Acceptable Use Policy
______________________________________________________________________
As a provider of web site
hosting, and other Internet-related services, Maxium Hosting offers its
clients, and their customers and users, the means to disseminate a wealth of
public, private, commercial, and non-commercial information. Maxium Hosting
respects that the Internet provides a forum for free and open discussion and
dissemination of information, however, when there are competing interests at
issue, Maxium Hosting reserves the right to take certain preventative or
corrective actions. In order to protect these competing interests, Maxium
Hosting has developed an Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP"), which supplements and
explains certain terms of each customer's respective service agreement and is
intended as a guide to the customer's rights and obligations when utilizing
Maxium Hosting’s services. This AUP will be revised from time to time. A
customer's use of Maxium Hosting after changes to the AUP are posted on Maxium
Hosting’s web site, www.MaxiumHosting.com or any variation thereof, will
constitute the customer's acceptance of any new or additional terms of the AUP
that result from those changes.
One important aspect of the Internet is that no one party owns or controls it.
This fact accounts for much of the Internet's openness and value, but it also
places a high premium on the judgment and responsibility of those who use the
Internet to disseminate information to others.
When information is disseminated through the Internet, they also must keep in
mind that Maxium Hosting does not review, edit, censor, or take responsibility
for any information its clients may create. When users place information on the
Internet, they have the same liability as other authors for copyright
infringement, defamation, and other harmful speech. Also, because the
information they create is carried over Maxium Hosting’s network and may reach
a large number of people, including both clients and non-clients of Maxium
Hosting, clients' postings to the Internet may affect other clients and may
harm Maxium Hosting’s goodwill, business reputation, and operations. For these
reasons, clients violate Maxium Hosting policy and the service agreement when
they, their customers, affiliates, or subsidiaries engage in the following
prohibited activities:
• Spamming
• Intellectual Property Violations
• Adult Material
• Photos or videos showing graphic violence, death or dismemberment.
• Defamatory or Abusive Language
• Forging of Headers
• Illegal or Unauthorized Access to Other Computers or Networks
• Background Running Programs
• Distribution of Internet Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, or Other Destructive
Activities
• Facilitating a Violation of this AUP
• Export Control Violations
• Resellers or Customers offering "Unlimited Bandwidth"
• Other Illegal Activities
• Other Activities
• Proxies are not allow the placement or the usage of proxies on any of the
servers.
Spamming
Sending unsolicited bulk and/or commercial messages over the Internet (known as
"spamming"). It is not only harmful because of its negative impact on consumer
attitudes toward Maxium Hosting, but also because it can overload Maxium
Hosting's network and disrupt service to Maxium Hosting clients. Also,
maintaining an open SMTP relay is prohibited. When a complaint is received,
Maxium Hosting has the discretion to determine from all of the evidence whether
the e-mail recipients were from an "opt-in" e-mail list. Refer to our UCE/SPAM
Policy for more information.
Intellectual Property Violations
Engaging in any activity that infringes or misappropriates the intellectual
property rights of others, including copyrights, trademarks, service marks,
trade secrets, software piracy, and patents held by individuals, corporations,
or other entities. Also, engaging in activity that violates privacy, publicity,
or other personal rights of others. Maxium Hosting is required by law to remove
or block access to customer content upon receipt of a proper notice of
copyright infringement. It is also Maxium Hosting’s policy to terminate the
privileges of customers who commit repeat violations of copyright laws.
Payment Policies
Cancellations must be made in
advance. The customer is responsible for all money owed on the account from the
time it was established to the time it is terminated. Requests for terminations
must be submitted in writing to Maxium Hosting.
ALL orders are routed through the
system and created AUTOMATICALLY after you use our web hosting form to signup.
If you would like a manual setup, or a custom plan, please contact Maxium
Hosting.
We accept payments via Credit
Card & PayPal
Refusal of Service
Maxium Hosting reserves the right
to cancel service at any time. All fees paid in advance of cancellation will be
pro-rated and paid by Maxium Hosting if Maxium Hosting institutes its right of
cancellation. If cancellation is caused by customers violation of these
policies, then no refund will be disbursed.
