Houston's Host Acceptable Use Policy
&
Hosting Service Agreement
Acceptable Use Policy
This Acceptable
Use Policy ("Policy" or "AUP") describes
the Prohibited Uses of Houston's Host's hosting
services ("Services"). This Policy is incorporated
within our terms and conditions by reference. Houston's Host reserves the right to modify the Policy at
any time and the modified policy is effective upon posting
on the Houston's Host website. Any violation
of the Policy may result in the suspension, termination of
your account, or such other action that Houston's Host deems appropriate. This Policy outlines the uses
of our Services that are prohibited and is by no means exhaustive.
By using our Services, you affirm that you have read and agreed
to be bound by the terms of this policy.
-
Prohibited Uses:
-
Illegal Use:
Houston's Host's servers may be used only
for lawful purposes. Transmission, distribution or storage
of any material in violation of any applicable law or
regulation is prohibited.
-
Infringement:
Infringement of intellectual property rights or other
proprietary rights including, without limitation, material
protected by copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret,
or other intellectual property right used without proper
authorization. Infringement may result from, among other
activities, the unauthorized copying and posting of
pictures, logos, software, articles, musical works,
and videos.
-
Offensive Materials:
Transmission, disseminating, sale, storage or hosting
material that is unlawful, libelous, defamatory, obscene,
pornographic, indecent, lewd, harassing, threatening,
harmful, invasive of privacy or publicity rights, abusive,
inflammatory or otherwise objectionable.
-
Export Violations:
Posting or sending of software or technical information
in violation of U.S. export laws, including, without
limitation, the Export Administration Act and the Export
Administration Regulations maintained by the Department
of Commerce.
-
Harmful Content:
Disseminating or hosting harmful content including,
without limitation, viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time
bombs, cancelbots or any other computer programming
routines that may damage, interfere with, surreptitiously
intercept or expropriate any system, program, data or
personal information.
-
Fraudulent Conduct:
Offering or disseminating fraudulent goods,
services, schemes, or promotions (i.e., make money fast
schemes, chain letters, pyramid schemes), or furnishing
false data on any signup form, contract or online application
or registration, or the fraudulent use of any information
obtained through the use of the Services, including
without limitation use of credit card numbers.
-
SPAM:
Houston's Host STRICTLY prohibits the
use of spam and all spamming tactics. We take
spam complaints very seriously. Your account can
be shut down immediately at the discretion of Houston's Host if
we detect Spamming associated with your site
This included but is not limited to:
1) The sending of Unsolicited Bulk or individual email
associated with or pointing to your domain. (Unsolicited
means that you lack affirmative consent from the recipient)
2) The use of our servers to relay spam.
-
Network Security:
Violations of system or network security are prohibited,
and may result in criminal and civil liability. Houston's Host will investigate incidents involving
such violations and may involve and/or cooperate with law
enforcement authorities if a criminal violation is suspected.
Examples of unlawful acts, system, or network security violations
include, but are not limited to, the following:
-
Unauthorized access to or use of
data, systems or networks, including any attempt to
probe, damage, 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 access to any data, system,
or network from an unauthorized system or network for
any purpose which is not lawful or which is intended
to do harm.
-
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, mail bombing, flooding, deliberate
attempts to overload a system and broadcast attacks.
-
Forgery
Electronic forging of any kind to include but not limited
to IP addresses, domains, business names, etc.
-
Email Usage
Malicious email, including without limitation "mail
bombing" (flooding a user or Web site with very large
or numerous pieces of mail) or "trolling" (posting
outrageous messages to generate numerous responses) is strictly
prohibited.
In addition, you may not use Houston's Host's
mail server or another Web site's mail server to relay mail
without the express permission of the account holder or
the Web site. Posting the same or similar message to one
or more newsgroups (excessive cross-posting or multiple-posting)
also is explicitly prohibited.
-
Misuse of System Resources
It is a violation for anyone to post information or to include
programs on the web space provided through the Services
which consume excessive bandwidth, CPU time or storage space.
In addition, You will not run daemons or other background
processes without prior authorization from Houston's Host.
