hosting @ birdhouse : Terms of Service
Please read this document carefully - these Terms of Service define your rights and ours.
Birdhouse Hosting provides a wide variety of Internet-related services. We require our clients to abide by the terms of service (TOS) outlined below.
Spam
Spam is unsolicited email which is sent to individuals. It is also the practice of posting inappropriate material to one or more Usenet newsgroups. These activities are harmful not only to the individuals receiving the messages but also to Birdhouse Hosting. It can overload our equipment and disrupt service to our clients. Because of this, Spam is strictly prohibited. You may neither use Spam to publicize a site that we host, nor may you use our servers to send Spam.
If you have an individual or organization who has received Spam which appears to originate from our network, please send a complete copy of the message, along with all headers, to hosting@birdhouse.org. We will investigate the situation immediately.
Copyright Violations
Do not include any material on your web site which may contain copyright violations. If your site contains copyrighted materials, you must have the permission of the copyright holder.
Obscene or Indecent Materials
We do not allow adult-oriented web sites to be hosted on our servers, nor do we condone the publication of any materials which may be in violation of federal or local ordinances. Transmission of obscene or indecent materials may lead to criminal penalties.
Defamation
If your site contains any material which defames an individual, organization, race, color, creed, ethnic group, country, etc., you may be in violation of federal and/or local statutes. We do not condone these activities and prohibit our clients from publishing such materials on the sites which we host.
Harassment
Services running on Birdhouse Hosting servers may not be used to harass other system or persons elsewhere on the Internet. This definition includes the sending of spam or other unsolicited e-mail. This policy also extends to hosted sites, Usenet, IRC and any other Birdhouse-provided services. Do not use our server or your address at Birdhouse to harass, issue Denial-of-Service attacks, enflame, stalk, attack, or otherwise harry other individuals, servers or networks.
Network Tampering
Any client found tampering with our network or found using our network to tamper with another network faces potential civil and criminal penalties. Any attempts to crash our servers or otherwise disrupt service will lead to immediate termination of service and possible criminal charges. Illegal or unauthorized access (often known as "cracking" or "hacking") is strictly prohibited.
Excessive Resource Usage
Because Birdhouse Hosting operates in a shared hosting environment, it is of the utmost importance that shared server resources, which include availability of CPU cycles and memory, remain equally accessible to all users at all times. Clients running processes on the server which consume excessive amounts of CPU or memory, whether intentionally or unintentionally, will be asked to stop immediately. Failure to terminate processes may result in suspension of accounts. Birdhouse administrators reserve the right to manually terminate interruptive processes or to modify installed software, scripts, or configurations that lead to excessive resource consumption (don't worry - we're very reasonable!)
Under the umbrella term "unintentionally" falls any installed software that leads to or is involved with excessive resource usage, as determined by Birdhouse Hosting administrators. Message boards or weblogs being hit with consistently high rates of spam fall into this category, and may be asked to modify posting techniques.
Background Processes
System users are not allowed to maintain unattended background processes. All programs or scripts must be run in an interactive, monitored shell.
Other Activities
Any activities, whether lawful or unlawful, which are harmful to our operations, reputation, or other clients, especially activities which may restrict or inhibit others from using and enjoying the services which we provide, are strictly prohibited.
Birdhouse Hosting does not monitor the communications of its clients to ensure that they comply with our TOS or applicable law. However, if Birdhouse Hosting becomes aware of harmful communications, we may take any of a variety of actions, including termination of a client's account with Birdhouse Hosting and notification of local law enforcement.
Birdhouse Hosting wishes to emphasize that all of our clients are required to comply with the above terms of service. In so doing, clients indemnify Birdhouse Hosting for any violation by the client of these terms of service or of law that results in loss to Birdhouse Hosting or the bringing of any claim against Birdhouse Hosting. This means that if Birdhouse Hosting is sued because of activities of the client that violate any law or this policy, the client will pay any damages awarded against Birdhouse Hosting, plus costs and reasonable attorneys' fees.