Torq Hosting Solutions. Terms and Conditions (Acceptable Use Policy)

These are the Acceptable Use Policies (AUP) of Torq Hosting. All clients of Torq Hosting agree to abide by these policies. Torq Hosting reserves the right to change and update these policies as it sees necessary.



Introduction


The primary purpose of Torq Hosting is to facilitate communication with the numerous computer networks commonly referred to collectively as "the Internet." It is Torq Hosting's intention to allow Torq Hosting's users complete access to everything the Internet has to offer, with minimal or no interference from Torq Hosting.
However, many of the individual networks or portions of the Internet have specific guidelines for use. As the Internet expands, it is increasingly common for an Internet Service Provider, such as Torq Hosting, to be blocked from use of another organifzation's systems due to violations of that system's guidelines. Because Torq Hosting runs multi-user systems, actions of one Torq Hosting customer can have a severe impact on other customers' ability to use the system(s). This is unfair to all Torq Hosting users.
To this end, Torq Hosting has developed these Acceptable Use Policies. They are intended to inform Torq Hosting's Customers of what Torq Hosting considers to be acceptable conduct in relation to the Internet, and to inform Customers what actions Torq Hosting may take, with or without notice, in the event that Torq Hosting becomes aware of inappropriate use of Torq Hosting's service. This AUP will be used to help Torq Hosting system administrators deal with complaints from users of Torq Hosting or other Internet-connected systems, and to determine when action should be taken. It is expected that all Torq Hosting Customers will follow the policies set forth herein. These policies are drawn from applicable law and generally accepted standards of Internet conduct, and are intended to ensure protection of Torq Hosting's technical resources, ability to continue to provide high quality service to its customers, and the protection of Torq Hosting's reputation as a service provider.

ACCESS TO Torq Hosting's INTERNET SERVICE IS PROVIDED SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS:



1. Warranties/Disclaimers


Torq Hosting Internet service is provided on an "as is, as available" basis. No warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, those of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, are made with respect to Torq Hosting or any information or software therein. You release Torq Hosting from and Torq Hosting shall have no liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages suffered by you in connection with your use of or inability to use the Torq Hosting services including, but not limited to, damages from loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, or service interruptions, or due to inadvertent release or disclosure of information sent by you even if the same is caused by Torq Hosting's own negligence. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, Torq Hosting disclaims to the full extent permitted by applicable law any responsibility for (and under no circumstances shall be liable for) any conduct, content, goods and services available on or through the Internet or the Torq Hosting services. In no event shall Torq Hosting's aggregate liability exceed the amount paid by you to Torq Hosting for the Torq Hosting services. Use of any information obtained via Torq Hosting's Internet service is at the user's own risk. Torq Hosting specifically disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its services.

2. Security


The Customer is responsible for all use of the Customer's account(s) and confidentiality of password(s), including choosing safe passwords and ensuring file protections are set correctly. Torq Hosting will suspend access or change access to Customer's account(s) immediately upon notification by Customer that Customer's password has been lost, stolen or otherwise compromised. Torq Hosting is not liable for any usage and or charges prior to Torq Hosting making the necessary account alteration. Electronic mail on this system is as private as we can make it. Torq Hosting's Customers are reminded that no computer network can ever be considered completely safe from intrusion. E-Mail may pass through many computer systems, and should not be considered a secure means of communication unless encrypted Ð and even encrypted information is only as secure as the encryption method utilized.

3. Personal Files


Torq Hosting is not responsible for any Customer's personal files residing on Torq Hosting. The Customer is responsible for independent backup of the Customer's data that is stored on Torq Hosting. Torq Hosting reserves the right to delete any Customer 's personal files after one or both parties terminates the service agreement between Torq Hosting and the Customer.

4. Non-Transferability of Account


The right to use Torq Hosting's Internet service is not transferable. Use of Torq Hosting accounts is expressly limited to the individual or business whose name appears on the account and dependents of the account holder living at the same address. A Customer may use no more than one log-in session per account at any time. If a Customer has multiple accounts, the Customer is limited to one log-in session per account at any time unless using a dedicated or a VPS server package.

5. Network Address Ownership


Any network address assignments issued by Torq Hosting (i.e., IP addresses and Class C address space) are the property of Torq Hosting and are considered to be loaned to its customers. In the event service with Torq Hosting is discontinued for any reason, such addresses will revert to Torq Hosting. If a Customer of Torq Hosting participates in a service of Torq Hosting which provides for a unique Domain Name System (DNS) entry, the Customer will retain ownership of the assigned Domain Name, but not the IP address to which it was assigned by Torq Hosting.

