FAQs

This Acceptable Use Policy (also called an "AUP") governs the use of Hello World Web's web hosting service. As a customer in good standing of Hello World Web Hosting, you are expected to abide by the following guidelines and policies. Violation of this AUP will result in action from a warning given with a set amount of time to remedy the violation, to suspension or termination of your service, depending on the severity of the offense. Customer agrees to cooperate with Hello World Web's reasonable investigation of any suspected violation of the AUP. If your service is suspended or termination due to a violation of the AUP no refund will be given for unused services.

Whenever possible we attempt to educate and work with our customers in resolving the issue, and expect a timely response back to our communications in return.

If the violation involves illegal activity you will be reported to the proper authorities without delay. In any such event we reserve the right to disclose your personal details to any law enforcement agency in order to further investigate such matters. When legal jurisdiction is in question, governing laws of the state of California (USA) shall be used.

Disclaimer: Hello World Web is under no duty, and does not by this AUP undertake a duty, to monitor or police our customers' activities and disclaims any responsibility for any misuse of the Hello World Web servers and services. We do take immediate action based on any and all reports of misconduct or abuse involving our customers' use of our servers and services.

In the event of a dispute between you and Hello World Web regarding the interpretation of this AUP, Hello World Web's interpretation, in its reasonable commercial judgment, shall govern. If you have any questions regarding this AUP, please contact the Hello World Web Abuse Department.

1. Prohibited Content

Please use good judgment and common sense when adding content to your websites. We are in business to provide hosting services, not be "Internet censors", and though it is not our intent to infringe on your right of self-expression, there are some forms of content we can not allow on our servers, either for legal reasons or to maintain server stability. You may not publish, store or transmit any content that Hello World Web reasonably believes constitutes or contains:

• child pornography;
• fraud or phishing, including that which is unfair or deceptive under the consumer protection laws of any jurisdiction, including chain letters and pyramid schemes;
• is defamatory or violates a person's privacy, such as posting private phone numbers or email addresses without the owner's consent;
• racist or hate speech, incites or threatens violence;
• content with the sole purpose of harassing and/or doing harm to an individual or group (especially if based on race, nationality, religion, sexual orientation, gender);
• creates a risk to a person's safety or health, creates a risk to public safety or health, compromises national security, or interferes with a investigation by law enforcement;
• improperly exposes trade secrets or other confidential or proprietary information of another person;
• is intended to assist others in defeating technical copyright protections (including nulled scripts, warez hosting, storage or linking);
• any form or P2P/torrents: Torrentflux, uTorrent, rTorrent, wTorrent, kTorrent, bittornado;
• an IRC server, or other resource-intensive background processes (BitchX, eggdrop, irsii, bnc) VPS and dedicated server customers are excluded from this restriction;
• any sort of Internet bot, email harvester, or the like;
• clearly infringes on another person's trade or service mark, patent, or other property right;
• any copyrighted material that you don't have proper authorization from the owner or author to display or distribute;
• sales of illegal drugs, violates export control laws, relates to illegal gambling, or illegal arms trafficking;
• promotes or engages in spamming, viral attacks on any network, malware/Trojans, or otherwise malicious and/or illegal behavior.

• 1a. Custom Software Installation Policy

  You are allowed to install any custom script or web application (unless it is listed as prohibited) on your website/hosting account as you see fit, at your own risk and expense. You are also responsible for the behavior of anything you install, including any damage (poorly written scripts that run out of control and consume an inordinate amount of the systems' resources could potentially crash the server), or damage done through it by others, such as scripts written with poor (or no) security practices. It is strongly recommended that you do adequate research on any script, application of software before installing it on your website. When in doubt, please ask... we're happy to give you recommendations based on experience and industry knowledge.

  For your convenience we offer "one click" script auto-installers with 300+ different scripts available. While every effort is made to test these scripts before making them available to our hosting customers (and filter out the bad ones), any script you install - including those available through our auto-installers - is done so at your own risk.

  By installing custom software on your website you accept the responsibility of keeping it patched and up-to-date, monitoring for the release of any security patches, and for seeking support for the software from the author of that software. This is especially true of WordPress installations. Any security patch must be applied in a timely manner (usually immediately) of it's release and availability to the general public. Failure to do so may result in your script or web application being disabled. You need to have an experienced WordPress admin monitoring your installation.
  

  By installing any custom software you accept the responsibility of researching any possible conflicts or incompatibilities with upcoming upgrades to the core server technologies (PHP, Perl, Ruby, Tomcat, etc). We make every effort to give our customers advance notice of any upcoming major version upgrades (which are generally scheduled in advance), while minor version upgrades are normally in the form of security patches and applied/upgraded as soon as they are available. We also make every effort to research any known incompatibilities, but we obviously can't know then all. Please know the requirements of the software you install, and let of know in advance of any potential conflicts.

