Acceptable Use Policy - D & S Hosting

Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

Introduction

This AUP sets forth provisions of acceptable use of D & S Hosting’s products and services. All D & S Hosting users are required to comply with this policy, along with any and all applicable laws and regulations in full. This is in addition to any terms and conditions of applicable agreements. D & S Hosting works to provide its customers with the highest quality services available, while respecting the standards that have been created both by the Internet community, and through legislation. To that end, inappropriate or abusive activities and conduct will not be tolerated by D & S Hosting. D & S Hosting reserves the right to modify this AUP from time to time, without notice. Users are encouraged to review this AUP often for changes or new information. Please send questions, comments, or complaints regarding this AUP to abuse@ds-host.co.uk.

As an Internet Service Provider, it is not practical for D & S Hosting to monitor the content of information passing through its network. D & S Hosting exercises no control whatsoever over the content of any information passing through its network and is not responsible for damages customers may suffer for any reason. Any persons or organizations, including D & S Hosting customers, who publish material or information made accessible through D & S Hosting server are solely responsible for the content of such material and information, and are solely responsible to know and comply with the laws applicable to the publication of such materials and information. D & S Hosting will cooperate with legal authorities in the investigation of any suspected criminal or civil infringements.

Responsibilities

General

In addition to being responsible for their own actions, each D & S Hosting customer is responsible for the activities of its customer base or end-users and, by accepting service from D & S Hosting, agrees to inform its customers and/or end-users of this AUP or its own AUP, which must not be inconsistent with the terms herein.

D & S Hosting customers may not misrepresent themselves to be someone they are not. Use of an identity other than one’s own (i.e. an alias or identity theft), or use of a stolen or fraudulent credit card, is grounds for immediate termination.

Reporting

Customers of D & S Hosting are responsible for immediately reporting any issue which could compromise the stability, service or security of any user or the server.

Prohibited Use

These lists are intended to illustrate some, but not all, inappropriate and improper conduct, which are prohibited by D & S Hosting.

Illegal Use

D & S Hosting’s services are only to be used for lawful purposes. Customers may not transmit, retransmit or store material in violation of any federal or state laws or regulations, including, but not limited to, obscenity, indecency, defamation or material infringing trademarks or copyrights. D & S Hosting customers may not abuse or fraudulently use D & S Hosting products and services, nor allow nor permit such use by others.

Child Pornography

It is illegal under Federal child exploitation statutes to possess, produce, receive, transport or distribute by any means, including computer, sexually explicit visual depiction of children.

Abuse

The following general actions are considered “abuse” and are prohibited:

General: Any conduct which is inconsistent with generally accepted norms and expectations of the Internet community (whether or not detailed in this AUP). D & S Hosting reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to make a determination whether any particular conduct violates such norms and expectations.
Distribution of Viruses: Intentional or unintentional distribution of software that attempts to cause damage or annoyance to persons, data, or computer systems.
Fraudulent Activities: Intentional misrepresentation or misleading statement or activity made with the intent that the person receiving it will act upon it; or attempting to obtain service by any means with intent to avoid payment (E.g. “phishing”).
Cracking: Attempting to circumvent authentication or security of any host, network, or account.
Unauthorized Access to Other Computers, Accounts, or Networks: Attempting to access any computer resource belonging to another party, or attempting to penetrate security measures of other systems, including unauthorized monitoring or scanning of the networks of others.
Network Sabotage: Any use of D & S Hosting products and services to interfere with the use of Internet resources or D & S Hosting’s server by other customers.
Pyramid Schemes: A fraudulent system of achieving financial gain which requires an endless stream of recruits for success.
Unlawful Acts: Any use of D & S Hosting products and services to violate the law or in aid of any unlawful act.

Security

D & S Hosting users are expected configure their systems in a secure manner. Should a user’s system be exploited by unauthorized persons, the user is responsible for both reporting the violation (where applicable), as well as fixing the exploited system.
Customers may not interfere with services (e.g. a Denial of Service (DoS) Attack), whether intentionally or through neglect, of any other host, or network.
The prevention of “unintentional attacks”, such as infection by and propagation of computer viruses, are the responsibility of every user.
Users are prohibited from injecting, intentionally or negligently, false or unauthorized network control data into D & S Hosting’s server (i.e. in the form of incorrect routing or DNS information).

