Fair Usage Policy Overview
Our full legal notice is below and whilst you're free to read through it we understand not everyone has the time so we have picked out some key points about our fair usage policy so you can always stay informed - just another way we are trying to help ensure you have all the facts at your fingertips. These usage policy applies to all our range except our DS range in which case only the traffic usage applies/
Disk Space Usage
Lots of our accounts have high disk space usage allocations. All we ask is that the files you put online are related to your website(s) and are not used for file storage, file linking or high filesize video/audio usage
CPU and RAM Usage
As with our disk space we give you plenty of CPU and RAM allocation especially on our VPS range. We ask that any software you install is related to your website and that no intensive program runs permanently (i.e. gameservers, irc clients etc..). Where we feel this is being abused we will be in contact to see if we can work things out to suit both of us.
Traffic (Bandwidth) Usage
Many of our accounts have a high or unrestricted traffic allocation. For those packages we ask that any traffic is related to the website and is not used as a link farm, file store or for media streaming (e.g. youtube style website). Where we feel traffic is being abused we reserve the right to get in touch so we can work out a solution with you.
Legal Notice
These terms in no way affect your statutory rights.
Swordfish Hosting Limited provides World Wide Web page hosting and email, plus domain registration and dedicated server hosting. Swordfish Hosting Limited reserves the right to suspend or cancel a customer's access to any or all services provided by Swordfish Hosting Limited at any time, or when Swordfish Hosting Limited decides that the account has been inappropriately used or otherwise.
DEFINITIONS
"We" "Us" "Provider" "Company" or "Swordfish Hosting Limited" refers Swordfish Hosting Limited; and "You" "Your" "Client" or "Customer"refers to each person or entity who applies for internet service or is a designate of any one who applies for internet service with Swordfish Hosting Limited.
SERVER USE
Swordfish Hosting Limited reserves the right to refuse service and/or access to its servers to anyone. Swordfish Hosting Limited does not allow any of the following content to be stored on its servers:
Illegal Material - This includes copyrighted works, commercial audio, video, or music files, and any material in violation of any regulation or material that is perceived to be misleading.
Adult Material - Includes all pornography, erotic images, or otherwise lewd or obscene content. The designation of "adult material" is left entirely to the discretion of Swordfish Hosting Limited.
Warez - Includes pirated software, ROMS, emulators, phreaking, hacking, password cracking. IP spoofing, etc., and encrypting of any of the above. Also includes any sites which provide "links to" or "how to" information about such material.
It is absolutely forbidden to host pornographic content on the Swordfish Hosting Limited network. Accounts found hosting this material will be subject to immediate cancellation without refund.
IRC NETWORKS
It is absolutely forbidden to host an IRC server that is part of or connected to another IRC network or server or have a connection to an IRC network. Servers or Virtual hosting accounts, found to be connecting to or part of these networks will be immediately removed from our network without notice. The server will not be reconnected to the network until such time that you agree to completely remove any and all traces of the irc server, and agree to let us have access to your server to confirm that the content has been completely removed. Any server guilty of a second violation will result in immediate account termination.
BANDWIDTH USAGE
Swordfish Hosting Limited offers high data transfer. In rare cases, Swordfish Hosting Limited may find a customer to be surpassing their limit and using server resources to such an extent that he or she may jeopardise server performance and resources for other customers. In such instances, Swordfish Hosting Limited reserves the right to impose the High Resource User Policy for the consideration of all customers.
HIGH RESOURCE USER POLICY
Resources are defined as bandwidth and/or processor utilisation.
Swordfish Hosting Limited may implement the following policy to its sole discretion:
When a website is found to be surpassing their data transfer limit per month on a single account and/or monopolising the resources available, the account holder will be contacted in order to discuss the situation. If no arrangement can be reached or the account holder cannot be contacted within 12 hours, Swordfish Hosting Limited reserves the right to terminate the account giving one week's notice. If the user's site is severely affecting the performance of the server, Swordfish Hosting Limited has the right to act immediately in order to resume the normal operation of the network. The High Resource User Policy also refers to other parts of the servers/network, including mail and ftp, plus the use of processor time.
