The Hosting Solutions Acceptable Usage Policy has been developed with the following objectives:

• Ensure security, reliability and privacy of Hosting Solutions´s systems and network, and the networks and systems of others
• Preserve the value of Internet resources as a conduit for free expression
• Encourage the responsible use of net resources and discourage practices which degrade the usability of network resources and thus the value of Internet services
• Avoid situations that may cause Hosting Solutions to incur civil liability
• Preserve the privacy and security of individual users

We expect our Customers to use the Internet with courtesy and responsibility and to be familiar with and to practice good Internet etiquette. By adhering to the following policies, our Customers are protecting the rights and privileges of all Internet users.

VIOLATION OF ANY OF THE FOLLOWING POLICIES IS STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND WILL RESULT IN IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF ALL ACCOUNTS AND MAY INCUR FINANCIAL PENALTIES TO THE VIOLATOR.

General Conduct

1. Customers are prohibited from transmitting on or through any of Hosting Solutions´s facilities, any material that is, in Hosting Solutions's sole discretion, unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, or encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any local, state, national or international law, statute or regulation.
2. Hosting Solutions's facilities may only be used for lawful purposes. Transmission, distribution, or storage of any information, data or material in violation of United States or state regulation or law, or by the common law, is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, material protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, or any other statute. Hosting Solutions reserves the right to remove such illegal material from its servers.
3. Customers may not engage in tortious conduct including, but not limited to, posting of defamatory, scandalous, or private information about a person without their consent, intentionally inflicting emotional distress, or making physical threats against another person via email, news, or any other electronic media/service we provide.
4. The Customer is responsible for providing and maintaining accurate and up-to-date billing information. Furnishing false data on the signup form, contract, or online application, including fraudulent use of credit card numbers, is grounds for immediate termination, and may subject the offender to civil or criminal liability.

System and Network Usage and Security

1. Customers may not attempt to circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network, or account ("cracking"). This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for the Customer, password sniffing, security hole scanning, IP spoofing, logging into a server or account the Customer is not expressly authorized to access, or probing the security of other networks.
2. Customers may not attempt to interfere with service to any user, host, or network ("denial of service attacks"). This includes, but is not limited to, "flooding" of networks, deliberate attempts to overload a service, and attempts to "crash" a host.
3. Customers may not use any kind of program/script/command, or send messages of any kind, designed to interfere with a user's terminal session, via any means, locally or by the Internet.
4. Customers must safeguard their account passwords to prevent unauthorized access to their account.
5. Users who violate systems or network security may incur criminal or civil liability. Hosting Solutions will cooperate fully with investigations of violations of systems or network security at other sites, including cooperating with law enforcement authorities in the investigation of suspected criminal violations.

Email

1. Harassment, whether through language, frequency, or size of messages, is prohibited.
2. Customers may not send email to any person who does not wish to receive it. If a recipient asks to stop receiving email, the Customer must not send that person any further email.
3. Customers are bound by the Hosting Solutions Spam Policy.
4. Customers may not forward or otherwise propagate chain letters, whether or not the recipient wishes to receive such mailings.
5. Malicious email, including but not limited to "mailbombing" (flooding a user or site with very large or numerous pieces of email) and "trolling" (posting outrageous messages to generate numerous responses) is prohibited.
6. Forging of header or any other information is not permitted.
7. Subscribing someone else to a mail list or removing someone else from a mail list without that person's permission is prohibited.
8. Hosting Solutions accounts or services may not be used to collect replies to messages sent from another Internet Service Provider, where those messages violate this Acceptable Usage Policy or the Acceptable Usage Policy of that other provider.

USENET (News)

1. Hosting Solutions is not responsible for the content of any USENET posting, whether or not the posting was made by a Hosting Solutions Customer.
2. Postings to USENET newsgroups must comply with the written charters or FAQs for those newsgroups. Advertisements should only be posted in those newsgroups whose charters/FAQs explicitly permit them. The poster is responsible for determining the etiquette of a given newsgroup, prior to posting to it.
3. Customers are prohibited from posting the same or similar message to large numbers of newsgroups (excessive cross-posting or multiple-posting, also known as "USENET spam").
4. Customers are prohibited from posting binary files to newsgroups not specifically named for that purpose.
5. Customers are prohibited from cancelling or superseding posts other than their own, with the exception of official newsgroup moderators performing their duties.
6. Customers are prohibited from forging header information. This includes attempting to circumvent the approval process for posting to a moderated newsgroup.
7. A customer may not solicit mail for any other address, other than that of the Customer's Hosting Solutions account or service, with the intent to harass or collect replies after Hosting Solutions's service has been terminated.

