Acceptable Use Policy

Ethode's terms of service and acceptable use policy for hosting.

Acceptable Use Policy

Terms of Service and Acceptable Usage Policy Agreement

When using the Service provided by ethode.com, defined below in Section 1.1, you agree to be bound by all of the following terms (the “Terms of Service”) within this Agreement.

ethode.com is a registered domain of Ethode, LLC. and act as one of hosting providers of Ethode, LLC. ethode.com reserves the right to alter, amend or modify any provision of this Terms of Service Agreement at any time with or without prior notice to you.

This Agreement is effective from your acceptance thereof, which is indicated by the establishment of your account. If you are a current ethode.com client when this Agreement is activated, your continued use of the Service constitutes your acceptance of this Agreement.

1. Service

1.1. ethode.com provides Website Hosting services, including, but not limited to, Disk space for File Storage; FTP Access for uploading and downloading files to and from your assigned account.

1.2. Any means of identification assigned to you by ethode.com (including username and IP address) will remain the property of ethode.com. ethode.com reserves the right to alter or replace these forms of identification at any time.

1.3. ethode.com makes no guarantees as to the continuous availability of the Service or any specific feature of the Service. ethode.com reserves the right to discontinue and/or change the Service or any of its features at any time with or without notice.

2. Registration Requirements

2.1. In consideration of the Use of the Service, outlined below in Section 3, Client certifies to ethode.com that he/she is not a minor. By accepting this Agreement, you represent that you are at least 18 years of age. If you are a minor, we will need approval from the parent/guardians.

2.2. You agree to provide ethode.com with accurate, complete and up-to-date billing information, including your legal name, electronic mail (e-mail) address, home address, and telephone number. All changes to this information must be reported to ethode.com within 30 days of the change.

2.3. By accepting this Agreement, you agree that you are responsible for all charges posted to your account until you close the account as specified in Section 10. If any information provided by you is inaccurate, not current or incomplete, ethode.com retains the right to suspend or terminate your account.

3. Use of the Service

3.1. You, and those you authorize, are the only individuals who are authorized to access the Service through your account. You must ensure that all authorized users on behalf of your account comply with this Agreement.

3.2. You are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of passwords used by yourself or any authorized user for your account.

3.3. You will not use the Service or permit others to use the Service through your account in any way that violates any law or regulation; subjects ethode.com to liability; or is in any violation of the ethode.com Terms of Service Agreement.

4. User Conduct

4.1. You agree to be solely responsible for the content of your transmissions through the Service. You acknowledge that ethode.com simply acts as a passive conduit for the distribution and transmission of data.

4.2. You agree not to resell any part of the Service under your account including, but not limited to, disk space; pre-installed CGI scripts; software and any form of identification assigned to your account except you have the authorization from ethode.com.

4.3. You agree that your use of the Service is subject to all applicable local, state, national and international laws and regulations. Furthermore, you agree that you recognize that violation of any such laws, rules and regulations shall be cause for immediate termination, without notice, of your account at the sole discretion of ethode.com.

5. Unacceptable Use of Service

5.1. Illegality in any form, including, but not limited to, activities such as unauthorized distribution or copying of copyrighted software; violation of United States export restrictions; harassment; fraud; drug dealing; intentionally inflicting emotional distress; violating trademarks; copyrights; Privacy and other intellectual property rights.

5.2. We reserve the right to remove permission to access the Service if we suspect security violation attempts involving your account, whether directly deliberately caused by you or not.

5.3. Spamming, to send unsolicited commercial or non commercial email or newsgroup posts, from the server or involving your domain.

5.4. Mail bombing, sending of large files or emails to other users against the request of an Internet user, whether or not our servers are used.

5.5. Violations of system or network security is prohibited, and may result in criminal and civil liability. Examples include, but are not limited to, the following: Unauthorized access, use, probe, or scan of a systems security or authentication measures, data or traffic. Interference with service to any user, host or network including, without limitation, mail bombing, flooding, deliberate attempts to overload a system and broadcast attacks.

5.6. The use of programs that consume an excessive amount of CPU run time or Random Access Memory (RAM) on the server.High load Chat Room Scripts and Programs. All kind of Shell/SSH/Telnet access Scripts. High loaded Bulletin Board/ForumsSystems including but not limited to: UBB – Ultimate Bulletin Board, YABB – Yet Another Bulletin Board.

5.7. Unacceptable site content, links, storage and/or distribution including, but not limited to, pirated software or programs which are intended or used for security violation purposes (“cracking software”); “Warez Sites”; “IRC Bots”; pornography; nudity; sexually explicit or offensive material; and defamatory, scandalous, or private information about a person without their consent.

