Terms of Service

Introduction

This document explains the Terms of Service Policy for use of services provided by Lightning Development, LTD. dba LPCHOST (hereinafter known as LPCHOST) by the client/user (hereinafter known as Customer). This document supersedes all forms of this document previously published by LPCHOST, or any of its brands. This document is maintained and published on-line on the LPCHOST home page at http://www.lpchost.com. All Customers of LPCHOST are required to be familiar with this policy. Use of LPCHOST services in any form (including reservation of unused space on LPCHOST servers) constitutes acceptance of this Terms of Service Policy and agreement to adhere to it. This Terms of Service Policy may be known herein after as policy, Terms of Service, TOS, or Terms of Service Policy.

Account and Policy Term

The effective date of the Terms of Service Policy is the date of signup or acceptance by the Customer of services from LPCHOST, and they shall remain in effect until Customer terminates his/her account, relinquishes control of account to another party accepting full responsibility for account (written notice from both parties is required to acknowledge this), or LPCHOST cancels Customer's account. LPCHOST reserves the right to change the Terms of Service Policy at any time. Notification of changes will be announced via email (it is the responsibility of the customer to make sure their email address is accurate, and that any “spam blockers” etc. they have are set to accept email from lpc1.com and lpchost.com).

If customer does not agree to changes, or simply wishes to cancel their account, they may do so by going to the following link and filling out the cancellation form there: http://lpchost.com/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=92 . Once the cancellation form is completed and submitted for approval, an email will be sent to the customer indicating that the form has been received by LPCHOST. During the approval process LPCHOST will verify the authority of the person completing the form to cancel the account, the matching of account number to control panel username etc. Delays in cancellation could occur if the form fields do not match our records and further verification is needed. Upon approval, the customer will receive an email from LPCHOST including a cancellation confirmation number (also referred to as a CAN number) a copy of this confirmation should be retained by the customer. Customers will not receive a refund for any prepaid services. Cancellation notice must be received at least 14 days in advance of renewal date to avoid further billing. Accounts may be permanently deleted at any time after cancellation request is received. Customers wishing to save any of the files or emails they have on their account should remove them prior to filling out the cancellation form. Any accounts closed with an outstanding balance are subject to legal action, including but not limited to being sent to collections with a collections fee of $15 being added.

In the event that LPCHOST is the registration service provider for the customer’s domain/s and the customer does not indicate that they would like to cancel domain name registration using the check box provided in the form, a domain name registration only (DNRO) account will be created at no cost for the customer. Upon creation of DNRO, customer will receive an email from LPCHOST with a new user name and password to access their DNRO control panel. This account will be billed 30-60 days prior to domain name expiration and the domain name will be renewed upon payment. If payment is not received at the time of billing, the cost of renewing the domain may increase and/or the domain name may be placed up for sale to the general public and the DNRO account may be closed.

Disputes Resolution

If any dispute or controversy arises in connection with this Agreement whether such dispute arises before, or after account signup or cancellation, and the parties are unable to settle the dispute or controversy themselves LPCHOST may choose to:

A) Settle such disputes or controversy by a panel of arbitrators in Oconomowoc, WI. This is pursuant to the Commercial Arbitration Rules of the American Arbitration Association. The decision of the arbitrators shall be final, binding, may not be appealed, and shall include a provision for costs and attorney fees

or

B) Proceed to file its claim in a court of law with the parties agreeing that the venue and jurisdiction shall be Waukesha County, WI

Furthermore, LPCHOST does not recognize any other third parties as a valid venue for resolving contractual disputes.

In the event of a Credit Card Chargeback or Dispute Customer will be charged $100 or 18%, whichever is greater, per instance as well as a $15 Collection Fee.

Termination for Cause

LPCHOST may terminate an account at any time for any violation of this Terms of Service Policy or for failure to pay bills for service. Such termination generally means that all files are deleted and all services, including mail forwarding are rescinded. Customer will not receive a refund for any prepaid services. All losses and expenses suffered by Customer as a result of such termination will be Customer's to bear alone; LPCHOST will have no liability whatsoever.

Provision of Services

LPCHOST will provide services on its host computing systems to customers in exchange for payment of fees and compliance with these Terms and Conditions and the Terms of Service Policy. LPCHOST services are defined as the use by Customer of computing, telecommunications, software, and information services provided by LPCHOST. These services also include the provision of access to computing, telecommunications, software, and information services provided by others via the worldwide computer network known as the Internet.