-
INDIRECT OR ATTEMPTED VIOLATIONS OF THE
POLICY, AND ACTUAL OR ATTEMPTED VIOLATIONS BY A THIRD PARTY
ON BEHALF OF AN ADVANCED WEB SITE PUBISHING CUSTOMER OR
A CUSTOMER'S END USER, SHALL BE CONSIDERED VIOLATIONS OF
THE POLICY BY SUCH CUSTOMER OR END USER.
-
Houston's Host reserves
the right to cooperate with appropriate legal authorities
in investigations of claims of illegal activity involving
Houston's Host’s Services, Customers and other
Users. Houston's Host reserves all other rights
to respond to violations of this Policy to the extent of
applicable law and in accordance with any applicable contractual
obligations.
Hosting Service Agreement
This Hosting Service
Agreement ("Agreement") between the account holder
("You") and Houston's Host
sets forth the terms
and conditions of Your use of Houston's Host's
web hosting services. This Agreement as well as any additional
rules and policies, together with all modifications thereto
as posted on our website, constitute the complete and exclusive
agreement between You and Houston's Host concerning
Your use of Houston's Host's web hosting services
and other services ("Services"). This Agreement
supersedes and governs all other proposals, agreements, or
any other form of communications made between You and Houston's Host. By selecting Houston's Host's
web hosting services You have agreed to establish an account
with us for such services and upon submitting Your application
for our Services ("Order") You acknowledge that
You have read, understood and agreed to be bound by all terms
and conditions of relevant policies, as amended from time
to time:
-
Term and Payment for Services:
-
Term of Commencement:
Billing is performed on the first of each month.
Orders submitted anytime during the month will be pro-rated
for that month.
-
Initial Term:
This Agreement will have an initial term equal to that
of the duration of the billing cycle. In the event that
the billing cycle begins at a future date, then this
Agreement shall have an initial term equal to that of
the duration of the billing cycle plus the number of
days until the beginning of the billing cycle.
-
Renewal Terms:
If You wish to terminate the Services at the end of
the Initial Term or any subsequent Renewal Terms, notice
of intent to terminate must be given in written form,
at least thirty (30) days prior to the termination date.
Phone notification shall not be acceptable. If You fail
to notify Houston's Host of Your intent
to terminate this Agreement, this Agreement will be
automatically renewed for a period equal to the duration
of the billing cycle ("Renewal Term") at Houston's Host's then-current rates and charges.
-
Fees and Expenses:
You will pay all fees due according to the prices and
terms selected upon submitting Your Order and at the
start of each Renewal Term thereafter. You agree that
failure to indicate Your intent to terminate our Services
grants Houston's Host the authorization
to charge Your credit or debit card for the amount specified
during the Order at start of the Initial Term and at
the start of each Renewal Term. Houston's Host
will not send any invoices regarding charges made to
their credit or debit card. You may use Your credit
card statement as a receipt. Accounts that are past
due by more than thirty (15) calendar days shall be
subject to immediate interruption of Service(s), with
or without the grant of a notice and may constitute
a breach of this agreement, such grant of notice or
decision of breach is to be decided at the sole discretion
of Houston's Host. Houston's Host
may charge You a surcharge for repeated failed credit/debit
card transactions and will assess a $25 surcharge for
bounced checks.
-
Taxes:
You shall pay or otherwise be responsible for all federal,
state, or local sales, use, excise, gross receipts,
municipal fees, transfer, transaction, property, or
similar taxes, fees, or surcharges ("Tax")
imposed on, or with respect to, the Services under this
Agreement.
-
Refunds:
Houston's Host or any of it's affiliates
or suppliers will not refund any setup or pre-paid hosting
fees.
-
Applicable Policies and Guidelines:
The Houston's Host Acceptable Use Policy (the
"Policy") governs the general policies and procedures
for use of the Services. The Policy is posted above and
may be updated from time to time. YOU SHOULD CAREFULLY READ
THE USAGE GUIDELINES. BY USING THE SERVICES, YOU AGREE TO
BE BOUND BY THE TERMS OF THE USAGE GUIDELINES AND ANY MODIFICATIONS
TO THE TERMS. HOUSTON'S HOST MAY TERMINATE
YOUR ACCOUNT FOR ANY VIOLATION OF THE POLICY OR THIS AGREEMENT.
-
Services Use:
Bandwidth, Storage, and E-Mail Usage.
