Summary of Changes, January 2008
January 06, 2008
What follows is a list of the changes made to our Terms and Conditions of Use on January 6, 2008. Insignificant formatting, spelling and grammar changes are not shown.
The following paragraph:
Note: Throughout this document the term “you” refers to the customer and “we” or “our” refers to Valcato Hosting.
Was replaced with:
Note: Throughout this document the term “you” refers to the customer and “we” or “our” refers to Valcato Hosting. “Service” refers to any service provided by Valcato Hosting, including web site hosting, dedicated servers, SSL certificates and domain registration.
The following paragraph:
All services provided by Valcato Hosting may be used for lawful purposes only. Transmission, storage, or presentation of any information, data or material in violation of any United States Federal, State, City or United Kingdom law is prohibited.
Was replaced with:
All Services provided by Valcato Hosting may be used for lawful purposes only. Transmission, storage, or presentation of any information, data or material in violation of any United States Federal, State or City law, or the laws of the United Kingdom or European Union is prohibited.
The following section:
Commercial Advertising and Bulk Email
Spamming, or the sending of unsolicited email, from a Valcato Hosting server or using an email address that is maintained on a Valcato Hosting machine is strictly prohibited.
An initial limit of 100 outgoing email messages per hour is enforced on all accounts. Messages which exceed this limit in any 60-minute period will not be delivered.
Was changed to:
Commercial Advertising and Bulk Email
The use of any Service for the sending of unsolicited email is strictly prohibited, as is the use of unsolicited email for advertising any account or Service provided by Valcato Hosting.
An initial limit of 100 outgoing email messages per hour is enforced on all web hosting accounts. Messages which exceed this limit in any 60-minute period will not be delivered.
The following section:
Chat Rooms
You may install and operate your own chat room script on Valcato Hosting shared servers, however these tend to be large system hogs and may fall into the usage limitations clause. We do provide an HTML based PHP chat room that runs without hindering the performance of the machine for others.
Was changed to:
Chat Rooms & IRC
You may install and operate your own chat room script on Valcato Hosting shared servers, however these tend to be large system hogs and may fall into the usage limitations clause. We do provide an HTML based PHP chat room that runs without hindering the performance of the machine for others.
The use of IRC and all related applications or services is not permitted; this includes all IRC bots, proxy servers and clients.
The following sections were deleted:
IRC & Telnet / SSH
Valcato Hosting does not allow IRC or IRC bots/proxies to be operated on our servers. For security reasons, Telnet and SSH services are also not available on our servers.
BitTorrent Trackers
The hosting of BitTorrent trackers is permitted, provided you own the copyright to the content being pointed to by the tracker (or have permission from the copyright owner).
Server Applications
Your Valcato Hosting account must not store any binary programs which are executable on our server. Regular checks for these are made, and anyone found using or storing them will be suspended immediately, pending further investigation.
The following section:
Background Processes & Programs
Valcato Hosting may allow client’s programs to run continually in the background, these are considered on a case-by-case basis and an extra charge may be incurred based on system resources used and operational maintenance needed.
Was changed to:
Background Processes & Programs
Valcato Hosting may allow client’s programs to run continually in the background, these are considered on a case-by-case basis and an extra charge may be incurred based on system resources used and operational maintenance needed.
By default, any long-running processes will be terminated automatically without notice.
The following section:
Data Security & Backups
You are responsible for protecting data of a sensitive nature (passwords etc.) and under no circumstances should confidential information such as credit card numbers be stored on your hosting account.
Valcato Hosting takes steps to create backup copies of data stored on servers in the event of a hardware failure. However, we do not provide a backup service for individual accounts, nor do we guarantee the security of your data in unforeseen events such as a server being cracked or severe hardware failure. You are responsible for creating backup copies of your work so that it may be restored in an emergency.
Was changed to:
Data Security & Backups
You are responsible for protecting data of a sensitive nature (passwords etc.) and under no circumstances should confidential information such as credit card numbers be stored on any web hosting account or dedicated server.
All web hosting accounts are backed up on a regular basis. While we do our best to ensure that no data will be lost in the event of hardware failure or other disaster, we make no guarantee about this and web hosting customers are strongly encouraged to keep their own backup copies of all data.
Dedicated server customers are fully responsible for managing their own backups. Valcato Hosting does not provide a standard backup service for dedicated servers, however we can provide a custom backup solution on request at additional cost.
The following section:
Suspension & Removal
A breach of these terms and conditions may result in account suspension or removal. Normal policy is a warning first, then account suspension followed by removal in extreme circumstances. You will remain liable for the payment of your services. If Valcato Hosting suspends or removes your account(s) for violating policy, you will forfeit your right to a refund.
Serious offences, such as the intentional sending of spam or “phishing” will result in the immediate removal of the account without warning or appeal.
Was changed to:
Suspension & Removal
A breach of these terms and conditions may result in the suspension or termination of Service. Normal policy is a warning first, then account suspension followed by removal in extreme circumstances. You will remain liable for the payment of your services. If Valcato Hosting suspends or removes your account(s) for violating policy, you will forfeit your right to a refund as defined below.
Serious offences, such as the intentional sending of spam or “phishing” will result in the immediate removal of the account without warning or appeal.
The following section:
Non-Payment
Valcato Hosting is a pay in advance service; full payment must be made before any service is provided. In the event of non-payment Valcato Hosting will suspend and remove the account(s) in accordance with the following procedure:
Account 1 day overdue
A reminder email will be sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you that payment has not been received.
Account 7 days overdue
A reminder email will be sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you that if payment is not received by the next day the account will be suspended.
