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Upon signing up for HostingTec's services, all customers agree to comply with HostingTec's Terms of Use. The spirit of this policy is to ensure our customers are using HostingTec's services with due regard to the rights of other Internet users and in conformity with the requirements of HostingTec's network environment. From time to time HostingTec Managed Hosting may impose reasonable rules and regulations regarding the use of its services. Such rules and regulations are called Acceptable Use Policies (AUPs). The AUPs are not exhaustive and HostingTec reserves the right to modify the AUPs at any time, effective upon either the posting of the modified AUPs or notification of the modified AUPs. Any violation of the AUPs may result in the suspension or termination of your account or such other action as HostingTec deems appropriate. An unlisted activity may also be a violation of the AUPs if it is illegal, irresponsible, or disruptive use of the Internet. No credits will be issued for any interruption in service resulting from policy violations.

VIOLATION OF ANY AUP IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND MAY RESULT IN THE IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF THE SERVICES YOU RECEIVE FROM HostingTec. YOU SHALL REMAIN SOLELY LIABLE AND RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES AND ANY AND ALL CONTENT THAT YOU DISPLAY, UPLOAD, DOWNLOAD OR TRANSMIT THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICES. "CONTENT" INCLUDES, WITHOUT LIMITATION, YOUR E-MAIL, WEB PAGES, PERSONAL HOME PAGES, AND DOMAIN NAMES. IT IS HostingTec's POLICY TO TERMINATE REPEAT INFRINGERS. HostingTec RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO ANYONE AT ANY TIME.

Customer Security Responsibilities

The customer is solely responsible for any breaches of security affecting servers under customer control. If a customer's server is involved in an attack on another server or system, it will be shut down and an immediate investigation will be launched to determine the cause/source of the attack. In such event, the customer is responsible for the cost to rectify any damage done to the customer's server and any other requirement affected by the security breach. The labor used to rectify any such damage is categorized as emergency security breach recovery and is currently charged at $350 USD per hour.

System And Network Security

Violations of system or network security are prohibited, and may result in criminal and civil liability. HostingTec may investigate incidents involving such violations and may involve and will cooperate with law enforcement if a criminal violation is suspected. Examples of system or network security violations include, without limitation, the following:

• Unauthorized access to or use of data, systems or networks, including any attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without express authorization of the owner of the system or network.
• Unauthorized monitoring of data or traffic on any network or system without express authorization of the owner of the system or network.
• Interference with service to any user, host or network including, without limitation, mailbombing, flooding, deliberate attempts to overload a system and broadcast attacks.
• Forging of any TCP-IP packet header or any part of the header information in an e-mail or a newsgroup posting.

Violators of the policy are responsible, without limitations, for the cost of labor to clean up and correct any damage done to the operation of the network and business operations supported by the network, and to respond to complaints incurred by HostingTec. Such labor is categorized as emergency security breach recovery and is currently charged at $350 USD per hour required. HostingTec is concerned with the privacy of online communications and web sites. In general, the Internet is neither more nor less secure than other means of communication, including mail, facsimile, and voice telephone service, all of which can be intercepted and otherwise compromised. As a matter of prudence, however, HostingTec urges its customers to assume that all of their online communications are insecure. HostingTec cannot take responsibility for the security of information transmitted over HostingTec's facilities.

Password Protection

The customer is responsible for protecting customer's password and for any authorized or unauthorized use made of customer's password. The customer will not use or permit anyone to use HostingTec's service to guess passwords or to access other systems or networks without authorization. HostingTec will fully cooperate with law enforcement authorities in the detection and prosecution of illegal activity.

Internet Etiquette

The customer is expected to be familiar with and to practice good Internet etiquette (Netiquette). The customer will comply with the rules appropriate to any network to which HostingTec may provide access. The customer should not post, transmit, or permit Internet access to information the customer desires to keep confidential. The customer is not permitted to post any material that is illegal, libelous, tortuous, indecently depicts children or is likely to result in retaliation against HostingTec by offended users. HostingTec reserves the right to refuse or terminate service at any time for violation of this section. This includes advertising services or sites via IRC or USENET in clear violation of the policies of the IRC channel or USENET group.

Copyright Infringement - Software Piracy Policy

HostingTec network may only be used for lawful purposes. Transmission, distribution, or storage of any information, data or material in violation of United States or state regulation or law, or by the common law, is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, material protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, or other intellectual property rights.