6. Compliance with all Laws


Customer agrees to use the service in a manner consistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations of the EU, Germany, and the Customer's locality. Reproduction or transmission of any material in violation of any local, EU, or international law or regulation is prohibited. The Customer agrees that any material to be reproduced or transmitted on Torq Hosting's service through Customer 's account(s) does not violate or infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, statutory, common law or proprietary rights of others, or contain anything obscene, libelous or threatening. Software intended to facilitate any such violations or infringements may not be stored on Torq Hosting. The Customer shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless Torq Hosting from and against any claims, liabilities and expenses, including attorney fees, resulting from any Customer's use of the Torq Hosting service or a Customer's account in an unlawful manner or otherwise in violation of or contrary to the Customer's Agreement with Torq Hosting or Torq Hosting's Acceptable Use Policies. At Torq Hosting's discretion, Torq Hosting may revoke any Customer's access to Torq Hosting services or accounts for inappropriate usage. Please refer to our DMCA Policy for details regarding takedown and reinstatement procedures for sites in possible violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.

7. Unacceptable Conduct


The following types of conduct are grounds for immediate suspension of service pending investigation by Torq Hosting and may result in termination of the account(s) the investigation determines to have originated or transmitted these types of traffic. In addition, Torq Hosting reserves the right, where feasible, to implement technical mechanisms which block multiple postings by a Torq Hosting Customer as described in (a) and (b) below before such postings are forwarded:
(a) Posting a single article or substantially similar articles to an excessive number of newsgroups (i.e., more than 20) or continued posting of articles which are off-topic according to the newsgroup charter, or which provoke complaints from the regular readers of the newsgroup for being inappropriate).
(b) Sending unsolicited mass E-Mailings (i.e., to more than 25 users) which provoke complaints from the recipients or sending more than 500 emails per hour even if solicited. Sending more than this will be considered excessive usage and could cause suspension of service.
(c) Engaging in either (a) or (b) from a provider other than Torq Hosting and using an account on Torq Hosting as a mail drop for responses, or to draw attention to a web site housed within Torq Hosting's networks.
(d) Continued harassment of other individuals on the Internet after being asked to stop by those individuals and/or by Torq Hosting.
(e) Mail bombing, i.e., sending large volumes of unsolicited E-Mail to individuals or to individual business accounts.
(f) Impersonating another user or otherwise falsifying one's user name in E-Mail, Usenet postings, on Internet Relay Chat (IRC), or with any other Internet service. (This does not preclude the use of nicknames in IRC or the use of anonymous remailer services.)
(g) Privacy violations: Attempts, whether successful or not, to gain access to any other system or users' private data without express consent of the user.
(h) Network unfriendly activity: Attempts to interfere with the regular workings of Torq Hosting's systems or network connections or which adversely affect the ability of other people or systems to use Torq Hosting services or the Internet, including, but not limited to:
    I: any unauthorized attempts by a user to gain root access or access to any account not belonging to that user on this or any other Torq Hosting system;
    II: any use of this or any other Torq Hosting system as a staging ground to disable other systems.
Any activity which violates the laws or statutes of the EU and Germany.
(k) Hosting of Adult/Pornographic Content - Content designed to sexually arouse is prohibited throughout the Torq Hosting Network. This includes sites that may allude to sexual content and/or links to adult content elsewhere. In general, frontal nudity (not for science, health, fine art, or general educational purposes) and/or content meant to sexually arouse is prohibited. Child Pornography of any kind is prohibited throughout the Torq Hosting Network and will be reported to the authorities if found. Torq Hosting reserves the right to determine what violates this policy.
(l) Any attempt to proxy through our servers or hosting of proxy software.

8. Excess Utilization of System or Network Resources


Torq Hosting account descriptions in some cases may specify limits on bandwidth, CPU and disk utilization for certain types of Customers, and use up to these limits is included in the price for that type of Customer. In the event Torq Hosting determines that a Customer is exceeding the bandwidth, CPU and/or disk utilization limits, the Customer will be notified by E-Mail. If the excess use continues for more than 48 hours after such notification, the Customer may be requested to upgrade to a web hosting service agreement or to modify the activity creating the excess use. If excessive bandwidth, CPU or disk space utilization is determined by Torq Hosting to adversely affect Torq Hosting's ability to provide service for all customers, immediate action may be taken to alleviate the problem. In such event, the Customer will be notified by E-Mail as soon as practicable

9. Compliance with Rules of Other Networks


Any access to other networks connected to Torq Hosting's Internet service must comply with the rules for that other network as well as with Torq Hosting's rules.

