Last Updated August 20, 2020
DEFINITIONS:
- Host = WP-Tonic® and/or its Parent Company
- Owner, User, You, Your = You, The paying Customer.
This Acceptable Use Policy (the “Policy” or “AUP”) is an integral part of your agreement with Host for the provision of services (collectively the “Services”) set forth on the Service and Pricing Order Form.
This Policy is designed to help protect Host’s customers from irresponsible and/or illegal activities. The Policy is a non-exclusive list of the actions prohibited by Host and Host reserves the right to modify the Policy at any time, effective upon notice to you. Host reserves the sole and absolute right to interpret, apply, define and implement this Policy.
WORDPRESS HOSTING
® is Managed Hosting for WordPress (https://wordpress.org) and WordPress compatible plugins and themes. Any other software applications or frameworks including but not limited to: phpBB, Joomla, or Drupal is forbidden without Host’s express written consent. Host retains the right to audit all customer supplied code for performance and/or security concerns and allow or disallow at sole discretion.
DMCA COMPLAINTS
As WP-Tonic asks others to respect its intellectual property rights, it respects the intellectual property rights of others. If you believe that material located on or linked to by a Pagely hosted site violates your copyright, you are encouraged to notify Pagely in accordance with Pagely’s Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) Policy. Pagely will respond to all such notices, including as required or appropriate by removing the infringing material or disabling all links to the infringing material. Pagely will terminate a customer’s access to and use of the service if, under appropriate circumstances, the customer is determined to be a repeat infringer of the copyrights or other intellectual property rights of WP-Tonic or others. In the case of such termination, Pagely will have no obligation to provide a refund of any amounts previously paid to Pagely.
ILLEGAL USE
Any use of Host Services in a manner which is defined or deemed to be statutorily illegal is a direct violation of Host’s AUP. This includes, but is not limited to: death threats, terroristic threats, threats of harm to another individual, multi-level marketing schemes, “ponzi schemes”, invasion of privacy, credit card fraud, racketeering, defamation, slander, and other common illegal activities.
OFFENSIVE CONTENT
You may not use any Host Service to distribute content or links to content that Host reasonably believes:
- Constitutes, depicts, fosters, promotes or relates in any manner to child pornography, bestiality, or non-consensual sex acts;
- Is excessively violent, incites violence, threatens violence or contains harassing content or hate speech;
- Is unfair or deceptive under the consumer protection laws of any jurisdiction, including chain letters and pyramid schemes;
- Is defamatory;
- Violates a person’s privacy;
- Creates a risk to a person’s safety or health, creates a risk to public safety or health, compromises national security or interferes with a investigation by law enforcement;
- Improperly exposes trade secrets or other confidential or proprietary information of another person;
- Is intended to assist others in defeating technical copyright protections;
- Infringes on another person’s copyright, trade or service mark, patent or other property right;
- Promotes illegal drugs, violates export control laws, relates to illegal gambling or illegal arms trafficking;
- Is otherwise illegal or solicits conduct that is illegal under laws applicable to you or to Host;
- Is otherwise malicious or fraudulent, or may result in retaliation against Host by offended recipients; or
- Is intended to harass or threaten.
CHILD PORNOGRAPHY
Host has a zero-tolerance policy on child pornography and related sites. The hosting of child pornography or related sites or contact information is in direct violation of federal law and Host’s AUP.
DENIAL OF SERVICE
Host absolutely prohibits the use of services or network services for the origination or control of denial of service (“DOS”) attacks or distributed denial of service (“DDOS”) attacks. Any relation to DOS or DDOS type activity is a direct violation of Host’s AUP.