"FAIR USE" RESOURCE ASSIGNEMENT
Swordfish Hosting Limited offers high-limit or unlimited amounts of disk space and/or other resources, such as bandwidth transfer, email, databases or FTP accounts. The intention of Swordfish Hosting Limited is to provide ample resources for customer convenience, so that customers do not worry about exceeding limits.
It is acknowledged by users of Swordfish Hosting Limited services that these resource allotments are optimised and dedicated towards serving web documents and self-need email / FTP services and is not to be used as offsite storage area for electronic files, or as a provisioning service for third party email or FTP hosts. All downloadable files or files stored on the server must be available for download via a HTML document stored on the Internet in a publicly or privately accessible area, and must be directly related to the general nature of the website index. Illegal content such as pirated software, music or other media are strictly prohibited and are not allowed on Swordfish Hosting Limited servers.
It is also acknowledged by users of Swordfish Hosting Limited services that these resources are limited by physical restraints of technology as well as by reasonable limits of a shared resource environment. Users must realise that server technology limits the amount of available resources for use, including but not limited to disk drive space, CPU processing power, memory and access speed. Swordfish Hosting Limited takes measures to utilise the latest and most economically feasible mass server market technology available to provide services. It is furthermore acknowledged by users of Swordfish Hosting Limited services that all provided services are of a shared-server nature, and other users are sharing the provided space. Customer accounts are placed on a server with up to hundreds of other users. Swordfish Hosting Limited, along with many other hosting providers use this business model in order to offer web hosting services en masse at inexpensive and affordable rates.
It is acknowledged that any single account is entitled to utilise the server resources, within reason, up to what is allotted or by what is physically available. If resources become scarce, Swordfish Hosting Limited reserves the right to limit users of the affected machine to a lower limit to preserve the effectiveness of the service for all users. If a particular user is in extreme excess of what the average users of the machine have in use (actually used) of their resource allotments, that customer may be asked to remove content, cut resource usage, or relocate to a dedicated service provider. This policy only applies to web sites that are considered to be abusive in service, disk space or resource consumption and where it is evident that the "fair-use" of resources among customers has been breached, particularly in regards to disk space, bandwidth or CPU processing power utilisation. Additionally, web sites that are found to contain either/or no html documents, a large number of unlinked files are subject to warning, suspension or cancellation at the sole discretion of Swordfish Hosting Limited.
If a "Fair-Use" breach occurs, which's determination is solely up to Swordfish Hosting Limited, subscriber may have to remove files from or reduce access to subscriber's account to an extent as determined by Swordfish Hosting Limited, in order to restore full service ability to other subscribers affected by the breach. In any case, the subscriber will be notified of any actions that Swordfish Hosting Limited may have to take.
BANDWIDTH AND DISK USAGE
Customer agrees that bandwidth and disk usage shall not exceed the number of megabytes per month for the Services ordered by Customer on the Order Form (the "Agreed Usage"). Swordfish Hosting Limited Internet Services Limited will monitor Customer's bandwidth and disk usage. Swordfish Hosting Limited Internet Services Limited shall have the right to take corrective action if Customer's bandwidth or disk usage exceeds the Agreed Usage. Such corrective action may include the assessment of additional charges, disconnection or discontinuance of any and all Services, or termination of this Agreement, which actions may be taken is in Swordfish Hosting Limited`s sole and absolute discretion. If Swordfish Hosting Limited takes any corrective action under this section, Customer shall not be entitled to a refund of any fees paid in advance prior to such action. In the event that a customer exceeds the included allocation, Swordfish Hosting Limited may, at its sole discretion, collect a deposit, in an amount determined by Swordfish Hosting Limited, against customer's credit card on file with Swordfish Hosting Limited.
SPAM AND UNSOLICITED COMMERCIAL EMAIL (UCE)
SPAM and Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE): Swordfish Hosting Limited takes a zero tolerance approach to the sending of Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) or SPAM over our network. Very simply this means that customers of Swordfish Hosting Limited may not use or permit others to use our network to transact in UCE. Customers of Swordfish Hosting Limited may not host, or permit hosting of, sites or information that is advertised by UCE from other networks. Violations of this policy will be treated as a fundamental breach of these terms and conditions and if substantiated by us at our discretion will lead to termination of service.