Making unauthorized copies of software is a violation of the law, no matter how many copies you are making. If you copy, distribute or install the software in ways that the license does not allow, you are violating federal copyright law. If caught with pirated software, you or your company may be liable under both civil and criminal law, and you may be fined up to $250,000 and/or receive up to 5 years in jail.

HostingTec will cooperate fully with any civil and/or criminal litigation arising from the violation of this policy.

Network Responsibility

Customers have a responsibility to use the HostingTec's network responsibly. This includes respecting the other customers of HostingTec. HostingTec reserves the right to suspend and or cancel service with any Customer who uses the HostingTec network in such a way that adversely affects other HostingTec customers. This includes but is not limited to:

• Attacking or attempting to gain unauthorized access to servers and services that belong to HostingTec or its customers (i.e. computer hacking), and/or
• Participating in behavior which result in reprisals that adversely effect HostingTec's network or other customers' access to HostingTec's network.

HostingTec will react strongly to any use or attempted use of an Internet account or computer without the owner's authorization. Such attempts include, but are not limited to, "Internet Scanning" (tricking other people into releasing their passwords), password robbery, security hole scanning, port scanning, etc. Any unauthorized use of accounts or computers by a HostingTec customer, whether or not the attacked account or computer belongs to HostingTec, will result in severe action taken against the attacker. Possible actions include warnings, account suspension or cancellation, and civil or criminal legal action, depending on the seriousness of the attack. Any attempt to undermine or cause harm to a server, or customer, of HostingTec is strictly prohibited.

Lawful Purpose

All services may be used for lawful purposes only. Transmission, storage, or presentation of any information, data or material in violation of any applicable law, regulation, or AUP is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material or material protected by trade secret and other statute or dissemination of harmful or fraudulent content.

Using any HostingTec service or product for the purpose of participating in any activity dealing with subject matters that are prohibited under applicable law is prohibited.

Any conduct that constitutes harassment, fraud, stalking, abuse, or a violation of federal export restriction in connection with use of HostingTec services or products is prohibited. Using HostingTec's network to solicit the performance of any illegal activity is also prohibited, even if the activity itself is not performed. In addition, knowingly receiving or downloading a file that cannot be legally distributed, even without the act of distribution, is prohibited.

Servers hosted within HostingTec's network are open to the public. You are solely responsible for your usage of HostingTec's network and servers and any statement you make on servers hosted within the HostingTec network may be deemed "publication" of the information entered. Acknowledging the foregoing, you specifically agree not to use our service in any manner that is illegal or libelous.

Child Pornography on the Internet

HostingTec will cooperate fully with any criminal investigation into a Customer's violation of the Child Protection Act of 1984 concerning child pornography. Customers are ultimately responsible for the actions of their clients over HostingTec's network, and will be liable for illegal material posted by their clients.

According to the Child Protection Act, child pornography includes photographs, films, video or any other type of visual presentation that shows a person who is or is depicted as being under the age of eighteen years and is engaged in or is depicted as engaged in explicit sexual activity, or the dominant characteristic of which is the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the anal region of a person under the age of eighteen years or any written material or visual representation that advocates or counsels sexual activity with a person under the age of eighteen years.

Violations of the Child Protection Act may be reported to the U.S. Customs Agency at 1-800-BEALERT

Unsolicited Commercial Email/Unsolicited Bulk Email (UCE/UBE)

Unsolicited commercial email (UCE) is defined by HostingTec as any electronic communication (e-mail, ICQ, IRC, Instant Messenger, etc...) sent for purposes of distributing commercial information of any kind, soliciting the purchase or sale of products or services or soliciting any transfer of funds to a recipient who has not agreed to receive such communication.

Unsolicited bulk e-mail (UBE) is defined by HostingTec as any electronic communication (e-mail, ICQ, IRC, Instant Messenger, etc...) to multiple recipients who have not agreed to receive such communication.