Customers can
cancel service at any time and be refunded any amount exceeding the
pre-payment of the current month. Due to security concerns, all account
cancellations must be done in writing via US mail or email with account
name and reason for cancellation. Several checks will occur before
the account is closed out. Payment will be made by PayPal within 30
days of receipt of cancellation. The account will be closed within
24 hours of the closure request.
Server Updates
Maxium Hosting reserves the right
to update its servers at anytime. As a result, we can not be held responsible
for anything that may result in a person's site(s) not working properly due to
the changes or updates on the server.
MP3's
We do not allow copyrighted MP3
music for download or archive. You are allowed to have your own MP3's. An
example would be a band that would like to promote the music on their website,
or a Home recording of something.
Adult Material
Because the Internet is a global communication tool, and we have clients from
nearly every country in the world it is difficult to dictate what is considered
"adult material." However, it is not our function to discriminate against those
who choose to utilize adult content or adult related material. This being said,
there are still several reasons why Maxium Hosting has been forced to create
its no adult sites policy for its virtual server users.
What does Maxium Hosting consider "Adult Material?"
• Any site whose revenue is gained in part or whole from its adult content.
• Photos or videos showing frontal nudity on either men or women for non-
scientific or non-artistic purposes.
• Revenue-generating hyperlinks to sites who violate policy #1.
Why does Maxium Hosting have this policy?
Bandwidth and Resources
A virtual server is a shared environment where many servers reside
on each particular machine. This being said, consider that an average
"adult site" gets more hits than 100 standard websites. Some of the
smaller adult sites get around 5 GB of transfer per day. With these
types of resources being utilized, our servers would be extremely
slow if we allowed these high traffic sites to also reside on our
servers. On top of that, we would be forced to raise our prices to
pay for the additional bandwidth. We strive to keep our servers fast
and inexpensive, and our bandwidth clear; therefore, adult sites are
not an option.
Maxium Hosting reserves the right to decide what it considers "adult content",
"adult material", "sexually explicit", or "sexually related". Let us know if
you are unsure of the approval of your site before placing an order.
Photos or videos showing graphic violence, death or dismemberment.
Photos or videos showing graphic violence, death, or dismemberment, is
considered disrespectful, and will not be tolerated on our servers. This
includes graphic war images or videos, or any image or video containing the
depiction of graphic violence, death, or dismemberment.
Defamatory or Abusive Language
Using Maxium Hosting’s network as a means to transmit or post defamatory,
harassing, abusive, or threatening language.
Forging of Headers
Forging or misrepresenting message headers, whether in whole or in part, to
mask the originator of the message.
Illegal or Unauthorized Access to Other Computers or Networks
Accessing illegally or without authorization computers, accounts, or networks
belonging to another party, or attempting to penetrate security measures of
another individual's system (often known as "hacking"). Also, any activity that
might be used as a precursor to an attempted system penetration (i.e. port
scan, stealth scan, or other information gathering activity).
Background Running Programs
Background Daemons in general are prohibited on Maxium Hosting servers,
including, but not limited to, IRC bots, eggdrop, BitchX, XiRCON, warez sites
and any other program that interferes with normal server operation.
Maxium Hosting will be the sole arbitor of what consitutes a violation of the
above policy.
Distribution of Internet Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, or Other Destructive
Activities
Distributing information regarding the creation of and sending Internet
viruses, worms, Trojan horses, pinging, flooding, mailbombing, or denial of
service attacks. Also, activities that disrupt the use of or interfere with the
ability of others to effectively use the network or any connected network,
system, service, or equipment.
Facilitating a Violation of this AUP
Advertising, transmitting, or otherwise making available any software, program,
product, or service that is designed to violate this AUP, which includes the
facilitation of the means to spam, initiation of pinging, flooding,
mailbombing, denial of service attacks, and piracy of software.
Export Control Violations
Exporting encryption software over the Internet or otherwise, to points outside
the United States.
Resellers or Customers offering "Unlimited Bandwidth"
We are strictly against this practice because it's not only unethical, but an
outright lie. "Unlimited Bandwidth" is not possible, in any scenerio. Therefore
any customer running a small hosting business from their shared account, or any
reseller of Maxium Hosting will be suspended or terminated (the sole judgement
of Maxium Hosting) upon realization of this practice being conducted by the
customer or reseller.