Upon receipt by us of notification from any source of an alleged violation of our SPAM policy, Swordfish Hosting Limited will initiate an immediate investigation (within 48 hours of notification). During the investigation, Swordfish Hosting Limited may restrict customer access to the network to prevent further violations. If a customer is found to be in violation of our SPAM policy, Swordfish Hosting Limited may, at its sole discretion, restrict, suspend or terminate customer's account. Further, Swordfish Hosting Limited reserves the right to pursue civil remedies for any costs associated with the investigation of a substantiated policy violation. Swordfish Hosting Limited will notify law enforcement officials if the violation is believed to be a criminal offence.
If the investigation confirms that our SPAM policy has been violated we will invoice you for an Administrative Fee of £150 to cover the costs of the investigation and your account will be reviewed for possible immediate termination. at our absolute discretion. If we agree to maintain your account and any subsequent investigation following any further notification of an alleged a second violation is confirmed we will invoice you for a further Administrative Fee of £300 and immediately terminate your account. PLEASE, DO NOT SPAM from your account.
As our Customers are ultimately responsible for the actions of their clients over the network, it is advisable that Customers develop a similar, or stricter, policy for their clients.
FRAUD
Fraudulent activity: Use of Swordfish Hosting Limited`s service to make fraudulent offers to sell or buy products, items, or services, or to advance any type of financial scam such as "pyramid schemes," "ponzi schemes," and "chain letters." This will constitute a breach of our Terms and Conditions, and will result in your account being suspended or removed.
PAYMENT POLICIES
All accounts are set up on a prepay basis. All pricing is guaranteed for the term of prepayment. You grant Swordfish Hosting Limited the right to debit the credit card or account you have provided, until such service is cancelled by you completing the cancellation form at http://www.swordfishhosting.co.uk/cancellation/ or is cancelled by Swordfish Hosting Limited according to terms of this Agreement. Swordfish Hosting Limited reserves the right to change prices at any time. Payment is due each anniversary month, year or period following the date the account was established (depending on account opened). If for any reason the payment does not arrive in time, the account is subject to suspension/deletion. The customer is responsible for all money owed on the account from the time it was established to the time that the customer notifies Swordfish Hosting Limited in writing for a request for termination of services. All payment is in the currency chosen at the time of order. The customer is also liable for the NIC fees on domains and will be invoiced accordingly (see further conditions relating to domains). You agree to update your credit card details provided to us in a timely manner and to ensure that your credit card has sufficient credit to allow your payment to be processed. If we are unable to successfully charge to your credit or debit card any amount properly payable by you within 28 days of the due date of such amount, we may engage a debt recovery agent to recover such unpaid amounts, including any costs and expenses incurred as a result of taking such action. The payment for the memberships are made for the first months only. The additional months are free of charge. For example, with a 12 month membership, you pay the 12 month fee for the first month, and the additional 11 months are free of charge.
You agree not to hold us responsible for banking charges incurred due to payments failing on your account.
Swordfish Hosting Limited shall be entitled to vary the Charges from time to time with effect from the date specified in an Amendment Notice. Swordfish Hosting Limited shall issue an Amendment Notice no later than 4 weeks prior to the date that any variation of the Charges shall come into force.
The Customer shall no later than 4 weeks from the date of deemed receipt of the Amendment Notice send a counter notice to the Company accepting or rejecting the terms of the Amendment Notice. In the event that the Customer specifies in the counter notice acceptance of the terms of the Amendment Notice or fails to send a counter notice within the specified period then the terms of the Amendment Notice shall apply as from and including the date specified in the Amendment Notice and this agreement for Services shall be deemed to be varied accordingly. In the event that the counter notice rejects the terms of the Amendment Notice then until such date as this Agreement has been terminated in accordance with this clause the Customer will be charged the Charges as varied from and including the date in the Amendment Notice. Upon receipt of the Amendment Notice the Customer has the right to terminate this Agreement with effect from the date in the Amendment Notice, such notice of termination to be received by the Company no later than 14 days before the date in the Amendment Notice.