IRC (Internet Relay Chat)

1. Hosting Solutions is not liable for the content of any communications made on IRC. 2. IRC robots ("bots" or "clones") or IRC sessions may not be run from Hosting Solutions's shared server accounts.
3. Customers may not attempt to impersonate others or use IRC anonymously by disguising their hostname or username.
4. Customers are prohibited from using IRC scripts or programs that interfere with or deny service to other users on any server or host. Customers are also prohibited from engaging in activities which harass other users. This includes, but is not limited to, "flooding" (rapidly entering text with the intent to fill the screens of others), "flashing" (disrupting terminal emulation), "takeovers" (forcibly seizing operator privileges), attempting to send private messages to those who do not wish to see them (via "ignore"), attempting to return to a channel after being banned from it, and other disruptive behaviors.

General Uses

1. Customers may not permit the use of mail services, mail forwarding capabilities, POP accounts, or autoresponders other than for the Customer's own account.
2. Customers may not employ posts or programs that consume excessive CPU time or storage space. Hosting Solutions reserves the right to kill CPU intensive process without prior notice or incurring of any liability.

Material and Product Requirements

1. Customers must ensure that all material and data placed on Hosting Solutions's equipment is in a condition that is "server-ready," which is in a form requiring no additional manipulation on Hosting Solution's part. We shall make no effort to validate this information for content, correctness or usability. In the event that the Customer's material is not "server-ready", we have the option at any time to reject this material. Hosting Solutions will notify the Customer immediately of its refusal of the material and afford the Customer the opportunity to amend or modify the material to satisfy the needs and/or requirements of Hosting Solutions.
2. Use of Hosting Solutions's facilities requires a certain level of knowledge in the use of Internet languages, protocols, and software. This level of knowledge varies depending on the anticipated use of the facilities. Customers are responsible for having this level of expertise. It is not the responsibility of Hosting Solutions to provide this knowledge or customer support outside of the service defined in the Service Agreement.

Privacy

1. Hosting Solutions will not sell or knowingly disclose its customer lists or customer email or listserv address lists. We will attempt to protect the privacy of our Customers and their information that is stored on our network. Hosting Solutions will only access and disclose information as necessary to comply with applicable laws and government orders, to operate and maintain our systems and services, or to protect ourselves or our Customers.
2. Hosting Solutions will not monitor or disclose a Customer's private email messages or other facility usage unless required by court order or law. We will cooperate with the authorities and will notify such authorities if it suspects that a Customer is engaged in illegal activities to the limit the law allows or requires, at Hosting Solutions´s sole discretion.
3. Hosting Solutions will, from time to time, use our customer mailing lists for network updates, system information and general sales information. Hosting Solutions may in the future limit all mailings to those clients who want to participate.
4. Credit and credit card information will be held in confidence, however, it will be used in any way possible to aid in the recovery of delinquent or defaulting debtors.
5. Customer passwords are confidential and will not be made available to any person or company outside of Hosting Solutions for any reason whatsoever.
6. All information will be stored as securely as possible while maintaining the ability for authorized Hosting Solutions staff to quickly and effectively access this information when required operational purposes.

THE ACCEPTABLE USAGE POLICY DEFINES THE ACTIONS WHICH Hosting Solutions CONSIDERS TO BE ABUSIVE, AND THUS, STRICTLY PROHIBITED. THE EXAMPLES SET FORTH IN THIS POLICY ARE NON-EXCLUSIVE, AND ARE PROVIDED SOLELY FOR GUIDANCE TO Hosting Solutions´S CUSTOMERS.

If you are unsure whether any contemplated use or activity is prohibited, please send mail to policy@hostingsolutions.com and we will assist you. Please note that the activities set forth above are also not permitted from other Internet Service Providers on behalf of, or to advertise, any service hosted by Hosting Solutions, or connected via our network. Furthermore, such services may not be advertised via deceptive marketing policies, as defined by the Federal Trade Commission Deception Policy Statement.

Hosting Solutions must further limit any exceptions made to the Acceptable Usage Policy as secondary in regards to server and network security, performance and integrity. Any user, regardless of exception status, may have his or her service disabled if it is interfering with our servers or network.

Specific questions about this policy should be sent via e-mail to policy@hostingsolutions.com. Reports of activity in violation of this policy may be sent via e-mail to abuse@hostingsolutions.com.