10. Monitoring/Privacy


Torq Hosting reserves the right to monitor any and all communications through or with Torq Hosting facilities. Customer agrees that Torq Hosting is not considered a secure communications medium for the purposes of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and that no expectation of privacy is afforded. It may become necessary for Torq Hosting employees to examine system accounting logs and other records to determine if privacy violations or other network unfriendly activities have occurred. Torq Hosting also reserves the right to access a Customer's mailbox or other files stored on Torq Hosting systems to resolve system problems or mail system errors.

11. Cooperation with Authorities


Torq Hosting reserves the right to cooperate with law enforcement and other authorities in investigating claims of illegal activity including, but not limited to, illegal transfer or availability of copyrighted material, postings or e-mail containing threats of violence or other illegal activity.

12. Confidentiality of Personal Subscriber Information


Torq Hosting will not release a Customer's personal subscriber information, nor a Customer's billing information, to any third party except upon presentation of a valid court order of a government or entity within our jurisdiction. Customer agrees that Torq Hosting's judgment as to the validity of any court order of subpoena shall be considered proper and final.

13. Torq Hosting's Right to Suspend or Cancel Account


Torq Hosting reserves the right to suspend or cancel service to a Customer at any time and without notice, for any reason, including, but not limited to, refusal or failure to pay for services provided or by sole judgment of Torq Hosting that the Customer may be performing activities harmful to Torq Hosting or its Customers, employees, vendors, business relationships or any other users of the Internet.

14. Right to Damages


Torq Hosting reserves the right to collect damages (software, hardware and man hours) if any harm is done to Torq Hosting which requires repair or reconfiguration of any kind. In the event a Clients account is turned over to a collection agency, Client accepts and acknowledge that the Client will be responsible for all applicable fees Torq Hosting incurs related to t he collection of monies due Torq Hosting.

15. Other Remedies/Non-Waiver


Nothing contained in these policies shall be construed to limit action Torq Hosting may take or remedies available to Torq Hosting in any way with respect to any of the described conduct. Torq Hosting reserves the right to take any additional actions Torq Hosting may consider appropriate with respect to such conduct, including without limitation taking action to recover the costs and expenses of identifying offenders and removing them from the Torq Hosting service, and levying cancellation charges to cover Torq Hosting's costs in the event of disconnection of dedicated access for the causes outlined above. In addition, Torq Hosting reserves at all times all rights and remedies available to Torq Hosting with respect to such conduct at law or in equity. Non-enforcement of any policy or rule herein does not constitute consent or waiver, and Torq Hosting reserves the right to enforce such policy or rule at its sole discretion.

16. Torq Hosting's Right to Change Service


Torq Hosting reserves to right to change without notice the Torq Hosting service, including, but not limited to, access procedures, hours of operation, menu structures, commands, documentation, vendors and services offered.

17. Torq Hosting's Right to Modify its Acceptable Use Policies


Torq Hosting may modify its Acceptable Use Policies upon notice published online via Torq Hosting. Customer's use of Torq Hosting services after such notice shall constitute Customer's acceptance of the modifications to these policies.

18. Torq Hosting Package Terms


Torq Hosting's definition of "unlimited" features is at the sole discretion of Torq Hosting. 30 day money back guarantee does NOT apply to domain registration or setup fees. Customers who desire a refund on a prepaid account will be re-billed at the regular price as opposed to the discount. Only the difference between the prepaid amount and the re-billed regular price will be refunded.

19. Torq Hosting Billing Policy


All packages are automatically renewed on their renewal date after the initial term. The next renewal dates are included in every invoice. All renewed packages will be invoiced on the first of the month unless other prior arrangements have been made or a cancellation request has been received *before* the first of the month. Those that have chosen credit card billing will automatically be charged shortly after invoices are generated on the first of the month unless other arrangements have been made. Domain renewals are processed at least 30 days before the domain expiration date. Requests to cancel a domain registration will need to be submitted before the 1st of the month that is 30 days before the domain expiration date. Once an invoice is generated and paid, a domain renewal cannot be cancelled or refund issued. If you have any further questions about our billing policy, please submit a support ticket.
Invoices are due 30 days from when they are generated. Accounts that have any invoices that are more than 14 days overdue will be suspended unless prior arrangements have been made.
Accounts that are more than 2 months overdue will be subject to termination and all data will be removed from our servers.
Questions should be directed to support@torqhost.com