Terms of Use
Upon signing up for SoZo's services, all customers agree to comply with SoZo's Terms of Use (“TOU”). The goal of the TOU is to ensure that customers are using SoZo's services with due regard to the rights of other Internet users and in conformity with the requirements of SoZo's network environment. The TOU are not exhaustive and SoZo reserves the right to add, delete, or modify any provision of its TOU at any time without notice, effective upon either the posting of the modified TOU or notification of the modified TOU. Any complaints about a customer’s violation of the TOU should be sent to support@sozohosting.com. |
A. All SoZo Customers B. SoZo Web Hosting & E-commerce Customers C. SoZo Dedicated Server Customers |
A. The following Terms of Use apply to ALL SoZo customers:
Illegal Use
SoZo servers may be used for lawful purposes only. Transmission, storage, or distribution of any information, data, or material in violation of any applicable law or regulation, or that may directly facilitate the violation of any particular law or regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material; trademarks; trade secrets or other intellectual property rights used without proper authorization; material that is obscene, defamatory, constitutes an illegal threat, or violates export control laws. Additionally, in purchasing SoZo services, all SoZo customers certify that they and/or the organization they represent in procuring services from SoZo are not, nor have been designated, a suspected terrorist as defined in Executive Order 13224; are not owned or controlled by a 'suspected terrorist' as defined in Executive Order 13224; and are not on, are not a member of, related to, associated with, or controlled by any organizations on the list contained in the Annex to Executive Order 13224 and all updates thereto.
Spamming
Sending unsolicited bulk and/or commercial messages over the Internet (known as "spamming") is prohibited, regardless of whether or not it overloads a server or disrupts service to SoZo’s customers. The term "spamming" also includes, but is not limited to, maintaining an open SMTP policy, engaging in spamming using the service of another ISP or IPP and referencing in the spam a web site hosted on a SoZo server, and selling or distributing software (on a web site residing on a SoZo server) that facilitates spamming. Violators will be assessed a minimum fine of $200 and will face immediate suspension. SoZo reserves the right to determine, in its sole and absolute discretion, what constitutes a violation of this provision.
System and Network Abuse
Violations of system or network security are prohibited and may result in criminal and civil liability. Examples of system or network security violations include, without limitation the following: unauthorized access to or use of data, systems or networks, including any attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without express authorization of the owner of the system or network; interference with service to any user, host or network including, without limitation, mail bombing, flooding, deliberate attempts to overload a system and broadcast attacks; forging of any TCP-IP packet header or any part of the header information in an email or a newsgroup posting.
Viruses and Other Destructive Activities
Use of SoZo’s services or equipment for creating or sending Internet viruses, worms or Trojan horses, or for pinging, flooding or mail bombing, or engaging in denial of service attacks is prohibited. It is also prohibited for any customer to engage in other activity that is intended to disrupt or interfere with, or that results in the disruption of or interference with, the ability of others to effectively use SoZo’s services and equipment (or any connected network, system, service or equipment) or conduct their business over the Internet.
Copyright Violations
The Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA") sets forth the law regarding the use of copyrighted materials on the Internet. All SoZo customers are subject to the requirements of the DMCA. Individuals or entities submitting notifications of copyright infringement by a SoZo customer (per the DMCA) to SoZo must follow the below procedures. Copyright infringement notifications submitted to SoZo according to these procedures will be processed within 21 days of receipt. Customers who are the subject of a DMCA notification that meets the below criteria may be subject to account termination at SoZo’s sole discretion.
DMCA Copyright Infringement Notification Requirements:
a. Signature of the copyright owner or a person authorized to act on the copyright owner's behalf (the "Claimant").
b. Identification of the copyrighted work(s) claimed to have been infringed.
c. Identification of the material claimed to infringe the copyright(s), and enough information for SoZo to locate it including URLs and specific descriptions of the infringing material at each URL.
d. The Claimant's name, address, and telephone number(s).
e. A statement that the Claimant has a good faith belief that use of the disputed material is not authorized by the copyright owner or his agent.
f. A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notification of copyright infringement is accurate and that the Claimant is authorized to act on behalf of the copyright owner.
g. Mail the notification to:
SoZo Hosting
Legal Dept. – DMCA Complaints
1759 Ellen st. nw
Atlanta, GA 30318
Child Pornography
The use of SoZo’s services to store, post, display, transmit, advertise or otherwise make available child pornography is prohibited. SoZo is required by law, and will, notify law enforcement agencies when it becomes aware of the presence of child pornography on, or being transmitted through, its services.
