Service Agreement
Sonic.net, herein known as “Provider” leases an Internet server to an individual or company, herein known as “Customer”, for Customer’s use. Customer agrees to abide by all terms and conditions described in this document and as well as any and all Acceptable Use Policies set forth by Provider, Provider’s upstream providers and any other networks or services connected to, or used through Provider’s services.
“Service” refers to lease of dedicated server hosted with Provider and all account privileges associated with the product at the time of purchase. All equipment used to provide Service is owned exclusively by Provider.
This agreement shall constitute the only agreement between Provider and Customer, as it applies to Service, and supersedes any other written or verbal communication with Provider, including any claims or assertions made to Customer by any representative of Provider at any time.
Provider reserves the right to modify this Agreement, prices and service availability at any time and at Providers sole discretion. The most current Agreement will be made available on Providers web site for Customer. It is Customers responsibility to review the Agreement periodically and adhere to any and all new or changed Terms and Conditions outlined in the Agreement.
Fees, Payments and Receipts
All invoicing is done via email. Provider accepts only Master Card, VISA, American Express or Discover credit cards as payment for Service. Payments for service are due prior to providing service and will be automatically debited from the credit card associated with Customers account. Payments will automatically be processed 5 days before Customer’s payment due date. Payments are credited from the account due date, not from the date the payment is received. A grace period of five days from the due date is given for accounts. In the event that fees were unable to be collected, service will be discontinued until a new credit card payment is made. Provider will use the credit card most recently charged successfully as the new billing credit card for collecting future payments. Customer will receive a receipt upon collection of payment. No refunds on pre-payments are given.
Acceptable Use and User Conduct
Any prohibited or illegal activity that affects Provider, its agents, equipment or customers is punishable to the full extent of the law, and Provider will hold Customer responsible for any damage caused by Customers actions, whether intentional or unintentional. Customer is strictly prohibited from using Service other than as outlined in this Acceptable Use Policy.
Customer functions as a common carrier whose standard policy is to not monitor or interrupt our Customers activities, exert editorial control over Customers content, or censor Customer or their content. To protect the interests of Provider and in the best interests of our customers, exceptions to this policy may be made under certain specific circumstances including but not limited to the following:
Illegal activities: The law requires Provider to report any criminal activity that it becomes aware of to the appropriate authorities. It is the responsibility of Customer to be familiar with current laws and regulations.
Email: Unsolicited Commercial Email (otherwise known as UCE - or spam) is strictly prohibited and violators will have their accounts terminated immediately. Sending unsolicited email to one or more addresses regardless of how the addresses were obtained may be considered spamming and is grounds for Service and account termination. Use of an account address or any address of a domain hosted by Provider as a return address for replies to spam is prohibited.
Usenet: All users of Provider’s news servers agree to be bound by the charter of any newsgroup or newsgroup hierarchy posted to. It is the responsibility of the Customer to be familiar with these charters, which may include rules about content, spam, language and off-topic posting. Excessive posting of identical messages to multiple newsgroups ('cross-posting') via Providers news servers is prohibited, as is the posting of unsolicited commercial email (spam).
Network abuse: Use of Provider’s Services for orchestration of or participation in any abuse of Provider or any other network, system or service is forbidden and is grounds for account termination and possible legal action. Any action which interferes with Provider or other networks or which affects the use of or access to any network is prohibited.
Provider retains at all times the right to determine what constitutes network abuse. Examples include but are not limited to:
Attempts to hack or gain unauthorized access to Providers network or any other network or systems
Port scanning
Use of 'cracking' software or techniques
Dissemination of viruses or malware
Provocation of attacks on Providers network or any other network
Conduct which causes Provider to be blocked by another provider or which causes Provider to be placed on a "block list"
Flooding Provider or any other network with traffic for the purpose of disrupting service
Mail bombing
Customer must also comply with the acceptable use policies of our upstream providers, including but not limited to, UUNET (http://www.uu.net), Cable and Wireless (http://www.cw.com), Layer42, Verio and peering partners.
Use of copyrighted material: Provider is obligated to comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (DMCA). All web pages are subject to copyright law, and Customer is responsible for all content published via Service. Use of the World Wide Web, FTP, Newsgroups or any other services provided by Provider to transfer copyrighted material in violation of applicable laws is prohibited and may result in termination of Customers account.
