Acceptable Use Policy
Terms of Service: Your Rights and Responsibilities
Last Updated: November 17, 2003

Summary: Do no spamming, nothing illegal, nothing that causes the server to choke, and nothing hateful. Or we will shut you down like a kid on a white carpet with a dripping purple Popsicle. Be a good citizen... get our approval before you install anything that might be objectionable. Your actions affect everyone else on your shared server and the network.

Gryphyn Media, Inc., (referred hereinafter as 'Gryphyn Media', 'our', 'we' and 'us') is a web hosting and development firm. All accounts on our web servers, including single-domain, dedicated server accounts, reseller and resold accounts, are subject to the terms and conditions described in this document. Under the terms of this agreement, your placement of information on our servers is an acknowledgment that you have read, understand, and agree to be bound by terms and conditions below.

1. User Conduct

Our services may only be used for lawful purposes -- any use of these services which violates any laws which may apply to Gryphyn Media, your local jurisdiction, or any jurisdiction that you or your site may be subject to is strictly prohibited.

This means that while using the service, you may not:

• Post or transmit any unlawful, threatening, abusive, defamatory, obscene, libelous, offensive, pornographic, indecent, profane, or otherwise objectionable information of any kind, including without limitation any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any law.
• Restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the Internet
• Be abusive or threatening to employees, contractors, affiliated businesses, or other users affiliated with Gryphyn Media.

Gryphyn Media reserves to the right to the final decision on what constitutes abuse.

2. Resource Usage

Users may not initiate the following on our servers:

• Run any process that requires more than 8Mb of memory space, more than 30 CPU seconds, or use more than 5% of all available system resources at any time.
• Run any type of interactive real-time chat applications that require server resources. Remotely-hosted services are fully allowed.
• Run stand-alone, unattended server-side processes at any point in time on the server. This includes any and all daemons, such as IRCD.
• Run any software that interfaces with an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) network.
• Run any site with adult-oriented content, including but not limited to any nude or pornographic material, except on servers where we specifically allow adult material.

Users are also required to abide by the following:

• Databases are only to be used for Gryphyn Media-hosted web sites, and no remote access will be granted.

You acknowledge that you have been informed that there is a list of "banned scripts and prohibited activities" in the user FAQ, which is occasional updated, and you are not guaranteed the ability to run a particular program or process which later becomes a resource-usage problem.

3. Zero Tolerance Spam Policy

We take a "zero tolerance" stance against sending of unsolicited commercial bulk e-mail, commonly known as spam. Any user who sends out spam may have their account terminated without notice. Any account that engages in activities that result in spam blacklisting of an IP address will be terminated permanently without notice or refund.

Gryphyn Media reserves the right to require changes or disable as necessary any web site, account, database, or other component that does not comply with this policy, at its sole discretion. Gryphyn Media also reserves the right to make any such modifications in an emergency at our sole discretion.

4. Limits of Technical Support

Gryphyn Media agrees to provide technical support for the purchased services it provides, namely, access to storage and network bandwidth at the level specified in the hosting plan. Supported components of shared virtual hosting service include POP3 service, SMTP service, HTTP service, FTP service, and access to a functioning control panel. A client's lack of expertise does not constitute a Gryphyn Media failure to provide hosting service.

Purchase of a hosting plan does not entitle a client to technical support for website design, programming, script installation, email client configuration, the use of a home computer, or other services or products we do not sell. We may, from time to time, offer help and advice in the form of references to support documentation, tutorials, and articles, which may be used at the client's own risk.

Purchase of an extended support plan entitles the client to expanded support services, which are outlined in the specific support contract document.

Lease of a dedicated server, virtual private server, or bulk reseller plan entitles clients to the services and support outlined in the specific service contract.

Third-party scripts, even when installed on the server and accessible from the control panel, are provided as a convenience and may be discontinued or replaced with little or no notice, although we will make every attempt not to disrupt their use. (An example would be the FormMail script we once had available to everyone, but which we had to ban and replace when serious security flaws were... we loaded a more secure script, but later had to ban ALL versions of FormMail when new exploits were developed.) Specifically, we do not provide technical support for the open source scripts that can be installed using the auto-installer; you must seek support from the developers of those scripts; the service being provided by Gryphyn Media is the convenience of an auto-installer.

5. Indemnification

You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless Gryphyn Media from any and all liability, penalties, losses, damages, costs, expenses, attorneys' fees, causes of action or claims caused by or resulting indirectly from your use of the service which damages either you, Gryphyn Media, or any other party or parties without limitation or exception. This indemnification and hold harmless agreement extends to all issues associated with your account, including but not limited to domain name selection and Web site content.