For Services, You will not exceed the bandwidth, storage
and E-mail usage limits according to the plan You selected
in the Order. If You use any bandwidth or storage space
in excess of the agreed upon number of megabytes per month
or if You exceed email storage and attachment size limitations,
Houston's Host may, in its sole discretion,
assess You with additional charges, suspend the Service,
or terminate this Agreement. If Houston's Host
elects to take any corrective action, Houston's Host will not refund any unused pre-paid fees. Your
use of Your account and access to it is Your responsibility.
You are responsible for any unauthorized access to Your
account resulting in bandwidth, storage and/or email usage
exceeding the limits in accordance with the plan chosen
in the Order and resultant charges.
-
Security:
You are solely responsible for any security breaches affecting
servers or accounts under Your control. If your server or
website is responsible for or involved in an attack on or
unauthorized access into another server or system, Houston's Host will shut it down immediately. You will
pay any charges resulting from the cost to correct security
breaches affecting Houston's Host or any of
its other customers.
-
Your License Grant to Houston's Host:
You grant to Houston's Host a non-exclusive,
worldwide, and royalty-free license for the Initial Term
and the Renewal Term, if applicable, to edit, modify, adapt,
translate, exhibit, publish, transmit, participate in the
transfer of, reproduce, create derivative works from, distribute,
perform, display, and otherwise use Your content as necessary
for the purposes of rendering and operating the Services
to You under this Agreement. You expressly: (a) grant to
Houston's Host a license to cache materials
distributed or made available for distribution via the Services,
including content supplied by third parties, and (b) agree
that this caching is not an infringement of any of Your
intellectual property rights or any third party's intellectual
property rights.
-
Your Warranties and Representations
to Houston's Host:
You warrant, represent, and covenant to Houston's Host that: (a) You are at least 18 years of age; (b)
You possess the legal right and ability to enter into this
Agreement; (c) You will use the Services only for lawful
purposes and in accordance with this Agreement and all applicable
policies and guidelines; (d) You will be financially responsible
for the use of Your account; (e) You have acquired or will
acquire all authorization(s) necessary for hypertext links
to third-party Web sites or other content; (f) You have
verified or will verify the accuracy of materials distributed
or made available for distribution via the Services, including
Your content, descriptive claims, warranties, guarantees,
nature of business, and address where business is conducted,
and (g) Your content does not and will not infringe or violate
any right of any third party (including any intellectual
property rights) or violate any applicable law, regulation
or ordinance.
-
Houston's Host
Materials and Intellectual Property:
All materials, including any computer software (in object
code and source code form), data or information that Houston's Host or its suppliers or agents develop or
provide under this Agreement, and any know-how, methodologies,
equipment, or processes Houston's Host uses
to provide the Services to You, including all copyrights,
trademarks, patents, trade secrets, and any other proprietary
rights inherent therein and appurtenant thereto will remain
Houston's Host's or its suppliers' sole and
exclusive property. Houston's Host will also
maintain and control ownership of all Internet protocol
("IP") numbers and addresses that Houston's Host may be assign to You. Houston's Host may, in its sole discretion, change or remove
any and all IP numbers and addresses.
-
Investigation of Violations:
Houston's Host may investigate any reported
violation of this Agreement, or its policies or any complaints
and take any action that it deems appropriate and reasonable
under the circumstance to protect its systems, facilities,
customers or third parties. Houston's Host
will not access or review the contents of any e-mail or
similar stored electronic communications except as required
or permitted by applicable law or legal process.
-
Actions:
Houston's Host may restrict or remove from
its servers any content that violates this Agreement or
related policies or guidelines, or is otherwise objectionable
or potentially infringing on any third party's rights or
that potentially violates any laws. If Houston's Host becomes aware that You have possibly violated
this Agreement, any related policies or guidelines, third
party rights or laws, Houston's Host may immediately
take corrective action, including: (a) issuing warnings,
(b) suspending or terminating the Service, (c) restricting
or prohibiting any and all uses of content hosted on Houston's Host's systems, and (d) disabling or removing
any hypertext links to third-party Web sites, any of Your
content distributed or made available for distribution via
the Services, or other content not supplied by Houston's Host that, in Houston's Host's
sole discretion, may violate or infringe any law or third-party
rights or that otherwise exposes or potentially exposes
Houston's Host to civil or criminal liability
or public ridicule. It is Houston's Host's
policy to terminate repeat violators. These rights of action,
however, do not obligate Houston's Host to
monitor or exert editorial control over the information
made available for distribution via the Services. If Houston's Host takes corrective action because of a
possible violation, Houston's Host will not
refund to You any fees You paid in advance of the corrective
action.
