TERMS OF SERVICE
This Terms of Service Agreement (TOS) is a formal and legally
binding agreement between Virtual Corporate Solutions, Inc. (We,
Company) and You, the service user (You, Subscriber). Use of our service
constitutes acceptance and agreement to the TOS in full.
Contents:
I) Purpose and Overview of the TOS
II) Specific Violations of the TOS
III) Security
IV) Network Performance
V) Payment Policy
VI) General Operations
VII) Violation Reporting
VIII) Violation Procedures
IX) Miscellaneous Provisions
I) PURPOSE AND OVERVIEW OF THE TOS
The TOS is provided to give our Subscribers and
users a clear understanding of what we expect of them while using our
services. All users of our services including those who access our services
but do not have accounts, as well as those who pay a service fee to
subscribe to the services, must comply with our TOS.
We support the uncensored flow of information and
ideas over the Internet and do not actively monitor subscriber activity
under normal circumstances. Similarly, we do not exercise editorial control
over the content of any website, e-mail transmission, newsgroups, or other
material created or accessible over or through the services, except for
certain proprietary websites. However, in accordance with our TOS, we may
remove any materials that, in our sole discretion, may be illegal, may
subject us to liability, or which may violate the TOS. We may cooperate with
legal authorities and/or third parties in the investigation of any suspected
or alleged crime or civil wrongdoing. Your violation of the TOS may result
in the suspension or immediate termination of your account without prior
notice.
The following are guidelines for the
establishment and enforcement of the TOS:
· Ensure reliable service to our customers
· Ensure security and privacy of our
systems and network, as well as the networks and systems of others
· Comply with existing laws
· Maintain our reputation as a responsible
service provider
· Encourage responsible use of the Internet
and discourage activities which reduce the usability and value of Internet
services
· Preserve the value of Internet resources
as a conduit for free expression and exchange of information
· Preserve the privacy and security of
individual users
While we are committed to the principles of free
speech, certain activities that may be damaging to the resources of both us
and the Internet and cannot be permitted under the guise of free speech. The
resources of us and the Internet are limited, and abuse of these resources
by one user has a negative impact on the entire community.
We do not routinely monitor the activity of
accounts except for measurements of system utilization and the preparation
of billing records. However, in our efforts to promote good citizenship
within the Internet community, we will respond appropriately if we become
aware of inappropriate use of our service.
If you violate the TOS, we reserve the right to
terminate your service without notice. We prefer to advise Subscribers of
inappropriate behavior and any necessary corrective action, however,
flagrant violations of the TOS will result in immediate termination of
service. Our failure to enforce this policy, for whatever reason, shall not
be construed as a waiver of our right to do so at any time.
II) SPECIFIC VIOLATIONS OF THE TOS
By using our services you agree not to commit any
of the following specific violation of the TOS. The following constitute
specific violations of the TOS:
Illegal use: Our services may
not be used for illegal purposes, or in support of illegal activities. We
reserve the right to cooperate with legal authorities and/or injured third
parties in the investigation of any suspected crime or civil wrongdoing. If
anything is not legal in the United States of America, it is not permitted
to reside on our servers. If illegal content or usage is found, the account
will be suspended and/or terminated. Subscriber agrees that the Company may
disclose any and all subscriber information including assigned IP numbers,
account history, account use, etc. to any law enforcement agent who makes a
written request without further consent or notification to the Subscriber.
Harm to minors: Use of our
service to harm, or attempt to harm, minors in any way, including, but not
limited to child pornography is prohibited. Violation of this policy will
result in immediate termination of your service and a report will be made to
law enforcement authorities.
Threats: Use of our service
to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting or otherwise) that
threatens or encourages bodily harm or destruction of property is
prohibited.
Harassment: Use of our
service to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting or
otherwise) that harasses another is prohibited.