Use of HostingTec's network, servers or services to transmit any unsolicited commercial or unsolicited bulk-e-mail is expressly prohibited, as is hosting web sites or services on a server which are advertised in any UCE/UBE. HostingTec also prohibits the sending of any fraudulent, malicious, harassing, false or misleading electronic communications, including, without limitation, chain letters, pyramid schemes, or e-mails with forged headers. Posting off-topic advertisements to Usenet discussion groups, ICQ, Instant Messenger, etc., is also expressly prohibited. Additionally, HostingTec customers are expressly prohibited from sending any UCE/UBE from our network or any email from another network that in any way references a document, image, or Web site that resides on the HostingTec network or in one of our data centers. Violations of this type may result in the termination of the offending HostingTec account. Our customers are ultimately responsible for any violations of the AUP by their clients, and any violation of the AUP by a client of a HostingTec customer shall be deemed a violation of the AUP by such HostingTec customer.

Customers whose actions directly or indirectly result in HpstingTec IP space being listed in any of the various abuse databases may be subject to having the offending domain(s), server(s), or user(s) immediately removed from our network. In addition, if HostingTec in its sole discretion determines that a customer is in violation of our AUP, HostingTec may, at its sole discretion, restrict, suspend or terminate a customer's account. HostingTec will, in most cases, attempt to contact a customer prior to suspension or termination of a server(s), but can not guarantee prior notification. Any server suspended or terminated for AUP violations will be reconnected only after the customer agrees to cease all activities that violate the HostingTec AUP and pays all applicable reconnect fees and related charges. Any server suspended a second time for AUP violations WILL be immediately and permanently removed from our network.

Customers that HostingTec determines in its sole discretion to be in violation of the HostingTec AUP may be subject to additional fees or fines including, without limitation, any applicable reconnect fees. Server cleanup fee for spam starts at $250.

Customers seeking to send any permission-based email marketing should read Guidelines for Permission-Based Email to see our guidelines for sending this type of communication.

Guidelines for Permission-Based Email

While HostingTec prohibits the use of its systems or network to send unsolicited email (UCE/UBE) as described above, customers may send permission-based email marketing, subject to the guidelines provided herein. Permission-based marketing is defined as electronic marketing that an end user agrees to receive. This is often referred to as 'opt-in' electronic marketing. All recipient information for such marketing conducted by HostingTec customers must be documented and cataloged by the customer. This information is to include date, time, originating IP and the location from which the email address or other recipient information was obtained. Additionally, a customer must at a minimum comply with the following guidelines, and any additional guidelines established by HostingTec from time to time in its sole discretion, to engage in permission-based email marketing without violating the AUP:

1. All commercial or bulk email originating from a HostingTec customer on the HostingTec network must have a working unsubscribe link. The customer must honor all requests to unsubscribe within 72 hours. Additionally, there must be text in the email stating that while all requests to unsubscribe are honored, it may take up to 72 hours to process.
2. All commercial or bulk email originating from a HostingTec customer on the HostingTec network must clearly list the email address to which the email was originally sent (the intended recipient's email address) in the body of the message OR in the 'TO:' line of the email.
3. All HostingTec customers sending commercial or bulk email must have a working abuse@domain.com address from EVERY domain associated with the email campaign. Additionally, the abuse@ address must be prominently posted on the front page of the associated web site. Customers must regularly answer any messages sent to the abuse@ address.
4. All HostingTec customers sending commercial or bulk email must register the abuse@ address for every domain associated with commercial email they send at abuse.net.
5. All HostingTec customers sending commercial or bulk email must have a Privacy Policy/AUP posted for each domain associated with the email campaign.
6. All commercial or bulk email sent must include information about where the email address was obtained in the body of the email. For example: "You opted-in to receive this email promotion from our web site or from one of our partner sites."
7. All HostingTec customers sending commercial or bulk email must answer all complainants' requests for details regarding where the complainant "opted-in" to receive electronic marketing within 72 hours. This information must include the date, time, originating IP and the location from which the email address or other recipient information was obtained. Instructions on how to get this information must be stated clearly in the body of the email. For example, a statement similar to the following must be present in the body of the email: "If you would like to learn more about how we received your email address, please contact us at abuse@domain.com." Requests for "opt-in" information must be responded to within 72 hours.
8. All HostingTec customers sending commercial or bulk email must be able to track and identify SpamCop complainants. There are several software packages (such as RoboMail) that can help accomplish this.
9. If a HostingTec customer is using an affiliate program to send commercial or bulk email through the HostingTec network and the affiliate program becomes subject to repeated abuse by users, the customer must discontinue use of the affiliate program or be subject to immediate suspension or cancellation.
10. All customers of HostingTec are required to have up-to-date and valid contact information on file with their registrar for any domain hosted on the HostingTec network.

