contractual or statutory rights.

7. Recurring billing

TSN Intelligence Founding Membership is a recurring subscription.

By selecting a paid membership and authorising payment, you authorise the payment provider to process recurring charges according to the billing interval you selected.

Monthly plan

The applicable monthly fee is charged on the recurring monthly cycle unless the subscription is cancelled, suspended, terminated or otherwise changed in accordance with these Terms and applicable law.

Annual plan

The applicable annual fee is charged on the recurring annual cycle unless the subscription is cancelled, suspended, terminated or otherwise changed in accordance with these Terms and applicable law.

Before payment, checkout must clearly display the selected plan, total subscription price, billing frequency and recurring nature of the transaction.

8. Subscription activation

Creating a TSN Intelligence account does not by itself create paid membership.

Premium entitlement becomes active only after TSN receives and successfully verifies the relevant payment confirmation from the payment provider.

A browser return page, screenshot, proof-of-payment message or unverified payment notification does not by itself create premium entitlement.

If payment cannot be verified, the account remains at the applicable free or non-premium access level until the payment issue is resolved.

9. Automatic renewal

Unless cancelled or otherwise terminated in accordance with these Terms, a paid recurring subscription may renew automatically according to its selected billing cycle.

Where applicable law requires advance renewal notices, disclosures or other renewal steps, TSN will provide them as required.

Nothing in these Terms removes a mandatory renewal or cancellation right afforded by applicable South African law.

10. Cancellation

A Member may request cancellation through the available account functionality or another cancellation channel made available by TSN.

For a monthly membership, cancellation ordinarily prevents the next recurring charge, subject to the timing of the request and payment-provider processing.

Unless applicable law requires otherwise, where a current paid period has already been successfully paid, access may remain available until the end of that paid period.

For annual or other fixed-period arrangements, statutory cancellation rights may apply differently depending on the Member's legal status and whether relevant consumer-protection provisions apply to the transaction.

Mandatory statutory rights prevail over conflicting contractual wording.

11. Cooling-off and statutory rights

Nothing in these Terms is intended to waive or restrict a cooling-off, cancellation, refund or other right that cannot lawfully be excluded.

Electronic transactions may be subject to rights and exceptions under the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, the Consumer Protection Act and other applicable South African law.

The existence and extent of a cooling-off right may depend on the type of transaction, the Member, how the transaction was initiated and whether supply of the service has begun.

Where TSN requests consent for immediate access to digital services or content, that consent must be presented clearly and handled in accordance with applicable law.

12. Refunds

Refund requests will be assessed in accordance with applicable South African law, the circumstances of the transaction, the subscription period purchased, the extent to which the service has already been supplied, payment-processing status and any mandatory right applicable to the Member.

Nothing in these Terms limits a right to a refund where one is required by law.

Subject to applicable law, TSN is not required to refund a valid paid subscription merely because a Member did not read or use available Intelligence content during the paid access period.

13. Failed, reversed or declined payments

If a payment fails, is declined, reversed or cannot be verified, TSN may, as appropriate:

• retry or permit retry of the payment;
• notify the Member;
• restrict or suspend premium access;
• place the subscription into a failed, past-due or similar state; or
• return the account to the free membership level.

Premium access may be restored after a later successful verified payment where appropriate.

14. Access rights

Paid membership provides a limited right to access the premium TSN Intelligence materials included in the applicable subscription while the Member's entitlement remains valid.

Membership does not transfer ownership of TSN Intelligence, its research, methodology, databases, data models, written analysis, reports, graphics, software, templates or other intellectual property.

Content availability may change as TSN adds, updates, corrects or retires material.

15. Member licence

Subject to these Terms, TSN grants the Member a limited, non-exclusive, non-transferable and revocable licence to access and use TSN Intelligence for legitimate personal or internal business purposes.

Where a subscription is purchased by or for an organisation, access is limited to the authorised user or users associated with the applicable plan unless TSN expressly provides a multi-user or enterprise licence.