DOMAINS
Swordfish Hosting Limited does not accept responsibility nor does it make any warranty that the domain names(s) requested by the Customer will be accepted for registration in the register of the Naming Organisation nor will it be liable for any costs of the Customer incurred if the application for Registration is unsuccessful. The Customer should take steps to insure that their domain has been registered. The Company does not accept responsibility for any liability to third parties for breach of their Intellectual Property Rights in relation to the domain name(s) requested by the Customer.
New domain names are registered by Swordfish Hosting Limited in customers' names, however renewal of these domains remains the responsibility of the customer. Customers should take steps to note the renewal date of their domain name and ensure action is taken to pay for any renewal costs before the domain registration period terminates. Swordfish Hosting Limited accepts no responsibility for the renewal of domain names and subsequent loss of business nor related liability resulting in a domain name not being renewed. A successful transaction does not represent confirmation that the concerned domain has been acquired or renewed by the customer. It is the customers responsibility to periodically check, ie at least monthly, to ensure that domain name(s) is/are active, and has not inadvertently expired.
By registering a .uk domain name, you enter into a contract of registration with Nominet UK on the following terms and conditions. This is a separate contract to any arrangement you may have with any third party for the provision of internet services. Please read the following before proceeding with your order - http://www.nominet.org.uk/nominet-terms.html
Swordfish Hosting Limited do not change the name servers (DNS entries) to point to another host or IP address.
All payments made to Swordfish Hosting Limited are confirmed by email. Users accept that Swordfish Hosting Limited will notify of payment and issue an email if payment has failed. Invoices are dispatched by email. In order to keep users notified of impending service alterations important to the running of their account, Swordfish Hosting Limited will occasionally communicate in this manner, and the users accepts this is normal policy.
CANCELLATION
Swordfish Hosting Limited reserves the right to cancel service at any time. Customers can cancel service any time, but must complete the cancellation form, before the next billing period is due giving at least thirty (30) days notice. All cancellations must be received via the cancellation form located at http://www.swordfishhosting.co.uk/contact/ Phone requests, Live Chat or email requests, will not constitute acceptance of any cancellation. Cancellations will be processed by our Staff once a day, and the account will then be removed from the server. For information on refunds please see the heading "Refunds".
The Customer will be responsible for renewing the Registration of his/her domain name(s) and finding a new host for the respective domain name(s).
A fee of £4.99 will apply per domain name to release this to your new Registrar.
RENEWALS
Your account will be automatically renewed on the anniversary date of your account under the same fee structure, unless you give written notice to Swordfish Hosting Limited seven (7) days before the renewal date that you do not wish to renew such account. Please see the heading "Cancellation" for information on cancelling your account.
Domain name renewals can be renewed upto forty five (45) days in advance of the due date, unless cancelled via the domain update form at - https://www.swordfishhosting.co.uk/domainupdate/
INDEMNIFICATION
Customer agrees that it shall defend, indemnify, save and hold Swordfish Hosting Limited (for clarification, a service by Swordfish Hosting Limited) harmless from any and all demands, liabilities, losses, costs and claims, including reasonable legal fees asserted against Swordfish Hosting Limited, its agents, its customers, officers and employees, that may arise or result from any service provided or performed or agreed to be performed or any product sold by customer, its agents, employees or assigns. Customer agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Swordfish Hosting Limited against liabilities arising out of; (1) any injury to person or property caused by any products sold or otherwise distributed in connection with Swordfish Hosting Limited's servers; (2) any material supplied by customer infringing or allegedly infringing on the proprietary rights of a third party; (3) copyright infringement; (4) any defective products sold to customer from Swordfish Hosting Limited's servers, and (5) any statements made within information or pictures held on our servers that may be seen as unsuitable, defamatory, misleading or libelous in any way.
REFUNDS FOR HOSTING ACCOUNTS
Refunds will only be issued when the service is cancelled by Swordfish Hosting Limited. Phone requests will not constitute acceptance of any cancellation. Customer agrees not to chargeback any credit card payments for services rendered. A chargeback of payment for services rendered will result in an additional charge of £100 and will be subject to collection by an authorised collection agency.