Other Illegal Activities
Engaging in activities that are determined to be illegal, including
advertising, transmitting, or otherwise making available ponzi schemes, pyramid
schemes, fraudulently charging credit cards, and pirating software.
Other Activities
Engaging in activities, whether lawful or unlawful, that Maxium Hosting
determines to be harmful to its clients, operations, reputation, goodwill, or
customer relations.
As we have pointed out, the responsibility for avoiding the harmful
activities just described rests primarily with the client. Maxium
Hosting will not, as an ordinary practice, monitor the communications
of its client to ensure that they comply with Maxium Hosting policy
or applicable law. When Maxium Hosting becomes aware of harmful activities,
however, it may take any action to stop the harmful activity, including
but not limited to, removing information, shutting down a web site,
implementing screening software designed to block offending transmissions,
denying access to the Internet, or take any other action deemed appropriate.
Maxium Hosting is also concerned with the privacy of on-line communications
and web sites. In general, the Internet is neither more nor less secure
than other means of communication, including mail, facsimile, and
voice telephone service, all of which can be intercepted and otherwise
compromised. As a matter of prudence, however, Maxium Hosting urges
its clients to assume that all of their on-line communications are
insecure. Maxium Hosting cannot take any responsibility for the security
of information transmitted over Maxium Hosting’s facilities.
Maxium Hosting will not intentionally monitor private electronic mail messages
sent or received by its clients unless required to do so by law, governmental
authority, or when public safety is at stake. Maxium Hosting may, however,
monitor its service electronically to determine that its facilities are
operating satisfactorily. Also, Maxium Hosting may disclose information,
including but not limited to, information concerning a client, a transmission
made using our network, or a web site, in order to comply with a court order,
subpoena, summons, discovery request, warrant, statute, regulation, or
governmental request. Maxium Hosting assumes no obligation to inform the client
that client information has been provided and in some cases may be prohibited
by law from giving such notice. Finally, Maxium Hosting may disclose client
information or information transmitted over its network where necessary to
protect Maxium Hosting and others from harm, or where such disclosure is
necessary to the proper operation of the system.
We hope this AUP is helpful in clarifying the obligations of Internet users,
including Maxium Hosting and its clients, as responsible members of the
Internet. Any complaints about a client's violation of this AUP should be sent
to
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
UCE/Spam Policy
The abuse and misuse of e-mail is a serious problem, and Maxium Hosting will
not tolerate it.
Definition of UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-mail), or SPAM:
The bulk UCE, promotional material, or other forms of solicitation sent via
e-mail that advertise any IP address belonging to Maxium Hosting or any URL
(domain) that is hosted by Maxium Hosting.
Unsolicited postings to newsgroups advertising any IP or URL hosted by Maxium
Hosting.
The use of webpages set up on ISPs that allow SPAM-ing (also known as "ghost
sites") that directly or indirectly reference customers to domains or IP
addresses hosted by Maxium Hosting.
Advertising, transmitting, or otherwise making available any software, program,
product, or service that is designed to facilitate a means to SPAM.
Forging or misrepresenting message headers, whether in whole or in part, to
mask the true origin of the message.
For further information on mail abuse, please visit the Mail Abuse Prevention
System (MAPS) website.
Repercussions of SPAM
Across the Web, it is generally accepted that SPAM is an inconsiderate and
improper business practice.
Maxium Hosting:
SPAM is not only harmful because of its negative impact on consumer attitudes
toward Maxium Hosting, but also because it can overload Maxium Hosting’s
network and resources, especially on our shared (virtual) server environments.
Our Providers:
Since it is unsolicited, users who receive SPAM often become angry and send
complaints to our upstream providers. This upsets our providers who abhor SPAM
for the same reasons that Maxium Hosting does - it causes negative consumer
attitudes and drains resources. We strive to maintain favorable business
relationships in the Web community and obviously will not allow any practice
that threatens these relationships.
Punishment For SPAM.
Maxium Hosting reserves the right to terminate, without warning, any account
that violates this policy. Usage of Maxium Hosting services constitutes
acceptance and understanding of this policy.
Maxium Hosting may, at its option, charge $25.00 per SPAM complaint we receive
for Virtual Server customers. Resellers will be charged for resold accounts,
receiving SPAM complaints. Reseller may choose to pass this charge down to
their client. These are non-refundable charges and will be invoiced at the time
of complaint notification.