Email

Users are prohibited from engaging in improper use or distribution of email. Users are strictly prohibited from engaging in any of the following activities:

Sending Unsolicited Bulk E-Mail (UBE) or “spam” for any purpose whatsoever.
Having third parties send out UBE on any user’s behalf (“spamvertizing”).
Using D & S Hosting facilities to receive replies from unsolicited emails (“drop-box” accounts).
Configuring any email server in such a way that it will accept third party emails for forwarding (“open mail relay”). If a site has roaming users who wish to use a common mail server, the mail server must be configured to require some form of user identification and authorization. (E.g. SMTP-AUTH.)

Mass or commercial email may be sent only to recipients who have expressly requested receipt of such emails, by the sending of an email request to the person performing the mass or commercial mailings. This exchanging of requests, acknowledgments, and final confirmations (“confirmed opt-in”) must be adhered to in their entirety for any mass or commercial email to be considered permitted by D & S Hosting.

Note: D & S Hosting discourages the sending of bulk mail, and only permits such mailings in rare cases, and then only after Confirmed Opt-In has been verified.

In the absence of positive, verifiable proof to the contrary, which must be provided before the mail campaign is initiated, D & S Hosting considers complaints by recipients of emails to be de-facto proof that the recipient did not subscribe or otherwise request the email(s) about which a complaint was generated.

Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) Policy

It is the policy of D & S Hosting to respond expeditiously to claims of intellectual property infringement. D & S Hosting will promptly process and investigate notices of alleged infringement and will take appropriate actions. Upon receipt of notices complying with the DMCA , when it is under its control, D & S Hosting will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any material claimed to be infringing or claimed to be the subject of infringing activity and will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any reference or link to material or activity that is claimed to be infringing. D & S Hosting will terminate access for customers who are repeat infringers. Webhosting customers must adopt and implement a DMCA policy that reserves the necessary rights to remove or disable infringing material. If you believe that a copyrighted work has been copied and is accessible on our network in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by providing our registered copyright agent with the following information:

Elements of Notification

To be effective under this subsection, a notification of claimed infringement must be a written communication provided to the designated agent of a service provider that includes substantially the following:

A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. [As an electronic signature, D & S Hosting accepts facsimile/fax and digitized image of your signature attached to electronic mail.]
Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material. [Please include a URL such as http://... or ftp://... identifying the material or representative material. If possible specify any IDs, passwords, or other authorization required to access the material. Please specify date, time, and timezone from which the material was observed. Technicians may require time information in order to identify dynamically assigned internet locations.]
Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

Notices of claimed infringement should be directed to abuse@ds-hosting.co.uk.

Note: It is assumed that complainants have explicitly requested communication from the D & S Hosting abuse department (abuse@ds-host.co.uk), and that such communication will be pre-authorized by the complainant. If email replies to the complainant are blocked, challenged, or otherwise frustrated, then D & S Hosting will interpret this as a desire by the complainant to cease communication and to withdraw the claim.

Enforcement

Suspension and Termination

D & S Hosting may immediately suspend or terminate the service of a customer as a result of the violation of any part of this policy through verbal or written notice, which may be provided through email or voicemail. Generally, D & S Hosting will work to resolve violations of this AUP and ensure there are no future violations; however, D & S Hosting reserves the right to suspend or terminate service based on the first violation.

Remuneration

Customers who violate any of the provisions of this policy may incur “clean-up” fees to cover the costs of handling AUP violations, complaints, and technician expenses. The amount of the fees may vary, but will be commensurate with the violations.

Disclaimer of Liability

D & S Hosting has no practical ability to restrict conduct, communications or content which might violate this AUP prior to its transmission on D & S Hosting’s server. In addition, D & S Hosting cannot guarantee removal of any such communications or content after transmission. Therefore, D & S Hosting does not assume liability to customers or others for any failure to enforce the terms of this AUP. Further, D & S Hosting’s failure to enforce this policy in any instance in which it might have application does not constitute a waiver of D & S Hosting’s rights.