16. Prohibited use

Unless TSN gives prior written permission, a Member may not:

• resell TSN Intelligence;
• republish substantial premium content publicly;
• redistribute paid reports as a separate commercial product;
• reproduce the premium archive in bulk;
• routinely share individual login credentials with unauthorised users;
• circumvent or attempt to circumvent paywalls or access controls;
• systematically scrape or harvest premium content;
• use automated means to reproduce substantial portions of the Intelligence database;
• remove copyright or attribution notices;
• falsely present TSN research as the Member's own work;
• use unauthorised copies of TSN content to construct a competing commercial intelligence product; or
• use the service for unlawful purposes.

Reasonable internal discussion and limited internal sharing within the purchasing organisation are permitted where consistent with the applicable membership licence and confidentiality obligations.

17. Account security and sharing

Members are responsible for taking reasonable steps to keep account credentials secure.

A Member should notify TSN promptly if the Member reasonably believes the account has been compromised.

TSN may reasonably investigate unusual account use indicating credential sharing, automated extraction or unauthorised access.

Any suspension for suspected abuse must be exercised reasonably and subject to applicable law.

18. Sources, evidence and methodology

TSN Intelligence may use information from official government publications, regulators, statistical agencies, recognised research institutions, industry bodies, reputable business publications, company disclosures and other sources considered relevant.

Where appropriate, TSN identifies or references material sources.

TSN aims to distinguish between:

1. facts and evidence;

2. TSN analysis and interpretation; and

3. recommendations or matters for consideration.

A cited third party does not necessarily endorse TSN's interpretation.

19. Corrections and updates

Business and economic information changes over time. TSN may update published Intelligence when new data becomes available, an earlier figure is revised, a factual error is identified, circumstances materially change or clarification is appropriate.

Where a material factual error is identified, TSN aims to correct it transparently.

Published and last-updated dates, and correction notices where relevant, may be displayed.

20. No guarantee of outcomes

TSN Intelligence deals with conditions that may be uncertain, evolving or affected by events beyond TSN's control.

Statements concerning risks, opportunities, scenarios, forecasts, trends or possible future developments are not guarantees that a particular event or commercial outcome will occur.

Historical information and past trends do not guarantee future results.

21. Not personalised professional advice

Unless TSN expressly enters into a separate professional-services agreement, TSN Intelligence provides general business intelligence and decision-support information and does not constitute personalised:

• legal advice;
• tax advice;
• accounting advice;
• investment advice;
• financial-planning advice;
• credit advice;
• employment-law advice; or
• other regulated professional advice.

A Member should obtain appropriately qualified professional advice where a decision requires advice specific to the Member's circumstances.

22. Member responsibility for decisions

TSN supplies information to support decision-making. Members remain responsible for their commercial decisions, due diligence, financial position, regulatory obligations and assessment of whether a suggested action is appropriate for their organisation.

TSN does not become a director, fiduciary, investment manager or business manager merely because a Member uses TSN Intelligence.

23. Separate TSN professional services

TSN Intelligence membership is separate from TSN's custom data, analytics, consulting and other professional services.

A standard paid Intelligence membership does not include:

• custom dashboards;
• bespoke data analysis;
• company-specific research;
• personal consulting sessions;
• unlimited analyst access; or
• work on a Member's private datasets.

Such services may be purchased separately under a separate scope, quotation or service agreement.

24. Intellectual property

All intellectual-property rights in original TSN Intelligence material remain the property of The Spokesdude Network (Pty) Ltd or the applicable rights holder.

This may include original written analysis, editorial frameworks, the TSN Intelligence Method, original charts and graphics, structured Intelligence records, databases, software, reports, templates, Action Boards, brand assets and original compilations.

Third-party information remains subject to the rights of its respective owners.

Membership fees purchase access and permitted usage rights, not ownership of TSN intellectual property.

25. Availability and service interruption

TSN aims to make TSN Intelligence reasonably available but does not guarantee uninterrupted access at every moment.

Temporary interruption may occur because of maintenance, hosting or network failures, payment-provider issues, database failures, security incidents, third-party service failures or events outside TSN's reasonable control.

TSN will take reasonable steps appropriate to the nature of the service to restore availability.

26. Changes to the product

TSN Intelligence will evolve. TSN may add, modify or discontinue individual reports, categories, features, templates, interfaces or delivery methods.

TSN will not use this provision to avoid a material obligation already paid for where doing so would violate applicable law.

Material changes affecting subscription price or fundamental membership rights will be communicated as required by applicable law and these Terms.