Account 8 days overdue
The account will be suspended and a reminder email sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you of this.
Was replaced with:
Non-Payment
Valcato Hosting is a pay in advance service; full payment must be made before any service is provided. In the event of non-payment for web hosting accounts, Valcato Hosting will suspend and remove the account(s) in accordance with the following procedure:
- Payment 7 days overdue — A reminder email will be sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you that if payment is not received by the next day the account will be suspended.
- Payment 8 days overdue — The account will be suspended and a reminder email sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you of this.
- Payment 14 days overdue — A reminder email will be sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you that if payment is not received by the next day the account will be terminated.
- Payment 15 days overdue — The account will be removed and an email sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you of this.
For dedicated servers, the following procedure applies:
- Payment 1 day overdue — A reminder email will be sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you that payment has not been received.
- Payment 3 days overdue — We will attempt to contact you by telephone to inform you that payment was not received.
- Payment 7 days overdue — A reminder email will be sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you that if payment is not received by the next day the server will be disconnected.
- Payment 8 days overdue — The server will be disconnected and a reminder email sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you of this.
- Payment 14 days overdue — A reminder email will be sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you that if payment is not received by the next day the server will be permanently cancelled.
- Payment 15 days overdue — The server will be permanently cancelled and an email sent to the address stored in the Account Control Panel informing you of this.
Non-payment for domain registration and SSL certificates will result in the expiration of the Service. SSL certificates will become invalid. Domains will cease to function and may become available for registration by third parties.
The following sections:
Credit and Debit Card
For your convenience Valcato Hosting operates a subscription billing policy; on an account’s anniversary your credit or debit card is automatically charged.
The amount charged is dictated by the services to which you are subscribed, and can be viewed at any time via the Account Control Panel.
Paypal
For your convenience Valcato Hosting uses Paypal’s subscription facility; on an account’s anniversary your Paypal account is automatically charged.
The amount charged is defined when the subscription is established (usually upon creation of the account) and cannot be modified without the creation of a new subscription.
Were changed to:
Credit and Debit Card
For your convenience Valcato Hosting operates a subscription billing policy; on an account’s anniversary your credit or debit card is automatically charged. Charges for dedicated servers are made on the tenth day of each month. All payments are non-refundable, unless an error has been made on our part, or the 30 day moneyback or 99.5% uptime guarantees apply.
The amount charged is dictated by the services to which you are subscribed, and can be viewed at any time via the Account Control Panel.
Paypal
For your convenience Valcato Hosting uses Paypal’s subscription facility; on an account’s anniversary your Paypal account is automatically charged. All payments are non-refundable, unless an error has been made on our part, or the 30 day moneyback or 99.5% uptime guarantees apply. PayPal is not available as a payment option for dedicated servers.
The amount charged is defined when the subscription is established (usually upon creation of the account) and cannot be modified without the creation of a new subscription.
The following section:
Cancellations
Your credit / debit card or Paypal account will continue to be charged for services until such time as an account cancellation request is submitted via the Account Control Panel.
Please allow 24 hours for an account cancellation request to be processed. Once the request has been processed your account will be removed, regardless of any remaining term.
Was changed to:
Cancellations
Your credit/debit card or Paypal account will continue to be charged for Services until such time as an account cancellation request is submitted via the Account Control Panel.
Please allow 24 hours for an account cancellation request to be processed. You will have the option of having your Service cancelled immediately or at the end of your current payment term.
The following section:
Uptime Guarantee
Valcato Hosting strives to maintain a 99.5% server uptime service level, excluding scheduled maintenance which has been communicated to customers in advance. This uptime percentage is a monthly figure and is calculated solely by Valcato Hosting or authorised / contracted outside monitoring services.
If Valcato Hosting fails to meet its 99.5% uptime guarantee a refund will be made available, upon request, on a case-by-case basis; “partial refunds for partial downtime” is our standard policy.
Was changed to:
Uptime Guarantee
Valcato Hosting strives to maintain a 99.5% server uptime service level, excluding scheduled maintenance which has been communicated to customers in advance. This uptime percentage is a monthly figure and is calculated solely by Valcato Hosting or authorised/contracted outside monitoring services.
If Valcato Hosting fails to meet its 99.5% uptime guarantee a partial refund will be made available upon request, on a case-by-case basis.
The following section:
Money Back Guarantee
We are proud to offer a 30-day “no questions asked” money back guarantee, however we cannot offer refunds if your site breaks these Terms and Conditions.
To qualify for a refund you must submit an account cancellation request clearly stating that you wish to be refunded, within 30 days of your account setup date. This should be done via the Account Control Panel.
Only hosting fees will be refunded, other services such as domain registration are not covered by this guarantee.
Was changed to:
Money Back Guarantee
We are proud to offer a 30-day “no questions asked” money back guarantee, however we cannot offer refunds if your site breaks these Terms and Conditions.
To qualify for a refund you must submit an account cancellation request clearly stating that you wish to be refunded, within 30 days of your account setup date. This should be done via the Account Control Panel.
This only aplies to web hosting accounts. We do not provide refunds for other Services, such as domain registration, SSL certificates or dedicated servers.
The following section:
Changes to this Document
Valcato Hosting reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions from time to time, usually without warning, though major changes likely to affect your account will be communicated via our website or e-mail.
Was changed to:
Changes to this Document
Valcato Hosting reserves the right to change these Terms and Conditions from time to time, usually without warning, though major changes likely to affect your account will be communicated via our website or e-mail. Continued use of our Services implies acceptance of updated Terms and Conditions.
A log of major changes made to this document follows: