Legal stuff
Questions about any of our legal documents? Please contact our Support Department.
Acceptable Use Policy
This is our Acceptable Use Policy and Service Guidelines.
By using web hosting services provided by Spiral Hosting Limited, you agree to comply with our policies that are designed to protect each client and ensure we can provide the best services available.
Banned Scripts/Programs from use on Spiral Hosting Limited Servers:
A small handful of scripts/programs are not allowed to be used on the Spiral Hosting Limited servers.
This is largely due to excessive demands on server resources that can degrade performance for other hosting clients. Namely the following are BANNED from use on our servers:
ANY CGI-script powered chat room or bulletin board, including:
- ikonBoard.cgi
- UltimateBB.cgi
- and others.
- Topsites .cgi scripts
- formmail.pl (spam security concerns)
- Any scripts that could cause security concerns.
- IRC-related software (servers, bots, bouncers, etc.)
Accounts that are found to have such software uploaded to their web space are subject to immediate suspension and/or termination without notice. We reserve the right to add from, modify, or otherwise adapt to this list other banned programs at our discretion.
Content:
All services provided by Spiral Hosting Limited may be used for lawful purposes only. Transmission, storage, or presentation of any information, data or material which constitutes a violation of any federal, state, local or international law, regulation, ordinance, court order or other legal process is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material, material we judge to be threatening or obscene or material protected by trade secret and other statute, and invasion of privacy. The subscriber agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Spiral Hosting Limited from any claims resulting from the use of the service which damages the subscriber or any other party.
Sites that promote any illegal activity or present content that may be damaging to Spiral Hosting Limited servers or any other server on the Internet are prohibited from using our servers. Links to such materials are also prohibited. Spiral Hosting Limited will be the sole arbiter in determining violations of this provision.
Examples of prohibited content or links:
- Pirated software
- Hacker programs, exploits, scripts or archives
- Warez sites
Provisioning of Web Space or Email Addresses:
This includes but is not limited to; the provision of email addresses, Web Hosting, or storage space to people outside your organization or company, or to the general public. Unauthorized resale or use of Spiral Hosting Limited features and/or services is NOT allowed.
Commercial Advertising - Email:
Spamming, or the sending of unsolicited email, from a Spiral Hosting Limited server or using an email address or domain that is maintained on a Spiral Hosting Limited machine as reference is STRICTLY prohibited. Spiral Hosting Limited will be the sole arbiter as to what constitutes a violation of this provision. Sites that promote, sell, or otherwise provide access to spam ware products or products that are solely for the purpose of extraction or sale of email addresses or which are used to send bulk email are not permitted on any Spiral Hosting Limited server.
Disk Space and Bandwidth:
We offer various bandwidth allocations per plan per month. If you surpass this amount, we would be happy to discuss a upgrade or dedicated server solution with you. Unfortunately we cannot allow sites to simply purchase multiple accounts to get more bandwidth.
Misuse of System Resources:
Any attempt to undermine or cause harm to a server, or customer, of Spiral Hosting Limited is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: using programs that consume excessive CPU time; allowing the use of mail services, mail forwarding capabilities, or auto responders other than for the customer's own account; resale of disk space without an appropriate reseller agreement; use of servers for backup of files unrelated to the web site of the account; or resale or remote access to CGI scripts installed on our servers. No IRC related software is permitted on our servers. This includes servers, bots, bouncers, or any other software that is used for the purpose of creating, maintaining, or providing access to IRC servers or channels.
Accounts that are found to have such software uploaded to their web space are subject to immediate suspension and/or termination without notice.
Account Policies and Cancellation:
Account renewal is automatic until canceled by the account holder. All accounts will be renewed according to the term selected upon account signup (monthly or annually). There are no refunds due to the large number of "host hoppers" who have taken advantage of this offer, and change hosts every 28 days.
If your billing information is incorrect, or your Credit Card is denied for any reason upon automatic renewal, you will receive an email informing you of the problem. If you do not provide alternate payment arrangements within 48 hours of that notice, your account will be suspended. You will have 14 days to resolve the situation and provide proper billing information. If we do not hear from you within 14 days, your account will be deleted from our system. Spiral Hosting Limited is not responsible in any way for any loss of revenue or business due to suspension or deletion of your account or any services.
Accounts are payable at the time the account is created. If payment by check or money order is selected, payment must be received prior to account activation. Any account reaching thirty (30) days past due is subject to removal from our servers at our discretion.
Cancellation requests can be submitted via email to our Billing Department. Although no notice is required, and there is no cancellation fee, all fees paid for service up to the notice of cancellation are non-refundable. Registration fees for domain registration are never refundable.
Suspension:
Failure to follow our terms and conditions will be grounds for immediate account suspension and possible account termination.
Activity which results in a suspension or termination of an account will result in a forfeiture of fees paid. Complaints made regarding abuses of an account may be grounds for suspension.
Refusal of Service:
We reserve the right to refuse, cancel, or suspend service at our sole discretion.
