Next Matter Pro Academy
1Agreement to These Terms
Pabulong is a desktop app made by Next Matter Pro ("we," "us," or "our"). It removes background noise, speaker echo, and nearby voices from your microphone during calls, provides a virtual microphone called Pabulong Mic, and can record calls if you choose. These Terms are an agreement between you and Next Matter Pro. By downloading, installing, or using Pabulong, or by selecting "I Agree" when the app first opens, you agree to them. If you do not agree, do not install or use it.
If you use Pabulong for your work, you confirm that you are allowed to accept these Terms for that use.
2Who Can Use Pabulong
You must be at least 18 years old and able to enter into a binding agreement.
3Open-Source License
Pabulong is free and open source. Next Matter Pro releases its source code under the MIT License, which is included with the app and with its source code at github.com/maespela/pabulong. You may use, copy, modify, and share Pabulong under that license. If these Terms and the MIT License differ about your rights to the software itself, the MIT License applies.
These Terms add the rules for using Pabulong, especially for recording (Section 5) and acceptable use (Section 6). The MIT License does not cover the Pabulong name, logo, or artwork (Section 11).
4Third-Party Components
Pabulong includes open-source components made by others, including the RNNoise noise-suppression library (Xiph.Org Foundation and contributors) and parts of the Rust standard library. Each is used under its own license, and those licenses apply to those components instead of Section 3. You can read their notices in the app under Settings › About › Third-Party Notices. Their authors do not endorse Pabulong.
5Recording Laws Are Your Responsibility
Pabulong can record your calls, including other people's voices. We do not control whether, when, or what you record, and we never see or review your recordings. Whether you record is entirely your decision.
When you use Pabulong to record, you are bound by the recording, privacy, and wiretapping laws that apply where you are and where every other person on the call is. It is your responsibility to know those laws and follow them before you record. For example:
- in the Philippines, the Anti-Wiretapping Law (Republic Act No. 4200) generally prohibits recording a private communication without the authorization of all the parties;
- several U.S. states, including California and Florida, require the consent of everyone on the call, and recording without it can be a crime;
- when people are in different places, the strictest rule that applies may govern the call.
You must also follow your client's or employer's rules, including any confidentiality, attorney-client privilege, or data protection obligations and any instruction not to record, and you are responsible for keeping recordings secure and deleting them when you no longer need them. The consent reminder in the app is a courtesy; it is not legal advice and does not make any recording lawful.
Our liability. To the fullest extent the law allows, Next Matter Pro is not responsible or liable for any recording you make, or for any claim, complaint, fine, penalty, damages, or other consequence arising from it.
Your responsibility to us. To the extent the law allows, you agree to defend and compensate Next Matter Pro, and its owners and staff, for any claim, loss, or expense (including reasonable legal fees) that arises because you recorded someone in breach of the law or of these Terms.
6Acceptable Use
Do not use Pabulong to:
- secretly record, eavesdrop on, or intercept anyone's conversation, or monitor people without their knowledge where the law requires it;
- break any law, or anyone's privacy, confidentiality, or intellectual property rights;
- harass, deceive, or impersonate anyone;
- rely on it where a failure could put someone's safety at risk, such as emergency calls.
7What the App Changes on Your Computer
- Pabulong Mic driver. Installing Pabulong adds a virtual microphone driver, which requires an administrator password. It stays installed until you remove it.
- Default microphone. If Pabulong Mic becomes your computer's default input, the app may switch the default back to a real microphone so your microphone is not kept on all the time.
- Speaker audio. With echo cancellation on, the app listens to what your speakers play while you are on a call, in memory only, to remove it from your microphone.
- Updates. When you install an update, it replaces the app and the Pabulong Mic driver, which requires an administrator password. Sound on your computer stops for a moment while the driver reloads, and the app restarts.
You can remove everything at any time as explained in the Pabulong Privacy Notice.
8How Well It Works
Noise, echo, and voice removal depend on your microphone, speakers, room, and call app. Pabulong reduces these sounds but cannot remove them completely in every situation, and it may sometimes reduce parts of your own voice. Using headphones gives the best results. Check your settings before important calls.
9Updates, Downloads, and Availability
Checking for updates. Pabulong can check vastarterhub.com for a new version. It checks only when you choose "Check for Updates", or once a day if you turn on automatic checks. Automatic checks are off until you agree to them: the app asks the second time you open it, and you can change your choice in Settings at any time. What a check sends is explained in the Pabulong Privacy Notice.
Installing updates. Pabulong never installs an update without you. When a new version is available, the app shows what changed, and you choose whether to install it. Before installing, the app checks that the update is signed with our key and refuses it otherwise. You can also install new versions yourself from our websites. Features may change or be removed. We may stop offering Pabulong at any time. We are not required to provide support, though we will try to help if you contact us.
Download Pabulong only from nextmatterpro.com or vastarterhub.com. We are not responsible for copies obtained elsewhere. Until Pabulong is signed with an Apple Developer ID, your computer may warn you the first time you open it.
10No Legal Advice
Anything in the app or these Terms about recording or consent laws is general information, not legal advice. Laws differ by place and change over time. If you are unsure whether you may record a call, ask a qualified lawyer or your client.
11Our Intellectual Property
The Pabulong name, logo, and artwork belong to Next Matter Pro and are protected by the Intellectual Property Code of the Philippines and other laws. They are not part of the MIT License, and these Terms do not give you any rights to them. You may say that your project is based on Pabulong, but do not use our name or logo for a modified version or in a way that suggests we made or endorse it. If you send us feedback or suggestions, we may use them without any obligation to you.
12Privacy
Pabulong works on your computer and does not send your audio or recordings to us. The only time it connects to the internet is to check for and download updates, as described in Section 9. The Pabulong Privacy Notice explains what it processes, stores, and sends.
13Disclaimers
Pabulong is provided "as is" and "as available." As far as the law allows, we make no promises that it will be uninterrupted, error-free, compatible with every computer, call app, or device, or fit for a particular purpose, and we are not responsible for lost or corrupted recordings. This does not affect your rights under the Consumer Act of the Philippines or other consumer laws that cannot be waived.
14Limitation of Liability
As far as the law allows, we are not liable for indirect or consequential losses, such as lost income, lost clients, lost opportunities, or lost or corrupted data or recordings, arising from your use of Pabulong. Section 5 explains that we are not liable for recordings you make. Our total liability to you for any claim about Pabulong is limited to the amount you paid us for it, if any.
Nothing in these Terms limits our liability for fraud, bad faith, gross negligence, or anything else that cannot be limited under Philippine law, including the Civil Code and the Consumer Act.
15Ending These Terms
You can stop using Pabulong and uninstall it at any time. Sections 4, 5, 10, 11, 13, 14, and 17 continue to apply after you stop using it.
16Changes to These Terms
We may update these Terms. We will post the new version here with a new "Last updated" date. If a change is significant, we will point it out in the release notes of the next version. If you keep using Pabulong after a change, the updated Terms apply.
17Governing Law and Disputes
These Terms are governed by the laws of the Republic of the Philippines. If you have a concern, please contact us first at clientcare@nextmatterpro.com so we can try to resolve it. If we cannot, the dispute will be decided by the proper courts of the Philippines. This does not stop you from filing a complaint with the Department of Trade and Industry, the National Privacy Commission, or any other government agency that handles consumer or privacy complaints, or take away any mandatory protection you have under the law where you live.
18Contact Us
Next Matter Pro
181 Padre Burgos Street
Brgy. Sipi, Daraga, Albay 4501, Philippines
Email: clientcare@nextmatterpro.com