SERVER ABUSE
Any attempts to undermine or cause harm to a Host server or subscriber of Host is strictly prohibited including, but not limited to:
- Logging into a server or account that you are not authorized to access;
- Accessing data or taking any action to obtain services not intended for you or your use;
- Tampering, hacking, modifying, or otherwise corrupting or breaching security or authentication measures without proper authorization;
- Transmitting material that contains viruses, trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots or other computer programming routines or engines with the intent or effect of damaging, destroying, disrupting or otherwise impairing a computer’s functionality or the operation of the Host’s systems;
- Interfering with, intercepting or expropriating any system, data or information to which you do not have the right to access; and
- Interfering with service to any user, host or network including, without limitation, by means of overloading, “flooding”, “mail-bombing”, or “crashing” any computer system.
IRC
We do not allow IRC, Egg Drops, BNC, or IRC bots to be operated on our servers or network. Files with references to IRC or any likeness thereof are prohibited. Also any program that acts like an IRC server or that provide chat functions that run as background processes are not allowed.
PROXIES
We do not allow proxy servers of any kind, whether for personal or business use. Files with references to any proxy or likeness thereof are prohibited.
GAME SERVERS
We do not allow game servers (dedicated game server programs) of any kind.
FRAUDULENT ACTIVITIES
Host prohibits utilizing dedicated services or network services for fraudulent activities. Participation in fraudulent activities is in direct violation of state and federal law and Host’s AUP.
DISTRIBUTION OF MALWARE
Host prohibits the storage, distribution, fabrication, or use of malware including virus software, root kits, password crackers, adware, keystroke capture programs and other programs normally used in malicious activity; provided, however, programs used in the normal ordinary course of business are deemed acceptable. As an example, a security company hosting at Host analyzes the latest root kit for new security analysis/software.
PHISHING
Host strictly prohibits any activity associated with Phishing or systems designed to collect personal information (name, account numbers, user names, passwords, etc.) under false pretense. Splash pages, phishing forms, email distribution, proxy email or any relation to phishing activities will result in immediate removal.
HYIP OR PONZI SCHEMES
High Yield Investment Plans or Ponzi schemes with the intent to defraud end users are illegal and not allowed on the network. This includes hosting, linking and or advertising via email websites or schemes designed to defraud.
VULNERABILITY MONITORING AND TESTING
You may not attempt to probe, scan, penetrate or test the vulnerability of a Host system, subsystem or network, customer web application, or to attempt to breach security or authentication measures, whether by passive or intrusive techniques, without Host’s express written consent.
ATYPICAL USAGE
Any accounts reasonably deemed by the host to be used for atypical purposes such as competitive analysis or research, compliance auditing and testing, or use in or by a bug bounty program are forbidden without Host’s express written consent.
IP ADDRESS USAGE
You may only use IP addresses assigned to you by Host in connection with your Host Services.
BULK MAIL
You may not use any Host Service to send Bulk Mail. “Bulk Mail” means email messages of similar content that are sent to more than two hundred and fifty (250) recipients. Attempts to circumvent this restriction by breaking up bulk email over time, using multiple accounts, or other means will be a violation of this restriction. A mail message sent to other users within your domain names hosted on the Host system is not considered Bulk Mail.
UNSOLICITED MAIL
You may not send unsolicited email. Email is unsolicited if you have no pre-existing relationship with the recipient, unless the recipient has published or otherwise provided his or her email address in a manner which implies consent to receive the email. You may not send email of any kind to a person who has indicated that they do not wish to receive it. Any such email shall comply with all laws and regulations, including without limitation, the CAN SPAM Act.
MESSAGE SOURCE
You may not obscure the source of your email in any manner, including by intentionally omitting, forging, or misrepresenting message headers or return addresses.
EMAIL ABUSE COMPLAINTS
Complaints from email recipients and third party abuse agencies (e.g. SpamHaus or Spamcop) shall be deemed proof of the facts stated therein unless you provide compelling evidence to the contrary. Host shall have the right to terminate your mail service if we receive excessive or repeated complaints from your email recipients, regardless of whether you are in breach of this AUP or are otherwise at fault.
