About this policy
This acceptable use policy sets the rules for every service Hostinium for Information Technology LLC provides. It forms part of our terms of service, and accepting those terms means accepting this policy. Where a rule here is stricter than a general statement elsewhere on the site, the rule here applies.
The purpose is simple. Our servers are shared infrastructure, and one account that floods a mail queue, saturates a CPU or hosts material that gets an IP range blocklisted degrades the service for everyone else on the machine. Most of the rules below exist for that reason rather than for a legal one.
Hostinium decides whether something is a violation of this policy. We apply it in line with our normal working practice: we contact you first where the problem is small, and we act first where it is not.
Reporting abuse and sending legal notices
To report a violation of this policy by a site or server we host, email info@hostinium.com with the domain or IP address, the date and time, and any headers or logs you have. Send notices of alleged copyright or trademark infringement by one of our customers, and court orders, subpoenas, search warrants and other legal process, to the same address.
We review the reports we receive and act on the ones that show a violation. We cooperate with law enforcement and government agencies working to reduce internet crime, and we will disclose content or account records where the law requires it.
What you can host
Disk space and bandwidth are sold for one purpose: a working website and the visitors who view it. Every file on a hosted domain must be part of the active site and linked from it. Storage accounts, file dumps and distribution points are not web hosting, whatever the plan says about space.
A site may not contain:
- warez, other illegal material, or copyrighted material you do not have the right to publish. If a claim is made, proving that you hold the rights is your responsibility, not ours;
- MP3 files, which are not active web content. Other multimedia is allowed when it is configured to stream to the visitor rather than to be downloaded;
- password-protected archives such as ZIP or RAR files, or data backups;
- pornographic, erotic, lewd or obscene material. Hostinium decides what counts as adult material;
- anything that breaks a law that applies to you or to the people who read your site.
If you use our infrastructure to provide gaming services, send us a valid copy of your gaming license from your licensing jurisdiction before the service is activated.
Scripts, processes and server resources
Scripts must be written to produce web pages, not to turn the server into an application server. A script that sends a single email from a form, or writes a record to a database, is fine. A script that sends bulk email or runs processor-intensive database work is not. All outgoing mail is monitored and filtered.
Do not change or work around server timeouts. They are set where they are so that one slow process cannot take a machine down for everyone on it.
Scripts must not attempt to reach privileged server resources, or other customers' sites on the same server. Any script that damages server performance or network integrity can be disabled without notice.
A site must not use an unreasonable share of bandwidth, processor time or disk space. When one account is found to be monopolizing a server we may suspend it immediately, and we may offer an upgrade or an add-on instead. We use immediate suspension only in extreme cases; the point is to stop a server being taken down, not to police normal traffic.
You may not use our email services to send messages that are:
- unsolicited, offensive, abusive, indecent or obscene;
- intended to cause annoyance, inconvenience or anxiety to another internet user;
- part of a fraud or any other criminal offense.
To stop bulk unsolicited mail leaving our network, we block SMTP traffic to and from a server where we find an open mail relay, where one domain pushes a large volume of mail through inside a 10-minute window, or where we receive significant volumes of complaints about unsolicited mail from a server we host.
We may disable a hosted domain where we receive significant volumes of complaints about unsolicited mail sent from it, or about unsolicited mail sent elsewhere to promote it. This protects our IP addresses from being blocklisted, which would stop mail for every other customer on the same range.
Where a mailbox or a domain causes a delivery problem, we either delete the mailbox behind it or change its settings; in extreme cases we disable email or suspend all services for the domain. The usual causes are a mailbox receiving large volumes of undeliverable mail, forwarders pointing at mailboxes that cannot receive, and forwarders or auto-responders that create circular mail loops.
The anti-spam obligations in the contract, including the $100 per-incident penalty for sending unsolicited bulk email, are in the terms of service.
Dedicated servers
Every dedicated server customer is responsible for the activity on their server and for its security, whether the server is managed or unmanaged. Patching, credentials and the software you install are yours to look after.
We disconnect a dedicated server from the network when:
- it attempts network scans or other possible hacking activity;
- we believe it has been compromised;
- its use of network capacity increases suddenly in a way that affects other servers on the same network.
Unpaid accounts and data retention
Files, databases and mail on an account are kept for 30 days from the date the payment was due. After that they may be deleted. If you want the service back after a deletion, you may have to sign up again as a new customer, and an activation fee may apply.
Late-payment, reactivation and dispute fees, and the notice you need to give to cancel, are in the cancellation policy.
How we enforce this policy
We may suspend or cancel access to any or all of your services where we decide an account has been used inappropriately, and we may refuse service or server access to anyone. We also suspend access to an account that contains invalid or fraudulent details, or that initiates a payment card chargeback.
When we disable a site or a server, we:
- email the account contact to say that the service has been suspended. The address on file should therefore be one hosted somewhere other than the account itself;
- follow up from the relevant department with the reason and with what, if anything, you need to do about it;
- do not re-enable a domain or server that was previously suspended for similar abuse;
- pass the account to the right department to settle an outstanding balance or to close it.
For less serious problems, such as a misconfigured mailbox, support contacts you and explains what was changed and why.
Once we have acted on an account, correspond only with the support department, through the client area or the address given in the notifying email. No other department can discuss an abuse investigation. Restoring a suspended service is considered case by case.
Liability and changes to this policy
Our liability for anything covered by this policy is limited exactly as it is in the terms of service, which also carry the severability, waiver and entire-agreement clauses that apply to it. If any provision of this policy is held to be illegal, invalid or unenforceable, the rest stays in effect.
New law, new technology and new kinds of abuse all change what this policy has to say. A revision reaches you the same way a revision of the terms of service does: 30 days' written notice, and the right to leave inside that period. Signing up for any Hostinium service means agreeing to be bound by this policy and by the terms it forms part of.
Questions
Questions about this policy? Message us on WhatsApp at +1 202 505 2888 or open a ticket in the client area.