Server / Resource / Staff Abuse

You agree and understand that any attempts to undermine or cause harm to any of our servers is strictly prohibited and that we take no responsibility for the use of our clients' accounts.

If you abuse the resources we provide in any way, we reserve the unqualified right to immediately deactivate your Account without refund.

If you operate any site using what we deem to be excessive CPU cycles or any resources that cause strain to other sites, we reserve the right to impose new terms on you in exchange for the current terms that you enjoy (i.e. an upgrade). You are allowed to use upto 25% of total resources available on a shared server and if your account continues to use more than 25% of the resources, it will result in suspension.

Denial of Service (DOS) attacks directed at ITekHost , or any attempts to launch a DOS attack from our servers are strictly prohibited. All infractions and or suspected infractions will be vigorously investigated and may result in immediate termination of your Account.

ITekHost reserves the right to disable/delete any feature or application provided on shared hosting service without notification if that feature/application is found to be detrimental and/or is hampering the web servers' overall health and performance.

If you are in any way disrespectful towards any member of ITekHost staff, we have full right to terminate your account with us without any refund.

ITekHost will be the sole arbiter as to what constitutes a violation of this provision.

Bandwidth

If your account exceeds the bandwidth limit, we will inform you. If you do not wish to purchase extra bandwidth or upgrade your Account and continue to exceed the limit, the Account shall be suspended until you demonstrate to us that you have taken measures to ensure that the limit won’t be exceeded again or upgrade your account, whichever is earlier. The Account will be reactivated in the following month.

Illegal Usage

ITekHost 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 is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property right used without proper authorization, and material that is obscene, defamatory, constitutes an illegal threat, or violates export control laws. Examples of non-acceptable content or links: Pirated software, Hackers programs or archives, Warez sites, MP3, and IRC bots. The subscriber to ITekHost service agrees to indemnify and hold harmless ITekHost from any claims resulting from the use of the service that damages the subscriber or any other party.
ITekHost will be the sole arbiter as to what constitutes a violation of this provision.

Adult Content
Due to special system and network requirements of adult oriented sites, pornography and sex-related merchandising are prohibited. This includes sites that may infer sexual content, or 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. Links to such materials are also prohibited.

Security
Violations of system or network security are 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 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. Forging of any TCP-IP packet header or any part of the header information in an email or a newsgroup posting.

Server Resource
Any website that uses a high amount of server resources (such as, but not limited to, CPU time, memory usage, and network resources) will be given an option of either paying extra (which depends on the resource needed) or reducing the resource used to an acceptable level. ITekHost shall be the sole arbiter of what is considered to be a high server usage level.
Any hosting account deemed to be adversely affecting server performance or network integrity will be shut down without prior notice.

Background Running Programs and Cron Jobs
ITekHost does not allow background Daemons such as IRC bots; eggdrop; BitchX; XiRCON; and any other program that interferes with normal server operation.

IRC
ITekHost does not allow IRC or IRC bots to be operated on our servers.

Backups
ITekHost performs weekly backups on all servers to ensure that the chances of critical files being lost is minimal. However, ITekHost is NOT responsible for lost data, time, income or any other resource due to faulty backups or non-existent backups.

Client Responsibility
The client is responsible for all activity originating from the account unless proven to be a victim of outside hacking or address forgery. The client is responsible for securing their username/password.

The client assumes responsibility for all material on their site that may be put on by a third party (such as the usage of Free For All links pages). Use of ITekHost's service 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 and desired content of the web space by the client. The following examples are offered: Web Publishing: requires knowledge of HTML, properly locating and linking documents, FTPing Web contents, Graphics, text, sound, image mapping, etc. FrontPage web publishing: knowledge of the FrontPage tools as well as Telnet and FTP understanding and capability. CGI-Scripts: requires a knowledge of the UNIX environment, TAR & GUNZIP commands, Perl, CShell scripts, permissions, etc. Mail: a use of mail clients to receive and send mail, etc. The client agrees that he or she has the necessary knowledge to create and maintain their web space. Client agrees that it is not the responsibility of ITekHost to provide this knowledge or support outside matter specific to ITekHost servers.

UCE (Unsolicited Commerce Email) - SPAM
Spamming, or the sending of mass unsolicited email, from or through a ITekHost server or using an email address that is maintained on a ITekHost machine is STRICTLY prohibited. ITekHost will be the sole arbiter as to what constitutes a violation of this provision. If you engage in any of the foregoing activities using the service of another ISP or IPP, but channeling activities through a ITekHost server as a maildrop for responses, you are in violation. Violators will be assessed a minimum of $500.00 fine and will face an immediate suspension.

Server abuse
Any attempts to undermine or cause harm to a ITekHost server or customer of ITekHost is strictly prohibited. Any sub-networks of ITekHost and dedicated servers must adhere to the above policies. The failure to meet or follow any of the above guidelines is ground enough for account deactivation. We reserve the right to remove any account without prior notice.

Phishing Websites
Any website(s) that will duplicate/clone an official website that represents any governmental or banking institutes (known as phishing websites) will be instantly suspended and/or terminated without money refunds as it is identified as a modern criminal act and will be reported to the internet service provider that provides the internet connectivity for that user/account.

Software Distribution
ITekHost's shared Web Hosting accounts are not to be used for the purposes of distributing software and multimedia products. If you wish to distribute software and/or multimedia files, please contact tos@itekhost.com for special arrangement.