Payment
All payments are subject to SoZo’s Billing Policy. By supplying your credit card for the payment of SoZo charges, you authorize SoZo to automatically charge your credit or debit card for charges that apply to your account. Recurring charges will be posted to your credit card until such time that you cancel your account in accordance with SoZo’s Billing Policy.
Privacy
SoZo is 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, SoZo urges its customers to assume that all of their on-line communications are insecure. SoZo cannot take any responsibility for the security of information transmitted over SoZo's facilities. Additional details on privacy and SoZo’s use of customer information can be found in SoZo’s Privacy Policy.
Customer Responsibility
Customers are required to use the SoZo network responsibly. This includes respecting the other customers of SoZo. SoZo reserves the right to suspend and/or cancel service with any customer who uses the SoZo network in such a way that adversely affects other SoZo customers. While SoZo may monitor its service electronically to determine that its facilities are operating satisfactorily, as a general practice, SoZo does not monitor its customers' communications or activities to determine whether they are in compliance with the TOU. However, when SoZo becomes aware of any violation of the TOU or other user agreements, SoZo may take any action to stop or correct such violation, including, but not limited to, denying access to SoZo’s services and equipment or to the Internet. In addition, SoZo may take action against a customer or a customer of such customer because of the activities of such customer. SoZo anticipates that customers who offer Internet services will cooperate with SoZo in any corrective or preventive action that SoZo deems necessary. Failure to cooperate with such corrective or preventive measures is a violation of SoZo policy and SoZo reserves the right to take any such action even though such action may affect other customers of the SoZo customer.
Custom backups are provided to customers willing to pay for this service. Backup services only include databases and dedicated servers. SoZo provides system recovery backups for all of its core shared systems in case of system failure. In shared environments, it is the client's responsibility to backup all of their data and email.
Maintenance
Customer acknowledges that from time to time SoZo Hosting may deem it necessary to limit or suspend the availability of SoZo services to perform routine and remedial maintenance to the network, hardware, software, or other related assets.
Actions Taken by SoZo
The failure by a customer to meet or follow any of the TOU is grounds for account deactivation. SoZo will be the sole arbiter as to what constitutes a violation of the TOU. SoZo reserves the right to remove any account without prior notice and to refuse service to anyone at any time. When SoZo becomes aware of an alleged violation of its TOU, SoZo will initiate an investigation. During the investigation, SoZo may restrict a customer's access in order to prevent further potentially unauthorized activity. Depending on the severity of the violation, SoZo may, at its sole discretion, restrict, suspend, or terminate a customer's web hosting account and/or pursue other civil remedies. If such violation is a criminal offense, SoZo will notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities of such violation. An unlisted activity may also be a violation of the TOU if it is illegal, irresponsible, or constitutes disruptive use of the Internet. SoZo does not issue credits for outages incurred through service disablement resulting from TOU violations. SoZo customers agree to indemnify and hold harmless SoZo from any claims resulting from the use of our services that damages them or any other party. The SoZo service is provided on an as is, as available basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including, but not limited to, warranties of merchantability, fitness for a particular purpose or non-infringement. SoZo expressly disclaims any representation or warranty that the SoZo service will be error-free, secure or uninterrupted. No oral advice or written information given by SoZo, its employees, licensors or the like, will create a warranty; nor may you rely on any such information or advice. SoZo and its partners and suppliers will not be liable for any cost or damage arising either directly or indirectly from any transaction or use of the service. Violators of the policy are responsible, without limitations, for the cost of labor to rectify any damage done to the operation of the network and business operations supported by the network, and to respond to complaints incurred by SoZo.