-
Disclosure Rights:
To comply with applicable laws and lawful governmental requests,
to protect Houston's Host's systems and customers,
or to ensure the integrity and operation of Houston's Host's business and systems, Houston's Host may access and disclose any information it considers
necessary or appropriate, including, user profile information
(i.e., name, e-mail address, etc.), IP addressing and traffic
information, usage history, and content residing on Houston's Host's servers and systems. Houston's Host may report any activity that it suspects
violates any law or regulation to appropriate law enforcement
officials, regulators, or other appropriate third parties.
-
No Other Warranty:
THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" BASIS,
AND YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES IS AT ITS OWN RISK. HOUSTON'S HOST DOES NOT MAKE, AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS,
ANY AND ALL OTHER EXPRESS AND/OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING,
BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS
FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NONINFRINGEMENT AND TITLE, AND
ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE,
OR TRADE PRACTICE. HOUSTON'S HOST DOES NOT
WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE,
OR COMPLETELY SECURE. HOUSTON'S HOST DOES
NOT WARRANT THAT THE SOFTWARE, INCLUDING SECURITY SOFTWARE,
OPERATES WITHOUT ERROR OR WILL PREVENT THIRD PARTY HACKING
OR ACCESS TO YOUR NETWORKS.
-
Limitation of Liability:
IN NO EVENT WILL HOUSTON'S HOST OR ITS SUPPLIERS
HAVE ANY LIABILITY FOR UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO, OR ALTERATION,
THEFT OR DESTRUCTION OF INFORMATION DISTRIBUTED OR MADE
AVAILABLE FOR DISTRIBUTION VIA THE SERVICES THROUGH ACCIDENT,
FRAUDULENT MEANS OR DEVICES. NEITHER HOUSTON'S HOST
NOR ITS SUPPLIERS WILL HAVE LIABILITY WITH RESPECT TO HOUSTON'S HOST'S OBLIGATIONS UNDER THIS AGREEMENT,
OR OTHERWISE FOR CONSEQUENTIAL, EXEMPLARY, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL,
OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES (INCLUDING LOST PROFITS) EVEN IF HOUSTON'S HOST HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY
OF THESE DAMAGES. THE LIABILITY OF HOUSTON'S HOST
AND ITS SUPPLIERS TO YOU FOR ANY REASON AND UPON ANY CAUSE
OF ACTION IS LIMITED TO THE AMOUNT YOU ACTUALLY PAID TO
HOUSTON'S HOST UNDER THIS AGREEMENT DURING
THE BILLING CYCLE IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE DATE ON WHICH
THE CLAIM ACCRUED BUT IN NO EVENT GREATER THAN FIVE HUNDRED
DOLLARS ($500.00). BECAUSE SOME STATES DO NOT ALLOW THE
EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF LIABILITY FOR CONSEQUENTIAL OR
INCIDENTAL DAMAGES, IN SUCH STATES, OUR LIABILITY IS LIMITED
TO THE MAXIMUM EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW. THIS LIMITATION
APPLIES TO ALL CAUSES OF ACTION IN THE AGGREGATE, INCLUDING
BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, NEGLIGENCE, STRICT
LIABILITY, MISREPRESENTATIONS, AND OTHER TORTS. THE FEES
FOR THE SERVICES SET BY HOUSTON'S HOST UNDER
THIS AGREEMENT HAVE BEEN AND WILL CONTINUE TO BE BASED UPON
THIS ALLOCATION OF RISK. YOU AGREE THAT HOUSTON'S HOST IS NOT LIABLE FOR ANY LOST DATA OR CONTENT AND
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO MAINTAIN
BACKUPS OF YOUR DATA. ACCORDINGLY, YOU RELEASE HOUSTON'S HOST AND ITS SUPPLIERS FROM ANY AND ALL OBLIGATIONS,
LIABILITIES, AND CLAIMS IN EXCESS OF THE LIMITATION STATED
IN THIS SECTION.