Fraudulent activity: Use of
our service to make fraudulent offers to sell or buy products, items, or
services, or to advance any type of financial scam such as "pyramid
schemes," "ponzi schemes," and "chain letters" is prohibited This also
includes any knowing misrepresentation or misleading statement, writing or
activity made with the intent that the person receiving it will act upon it.
Forgery or impersonation:
Adding, removing or modifying identifying network header information in an
effort to deceive or mislead is prohibited. Attempting to impersonate any
person by using forged headers or other identifying information is
prohibited. Forging any message header, in part or whole, of any electronic
transmission, originating or passing through our service is in violation of
the TOS. The use of anonymous remailers or nicknames does not constitute
impersonation.
Unsolicited commercial e-mail/Unsolicited bulk
e-mail (SPAM): Use of our service to transmit any
unsolicited commercial or unsolicited bulk e-mail is expressly prohibited.
Violation of this SPAM policy will result in severe penalties. Upon
notification of an alleged violation of our SPAM policy, we will initiate an
investigation. During the investigation, we may restrict Subscriber access
to the network to prevent further violations. If a Subscriber is found to be
in violation of our SPAM policy, we may, at our sole discretion, restrict,
suspend or terminate the Subscriber's account. Further, we reserve the right
to pursue civil remedies for any costs associated with the investigation of
a substantiated policy violation. We will notify law enforcement officials
if the violation is believed to be a criminal offense. Anyone using our
service to host websites or services that support spammers or cause any of
our IP space to be listed in any of the various Spam Databases will have
their account(s) immediately suspended. The account will not be unsuspended
until such time that you agree to remove any and all traces of the offending
material immediately upon reconnection. First violations of this policy will
result in an "Administrative Fee" of $25 and your account will be reviewed
for possible immediate termination. Severe violations may result in
immediate and permanent removal of the account(s) from our network without
notice to the customer. A second violation will result in an "Administrative
Fee" of $100 and immediate termination of your account.
E-mail/News Bombing:
Malicious intent to impede another person's use of electronic mail services
or news will result in the immediate termination of the offending account.
Usenet Abuse/Spamming: We
have a zero tolerance policy for the use of our service for the posting of
messages or commercial advertisements which violate the rules, regulations,
or charter of any newsgroups or mailing list. Commercial messages that are
appropriate under the rules of a newsgroup or mailing list or that are
solicited by the recipients are permitted.
Unauthorized access: Use of
our service to access, or to attempt to access, the accounts of others, or
to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate, security measures of ours or another
entity's computer software or hardware, electronic communications system, or
telecommunications system, whether or not the intrusion results in the
corruption or loss of data, is expressly prohibited and the offending
account is subject to immediate termination. You may not attempt to
circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network or account.
This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for you,
logging into or making use of a server or account you are not expressly
authorized to access, or probing the security of other networks. Use or
distribution of tools designed for compromising security is prohibited.
Examples of these tools include, but are not limited to, password guessing
programs, cracking tools or network probing tools. Violations of system or
network security may result in civil or criminal liability. We will
investigate occurrences, which may involve such violations and may involve,
and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting users who are
involved in such violations.
Copyright or trademark infringement:
Use of our service to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting
or otherwise) that infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret
or other proprietary rights of any third party, including, but not limited
to, the unauthorized copying of copyrighted material, the digitization and
distribution of photographs from magazines, books, or other copyrighted
sources, and the unauthorized transmittal of copyrighted software is
prohibited. This also includes intellectual property rights. Distribution
and/or posting of copyrighted or the aforementioned infringements will not
be tolerated.
Collection of personal data:
Use of the service to collect, or attempt to collect, personal information
about third parties without their knowledge or consent is prohibited.
