Last updated: 13 November 2026
These Terms and Conditions (the “Terms”) govern your use of thedark.ai (the “site”) and The Dark Side newsletter. The site is a personal publication run by Alexios Dionysios Diakogiannis (“I”, “me”, “my”). By using the site, subscribing to the newsletter or posting a comment, you agree to these Terms. If you do not agree, please do not use the site.
1. About the site
The Dark Side publishes articles, newsletter issues and videos about software architecture, artificial intelligence and security. The site and the newsletter are free. There are no paid accounts, subscriptions or products.
2. Who can use the site
Anyone can read the site. To subscribe to the newsletter or post comments, you must be at least 16 years old.
3. Intellectual property
Unless stated otherwise, all content on the site and in the newsletter, including text, images, diagrams, slides, videos, the name “The Dark Side” and the logo, belongs to me or is used with permission. All rights are reserved.
You may:
- read, download and print content for your own personal, non-commercial use,
- share links to any page or newsletter issue, and
- quote short parts of an article, as long as you name the author and link to the original page.
You may not, without my written permission:
- copy or republish full articles or large parts of them, on another website, in a newsletter, in a course or in any other format,
- use the content for commercial purposes,
- remove copyright notices or present the content as your own, or
- use the content, in bulk or through automated means, to train, fine tune or build datasets for artificial intelligence or machine learning systems.
For permission requests, write to [email protected].
4. Code samples
Code snippets and examples published on the site or in the newsletter are provided under the MIT License, unless a different licence is stated next to the code. You may use, copy, modify and distribute them, including in commercial projects. Code is provided “as is”, without warranty of any kind. Test it properly before you use it in production.
This licence covers the code only, not the surrounding article text.
5. Comments and other content you submit
When you post a comment or send me a message, you remain the owner of what you wrote. By posting a comment, you give me a free, worldwide, non-exclusive licence to publish, display, store and moderate it on the site, for as long as it stays online.
You are responsible for what you post. You confirm that your comment does not break the law or the rights of others. All comments are moderated, and I may refuse, edit for formatting, or remove any comment at my discretion. The full rules are in the Comments Policy.
6. Acceptable use
When you use the site, you agree not to:
- break any applicable law,
- try to gain unauthorised access to the site, the server or any related system,
- scan, probe or test the site for vulnerabilities without my written permission,
- overload the site, send automated requests at a high rate, or try to get around Cloudflare or other security measures,
- scrape or copy the site with bots, crawlers or similar tools, except standard search engine indexing and RSS readers,
- upload or link to malware, phishing pages or other harmful material, or
- use the site or the newsletter to send spam or advertising.
If you find a security issue on the site, please report it responsibly to [email protected] and give me reasonable time to fix it before you make it public.
7. Newsletter
You can subscribe to the newsletter for free and unsubscribe at any time with the link in every email. I may change how often the newsletter is sent, change its format or stop it at any time. How I handle subscriber data is explained in the Privacy Policy.
8. No professional advice
The content on the site is for general information and education. It is not professional, legal, security or financial advice, and it reflects my personal views, not those of any employer or organisation I am connected with. See the Disclaimer for details.
9. External links and embedded content
The site links to other websites and embeds content from third parties, such as YouTube videos. I do not control these services and I am not responsible for their content, availability or privacy practices. Their own terms apply when you use them.
10. Availability and changes to the site
I run the site in my free time. I try to keep it online and accurate, but I do not promise that it will always be available, free of errors or free of security issues. I may change, update, move or remove any content, or close the site, at any time and without notice.
11. Liability
The site and the newsletter are provided free of charge and “as is”. To the extent permitted by law, I am not liable for any loss or damage that results from using the site, the newsletter or any code or information published on them, including loss of data, profit or business.
Nothing in these Terms limits or excludes my liability for damage caused intentionally or through gross negligence, for injury to life, body or health, or any other liability that cannot be limited or excluded under applicable law, including Article 332 of the Greek Civil Code.
12. Copyright complaints
If you believe that content on the site infringes your copyright, please follow the procedure in the DMCA and Copyright Policy.
13. Privacy
How I collect and use personal data is described in the Privacy Policy and the Cookie Policy.
14. Changes to these Terms
I may update these Terms from time to time. The date at the top shows the latest version. If you continue to use the site after a change, you accept the updated Terms. Important changes that affect newsletter subscribers will be announced in the newsletter.
15. Governing law and courts
These Terms are governed by the laws of Greece. The courts of Athens, Greece, have jurisdiction over any dispute arising from these Terms or the use of the site.
If you are a consumer living in the European Union, you keep the protection of the mandatory laws of the country where you live, and you may also bring a claim in the courts of that country.
16. Other terms
If any part of these Terms is found invalid or unenforceable, the rest stays in force. If I do not enforce a right under these Terms, this does not mean I give up that right. These Terms, together with the policies linked in them, are the full agreement between you and me about the use of the site.
17. Contact
For any question about these Terms, write to [email protected].