-
Indemnification:
You release and hold harmless, and agree to indemnify, Houston's Host and its affiliates and suppliers and
their respective employees, directors and representative
against any and all claims, actions, proceedings, suits,
liabilities, damages, settlements, penalties, fines, costs
or expenses (including, reasonable attorneys' fees and other
litigation expenses) incurred by Houston's Host
or its suppliers, arising out of or relating to: (a) Your
violation or breach of any term, condition, representation
or warranty of this Agreement, or any applicable policy
or guideline; (b) Your improper or illegal use the Services;
or (c) Your violation, alleged violation, or misappropriation
of any intellectual property right (including trademark,
copyright, patent, trade secrets) or non-proprietary right
of a third party (including defamation, libel, violation
of privacy or publicity).
-
Force Majeure:
Except for the obligation to make payments, neither party
will be liable for any failure or delay in its performance
under this Agreement due to any cause beyond its reasonable
control, including, but not limited to, acts of war, acts
of God, earthquake, flood, embargo, riot, sabotage, labor
shortage or dispute, governmental act or failure of the
Internet (not resulting from the actions or inactions of
Houston's Host), provided that the delayed
party: (a) gives the other party prompt notice of such cause,
and (b) uses its reasonable commercial efforts to promptly
correct such failure or delay in performance. If Houston's Host is unable to provide Service(s) for
a period of thirty (30) consecutive days as a result of
a continuing force majeure event, You may cancel the Service(s),
but there shall be no liability on the part of Houston's Host.
-
Agents, Licensees and Resellers:
You agree that, if You are purchasing our Services for or
on behalf of another entity, You represent that You have
the authority to bind that other entity as a principal to
all terms and conditions provided herein. You agree that
if You license the use of Your Services registered to You
to a third party, You will remain responsible for all obligations
under this Agreement, including but not limited to payment
obligations, and providing (and updating, as necessary)
both Your own full contact information, adequate to facilitate
timely resolution of any problems that arise.
-
Breach and Revocation:
Houston's Host reserves the right to suspend,
cancel or modify Your services we provide in the event You
materially breach this Agreement and do not cure such breach
within thirty (30) days of notice by Houston's Host.
You also agree that Houston's Host shall have
the right in its sole discretion to suspend, cancel or otherwise
modify Your Services upon seven (7) calendar days prior
written notice, or at such time as Houston's Host
receives a properly authenticated order from a court of
competent jurisdiction, or arbitration award, requiring
the suspension, cancellation or modification of the Services.
-
Right of Refusal:
We, in our sole discretion, reserve the right to refuse
to do business with You, or to stop doing business with
You. You agree to hold Houston's Host harmless
for any damages arising out of any form or cause of action
that could arise from Houston's Host’s actions.
-
Governing Law:
Any disputes over this Agreement, Your rights and obligations
and all actions contemplated by this Agreement shall be
governed by the laws of the United States of America and
the State of New Jersey, as if the Agreement was a contract
wholly entered into and wholly performed within the State
of New Jersey. Any action with respect to this Agreement
or any matter relating to Your use of the Houston's Host site shall be brought exclusively in the United
States District Court for the District of New Jersey, or
if there is no jurisdiction in such court, then in the Superior
Court of the State of New Jersey, Somerset County. You irrevocably
consent to the exclusive jurisdiction of the State of New
Jersey for any actions hereunder.
-
Notices:
You agree that any notices required to be given under this
Agreement by Houston's Host to You will be deemed to have
been given if delivered in accordance with the contact information
supplied on the Order You have provided. For notices to
Houston's Host, Houston's Host may be contacted via email
at info@houstonshost.com
or at the following address:
Houston's Host
P.O. Box 891167
Houston, TX 77289
-
Acceptance of Agreement:
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ THIS AGREEMENT AND AGREE
TO ALL ITS TERMS AND CONDITIONS. YOU HAVE INDEPENDENTLY
EVALUATED THE DESIRABILITY OF THE SERVICE AND ARE NOT RELYING
ON ANY REPRESENTATION AGREEMENT, GUARANTEE OR STATEMENT
OTHER THAN AS SET FORTH IN THIS AGREEMENT.
|