All sub-networks, distributive hosting sites, and dedicated servers of Spiral Hosting Limited must adhere to the above policies. Please direct any reports of violations of our policies to our Support Department
Service Level Agreement
**~~All payments that are made to Spiral Hosting Limited are non-refundable~~**
This is the Service Level Agreement ("SLA") covering the guarantee performance of our network infrastructure. The SLA is between Spiral Hosting Limited. ("we", "our", "us") and the client purchasing our services ("client", "you", "your").
Our SLA is complimented by a separate Terms of Service ("TOS") and Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP"). The client agrees that by using our services you have read and acknowledged these three documents, available via our website at http://www.spiralhosting.com . It is not our duty to inform clients of updates to these documents; hence clients are responsible for regular checks.
We reserve the right to update our SLA, TOS and AUP at any given time. These updates will be at our discretion and it is agreed that updates are not grounds for cancellation of your contract. This SLA applies during and - when applicable - after you are a client with us. This agreement supersedes any previous agreement between us.
Spiral Hosting Limited
Our headquarters registered address is: Spiral Hosting Limited, 14 Sharman Gardens, Belfast, BT9 5GE
Domain Registration
We cannot guarantee domain name availability. When you make a request for a registration you should not assume it is successful until you have written confirmation. We have the right to refuse registration at our discretion.
Registration of a domain name is subject to a separate agreement with the domain registry. For .uk tld domain names, the registry is Nominet. Their terms and conditions are published at http://www.nominet.org.uk .
We will not be liable for any loss of registration, use of your domain name or for misuse by you; we may suspend or cancel domain registration if we believe a client is breaching our agreement.
Network Usage
We cannot guarantee the accuracy, integrity, security or consistency of information stored on our systems. Clients agree that we are not liable for loss or damage to their data; they agree to keep master copies of files on systems where they bear responsibility.
You agree to only use our network for lawful purposes. You are responsible for anyone accessing the network using your account. You will only use the resources allocated to your account and you will not infringe on the rights of third parties by using resources excessively.
You agree to comply with the appropriate terms and conditions of third party services provided by us.
We agree to do the utmost possible to protect our network from unauthorised access. This may include blocking or re-routing access to our servers for security.
Resellers
Clients who chose to resell our services are obliged to ensure their customers are aware of terms and conditions that reflect our current policy. All responsibility for your resold services lies with you.
Closure Procedures and Exceptions
Clients who wish to close their account must notify us via email or telephone. They should ensure we receive their request at least 48 hours before their account expires. All client data will be removed upon account closure. We are not required to provide SLA guaranteed service to clients in default of their contractual obligations.
Law
Our services are governed in accordance with Irish law. You agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of Irish courts. Clients in the United Kingdom agree to the exclusive jurisdiction of courts in Northern Ireland.
Payment
Payments are due in advance for all services. You will ensure your payment is with us before the due date, in the correct form and currency. You agree to notify us if any error has been made.
Termination and Refunds
You agree for us to suspend, withhold or terminate your services immediately, without notice and at our discretion, if:
- You do not pay,
- We believe you have breached our agreement,
- You declare bankruptcy, fall into liquidation, or you are believed to be legally insolvent.
Refunds are given at our discretion. Many services such as SSL certificates and domain names can never be refunded.
Limitation of Liability
We accept no liability for any financial loss. You agree that our total liability does not extend to any more than the amount you have paid for the relevant services.
Network Hardware
Fast Providers' network is connected via multi-homed 100mbps unthrottled connections. A typical system on our network has Western Digital hard disk drives and Intel Xeon processors. Our network has redundant hardware and power supplies. Our servers have state of the art firewalls. Our co-located servers can benefit from UPS protected power and backup diesel generators. Our datacentres have CCTV, secure card areas, air conditioning, fire suppression and smoke detection systems. They are monitored 24/7.
Our network is multi-homed by up to 10 high speed data carriers to give further reliability. We are connected through Global Crossing, Verio, Sprint, AboveNet, Level 3, UUnet, AT&T, Allegiance, Broadwing and Time Warner.
Network Uptime Guarantee
We are proud to offer a 99.9% uptime guarantee. While unlikely, it is possible that we may experience some downtime lasting no more than a few minutes.
We will refund 5% of the Client's monthly fee for server downtime lasting over 5 minutes. To be eligible for a refund the Client must email our support desk with details of possible downtime. If the problem is within our control, we will measure the time it takes to be fixed. Refunds will be at our discretion.
This uptime guarantee excludes scheduled maintenance, server hardware failures which may take longer to fix, and network infrastructure problems that is beyond our control.
Server Hardware Guarantee
Dedicated server clients are eligible for our Hardware Guarantee. If a hardware component included as part of the Client's dedicated server hardware configuration fails during the term of our contract, we will replace it at no charge to the client.
We aim to replace defective hardware within 90 minutes of identifying the source of the problem. In exceptional cases replacement will take longer.
We will refund 10% of the Client's monthly fee for hardware failure lasting over 4 hours. We will measure the time taken to fix the server. Refunds will be at our discretion.