Disclaimer
HostingTec reserves the right to test portions of any customer's email list and request opt-in information from a random sample of that list at any time.
HostingTec reserves the right to determine in its sole discretion the validity of any customer's email list. Any list HostingTec determines in its sole discretion to be in violation of this AUP must be removed immediately or the customer will be subject to immediate suspension or termination. Repeated violations will result in permanent suspension.
HostingTec reserves the right to test and otherwise monitor customer's compliance with the above guidelines and requirements at any time during the customer's term of service at HostingTec.
If HostingTec determines in its sole discretion that the customer is not in strict compliance with the guidelines for permission-based e-mail marketing, then HostingTec may immediately suspend or terminate the customer's service.

IP Address Overlap

HostingTec administers the network on which customer servers reside. The customer cannot use IP addresses which were not assigned to them by HostingTec staff. Any server found using IPs which were not officially assigned will be suspended from network access until such time as the IP addresses overlap can be corrected.

IRC

HostingTec allows the use of IRC inside the HostingTec network as long as the use of IRC on a HostingTec server does not violate any of the other terms of this AUP. As a policy, HostingTec will not provide vanity IRC reverse DNS records. To enforce this policy HostingTec does not turn the reverse address of IPs over to the customer. Authority over this information remains with HostingTec.IRC Bots are prohibited.

Billing

The customer understands that the customer is responsible for paying for any network resources that are used to connect the customer's server to the Internet. The customer may request that the customer's server be disconnected from the Internet, but the customer will still be responsible for paying for any network resources used up to the point of suspension or cancellation. It is the clients responsibility to monitor CPU, Disk, and bandwidth usage. Any customer who goes over their alloted amount will be billed immediately for the amount of service used. Monthly billing occurs on the 1st and 15th of the month. Account additions and/or overage will be billed immediately.

Suspension

If HostingTec in its sole discretion determines that a customer's server has become the source or target of any violation concerning the HostingTec Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), HostingTec reserves the right to suspend network access to that server. While HostingTec will attempt to contact the customer before suspending network access to the customer's server(s), prior notification to the customer is not assured. In certain cases, HostingTec will contact law enforcement and other agencies regarding these activities. Customers are responsible for all charges, as well as any fees relating to the investigation, suspension, administration and handling of their servers before, during and after the suspension period.

Cancellation

HostingTec reserves the right to cancel service at any time. If inappropriate activity is detected, all accounts of the customer in question will be deactivated until an investigation is complete. Prior notification to the Customer is not assured. In extreme cases, law enforcement will be contacted regarding the activity. Any violation of policies which results in extra costs will be billed to the customer (i.e. transfer, space etc.). Any cancellations due to a TOS contract violation will result in an immediate loss of any refund for services paid for. You may also be immediately billed for unauthorized bandwidth fees. Please see that section of this document for more information.

Indemnification

HostingTec wishes to emphasize that in signing the Master Services Agreement or its equivalent, customer indemnifies HostingTec for any violation of the Master Services Agreement or its equivalent, law or AUP that results in loss to HostingTec or the bringing of any claim against HostingTec by any third-party. This means that if HostingTec is sued because of a customer's or a customer of a customer's activity, the customer will pay any damages awarded against HostingTec, plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees.

Disclaimer of Responsibility

HostingTec is under no duty to look at each customer's or user's activities to determine if a violation of the AUPs has occured, nor do we assume any responsibility through our AUPs to monitor or police Internet-related activities. HostingTec disclaims any responsibility for any such inappropriate use and any liability to any person or party for any other person's or party's violation of this policy.

All Sub-Networks, resellers and managed servers of HostingTec must adhere to the above policies. Failure to follow any term or condition will be grounds for immediate Cancellation.

INDIRECT OR ATTEMPTED VIOLATIONS OF THE AUPs AND ACTUAL OR ATTEMPTED VIOLATIONS BY A THIRD PARTY ON YOUR BEHALF, SHALL BE CONSIDERED VIOLATIONS OF THESE AUPs BY YOU.