5.8. Adult and “Rated X” Material, Site content or links including, but not limited to, pornography; nudity; sexually explicit or offensive material. Disturbing site content or links. Site content or links including threatening, defamatory, or scandalous language or information.

5.9. Background Running Programs, Background Daemons, including, but not limited to, IRC bots; eggdrop; BitchX(IRC Client); XiRCON; ShoutCast Plus IceCast; and any other program that interferes with normal server operation.

5.10. Illegal Activities including but not limited to:

5.10.1. Distributing information regarding the creation of or sending of Internet viruses; worms; Trojan horses; pinging; flooding; mailbombing; or denial of service attacks.

5.10.2. 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.

5.10.3. Accessing illegally or without authorization computers, accounts, or networks. Attempting to penetrate security measures of a system (“cracking”).

5.10.4. Exporting encryption software over the Internet or otherwise, to points outside the United States or Canada.

5.10.5. Forging or misrepresenting message headers, whether in whole or in part, to mask the originator of the message.

5.10.6. 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).

5.10.7. Any activity including, but not limited to, advertising, transmitting, or otherwise making available ponzi schemes; pyramid schemes; fraudulently charging credit cards; and pirating software.

5.10.8. Engaging in activities, whether lawful or unlawful, that ethode.com determines to be harmful to its clients, operations, reputation, goodwill, or customer relations.

5.11. Disclaimers found on the offending website will not protect the client account from being terminated if such site is in violation of this Agreement.

5.12. Failure to enforce strict performance of any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver.

ALL FORMS OF ‘UNACCEPTABLE USE OF SERVICE’ ARE STRICTLY FORBIDDEN. EVIDENCE OF SUCH MATERIAL WILL BE CAUSE FOR IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OF SERVICE. ETHODE.COM ON BEHALF OF ETHODE, LLC. WILL BE THE SOLE ARBITERS AS TO WHAT CONSTITUTES A VIOLATION OF THIS PROVISION. ETHODE.COM WILL NOTIFY THE APPROPRIATE LAW ENFORCEMENT DEPARTMENT IF SUCH VIOLATION IS A CRIMINAL OFFENCE.

6. Fees

6.1. Setup fees are non-refundable. ethode.com does not issue refunds for fees paid in advance or for fees and/or payment made towards your account after the first 30 days of Service.

6.2. One time fees including but not limited to additional features, change domain name and upgrade/renew fees are non-refundable.

6.3. Current pricing for ethode.com services may be obtained by checking price pages in http://www.ethode.com,ethode.com reserves the right to change prices, rates and/or institute new charges/fees at any time.

6.4. A service charge, up to the maximum allowed by the state you reside in, will be assessed to your account for each check that is returned to ethode.com for insufficient funds.

6.5. Payment must be made towards your account on its assigned due date. If your account is delinquent, your account may be suspended or terminated at the sole discretion of ethode.com.

IF YOUR ACCOUNT INCURS CHARGES WHICH ARE DENIED BY YOUR FINANCIAL INSTITUTION, ethode.com RESERVES THE RIGHT TO RE-BILL FOR THOSE CHARGES, REGARDLESS OF YOUR ACCOUNT STATUS.

ethode.com may, at its sole discretion, charge a fee of US$25.00 or greater to reinstate a suspended account.

6.6. If you believe that ethode.com has billed you in error, you must contact the Billing Department within 30 days of the invoice or transaction date of the charge. Refunds or adjustments will not be given for any charges billed in error which are more than 30 days old. To contact the Billing Department, please leave an email to sales@ethode.com or use “contact us” link in ethode.com.

6.7. Any site found to be in violation of the Acceptable use Policy or the details discussed in section 5 will be suspended/removed and subject to a $30.00 fee.

6.8. All residents of Ohio (OH) are subject to pay applicable sales taxes as defined by the State of Ohio. Residents of Ohio are all clients who have their billing address in Ohio.

6.9. All residents of United States outside Ohio are subject to pay sales taxes as defined by their State. Residents of United Sdtates are all clients who have their billing address in United States.

7. Disclaimer of Warranties

7.1. You assume full responsibility and risk for use of the Service by you and your authorized users. The Service is provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis. ethode.com does not warrant that the Service will be uninterrupted or error-free. ethode.com makes no express or implied warranties, representations or endorsements including, but not limited to, warranties of title, non-infringement or implied warranties of service or fitness for a particular purpose regarding all information or service provided through ethode.com. No advice or information given by ethode.com, its employees, affiliates or contractors shall create a warranty.

7.2. ethode.com shall not be liable for any costs or damages arising directly or indirectly from use of the Service. It is solely your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, quality, completeness, and usefulness of all opinions, advice, services, and other information provided through the Service.