Network disruptions and unfriendly activity:
Use of the service for any activity which affects the ability of other
people or systems to use our services or the Internet is prohibited. This
includes "denial of service" (DOS) attacks against another network host or
individual user. Interference with or disruption of other network users,
services or equipment is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:
"flooding" of networks, deliberate attempts to overload a service, and
attempts to "crash" a host. It is the Subscriber's responsibility to ensure
that their account(s) are configured in a secure manner. A Subscriber may
not, through action or inaction, allow others to use their account for
illegal or inappropriate actions. A Subscriber may not permit their account,
through action or inaction, to be configured in such a way that gives a
third party the capability to use their account in an illegal or
inappropriate manner. Unauthorized entry and/or use of another company
and/or individual's computer system will result in immediate account
termination. We will not tolerate any Subscriber attempting to access the
accounts of others, or penetrate security measures of other systems, whether
or not the intrusion results in corruption or loss of data. We reserve the
right, to drop the section of IP space involved in Spam or Denial-of-Service
complaints if it is clear that the offending activity is causing great harm
to parties on the Internet. In particular, if open relays are on your
account, or if denial of service attacks are originating from your account.
In certain rare cases, we may have to do this before attempting to contact
you. If we do this, we will contact you as soon as is feasible.
Distribution of Viruses:
Intentional distributions of software or anything that attempts to and/or
causes damage, harassment, or annoyance to persons, data, and/or computer
systems are prohibited. Such an offense will result in the immediate
termination of the offending account.
Inappropriate Use of Software:
Use of software or any device that would facilitate a continued connection,
i.e. pinging, while using our services could result in suspension of
service.
IRC networks: It is forbidden
to host IRC (Internet Relay Chat) that is part of or connected to another
IRC network or server. Accounts found to be connecting to or part of these
networks will be immediately suspended without notice. The account will not
be unsuspended until such time that you agree to remove any and all traces
of the offending material immediately upon reconnection. Severe violations
may result in immediate and permanent removal of the account(s) from our
network without notice to the customer. Any user who commits a second
violation will be immediately and permanently removed from our network
without notice.
Streaming Video and Audio:
Streaming Video and Audio is not permitted on our servers. You must zip the
content to prevent this if you wish to have it hosted, and like everything
else this content must be legal and in compliance with our copyright
guidelines.
Eggdrop Scripts: Eggdrop
scripts/bots and IRC bots of any type are not allowed, these are grounds for
immediate account deletion.
Adult Material: Adult
Material is allowed. The Adult material must comply with all guidelines and
is protected under the term legal adult material. Subscriber must use all
and any appropriate measures to assure that no one under the age of 18 has
access to their material
Objectionable Material: You
may not use our service to publish material, which we determine, at our sole
discretion, to be unlawful, indecent or objectionable. For purposes of this
policy, "material" refers to all forms of communications including but not
limited to: narrative descriptions, graphics (including photographs,
illustrations, /images, drawings, logos), executable programs, video
recordings, and audio recordings. If you unsure if your content is
objectionable, please contact us before posting it.
Chinese Forums: Chinese
Forums are not allowed on our network. These sites require too much CPU
usage. They typically require a dedicated server to run properly. If they
are found on any server we will suspend and/or terminate them.
ANIME: Anime websites are not
allowed on our network. If an Anime website is found we will terminate the
account. These sites are not allowed on our servers because most of them are
illegal, and almost inevitably cause server problems.
Demo Accounts: Due to the
potential of a security breach, or malicious activity aimed at our network,
control panel demo accounts are not allowed. We recommend linking directly
to the control panel maker's website for their demo (for example
www.cpanel.net).
III) SECURITY
By using our services you agree to adopt adequate
security measures to prevent or minimize unauthorized use of your account.
Your password provides access to your account. It is your responsibility to
keep your password secure. Sharing your password and account access with
unauthorized users is prohibited. You should take care to prevent others
from using your account since you will be held responsible for such use.
Subscribers will be held responsible for any
activity by third parties using their accounts in a way that violates the
TOS. You are responsible for any misuse of your account, even if the
inappropriate activity was committed by a friend, family member, guest or
employee. Therefore, you must take steps to ensure that others do not gain
unauthorized access to your account.