Maxium Hosting reserves the right to decide what it considers "SPAM", "UCE",
"mail bombing", or "bulk e-mail", and to determine from all of the evidence
whether or not the e-mail recipients were from an "opt-in" e-mail list.
Should you choose to e-mail from Maxium Hosting servers, especially if you use
mailing lists, you must read and adhere to the following guidelines, which are
offered as a statement of Internet standards and best current practices for
proper mailing list management and preventing e-mail abuse.
Basic Mailing List Management Principles for Preventing Abuse
Mailing lists are an excellent vehicle for distributing focused, targeted
information to an interested, receptive audience. Consequently, mailing lists
have been used successfully as a highly effective direct marketing tool.
Unfortunately, some marketers misuse mailing lists through a lack of
understanding of Internet customs and rules of the forum pertaining to e-mail.
Others fail to take adequate precautions to prevent the lists they manage from
being used in an abusive manner.
The e-mail addresses of new subscribers must be confirmed or verified before
mailings commence. This is usually accomplished by means of an e-mail message
sent to the subscriber to which s/he must reply, or containing a URL which s/he
must visit, in order to complete the subscription. However it is implemented, a
fundamental requirement of all lists is the verification of all new
subscriptions.
Mailing list administrators must provide a simple method for subscribers to
terminate their subscriptions, and administrators should provide clear and
effective instructions for unsubscribing from a mailing list. Mailings from a
list must cease promptly once a subscription is terminated.
Mailing list administrators should make an "out of band" procedure (e.g., a
means of contact by which messages may be sent for further correspondence via
e-mail or telephone) available for those who wish to terminate their mailing
list subscriptions but are unable or unwilling to follow standard automated
procedures.
Mailing list administrators must ensure that the impact of their mailings on
the networks and hosts of others is minimized by proper list management
procedures such as pruning of invalid or undeliverable addresses, or taking
steps to ensure that mailings do not overwhelm less robust hosts or networks.
Mailing list administrators must take adequate steps to ensure that their lists
are not used for abusive purposes. For example, administrators can maintain a
"suppression list" of e-mail addresses from which all subscription requests are
rejected. Addresses would be added to the suppression list upon request by the
parties entitled to use the addresses at issue. The purpose of the suppression
list would be to prevent subscription of addresses appearing on the suppression
list by unauthorized third parties. Such suppression lists should also give
properly authorized domain administrators the option to suppress all mailings
to the domains for which they are responsible.
Mailing list administrators must make adequate disclosures about how subscriber
addresses will be used, including whether or not addresses are subject to sale
or trade with other parties. Once a mailing list is traded or sold, it may no
longer be an opt-in mailing list. Therefore, those who are acquiring "opt-in"
lists from others must examine the terms and conditions under which the
addresses were originally compiled and determine that all recipients have in
fact opted-in specifically to the mailing lists to which they are being traded
or sold.
Mailing list administrators should make adequate disclosures about the nature
of their mailing lists, including the subject matter of the lists and
anticipated frequency of messages. A substantive change in either the subject
matter or frequency of messages may constitute a new and separate mailing list
requiring a separate subscription. List administrators should create a new
mailing list when there is a substantive change in either the subject matter or
frequency of messages. A notification about the new mailing list may be
appropriate on the existing mailing list, but existing subscribers should never
be subscribed automatically to the new list. For example, if Company A acquires
Company B, and Company B has compiled opt-in mailing lists, Company A should
not summarily incorporate Company B's mailing lists into its own.
*This SPAM (UCE) Accepted Use Policy and all other Maxium Hosting policies are
subject to change by Maxium Hosting without notice. Continued usage of the
services after a change to this policy is implemented and posted on the Maxium
Hosting site constitutes your acceptance of such change or policy. We encourage
you to regularly check the Maxium Hosting site for any changes or additions.
Visit our Terms & Conditions for further information regarding our
policies.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Account Termination and
Suspension
Maxium Hosting reserves the right
to suspend or terminate a hosting account for not following the terms of
service, non-payment, vulgar language or abuse towards any representative of
Maxium Hosting. In addition, if you are found making false claims against
Maxium Hosting, that are unfound, or without evidence, your account may be
terminated without notice.