Complete details on Providers DMCA policies and instructions on how to initiate or respond to a claim of copyright infringement, including contact information for our designated agent, can be found at http://www.sonic.net/support/docs/dmca.shtml.
Access to content: Provider functions as a common carrier and does not censor. Material can be found on the Internet or in Usenet news groups, etc., that some viewers may find objectionable; Provider is not responsible for any content available via Providers accounts or services. Any limitation of access to content is at all times the responsibility of the Customer, Provider shall not be held responsible for access to material that Customer deems inappropriate.
Accountability
Customer will be held responsible for any abuse of Service, regardless of whether Customer was the actual initiator of the abuse. This includes, but is not limited to: abuse of email or web hosting which is used by a third party or abuse of a colocated server or colocation services by a third party, with or without the account owner's permission.
Enforcement and remedy:
Violation of any terms set forth in this Acceptable Use Policy may result in one or more of the following, at the discretion of Provider:
Issuance of a warning
Temporary suspension of service
Billing to defray administrative costs incurred
Termination of Services, account or accounts
Legal action
If any activities or security problems involving a Provider account or Customer's services cause network outages, the Customer may be billed for network down-time. Damages will be assessed in man-hours required to restore service to original state and billed at Smart Hand rates.
Any Customer, whose account is terminated for violation of the terms set forth in this Acceptable Use Policy or any other policy of Provider, will be required to pay any outstanding balances due, including any and all early termination fees. In instances where it is necessary to terminate Customer's account, an administrative disconnect fee may also be applied.
Provider will normally attempt to contact Customer in violation of this Acceptable Use Policy before taking action, but depending on the circumstances or the severity of the violation action may be taken without prior notification. In this case, the Customer will be notified as soon as it is practical.
Term of Agreement
The Initial Term of this agreement will be one (1) month with the term automatically renewing for an additional one (1) month 5 days prior to the end of the term. Pre-payments may be made in situations where financial incentives for pre-payment are given, however, the term of the agreement will always be month-to-month.
Termination
Any violation or breach of the terms and policies set forth in this agreement may result in the suspension or termination of Service without notice. Upon suspension or termination, access to Services and data will be immediately be revoked and Provider is not responsible for retention of any data or Services thereafter. Upon suspension of Services, Customer will continue to remain responsible for charges and fees accrued during this period and this agreement will remain in effect until services are terminated.
Termination by Customer must be made 30 days prior to the end of the current term. Notice must be made in writing and signed by Customer. Unless written notice is provided 30 days prior to end of term, this agreement remains in effect until Service is terminated by Provider, regardless of Customers discontinuing use of Service.
Customer is responsible for 100% of fees incurred during or remaining on Term. If Customer terminates service prior to end of term, Provider will collect 100% of the remaining balance due on term commitment.
Policies and Procedures
Customer is responsible for adhering to all Providers General Policies and Procedures located at: http://www.sonic.net/support/docs/policy.shtml In the event that there is ambiguity between Providers policies and this Agreement, this Agreement supersedes and replaces any conflicting terms, with all other terms and conditions of Policies remaining in effect. This agreement applies to Services defined in this Agreement, all other services rendered by Provider are governed by Providers General Policies.
Communication and Notification
All communication between Provider and Customer will be done via email to a single, primary email address. By default, this address will be your username (at) sonic.net (username@sonic.net). This is assigned to you when your account is setup and is used to access member tools and other resources offered by Provider. It is Customer responsibility to check this email account for information regarding service, billing and any other notification from Provider. If Customer requires a different email address to be used for communication, Customer must notify Providers Billing Department.
Bandwidth and Data Transfer
Customers bandwidth quota is defined by the product Customer purchased. Usage during the month that is above the quota set for Services contracted for will generate additional usage fees and will be billed at the current per gigabyte rate in 1 GB increments.