6. Refusal or discontinuation of service

Gryphyn Media reserves the right to refuse or discontinue service to anyone at Gryphyn Media' sole discretion. Gryphyn Media may deny you access to all or part of the service without notice if you engage in any conduct or activities that Gryphyn Media in its sole discretion believes violates any of the terms and conditions in this agreement. Gryphyn Media shall have no responsibility to notify any third-party providers of services, merchandise, or information, nor any responsibility for any consequences resulting from such discontinuance or lack of notification. You agree that Gryphyn Media has the right to monitor the service electronically from time to time and to disclose any information as necessary to satisfy the law, or to protect itself or its subscribers. Gryphyn Media reserves the right to refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, that, in its sole discretion, are unacceptable, undesirable, or in violation of this agreement. Gryphyn Media also reserves the right to refuse refunds in cases where Gryphyn Media believes abuse has taken place.

7. No warranties

Gryphyn Media makes no warranties or representation of any kind for the services being offered, except a prorated money-back refund policy. The service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of title, non-infringement, or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No advice or information given by Gryphyn Media or its agents or employees shall create a warranty. Gryphyn Media provides no warranty that the service will be uninterrupted or error free or that any information, software or other material accessible on the service is free from viruses or other harmful components. Under no circumstances shall Gryphyn Media be liable for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, or consequential damages that result in any way from your use of or inability to use the service, or for third parties' use of the service to access your Web space, or to access the Internet or any part thereof, or your or any third parties' reliance on or use of information, services, or merchandise provided on or through the service, or that result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files, errors, defects, delays in operation or transmission, or any failure of performance. If you are dissatisfied with Gryphyn Media service or any of its terms, conditions, rules, policies, guidelines, or practices, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the service and request a refund of payment for the unused period of your service plan.

You understand that by placing information on Gryphyn Media' servers that such information becomes available to all Internet users and that Gryphyn Media has no way of limiting or restricting access to such information or protecting such information from copyright infringement. You assume total responsibility and risk for your use of Gryphyn Media' servers and the Internet. It is solely your responsibility to evaluate the accuracy, completeness, and usefulness of all opinions, advice, services and other information, and the quality and merchantability of all merchandise provided through Gryphyn Media or on the Internet generally.

Your use of the service is at your sole risk. Gryphyn Media is not responsible for files and data residing on your account. You agree to take full responsibility for files and data transferred and to maintain all appropriate backup of files and data stored on Gryphyn Media servers.

You agree not to interfere with the operation of the system. You further agree not to interfere with the proper operation of other systems reachable through the Internet, including any attempt at unauthorized access. You agree to adhere to system policies as published by Gryphyn Media, including restrictions on services available with each service type, restrictions on certain features, and all other policies.

Gryphyn Media reserves the right to monitor any and all communications through or with our facilities. You agree that Gryphyn Media is not considered a "secure communications medium" for the purposes of the ECPA, and that no expectation of privacy is afforded.

8. Account-Holder Identification Information

You agree that you as the person legally responsible for all use of this account, are at least 18 years of age. If you are under 18 years of age, you need to have parental consent in order to sign up, and the account must be ordered by a parent or guardian, in their own name. You agree to supply Gryphyn Media with a current and truthful name, postal address and telephone number for our records, and you have a continued obligation to keep this information current. You also agree that you are an authorized user of any credit card that you supply to our payment processor, and you understand and agree that we have an obligation to fully investigate any possible fraudulent credit card use.

You agree to supply Gryphyn Media with an email contact address that does not reside on Gryphyn Media servers, with the understanding that if you do not keep that address up-to-date, or regularly read the email sent to it, you may not receive notices of administrative changes, scheduled service interruptions, or emergency announcements.

9. Violation of the Terms and Conditions

You are solely responsible for your account(s). If another person using your account is in violation of the terms and conditions, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate the account at our sole discretion, depending on the severity of the violation and will inform you at the email address provided to us at the sign-up. We will not monitor your accounts for you, except for our own administrative and management purposes.

10. Payment & Other Information

You agree to supply appropriate payment for the services received from Gryphyn Media, in advance of the time period during which such services are provided. You understand that you will not be automatically rebilled for additional service beyond the time for which you have contracted, and if you fail to respond to our notification when it is time to renew, your accounts will be deleted, including all data stored on our servers. Additional payment information is found here.

11. Agreement Acknowledgment

This agreement supersedes any written, electronic, or oral communication you may have had with Gryphyn Media or any agent or representative thereof, and constitutes the complete and total agreement between the parties. In the event that any provision of this agreement is determined to be invalid or unenforceable, all other provisions shall remain in full force and effect and said provision shall be reformed only to the extent necessary to make it enforceable.

Gryphyn Media reserves the right to change this Acceptable Usage Policy at any time without prior notification.

By placing and continuing to maintain or place information on Gryphyn Media servers you are stating and acknowledging that you have read the aforementioned terms and conditions and that you understand such terms and conditions and agree to be bound by them.