7.3. ethode.com will not be responsible for any kind of data lose including but not limited to hardware failure, hard drive crash, and/or server abuse. ethode.com will keep daily, weekly and monthly backups where states on hosting plan description, however users will still be responsible to download and keep a backup of their site from time to time.

8. User Remedies

8.1. If you are dissatisfied with the Service or any of its terms, conditions, rules, policies, guidelines, or practices, your sole and exclusive remedy is to terminate this Agreement and discontinue using the Service by closing your account by one of the methods outlined in Section 10.

8.2. Under no circumstances shall ethode.com, its employees, affiliates or contractors be liable for any direct, indirect, incidental, special, punitive, or consequential damages that result in any way from any: use of your account or the Service or your inability to use the Service; your reliance on or use of information, services or merchandise provided on or through the Service or that result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files, errors, defects, delays in operation or transmission, or any failure of performance.

9. Indemnity

You agree to defend, indemnify, and hold ethode.com and its affiliates harmless from any and all liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys’ fees, related to or arising from: any violation of this Agreement by you or those who access this Service through your account; the use of the Service or the Internet in general; and the placement or transmission of any message, information, software, or other materials on the Internet by you or by those who have access to the Service through your account.

10. Termination of Agreement

10.1. You may terminate this Agreement by using the methods outlined in Section 12 of this Agreement. Your termination will only be complete upon your receipt of a confirmation number from ethode.com. You will receive this confirmation number either via United States Postal Service, Electronic Mail or both. Charges to your account will stop accruing the day you receive your confirmation number. ethode.com will not issue refunds for fees paid in advanced or for accounts that have been activated passed the 30 Day Money Back Guarantee mark.

10.2. Termination of the account will take up to 3 days to process. Therefore, for non-yearly accounts, the cancellation request must come before 3 days before the initial billing date of the next month.

10.3. ethode.com may terminate this Agreement at any time without cause upon 30 days prior notice; or; immediately if you or any person who has access to the Service through your account, commit a material breach of this Agreement including, but not limited to, a breach of any obligation imposed under Sections 2, 3, 4, 5 or 6 or if you fail to pay any charges within 10 days of the date they accrue.

10.4. Upon termination of this Agreement, all rights granted to you or your authorized users under this Agreement shall immediately cease and terminate.

10.5. Termination from this Agreement does not release you from the obligation to pay all accrued charges under this Agreement.

10.6. Sections 6, 7, 8, 9, and 12 shall survive termination of this Agreement, ethode.com retains the right to enforce these provisions regardless of account status.

10.7. ethode.com provides a 30 day money back guarantee for the first 30 days. Any client that cancels their account within 3 days of the end of the initial 30 days will be subject to a $5.00 penalty fee due to the time limits discussed in 10.2.

10.8. If a client is to cancel their non-yearly account after the initial 30 day period, and is in violation of 10.2, they may be subject to a $3.00 termination fee.

11. Resellers

11.1. The 30 day guarantee follows the same regulations as stated in 11.7.

11.2. All resold accounts are subject to the terms discussed in section 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, and 12.

11.3. ethode.com accepts payment for reseller account via credit card or PayPal only.

11.4. If a reseller’s monthly fee is past due, all accounts created under the reseller account and the initial reseller account itself will be suspended.

11.5. A $10.00 re-activation fee will be charged to any reseller who is in violation of 11.4.

11.6. Any reseller who’s account has been listed as suspended for over 15 days will be cancelled and charged a $10.00 cancellation fee.

11.7. Cancellation of a reseller account must be submitted at least 5 days prior to the next billing date. Any cancellation request that comes within the 5 day limit may be subject to a $5.00 fee.

11.8. Upon cancellation of a resold account, all accounts created under the initial account and the initial account itself will be removed. It is your responsibility to inform your clients and move their data.

11.9. If cancellation of a non-yearly reseller account comes at the beginning of the month and no payments have been made towards that month for 7 business days, all accounts created under the reseller account will be immediately terminated and a $10.00 cancellation fee will be imposed.

12. Closing an Account

12.1. You may close your account by one of the following methods:

Send request via Contact Us form C/O “Billing Department”
The request must meet the following criteria:

Include company or personal letterhead.
Include your account information
(domain name, username, IP address, and password)
Reference your Order/Authorization Number you received with your first receipt of payment.

Failure to enforce strict performance of any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver.

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the State of Ohio, United States, without regard to its conflicts of law provisions. You consent to the personal jurisdiction of the federal and state courts having jurisdiction for Medina, Ohio, with respect to all disputes arising out of this Agreement, your use of the Service or otherwise between you and ethode.com. Any cause of action you may have with respect to the Service must be commenced within six (6) months after the claim or cause of action arises or such claim or cause of action is barred.

This Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy Agreement constitutes the entire Agreement between you and ethode.com with respect to the Service.

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