What is "Account Suspension"?
Account suspension is the
temporary closing of an account. Suspension is typically 48 hours long and is
the first step of customer/company mediation. While an account is suspension
status, all of your files, emails, databases, subdomains, etc... are fully
intact. Suspension simply removes account priveledges, and public viewing of
your pages. Although suspension is typically the first step of the mediation
process, this does not mean that you account must be suspended, prior to
termination. If a customer's account is suspended for non-payment, all payments
that are due, if any, including suspension fees, must be paid before the
account is un-suspended. These payments must be made before the 48 hour
deadline, to avoid termination of the account.
What is "Account Termination"?
Account termination
is perminant. An account may be terminated without notice, and without
prior suspension. Termination removes all of your files, folders,
subdomains, email addresses, databases, etc. If your account has been
terminated by Maxium Hosting or by the customer, the customer will
be responsible for re-uploading their files, etc, if they choose to
have their account turned back on. If a customer's account is terminated
for non-payment, all payments that are due, if any, including termination
fees, must be paid before the account is reinstated. Client Initiated
Termination is when a client initiates account termination by request.
Please note that Maxium Hosting will not terminate an account by request,
unless the request is in writing, and mailed to Maxium Hosting via
certified mail. The request must include the customer's username,
and password, in addition to the request.
Client initiated
termination will not be accepted via email, help desk, phone, or peer
2 peer messenging. Also note that the account will continue to bill
until the request is received, and charges incurred will still apply.
However, charges will be prorated. This includes Dedicated servers.
If you cancel your account, you will be billed for the amount of days
that service was used, after your last payment. Please visit our contact
page, for Maxium Hosting's mailing address. Bandwidth Overage Suspensionare
accounts that are not actually suspended for bandwidth overages. However,
by default accounts that exceed purchased bandwidth, are temporarily
unavailable, unless instructed otherwise, by the customer.
If you do not
instruct Maxium Hosting to monitor your overages, rather than using
the default settings, you may experience downtime, when you go over
your limit. If you do instruct Maxium Hosting to monitor your bandwidth
limit, you will be charged $1.00/GB. This process is in place to keep
your account from incurring extra, unwanted charges. Are there any
fees associated with termination or suspension? There are no fees
for initial termination or suspension. However, there is a one time
fee of $5.00 to have an account un-suspended. There is a one time
fee of $10.00 to re-setup an account that has been terminated. If
the customer initiates a termination, there are no fees associated
for re-instating an account. Accounts terminated or suspended for
TOS violation, or non-payment, are not eligible for refunds. Any overdue
payments that are due, at the time of account termination, are subject
to collection. Maxium Hosting will turn overdue payments into a collection
agency. Any bill that has to be turned into a collection agency, will
incur a $100 administration fee and reasonable collection agency fees
in addition to the amount owed.
Indemnification
Customer agrees that it shall
defend, indemnify, save and hold Maxium Hosting harmless from any and all
demands, liabilities, losses, costs and claims, including reasonable attorney's
fees asserted against Maxium Hosting, its agents, its customers, officers and
employees, that may arise or result from any service provided or performed or
agreed to be performed or any product sold by customer, it's agents, employees
or assigns. Customer agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Maxium
Hosting against liabilities arising out of; (1) any injury to person or
property caused by any products sold or otherwise distributed in connection
with Maxium Hosting server; (2) any material supplied by customer infringing or
allegedly infringing on the proprietary rights of a third party and (3)
copyright infringement.
Disclaimer
Maxium Hosting
will not be responsible for any damages your business may suffer .
Such acts will include war, fire, earthquakes, terrorism, acts of
God, floods, vandalism, network outages not caused by Maxium Hosting,
viruses, hacking, mechanical failure, loss of power, and loss of data
due to uncontrolled reasons. Maxium Hosting disclaims any warranty
or merchant ability or fitness for particular purpose. This includes
loss of data resulting from delays, no deliveries, wrong delivery,
and any and all service interruptions caused by Maxium Hosting and
its employees. Maxium Hosting makes no warranties of any kind, expressed
or implied for services we provide. Maxium Hosting reserves the right
to revise its policies at any time without prior notification.