This guarantee covers the power supply unit(s), cabling, CPU(s), motherboard, hard disk drive(s), modem(s), network card(s), and disk controller(s). This guarantee excludes time taken for data recovery or data restoration.
Terms of Service
**~~All payments that are made to Spiral Hosting Limited are non-refundable~~**
Spiral Hosting Limited agrees to finish any services advertised to our subscribers, subject to the following TOS (Terms of Service).
All subscribers to Spiral Hosting Limited must read and acknowledge that they agree to this TOS. This TOS can be changed at any given time at our discretion. Customers agree that such changes are not grounds for cancellation of your contract or grounds for a refund.
Law Enforcement
Our TOS states that use of our services for any illegal activity is not allowed. So in order to fully cooperate with law agencies, Spiral Hosting Limited may give out any information about our customers including assigned IP addresses and domain names to any law agency that request it without our customers permission.
Service Rates
Customer acknowledges that the prices have been communicated between the company and our customers and that all prices may be amended at any given time and any special promotional offer is only for a limited amount of time, which is determined by the company.
Payment
Payments may be made via Credit or Debit Card, PayPal, Postal Cheque or Money Order. All payments are due on the date specified. There are no tax charges or any other hidden fees that have not been previously stated. All accounts are subject to these rules and are non-negotiable. Payments that do not clear are subject to bank charges. Any such fees Spiral Hosting Limited incurs as a result of negligence on the customer's part, must be reimbursed by the customer.
Failure to Pay
Spiral Hosting Limited has the right to temporarily deny service to or terminate any account upon failure of payment. Such penalties do not mean that the customer still does not owe money.
Account Cancellation
Customers acknowledge that due to our type of services offered, our service may be down because of numerous reasons beyond our control. However, we do try and protect our services from being rendered temporarily unavailable and if such things do happens, we will work until it is fixed. And any resulting effect from our services being down, Spiral Hosting Limited is not reliable for, and we are in no way financially responsible.
Support Boundaries
Spiral Hosting Limited has 24 hour online technical support. We can only offer technical support to things that are related to our services and what we have control over.
SPAM and Unsolicited Email
Spiral Hosting Limited has a ZERO tolerance with regards to any SPAM email that is sent from our server. Any violation of our SPAM policy can result in multiple fines and/or account termination.
Network
If and when Spiral Hosting Limited assigns our customers an Internet Protocol address for customers use, that right is solely to Spiral Hosting Limited and no rights are given to the customer. This means Spiral Hosting Limited has the right to change, add or delete the IP if they deem it necessary.
However, any abuse of our IP resulting in some kind of penalty or lawsuit brought against Spiral Hosting Limited is the customers fault and they will be the ones brought to punishment.
System and Network Security
Any attempts to violate Spiral Hosting Limited security will result in a criminal charges being brought against the user. These attempts are defined but not limited to:
- Accessing data not intended for such User or logging into a server or account, which such User is not authorized to access.
- Attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization.
- Attempting to interfere with service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of overloading, "flooding", "mail bombing" or "crashing".
- Forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email or newsgroup posting.
- Taking any action in order to obtain services to which such User is not entitled.
Notification of Violation
Spiral Hosting Limited is under no duty to look at each customer's or user's activities to determine if a violation of the TOS has occurred, nor do we assume any responsibility through this TOS to monitor/police Internet-related activities.
We have and will use our right to drop any IP involved in Spam or DoS attacks if someone can be proved that he/she was responsible. We are not obligated in any way to inform our customers if we do drop the IP.
Suspension/Cancellation of Service
Spiral Hosting Limited may suspend or cancel any account they deem has broken the TOS/AUP or have received complaints about that it is breaking the law. In such cases, the account will be suspended while Spiral Hosting Limited further investigates the case. If it is found as such that the account is in fact breaking the law/TOS/AUP the account will be immediately cancelled and any remaining fees must be paid.
Spiral Hosting Limited can amend its policies/rules at any given time without notifying its members. However, that doesn't mean you may break them. Failure to heed to these policies may result in a number of different punishments.
Spiral Hosting Limited is in no way responsible for any content stored on your site. We may not be sued nor have any penalties brought upon us due to our customers errors. You may be charged for anything that Spiral Hosting Limited has to do as a result of your doing.
Terms for Special Promotions
Domain registration
Discounted domain names cannot be transferred away during the first year of registration, but you can change the nameservers and have your own name on the whois details.
Free domain names cannot be transferred away during the first year of registration. You can have your own name on the whois details, but cannot change the nameservers.
If you receive a free or discounted domain as part of a web hosting package, and wish to cancel your hosting after the first 6 months, we may allow you to purchase the domain at our regular selling price. If you do not purchase the domain, Spiral Hosting may refuse to transfer the domain to another register.
Web hosting
If you purchase web hosting at a discounted price, we will normally continue to renew it at the same price. However in exceptional circumstances, or when we state the price is a one-off, we may have to change the price. We will notify the customer beforehand and we will require confirmation that they agree to the new price.