Consultation Charges

LPCHOST welcomes requests from Customers concerning their problems and will do as much as possible to help resolve them. When assistance provided by LPCHOST is beyond services offered to all customers by LPCHOST as part of its basic services such as assistance with Customer systems configuration beyond the initial set-up, the Customer may be charged a standard consulting rate. The Customer will be notified before such charges start. Consultation charges will be added onto the Customer's next invoice.

Security of Accounts

LPCHOST accounts are for individual Customers. Customer therefore agrees not to share the password of the account with others. Customer agrees to maintain a secure password to the account and is responsible for any use of his/her account. Customer agrees not to use any LPCHOST services to obtain the passwords of other customers on LPCHOST or other systems. Customer agrees not to use LPCHOST services to make unauthorized attempts to access any systems and networks. Customer may supply access to other individuals to their own account using our provided services do so at Customer's risk. LPCHOST is not liable for any events that may result, and the individual's provided access must also adhere to LPCHOST policies and guidelines.

Use of Internet Services

Customer agrees not to use LPCHOST services to violate copyright or other intellectual property rights. For example, Customer may not upload or download commercial software in violation of software license agreements. Customer agrees to use the services provided by LPCHOST as permitted by applicable local, state, and federal laws. Customer agrees, therefore, not to use these services to conduct any business or activity that is prohibited by law.

Specific Acceptable Use Policies

LPCHOST believes that the First Amendment rights of free speech, freedom of the press, and freedom of association apply to the Internet to the same degree as they do to print media. LPCHOST has no intention of infringing upon those rights. In fact we encourage using your own creativity and self expression within the limits of the law.

Unauthorized Use of Accounts or Computers

LPCHOST will react strongly to any unauthorized use or attempted unauthorized use of an Internet account or computer without the owner's authorization. Whether or not the attacked account or computer belongs to LPCHOST, such attempts include but are not limited to "social engineering" (tricking other people into releasing their passwords), password cracking, security hole scanning, and denial of service attacks. Possible actions include warnings, account suspension, cancellation or legal action, according to the seriousness of the attack.

E-mail Privacy

Electronic mail passes through multiple mail servers from source to destination on the Internet. One can never be guaranteed privacy from every possible mail server; therefore, customers seeking total privacy should use some encryption scheme, such as PGP to render their messages unreadable by eavesdroppers. With regards to LPCHOST mail servers, LPCHOST places a high value on privacy, and will normally only examine Customers' mail to troubleshoot E-mail delivery problems, protect system security, or to comply with a lawful warrant or court-order. LPCHOST will not divulge Customer account information, except at the direction of a lawfully served warrant.

Commercial Advertisements

Commercial advertising is an accepted and welcome use of the Internet. However, there is appropriate and inappropriate Internet advertising. ISP's that don't abide by this Internet standard may be denied access to newsgroups and in some cases to the Internet entirely. Commercial advertisements are unwelcome in most Usenet discussion groups and on most E-mail mailing lists. Inappropriate postings may result in account suspension or cancellation. See the newsgroup or mailing lists’ charter for whether advertising is allowed or not. Unsolicited commercial advertisements sent out via E-mail or to many off-topic newsgroups are not allowed. Generally ads should be placed in the ".biz" newsgroup hierarchy. Sending a message, such as unsolicited e-mail, especially an un-requested advertisement, to multiple recipients is by itself "spamming", unauthorized use of E-mail, unless the individuals have specifically requested to be added to a mailing list on that topic. Any mail or complaints or abuse will result in suspension of the account for 5 days until proof is shown that mass mailing has stopped. No mass mailing to, from or involving LPCHOST will be tolerated.

Make Money Fast

Any mailing or posting of "Make Money Fast" (MMF) or "Fast Cash" or pyramid schemes or chain letters of any sort will result in quick account termination. Pyramid schemes are illegal no matter how the message is presented. Pyramid schemes are NOT permitted.

Spoofing E-mail and News posts

All Customer E-mail and news posts shall have the Customer's valid account name in the header. You may use another existing LPCHOST or non- LPCHOST E-mail address in the "reply to" field as long as it is clear that the post came from your LPCHOST account. Use of standard “anonymous re-mailers” is allowed for private (noncommercial) E-mail and posting.