27. Suspension or termination by TSN

TSN may suspend or terminate access where reasonably justified, including where:

• payment remains unsuccessful;
• a Member materially breaches these Terms;
• account sharing or unauthorised redistribution occurs;
• fraud or unlawful activity is reasonably suspected;
• continued access creates a material security risk; or
• TSN is required to act by law.

Where appropriate and legally required, TSN will give reasonable notice and an opportunity to remedy a breach before termination.

28. Liability

TSN will exercise reasonable care in producing and operating TSN Intelligence.

However, business intelligence necessarily involves interpretation, external information and changing conditions.

To the maximum extent permitted by applicable law, TSN is not responsible for indirect or consequential commercial loss arising solely because a Member chose to act or not act on general Intelligence content without assessing the Member's own circumstances.

Nothing in these Terms excludes or limits liability where exclusion or limitation is prohibited by South African law, and nothing in these Terms waives non-excludable consumer rights.

29. Personal information and privacy

TSN processes personal information associated with Intelligence membership in accordance with its Privacy Policy and applicable data-protection law.

This may include information reasonably required for authentication, membership administration, payment/subscription records, security, service communications, content delivery, lawful analytics, support and compliance.

Payment providers and other authorised service providers may process information necessary to provide their respective services.

Optional marketing communication preferences should be managed separately from communications necessary to operate the account or subscription.

30. Service and membership communications

TSN may send communications reasonably necessary to administer the account or subscription, including authentication messages, payment confirmations, failed-payment notices, renewal or cancellation messages, security notices and material service communications.

Operational communications are distinct from optional marketing communications.

31. Electronic agreement and transaction records

The subscription may be concluded electronically.

TSN may retain electronic records of the transaction and acceptance, including:

• Member/user identifier;
• subscription or checkout reference;
• membership plan;
• price and billing interval;
• Terms title and version;
• Terms content fingerprint or immutable version reference;
• Terms effective date;
• acceptance timestamp; and
• related payment and transaction records.

Electronic contracting remains subject to applicable South African law.

32. Terms versioning

Each production version of the TSN Intelligence Subscription Terms must have a unique version number, effective date and reproducible record of the exact wording applicable to that version.

An approved or previously accepted version must not be silently edited in place.

TSN must preserve the Terms version accepted by each paid Member.

Where a material change requires notice or renewed acceptance under applicable law, TSN will implement the required process.

33. Transaction record access

TSN will retain transaction and acceptance records in accordance with applicable law and its retention practices.

Members may request a copy of the applicable accepted Terms and material subscription transaction information by contacting info@thespokesdude.com.

Where the platform provides downloadable or account-based access to such records, TSN may make them available through that functionality.

34. Complaints and support

Questions, complaints, cancellation requests or subscription-support requests may be directed to:

The Spokesdude Network (Pty) Ltd

342 J11 Road, Imbali Unit J

Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, 3219

South Africa

Email: info@thespokesdude.com

Telephone: +27 81 459 4840

Website: https://thespokesdude.com

Nothing in this complaints process prevents a Member from approaching a competent regulator, tribunal, ombud or court where entitled to do so.

35. Governing law

These Terms and the TSN Intelligence subscription relationship are governed by the laws of the Republic of South Africa, subject to any mandatory rights or jurisdiction applicable to the Member.

36. General provisions

If a provision of these Terms is found invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions continue to operate to the extent permitted by law.

A failure by TSN to immediately enforce a contractual right does not automatically constitute a permanent waiver of that right.

Headings are for convenience and do not alter the meaning of these Terms.

Where these Terms conflict with a mandatory provision of applicable law, the mandatory law prevails.

37. Required checkout acknowledgement

Before payment submission, the checkout must display an unticked acknowledgement substantially in this form:

I have read and agree to the TSN Intelligence Subscription Terms v1.0 and acknowledge that my selected membership is a recurring subscription charged monthly or annually until cancelled or otherwise terminated in accordance with the Subscription Terms and applicable law.

The checkout must also display, before submission:

• selected membership plan;
• full price;
• billing frequency;
• recurring nature of the subscription;
• applicable Terms version; and
• a conspicuous link to the exact TSN Intelligence Subscription Terms being accepted.

The acknowledgement must never be preselected on behalf of the Member.