Adult Content

Due to the special system and network requirements of adult-oriented sites, pornography and sex-related merchandising are subject to special pricing. This includes sites that may infer sexual content or provide links to adult content elsewhere. Sites that promote any illegal activity or content that may be damaging to our servers or any other server on the Internet, or provide links to such sites are prohibited. If you would like to host such sites special pricing structures will be arranged. Please contact support@hostingtec.com for pricing. We strongly recommend the following company for all your adult hosting needs: Adult Web Solutions

Server Resources

Any web site that uses a high amount of server resources (such as, but not limited to, CPU time, memory usage, and network resources) will be given the option to either pay additional fees (which will depend on the resources required), reduce the resources used to an acceptable level, or upgrade its service to a Dedicated Server plan. HostingTec shall be the sole arbiter of what is considered to be a high server usage level. All shared web hosting accounts come with a limit of 5,000 files per account. Each block of 5,000 files after the initial 5,000 will incur an additional charge of $9.95/month. In the case of reseller's, this 5,000 limit is per unique top level domain. Any web hosting account deemed to be adversely affecting server performance or network integrity will be shut down without prior notice.

CGI Scripts

CGI script sharing with domains not hosted by HostingTec is not permitted. Any CGI-scripts deemed to be adversely affecting server performance or network integrity will be shut down without prior notice.

Chat Rooms

HostingTec does not allow customers to install their own chat rooms / boards. Chat rooms / boards tend to require significant system resources and therefore cannot be permitted as an account option. Please contact HostingTec for alternatives.

Background Running Programs and Cron Jobs

HostingTec may allow programs to run in the background. These programs will be considered on an individual basis and customers will incur extra charges based on system resources used and operational maintenance needed. If you wish to run background programs please contact HostingTec at support@hostingtec.com so that we can arrange set-up.

Software Distribution

HostingTec' shared web hosting accounts are not configured for the purposes of distributing software and/or multimedia products. If you wish to distribute software and/or multimedia files, please contact support@hostingtec.com to make special arrangements.

Multimedia Files

Multimedia files are defined as any graphics, audio, and video files. HostingTec shared web hosting accounts are not to be used for the purposes of distributing and storing unusual amounts of multimedia files. Any web site whose disk space usage for storing multimedia files exceeds industry standards of its total usage, in terms of total size or number of files, will be considered to be using an unusual amount of multimedia files and will be subject to special pricing.

Databases

Any MySQL database stored on HostingTec' servers shall be limited in size to 10MB. Any single larger database will be subject to extra fees. Any flat database files (i.e. text databases) will be limited to size in 1 MB. This is due to the amount of server resources that databases consume.

Unauthorized Bandwidth

If any terms of service violation is found, bandwidth used while breaking the TOS agreement shall be billed at $20 per GB. 1 GB minimum. This includes but is not limited to illegal transfers of MP3's, illegal data, adult material without prior permission, and software that you may or may not have the rights to. This charge will be for ALL bandwidth the site incurred, not just the transfer of files.

Reseller Accounts

Reseller Accounts are for the sole purpose of reselling hosting accounts. They are not meant to replace a dedicated server. The reseller is responsible that all of his or her clients follow our terms of service contract. The reseller is urged to make a term of service similar to ours. Please follow all terms of service. Any reseller adversely affecting system performance will be asked to pay an additional amount for resources consumed or move to a dedicated server.

Actions Taken by HostingTec

The failure by a customer to meet or follow any of the above Terms of Use is grounds for account deactivation. HostingTec will be the sole arbiter as to what constitutes a violation of the Terms of Use. HostingTec reserves the right to remove any account without prior notice.

When HostingTec becomes aware of an alleged violation of its Terms of Use, HostingTec will initiate an investigation. During the investigation, HostingTec may restrict a customer's access in order to prevent further potentially unauthorized activity. Depending on the severity of the violation, HostingTec may, at its sole discretion, restrict, suspend, or terminate a customer's web hosting account and/or pursue other civil remedies. If such violation is a criminal offense, HostingTec will notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities of such violation.

HostingTec does not issue credits for outages incurred through service disablement resulting from Terms of Use violations.

HostingTec customers agree to indemnify and hold harmless HostingTec from any claims resulting from the use of our services that damages them or any other party. The HostingTec service is provided on an as is, as available basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. HostingTec expressly disclaims any representation or warranty that the HostingTec service will be error-free, secure or uninterrupted. No oral advice or written information given by HostingTec, its employees, will create a warranty; nor may you rely on any such information or advice. HostingTec and its partners and suppliers will not be liable for any cost or damage arising either directly or indirectly from any transaction or use of the service.

Modification

HostingTec reserves the right to add, delete, or modify any provision of its Terms of Use at any time without notice.