REFUNDS FOR DEDICATED SERVERS
Dedicated servers are not entitled to a refund.
BACKUP FILES
Swordfish Hosting Limited will make every reasonable effort to protect and backup data for Client on a regular basis, however Swordfish Hosting Limited does not guarantee the existence, accuracy, or regularity of its backup services and, therefore, Client is responsible for making back-up files in connection with its use of the Services. There is a one time fee of £75 for our Administrator to retrieve clients back-up files. Client is solely responsible for independent backup of data stored on Providers server and network.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
You agree that Swordfish Hosting Limited will not be responsible for any losses that may incur where Services are accessed by third-parties through illegal or otherwise unauthorized means, including but not limited to situations where data is accessed through the exploitation of security gaps, weaknesses or flaws (whether known or unknown to Swordfish Hosting Limited at the time) which may exist in the Services or in Swordfish Hosting Limited's equipment used to provide the Services.
Under no circumstances will Swordfish Hosting Limited be liable for any consequential, indirect, incidental, special or punitive damages, or loss of profits, revenue, data or use by Customer, any of its customers, or of any other third party, whether in an action in contract or tort or strict liability or other legal theory. Swordfish Hosting Limited will not be liable to Customer, any of its customers, or any other third party, for any loss or damages that result or are alleged to have resulted from the use of or inability to use the Services, or that results from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files, loss of data, errors, viruses, defects, delays in operations, or transmission or any failure of performance, whether or not limited to acts of God, communications failure, theft, destruction or unauthorized access to Swordfish Hosting Limited's records, programs, equipment or services.
anything to the contrary in this Agreement, Swordfish Hosting Limited's maximum liability under this Agreement for all damages, losses, costs and causes of actions from any and all claims (whether in contract, tort, including negligence, quasi-contract, statutory or otherwise) will not exceed the actual sterling amount paid by Customer for the Services which gave rise to such damages, losses and causes of actions during the 12-month period prior to the date the damage or loss occurred or the cause of action arose.
This limitation of liability reflects an informed, voluntary allocation between the parties of the risks (known and unknown) that may exist in connection with this Agreement. The terms of this Section will survive any termination of this Agreement.
FORCE MAJEURE
Swordfish Hosting Limited will not be liable for failure or delay in performing it obligations if such failure or delay is due to circumstances beyond its reasonable control, including but not limited to acts of any governmental body, war, insurrection, sabotage, embargo, fire, flood, strike or other labour disturbance, interruption of or delay in transportation, unavailability of, interruption or delay in telecommunications or third party services (including DNS propagation), failure of third party software or hardware or inability to obtain raw materials, supplies or power used in or equipment needed for provision of the Services.
DISCLOSURE OF CUSTOMER INFORMATION AND LEGAL PROCESS
Although Swordfish Hosting Limited maintains strict confidentiality on Customer's information, there are certain exceptions in which Swordfish Hosting Limited may disclose information in its possession, including but not limited to information about the Customer's internet transmissions and website activity in order to comply with court order, subpoena, discovery request, warrant, statute, regulation or official governmental requests. Swordfish Hosting Limited has no obligation to notify Customer about whom the information is sought or that Swordfish Hosting Limited has provided the information. Customer acknowledges the above exceptions and agrees to them without reservation.
ASSIGNMENT
Customer will not have the right to assign this Agreement without the prior written consent of Swordfish Hosting Limited.
ENTIRE AGREEMENT; SEVERABILITY
This Agreement represents the entire agreement between the parties, and supersedes all previous representations, understandings or agreements. If any provision of this Agreement is held by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid, unenforceable, or void, the remainder of this Agreement will remain in full force and effect.
Customer hereby represents that he, she or it, is either an individual entering this Agreement for his or her personal use and is over 18 years of age, or is a corporation other legal corporate entity, duly organized, validly existing and in good standing under the laws of the state of its organization and the person acting on behalf of Customer is duly authorized to accept, execute and deliver this Agreement on behalf of Customer.
GENERAL
This Agreement shall be construed and governed in all respects in accordance with the Law of England and Wales and the English Courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction in respect of any disputes arising hereunder.
Swordfish Hosting Limited reserves the right to revise its policies at any time.