B. SoZo Web Hosting & E-commerce Customers
The following Terms of Use apply only to SoZo’s Web Hosting and E-Commerce customers, and supplement the terms above in section A that apply to all SoZo customers:
Server Resources
Any web site that uses a high amount of server resources (such as, but not limited to, CPU time, memory usage, and network resources) will be given the option to either pay additional fees (which will depend on the resources required), reduce the resources used to an acceptable level, or upgrade its service to a Dedicated Server plan. SoZo shall be the sole arbiter of what is considered to be a high server usage level. Any Web Hosting and E-Commerce account deemed to be adversely affecting server performance or network integrity will be shut down without prior notice.
Also please know that SoZo reserves the right to change any of their policies or services offered as needed to accommodate server resources or needed offerings. Also SoZo reserves the right to dismiss a client at any time if needed to accommodate these changes of services or policies. This may be necessary upon software changes, software bugs or network changes.
CGI Scripts
Any scripts that pose a potential security risk or are deemed to be adversely affecting server performance or network integrity will be shut down or will be automatically removed without prior notice. SoZo does not permit CGI sharing of scripts with domains not hosted by SoZo or any scripts that may be abused for UCE purposes.
Chat Rooms
SoZo does not allow Web Hosting and E-Commerce customers to install their own chat rooms. Chat rooms tend to require significant system resources and therefore cannot be permitted as an account option. However, for a small charge, SoZo provides Java chat rooms that meet most users' needs and run without hindering system performance.
Background Running Programs and Cron Jobs
SoZo may allow programs to run in the background. These programs will be considered on an individual basis and Web Hosting and E-Commerce customers will incur extra charges based on system resources used and operational maintenance needed. If you wish to run background programs please contact SoZo at support@sozohosting.com so that we can arrange set-up.
IRC
SoZo does not allow IRC or IRC bots to be operated by Web Hosting and E-Commerce customers.
Software Distribution
SoZo's Web Hosting and E-Commerce accounts are not configured for the purposes of distributing software and/or multimedia products. If you wish to distribute software and/or multimedia files, please contact support@sozohosting.com to make special arrangements.
Multimedia Files
Multimedia files are defined as any graphics, audio, and video files. SoZo Web Hosting and E-Commerce accounts are not to be used for the purposes of distributing and storing unusual amounts of multimedia files. Any web site whose disk space usage for storing multimedia files exceeds 70% of its total usage, in terms of total size or number of files, will be considered to be using an unusual amount of multimedia files.
Databases
Any database stored on SoZo's Web Hosting and E-Commerce servers shall be limited to the database size allotted for that particular domain's plan/web hosting account.
Adult Content
Due to the special system and network requirements of adult-oriented sites, pornography and sex-related merchandising are prohibited for Web Hosting and E-Commerce customers. This includes sites that may infer sexual content or provide links to adult content elsewhere. This is also true for sites that promote any illegal activity or content that may be damaging to our servers or any other server on the Internet, or provide links to such sites.
Hate / Discrimination
SoZo Hosting does not permit websites that promote hate, discrimination or violence toward a group based on race, religion or national origin.
C. SoZo Dedicated Server Customers
The following Terms of Use apply only to SoZo’s Dedicated Server customers, and supplement the terms above in section A that apply to all SoZo customers:
Customer Security Responsibilities
The customer is solely responsible for any breaches of security affecting servers under customer control. If a customer's server is involved in an attack on another server or system, it will be shut down and an immediate investigation will be launched to determine the cause/source of the attack. In such event, the customer is responsible for the cost to rectify any damage done to the customer's server and any other requirement affected by the security breach.
IRC
SoZo allows Dedicated Server customers the use of IRC inside the SoZo network as long as the use of IRC on a SoZo server does not violate any of the other terms of these TOU. As a policy, SoZo will not provide vanity IRC reverse DNS records. To enforce this policy SoZo does not turn the reverse address of IPs over to the customer. Authority over this information remains with SoZo.
Billing for Network Resources
The customer understands that the customer is responsible for paying for any network resources that are used to connect the customer's server to the Internet. The customer may request that the customer's server be disconnected from the Internet, but the customer will still be responsible for paying for any network resources used up to the point of suspension or cancellation.