Subscribers who are resellers are responsible for
enforcing the TOS to all of their clients. If their clients are found to be
violating the TOS, we will suspend and or/terminate the offending site and
let the reseller know. It is advisable that you adopt similar or stricter
policies than ours. Our Subscribers may use and/or modify a copy of our TOS
for use on their website(s).
IV) NETWORK PERFORMANCE
By using our service you agree to abide by this
policy. Our services operate on shared resources. Excessive use or abuse of
these shared network resources by one customer may have a negative impact on
all other customers. Misuse of network resources in a manner which impairs
network performance is prohibited by this policy and may result in
termination of your account.
You are prohibited from excessive consumption of
resources, including CPU time, memory, disk space and session time. You may
not use resource-intensive programs which negatively impact other customers
or the performances of our systems or networks. This may include certain
scripts or forums that put excessive use on the SQL server in a way which
degrades performance for other users. We reserve the right to terminate or
limit such activities. Additionally, if your account(s) becomes the target
of denial-of-service (DOS or DDOS) or other malicious attacks against the
server, we reserve the right to end your service.
Policy for Unlimited Accounts:
Unlimited Accounts are indeed unlimited per these terms of service. For all
legal and practical purposes, the word "unlimited", as used in any of our
advertising or other material, shall be defined only by these terms of
service. These accounts may not to be used to host a collection of MP3's,
Warez, or media files. An account may not be used to backup your computer or
another source. They may not be used for general storage of any type. All
content stored on an unlimited account must be directly used on the Internet
by the website associated with that account. These accounts may not be used
as a download distribution point for your software or files. They are to be
used for standard web practices only. This means that all content stored on
an unlimited account must be used for “normal” website use. “Un-normal”
usage is anything that a shared server would not be able to provide under
standard circumstances. If you are unsure of whether your account may
violate this policy, please contact us prior to subscribing.
V) PAYMENT POLICY
By using our services you agree to the following
payment policy and instructions.
Refunds: We offer a
thirty-day money-back guarantee. If during the first 30 days after
subscribing you are unhappy with the service you may submit a refund
request. Any such request must be made in writing and must be made before
the end of thirty days from the moment your initial payment was made. In
such case your payment will be refunded and your account will be deleted
from our network upon refunding. The thirty-day money-back guarantee only
applies to the first payment made on a new account. After the initial
thirty-day period, no refunds will be made at any time for the first payment
on a new account. All subsequent payments made to Virtual Corporate
Solutions, Inc. are absolutely non-refundable. If you dispute a charge to
your credit card issuer or take any action that results in a payment being
reversed that, in our sole discretion is a valid charge under the provisions
of the TOS, you agree to pay us an "Administrative Fee" of $100.
Payment/Subscription:
Establishment of this service is dependent upon receipt by the Company of
payment of stated charges. We require that all Subscribers use an
automatically recurring payment subscription through one of our payment
processors (currently Paypal). Your recurring subscription must remain
active at all times for your account to remain activated. If a subscription
becomes inactive and/or is cancelled, we will suspend the account and issue
a warning to the Subscriber to their email address on file. If the
subscription is not rectified within 7-days of the warning we will delete
the account from the server. If it is a reseller account we will also delete
any domains “under” the primary account. Such termination or denial will not
relieve Subscriber of responsibility for the payment of all accrued charges,
plus reasonable interest and any collection fees. We may allow some users to
purchase our services with a one-time payment or subscription that is not
automatically recurring. Any such allowance does not forfeit our right to
require any such user to activate a recurring subscription at any time.
Cancellation: All
cancellations must be made by the subscriber by canceling their recurring
subscription. We will not comply with verbal or written requests to cancel
accounts. It must be done by canceling the subscription with the payment
processor. Upon notification that a subscription has been cancelled we will
delete the Subscriber’s account from the server. We will not wait until the
end of any advertised or perceived billing cycle, and we will not refund any
unused portions of any subscription payment. We require that a recurring
subscription be active at all times and will therefore delete the account
upon termination of the subscription.