For the purposes of bandwidth usage, Provider uses the IEEE compliant definition of "megabyte" and "gigabyte." One megabyte consists of 1,000,000 (one million) bytes, one gigabyte consists of 1,000,000,000 (one US billion) bytes. Information on the IEEE standard can be found at http://physics.nist.gov/cuu/Units/binary.html
Indemnification and Liability
Customer shall defend, indemnify, and hold harmless Provider, its partners, employees and agents from and against any and all lawsuits, claims, demands, penalties, losses, fines, liabilities, damages, and expenses (including attorney's fees) of any kind, without limitation, in connection with Customers operations, installation, maintenance of equipment and facilities, configuration of software or operating system, any act or omission to act contracted (Smart Hands or otherwise) by Customer of Sonic.net or its employees, contemplated by this agreement, or otherwise arising out of or in any way connected with Provider's provision of service or performance under this agreement.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND FORCE MAJEURE: IT IS EXPRESSLY UNDERSTOOD AND AGREED THAT PROVIDER HAS NOT MADE ANY GUARANTEES OR PROMISES WITH REGARD TO THE EXACT DATE OF THE COMPLETE INSTALLATION AND OPERATIONAL STATUS OF SERVICE TO CUSTOMER.
PROVIDER SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO CUSTOMER FOR ANY DELAYS IN THE PERFORMANCE OF SERVICES HEREUNDER OR FOR ANY FAILURE TO PERFORM HEREUNDER IF SUCH DELAYS OR FAILURES ARE DUE TO STRIKES, INCLEMENT WEATHER, ACTS OF GOD, OR OTHER CAUSES BEYOND PROVIDER’S REASONABLE CONTROL. PROVIDER WILL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR PERFORMANCE OF ITS OBLIGATIONS HEREUNDER WHERE DELAYED OR HINDERED DUE TO WAR, RIOTS, EMBARGOS, STRIKES, OR OTHER ACTS OF ITS VENDORS AND SUPPLIERS, CONCEALED ACTS OF WORKMEN (WHETHER PROVIDER OR OTHERS), OR ACCIDENTS. SHOULD SUCH OCCURRENCE CONTINUE FOR MORE THAN 90 DAYS, PROVIDER OR CUSTOMER MAY CANCEL SERVICE FOR THE AFFECTED SERVICES AND/OR PRODUCTS WITH NO FURTHER LIABILITY.
IN NO EVENT SHALL PROVIDER BE LIABLE TO CUSTOMER, OR ANY THIRD PARTY FOR ANY CLAIMS ARISING FROM OR RELATED TO CUSTOMER’S BUSINESS INCLUDING CLAIMS FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR LOST PROFITS ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE PROVISION OF SERVICES OR SERVICE PROVIDED PURSUANT TO THE TERMINATION OF SUCH SERVICES.
ANY CLAIM OR LEGAL ACTION ARISING OUT OF FAILURE, MALFUNCTION OR DEFECT IN PROVIDER’S SERVICES OR GOODS, OR ARISING FROM THIS CONTRACT IN ANY RESPECT, SHALL BE BROUGHT WITHIN A PERIOD OF THIRTY (30) DAYS FOLLOWING THE OCCURRENCE OF SAID CLAIM OR SAID CLAIM SHALL BE DEEMED WAIVED. PROVIDER’S LIABILITY TO CUSTOMER HEREUNDER, IF ANY, SHALL IN NO EVENT, EXCEED THE TOTAL AMOUNT CUSTOMER HAS PAID TO PROVIDER HEREUNDER. PROVIDER DOES NOT WARRANT THAT ITS SERVICE WILL PERFORM AT A PARTICULAR SPEED, WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR FREE, OR SECURE. PROVIDER DOES NOT MAKE, AND HEREBY DISCLAIMS, ANY AND ALL EXPRESS AND IMPLIED WARRANTIES, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, NON-INFRINGEMENT AND TITLE, AND ANY WARRANTIES ARISING FROM A COURSE OF DEALING, USAGE OR TRADE PRACTICE.
Provider will not be liable for any act, omission to act, negligence or defect in the quality of service of any underlying carrier or other service provider whose facilities or services are used in furnishing any portion of the service received by the Customer. Provider will not be liable for any failure of performance that is caused by or the result of any act or omission by Customer or any entity other than Provider that furnishes services, facilities, or equipment used in connection with Provider's services or facilities.
Except as expressly provided in this agreement, Provider makes no expressed or implied representations, or warranties, including any warranties regarding merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. If liable, Provider's liability shall be limited to the fees paid by the customer.
This agreement, rates and terms shall be held in confidence by all parties, except as allowed in writing by Provider If either party discloses such information to a person within that party's company on a need to know basis, such person will be advised of the confidential nature of said information.