Illegal Material (Copyright)

LPCHOST assumes no legal liabilities relating to Customer's use of LPCHOST computer network and equipment. However, LPCHOST requires that its customers not use LPCHOST network for illegal purposes. In any legal matters that result from a Customers action, LPCHOST is under no obligation to defend itself rather than settle. Any losses suffered by LPCHOST to settle or defend legal action, and all civil or criminal penalties inflicted on LPCHOST as a result of any Customer's act are payable by the customer. Customer shall have no defense against prompt and full repayment to LPCHOST. When presented with a search warrant, LPCHOST is obligated to release appropriate information requested, and will cooperate with the authorities in any criminal investigation. While LPCHOST recognizes that the legal status of the Internet has not yet been fully resolved, LPCHOST considers certain actions illegal and therefore not allowed on its network, for example; unauthorized distribution of copyrighted material; exploitation of minors; and unauthorized use of computer resources. LPCHOST makes no representations concerning any attempt to review the content of sites hosted on its servers, and so LPCHOST is not responsible for the accuracy, copyright compliance, legality or decency of material contained in sites hosted on its servers.

Harassment

Harassment or abusive use of E-mail and other Internet services is a serious misuse of Internet resources. LPCHOST will handle incidents of harassment on a case-by-case basis, consulting with the parties involved. If you wish to report harassment, or abuse of services, please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and the abuse department will get back to you as soon as possible.

Inappropriate use of Web Service

LPCHOST provides space for commercial web pages with some services. LPCHOST maintains no responsibility for the content of such pages. LPCHOST will handle complaints about inappropriate web pages on a case-by-case basis. Examples of inappropriate information include downloadable virus code, bulk E-mail lists, illicit advertising, and web-based services that allow members of the public to send E-mail or post news anonymously.

LPCHOST IRC rules

IRC client software is not allowed to be run through a shell account on any servers owned by LPCHOST. IRC client software must be run from the users own computer. Bots (automated IRC programs) run against any programs, community talk programs, video, audio or text servers, even if they are run from your own machine, are not allowed via an LPCHOST connection. If LPCHOST receives a complaint, LPCHOST will investigate the abuse and, if a violation has occurred, may put the account on hold or remove the abusers account. Full payment for the entire contract term will still be due, even with no further services provided. Customer agrees to abide by LPCHOST interpretation of the above. If Customer needs help interpreting or applying these rules, Customer should ask LPCHOST support staff for assistance.

Abuse of LPCHOST Services

Any use of LPCHOST system resources that disrupts the normal operation of the system or the use by other LPCHOST customers is considered to be abuse of system resources and is grounds for administrative intervention. Use of LPCHOST computers or Internet connection to send ping or other packets in an attempt to deny service to another user is considered abuse. Depending on the nature and the severity of the abuse, the customer may receive an E-mail warning, have his processes halted, or have his account suspended. If the misuse is unintentional or has under other mitigating circumstances, the suspension may be rescinded but may require a reconnection charge. Customers who believe their activity has been inappropriately handled may appeal to LPCHOST Management.

Reporting Abuse

Please email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it for information on the abuse reporting policies of LPCHOST.

Warranties

LPCHOST makes no warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied, for its services. LPCHOST specifically disclaims any implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for any particular purpose. LPCHOST will not be held responsible for any losses or damages resulting from delays, non-deliveries, misdeliveries, service interruption, or Customer's or LPCHOST errors or omissions. LPCHOST will not under any circumstances be responsible for consequential damages. LPCHOST reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts for any reason, if, in LPCHOST's opinion, the Customer is disrupting or threatening the operation of this site and/or the Internet or its components. In the context of this Terms of Service Policy, using other sites or servers to abuse the net via LPCHOST access is regarded the same as using LPCHOST site.

Applicability

These rules cannot be superseded by any verbal agreements of LPCHOST employees or customers. Any agreement modification or special changes to this Terms of Service Policy must be in writing and signed by an officer of the Company.

Jurisdiction

The laws of Wisconsin shall govern the validity, construction and performance of this Terms of Service Policy and Customers agreement to abide by this Terms of Service Policy.

Severability

If any provision of this policy is held by a court to be contrary to law, the remaining provisions will remain in full force and effect.

Acceptance

Your acceptance of this Terms of Service policy is acknowledged by your continued use of LPCHOST’s services. If you do not agree to this Terms of Service Policy you must cancel your account immediately, in writing, with all necessary documentation to verify your identity.

Please Note:

For customers who are unable to follow these rules, we will have no choice but to suspend your account without warning and contact your local authorities. We are always willing to cooperate with officials and have a right to defend our position. If you feel as though you will be unable to abide by our rules, please use your search engine to find another web site host.