• 1b. Excessive System Resource Usage

  You are responsible for the scripts and web applications you install and use on your website, including any damage they might do (poorly written scripts that run out of control and consume an inordinate amount of the systems' resources could potentially crash the server). On the first offense you will receive a clear warning, and we will attempt to help you remedy the situation. Second or third violations may result in an immediate termination of your account. Hello World Web staff members will judge based on server performance on what type of activity is considered as abusive.

2. Website Back Up

Hello World Web provides a backup service as a courtesy to our customers. Customers are highly recommended to keep their own website backups and maintain a current copy of all content hosted by Hello World Web notwithstanding any agreement to provide back up services. We are not responsible for any data loss due to customers' failure to maintain their own backups.

3. Prohibited Use Of Our Network / Internet Abuse

Through the use of Hello World Web hosting servers and services, you may not engage in illegal, abusive, or irresponsible behavior, including:

• Unauthorized access to or use of data, systems or networks, including any attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures (including those belonging to Hello World Web and its customers) without express authorization of the owner of the system or network;
• Monitoring data or traffic on any network or system without the authorization of the owner of the system or network;
• Interference with service to any user, host or network including, without limitation, mail bombing, flooding, deliberate attempts to overload a system and broadcast (DDoS) attacks;
• Use of an Internet account or computer without the owner's authorization, including, but not limited to Internet scanning (tricking other people into releasing their passwords), password theft, security hole scanning, and port scanning;
• Forging of any TCP-IP packet header or any part of the header information in an email or a newsgroup posting; or
• Use of Hello World Web's network in a way that unreasonably interferes with Hello World Web's other customers use of the network.

4. Bandwidth and Disk Usage

Each of our hosting accounts has a set ("soft limit") but generous disk space and bandwidth usage amount included. If you temporarily exceed your bandwidth soft limit, rather than suspending your service for the remainder of the month as many other hosts do, we simply bill you for the overage at a very nominal fee. We will also notify you when you reach 80% (and 90%) of your usage limit, so there should be no surprises. If your increased usage is consistent, you can easily upgrade your account yourself from within the Client Portal. Please see How Do I Upgrade Or Downgrade My Hosting Plan to find how flexible our plans can be.

5. Security

A chain is only as strong as it's weakest link, and you are a part of our security chain. We place a high priority on security, and expect that you will take reasonable security precautions. Some of those include:

• Only install known and secure scripts and web applications from trusted sources;
• Apply any security patches or updates to installed software in a timely manner, usually within seven (7) days of it's release;
• Use a strong password, preferably fifteen (15) characters or more (See Creating Strong Passwords for helpful tips);
• Safeguard your login and password;
• Change your password after anyone does work on your website, or create a limited account for this purpose;
• Avoid logging into your hosting account from public WiFi or a public computer;
• Maintain your own computer, keeping the operating system, it's software and your browser current and patched;
• Keep your contact information on file with us current, so we can contact you in the event of any suspicious activity noted on your account.

6. Bulk Commercial Email Policy

While you may use our email services for any legitimate business and/or personal use, be aware that we maintain a zero-tolerance for SPAM (outbound as well as inbound). No one like SPAM. Don't be that guy. When sending bulk commercial email from our mail servers, or any email from any service or network when the "Reply To" email address is a domain hosted on our servers, you are expected to comply with these procedures.

• You comply with all sections of the CAN-SPAM Act and other applicable law. In addition:
• Your intended recipients have given their consent to receive email via some affirmative means, such as an opt-in procedure;
• Your procedures for soliciting consent include reasonable means to ensure that the person giving consent is the owner of the email address for which the consent is given;
• You retain evidence of the recipient's consent in a form that may be promptly produced upon our request;
• You must have a Privacy Policy posted for each domain associated with the mailing;
• You may not obscure the source of your email in any manner. Your email must include the recipients email address in the body of the message or in the "TO" line of the email; and
• You must respond to any complaints in a timely manner; and
• You must remove the email address from anyone who has opted-out from any and all of your future mailings.

7. Digital Millennium Copyright Act Policy

In accordance with the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) it is our policy to respond to all notices of alleged copyright infringement complaints.

We comply with all valid take-down requests. Once the notice has been verified as valid, we will contact you, our customer, and advise you of the complaint. You will have twenty-four (24) hours to remove the copyrighted content from your website/hosting account. If you do not comply within twenty-four (24) hours we will remove the copyrighted content for you. For more information refer to our Digital Millennium Copyright Act Policy.