BLACKLISTING/RETALIATION
Host may terminate your Services if your email address or related IP number(s) is/are blacklisted by any third party, or Host is retaliated against as a result of your use of the mail system, regardless of whether you are in breach of this AUP or are otherwise at fault.
USENET SPAM
The use of dedicated services to send, receive, forward, or post UseNet unsolicited email or posts is a direct violation of Host’s AUP. This includes UseNet services located within the Host network or unrelated third party networks.
HOST ADMINISTRATIVE ACCESS
You, the customer, acknowledges that to facilitate efficient server management, inventory and related activities, the Host servers may include a Host administrative account and password and/or a Host daemon. All reasonable precautions are made by Host to maintain the security of these tools and the privacy of client data. You will not tamper, hinder, delete or in anyway change the functioning of these tools.
Resellers: If you resell, rent or otherwise allow third parties to use any Host Services, you are responsible for use of the Services by such third parties in violation of this AUP to the same extent as if you were using Host Services yourself. You are also responsible for all accounting and support for your end customers.
DISCLOSURE TO LAW ENFORCEMENT
Occasionally, Host is required by law to submit customer information to law enforcement officials when presented with a valid subpoena or order from a court or governmental entity. Information requested is disclosed as directed pursuant to the subpoena or order. Host utilizes great care in keeping customer information safe and private and will only release information described in the subpoena order. Host will notify customer of the information request to the extent permitted by the subpoena or order.
REPORTING VIOLATION OF THE ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
Host accepts reports of alleged violations of this AUP via email.
Reports of alleged violations must be verified and include name, contact information, IP address, and description of the violation. Host owes no duty to third parties reporting alleged violations; provided, however, Host will use commercially reasonable efforts to review all verified third party reports and will take appropriate actions as described within the resolution process as set forth in Table A below.
RESOLUTION PROCESS FOR VIOLATIONS OF HOST’S ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
The ultimate goal of this AUP by Host is to balance the rights of our customers while ensuring full compliance of this AUP. The goal of our Resolution Process is to mitigate service interruptions while resolving potential violations under this AUP. Our sales, support and abuse staff is dedicated to working with the customer in resolving potential violations, and are available via phone or email. The resolution process below provides the process for resolving all potential violations. Timing for resolution differs according to the degree of the violation, the nature of the violation, involvement of law enforcement, involvement of third party litigation, or other related factors. Overall, Host is dedicated to working with the customer in resolving all potential violations prior to any service interruptions.
STEP 1: FIRST ALLEGED VIOLATION OF AUP:
A ticket will be generated under Host to obtain the customer’s master user account with information regarding the potential violation of Host’s AUP. This is often a fact-finding email requiring further information or notifying customer of the potential violation and the required actions to resolve the issue.
STEP 2: ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF VIOLATION OF AUP:
A ticket is generated under the customer’s master user account with information specific to the violation. This ticket will also include any additional facts about the situation and will notify customer of the action required to resolve the violation.
STEP 3: VIOLATION OF AUP DISREGARDED, NOT PROPERLY ADDRESSED, OR CONTINUING VIOLATION IF A TICKET HAS BEEN DISREGARDED, NOT PROPERLY ADDRESSED, OR RESOLVED BY THE CUSTOMER FOR A SPECIFIED PERIOD OF TIME:
Host engineers will turn the public network port to the specified dedicated services off. Access to the dedicated services may then be achieved through the secure private service network for customer resolution. As soon as the violation is addressed, the public access shall be restored and service will continue as normal.
STEP 4: FAILURE TO ADDRESS VIOLATION AND RESOLVE VIOLATION:
If customer fails to address the violation AND resolve the violation, a suspension of services may occur in Host’s sole discretion. This is a last resort for Host and only results when the customer completely fails to participate in Host’s resolution process. A permanent suspension of services includes reclamation of all dedicated services and the destruction of customer’s data.
Disclaimer: Host retains the right, at its sole discretion, to refuse new service to any individual, group, or business. Host also retains the right to discontinue service to customers with excessive and/or multiple repeated violations