Multimedia Files
Multimedia files are defined as any graphics, audio, and video files. ITekHost web hosting accounts are not to be used for the purposes of distributing and storing unusual amount of multimedia files. Any web site whose disk space usage for storing the multimedia files exceeds 95% of its total usage, either in terms of total size or number of files, will be deemed to be using unusual amount of multimedia files.

Actions Taken by ITekHost
The failure by a customer to meet or follow any of the above policies/terms is ground for account deactivation. ITekHost will be the sole arbiter as to what constitutes a violation of the AUP. ITekHost reserves the right to remove any account without prior notice.
When ITekHost becomes aware of an alleged violation of its AUP, ITekHost will initiate an investigation. During the investigation, ITekHost may restrict a customer's access in order to prevent further potentially unauthorized activity. Depending on the severity of the violation, ITekHost 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, ITekHost will notify the appropriate law enforcement authorities of such violation.

ITekHost does not issue credits for outages incurred through service disablement resulting from AUP violations.
ITekHost customers agree to indemnify and hold harmless ITekHost from any claims resulting from the use of our services that damages them or any other party. The ITekHost 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. ITekHost expressly disclaims any representation or warranty that the ITekHost service will be error-free, secure or uninterrupted. No oral advice or written information given by ITekHost, its employees, licensors or the like, will create a warranty; nor may you rely on any such information or advice. ITekHost 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.

Refusal Of Service
We reserve the right to refuse, cancel, or suspend service at our sole discretion.

CGI Abuse Policy
ITekHost allows CGI to be used on all Virtual Servers. CGI can be resource intensive however, and because a virtual server must be shared with other users, we must limit how much of the CPU can be used by any one account on a shared server. There are several reasons why ITekHost has created its CGI Abuse policy for its virtual server users.

What does ITekHost consider "CGI ABUSE"?
Any site whose CGI programs are using excessive amounts of system resources. Excessive amounts is defined as any amount that results in substantial degradation of server performance. ITekHost is the sole determinant of what constitutes degraded server performance.
Due to their use of flat files instead of databases, ITekHost does not allow the use of UBB or YABB bulletin boards. Use of these boards for large or very active forums, results in system performance degradation, and cannot be allowed in our shared server environment. ITekHost suggests using VBulletin or phpBB as a more efficient, database-driven alternative to these bulletin boards.

What happens if I violate this policy?
will inform you that there is too much CGI running and it will provide options for reducing the usage or upgrading your server. If you do not reduce the usage within 24 hours of the email being sent, your CGI scripts will be disabled. We can also disable your site without any email notice. All accounts that are found to be using excessive amounts of system resources will receive an email warning from ITekHost. This warning

UCE / SPAM Policy

The abuse and misuse of e-mail is a serious problem, and ITekHost will not tolerate it. Definition of UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-mail), or SPAM:

•   The bulk UCE, promotional material, or other forms of sollicitation sent via e-mail that advertise any IP address belonging to ITekHost or any URL (domain) that is hosted by ITekHost.
•   Unsolicited postings to newsgroups advertising any IP or URL hosted by ITekHost.
•    The use of web pages 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 ITekHost.
•   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. SPAM is not only harmful because of its negative impact on consumer attitudes toward ITekHost, but also because it can overload ITekHost's network and resources, especially on our shared (virtual) server environments.

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 ITekHost 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.

ITekHost reserves the right to terminate, without warning, any account that violates this policy. Usage of ITekHost services constitutes acceptance and understanding of this policy.

Use of the ITekHost service to transmit any unsolicited commercial or unsolicited bulk e-mail is expressly prohibited. Violations of this type will result in the immediate suspension of the offending website on our Servers. You cannot use the web site (URL) hosted on our Servers in Bulk/SPAM email messages, even if you are sending those messages via other ISP. We reserve the right to suspend or terminate, any account, with or without notice, if we receive any SPAM complaint. ITekHost may, at its option, charge $25.00 per SPAM complaint we receive for both Dedicated and 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.

ITekHost 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 ITekHost 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 iTekHost.com policies are subject to change by ITekHost without notice. Continued usage of the services after a change to this policy is implemented and posted on the ITekHost site constitutes your acceptance of such change or policy. We encourage you to regularly check the ITekHost site for any changes or additions. Visit our Terms & Conditions for further information regarding our policies.
Bandwidth Usage Policy

While purchasing a hosting account with ITekHost, you are allotted a portion of bandwidth per month. You can use this bandwidth for anything you want besides things not permitted as outlined in the Terms & AUP. If you go over your allotted amount of bandwidth in a given month, your account may be suspended by Server Monitoring Software automatically, and you will be expected to pay for the additional bandwidth.

We provide a bandwidth estimate figure in your control panel. This is an estimate and is provided from the server level. Actual account bandwidth usage is measured for billing purposes at the port level. This policy exists because many users offer files for download via FTP which is not otherwise measured by the server directly at this time. Please note that because the bandwidth is monitored at the port, any and all traffic for your web site is tracked including, but not limited to: FTP uploads and downloads, mail sending and retrieval, normal Web traffic, etc. Everything that is pushed from our server to a third-party's machine is considered bandwidth and will be measured.

We have designed this policy because many users find that hosts offer "unlimited" bandwidth only to find out that it has a very real bandwidth limit. Further, they place restrictions on what you can use the bandwidth for (i.e. no image galleries because they are a large source of bandwidth consumption). We tell you up-front how much bandwidth you are allocated each month and you have the full amount to use.

If you are unsure of your bandwidth usage prior to moving your site to ITekHost, contact us. We would be happy to review your current site statistics with you to help you choose the right package.