VI) GENERAL OPERATIONS
By using our service you agree to the following policy
and limitations pertaining to our services.
Uptime: Subscriber acknowledges that the service
provided is of such a nature that service can be interrupted for many
reasons other than the negligence of the Company and that damages resulting
from any interruption of service are difficult to ascertain. Therefore,
Subscriber agrees that the Company shall not be liable for any damages
arising from such causes. In no event shall the Company be liable for any
special or consequential damages, loss or injury. Although many of our own
network providers guarantee an uptime of 99% or more, we make no guarantees
about uptime performance because we realize there are influencing factors
that are outside of our control, and in most cases even outside the control
of the data centers and network providers we work with.
Support Boundaries: We provide technical support
to our Subscribers. We limit our technical support to our areas of
expertise. We provide support related to your account or virtual site’s
physical functionality. We do not offer tech support for application
specific issues such as cgi programming, html, or any other such issue. We
do not provide technical support for your customers, unless an outsourced
support subscription has been purchased. We provide a variety of support
information and options to our Subscribers. These support options can be
found on the support page of our website.
Abuse of Our Staff or Network Staff: Abuse
towards our staff or our network staff will not be tolerated. If you use
foul language, threaten us, or do anything we find offensive, we may suspend
and/or delete your account. Per our payment policy we offer no refunds.
Internet Protocol (IP) Address Ownership: If we
assign a Subscriber an IP address for the Subscriber's use, the right to use
that IP address shall belong only to us, and Subscriber shall have no right
to use that IP address except as permitted by us in our sole discretion in
connection with the services. We shall maintain and control ownership of all
IP numbers and addresses that may be assigned to Subscriber by us, and we
reserve the right to change or remove any and all such IP numbers and
addresses, in our sole and absolute discretion. Our allocation of IP
addresses is limited by the policies set forth by ARIN (American Registry
for Internet Numbers). These policies state that use of IP addresses for
IP-based virtual hosts will not be accepted as justification for new IP
addresses. What this means to you is that you MUST use name-based hosting
where possible. We will periodically review IP address usage, and if we find
that clients are using IP addresses where name-based hosting could be used,
we will revoke authorization to use those IP addresses that could be used
with name-based hosting.
Bandwidth and Disk Usage: Subscriber agrees that
bandwidth and disk usage shall not exceed the quota for the services ordered
by Subscriber on the order form (the "Agreed Usage"). We will monitor
Subscriber's bandwidth and disk usage. We have the right to take corrective
action if Subscriber's bandwidth or disk usage exceeds the Agreed Usage in
our sole discretion. Such corrective action may include the assessment of
additional charges, or disconnection or discontinuance of the service. If we
take any corrective action under this section, Subscriber shall not be
entitled to a refund of any fees paid in advance prior to such action.
VII) VIOLATION REPORTING
By using our service you agree to report violations of
the TOS to us. Anyone who believes that there is a violation of our TOS
should direct such information to us by email immediately. If available,
please provide the following information:
· The IP address used to commit the alleged
violation
· The date and time of the alleged violation,
including the time zone or offset from GMT
· Evidence of the alleged violation
E-mail with full header information provides all of the
above, as do system log files. Other situations will require different
methods of providing the above information. We may take any one or more of
the following actions in response to complaints:
· Issue written or verbal warnings
· Suspend the Subscriber's newsgroup posting
privileges
· Suspend the Subscriber's account
· Terminate the Subscriber's account
· Bill the Subscriber for administrative costs
and/or reactivation charges
· Bring legal action to enjoin violations and/or
to collect damages, if any, cause by violations
VIII) VIOLATION PROCEDURES
By using our services you understand and agree with the
following procedures and policies.
We are under no duty to look at each Subscriber's or
user's activities to determine if a violation of the TOS has occurred, nor
do we assume any responsibility through our TOS to monitor or police
Internet-related activities.
First violation: Any Subscriber, which we
determine to have violated any element of the TOS, shall receive an email,
warning them of the violation. The service may be subject at our discretion
to a temporary suspension pending a Subscriber's agreement in writing, to
refrain from any further violations.
Second Violation: Subscribers that we determine
to have committed a second violation of any element of this Acceptable Use
Policy shall be subject to immediate suspension or termination of service
without further notice.
IX) MISCELLANEOUS PROVISIONS
Indemnification: In agreeing
to the TOS, Subscriber indemnifies us for any violation of the TOS that
results in loss to us or the bringing of any claim against us by any
third-party. This means that if we are sued because of a Subscriber's or a
customer of a Subscriber's activity, the Subscriber will pay any damages
awarded against us, plus all costs and attorney's fees.
Contact Information: You must
provide us with, and keep current, good contact information for yourself
including an E-mail address and telephone number. If we fail to communicate
any information to you due to a non-current, inoperative, or incorrect email
address you are still responsible and accountable for any such information
we attempted to communicate.
Waiver: A waiver by the
Company of any breach of any provision of the TOS by Subscriber shall not
operate as or be construed as a continuing or subsequent waiver thereof or
as a waiver of any breach of any other provision thereof.
Assignment: Subscriber shall
not transfer or assign the TOS without the prior written consent of the
Company. Company may assign the TOS at anytime without consent from or
notice to Subscriber. Company reserves the right to cancel Subscriber’s
rights under this contract at any time without further obligation.
3rd Party Disclaimer: We take
no responsibility for any material input by others and not posted to our
website by us. We are not responsible for the content of any other websites
linked to us; links are provided as Internet navigation tools only. We
disclaim any responsibility for any such inappropriate use and any liability
to any person or party for any other person or party's violation of this
policy.
Disclaimer of warranties: We
are not responsible for any damages your business may suffer. We do not make
implied or written warranties for any of our services. We deny any warranty
or merchantability for a specific purpose. This includes loss of data
resulting from delays, non-deliveries, wrong delivery, and any and all
service interruptions caused by us.
3rd Party Software and Services:
We may provide you access to third party software and/or services ("Third
Party Products ") through reseller relationships we have established with
certain commercial vendors. Subscriber understands that product support for
Third Party Products is provided by us and not by the Third Party Vendor,
unless otherwise notified. Neither us nor any Third Party Vendor makes any
representations or warranties, express or implied, regarding any Third Party
Products. Subscriber expressly acknowledges and agrees that use of third
party products is at customer's sole risk and such third party products are
provided "as is" and without representation or warranty of any kind from us
or any third party vendor, including without limitation, any implied
warranty of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose, accuracy or
completeness of responses or results, correspondence to description, or
non-infringement of third party rights. To the maximum extent permitted by
applicable law, neither us nor any third party vendor will be legally
responsible for any damages, whether direct, indirect, or consequential,
arising from the use or inability to use any third party product. Subscriber
agrees to observe the terms of any license and/or applicable end-user
subscriber agreement for third party products and that customer shall be
fully liable to third party vendors and us with respect to any improper use
of such third party products or violation of license agreements with them
and/or applicable end user subscriber agreements. Subscriber agrees not to
remove, modify or obscure any copyright, trademark or other proprietary
rights notices that appear on Third Party Products or that appear during the
use of Third Party Products. Subscriber further agrees not to reverse
engineer, decompile, or disassemble the Third Party Products.
Revisions to the TOS: We
reserve the right to revise, amend, or modify the TOS at any time and in any
manner. In such case the amended or revised TOS will be posted to our
website. Subscriber understands that changes to the TOS shall not be grounds
for early contract termination or non-payment.