Terms of Service

Last updated 14 June 2010 PinchHost Terms of Service
PinchHost provides web hosting and email services. PinchHost reserves the right to suspend or cancel any client's access to any portion or all of PinchHost services, when PinchHost deems that the account has been used inappropriately. PinchHost reserves the right to refuse service and/or access to its servers to anyone.

PinchHost prohibits sites engaged in:
Illegal activities including but not limited to storing and/or distributing illegal copies of copyrighted software, warez sites, violations of copyrights and trademarks, violations of U.S. laws, selling and/or distributing illegal contraband, Proxy Scripts and or websites / Anonymizers, IRC Bots, image hosting only sites without a domain name, Escrow Sites, High-Yield Interest Programs (HYIP) or related sites, Investment sites (FOREX, egold exchange), AutoSurf sites, Bank Debentures, Bank Debenture Trading Programs, Prime Banks Programs, lottery sites, muds/rpg's, hate sites, hacker focused sites and or archive programs.

Internet abuse including but not limited to spamming - mass unsolicited Emailing, distribution of mass emailing programs, cross-posting messages to large number of usenet groups, posting obscene or inflammatory messages, threatening other Internet users, mail bombing Internet users, running packet sniffers or port scanners, and spamming our support staff. Spammers are held responsible for a 500 dollar clean up fee.

Systems abuse including but not limited to use of excessive CPU resources, use of excessive disk space, use of excessive email storage space, hacking our systems, installing continuously running programs, such as IRC bots, and reselling CGI scripts.

Adult Content
The determination of what is "adult content" and prohibited shall be solely made by PinchHost. Should a policy violation occur, PinchHost reserves the right to terminate the account without notice and without any refunds. The policy-violating client will be held responsible for any damages to PinchHost's system, servers, connectivity, reputation, business, service, network, operations, or equipment. The policy violator may be charged a $500 clean up fee.

Web Site Content
The client is responsible for keeping a copy of their most current web site files as backup on a remote system (not on PinchHost servers). PinchHost is not responsible for any lost files, information, or data.

System Updates
The client understands that system updates occur in real-time and as queued batch processes. For example, account passwords are currently updated as queued batch processes, therefore the update does not occur in the system instantaneously. PinchHost reserves the right to modify the processing times at any time without notice. If a client or PinchHost support personnel (when authorized by client) makes any modifications to a hosting account, the client is responsible to make sure these updates have occurred in our system.

Resource Usage
Users may not:
1) Use 25% or more of system resources for longer then 90 seconds.
2) Run cron jobs at an interval of less than 15 minutes.
3) Run IRCD or standalone server side unattended processes.
4) Run gaming servers, process game server stats, teamspeak, ventrillo or any other voice application, torrents, torrent related sites, trackers or applications.
5) Run any processes related to or that interface with IRC programs and or networks.
6) Run any kind of web indexer or web spider.
7) Repeatedly create and delete large numbers of files on a regular basis causing system damage.
Inodes
Users may not exceed more than 50,000 Inodes per shared hosting account (a shared hosting account is one cPanel username). This limit is in place to prevent system over usage. Every email, webpage, file, etc takes up one Inode.

Support
Free customer technical support is provided via our ticket support, telephone support and Skype. Client agrees not to spam support.

Payment Policy
All services are on a monthly, quarterly, bi-annual, annual or 2-yearly prepayment basis. PinchHost only accepts PayPal payments. Service is activated only after receipt of payment. Once an order is successfully submitted, the client is subject to PinchHost's refund policy. All monetary transactions will occur in either USD or GBP. No bills or invoices will be sent by postal mail or fax. PinchHost reserves the right to change pricing schedule at any time.

Additional Features
Additional features can be added at any time. When a feature is added, the client is assessed charges for the month and every upcoming month until the end of their billing cycle. Feature prices are not prorated.

Renewal Notification and Billing Schedule
Renewal notification is emailed to the billing contact email address on file. Clients are responsible for keeping their contact information up to date. Clients agree to use a contact email address that is not hosted on PinchHost servers as their contact email.

Refund Policy
PinchHost offers a 60 day money back guarantee for web hosting services only. There are no refunds for domain registration services.

If PinchHost terminates an account due to Terms of Service policy violations, there will be no refund.

The fees for additional features are non-refundable.

99.9% Uptime Guarantee
If your website is down for over 45 minutes within the month, you will be refunded in full for that month. You must provide reasonable proof of downtime. Refunds will be given at the discretion of PinchHost.

Cancellation
PinchHost reserves the right to terminate service at any time. If an account is terminated for a policy violation there will be no refund. The policy violator may be assessed a 500 dollar clean up fee. PinchHost reserves the right to delete the policy violating web site content without notice.

Customers can cancel service at any time, they should do so by contacting support. If the client requests cancellation, their account will be terminated immediately. PinchHost reserves the right to delete the web site contents without notice.

Indemnification
Client agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless PinchHost against any liabilities arising out of defective products sold to customers from PinchHost servers, personal injury or property damage caused by products or services sold or distributed from PinchHost servers, any material that infringes or allegedly infringes on the rights of a third party available from PinchHost servers, and any material that libels or allegedly libels a third party available from PinchHost servers.

Arbitration
By using any PinchHost services, clients agree to binding arbitration. If any disputes or claims arise against PinchHost or its subsidiaries, such disputes will be handled by an arbitrator of PinchHost's choice. All decisions rendered by that arbitrator will be binding and final. Clients are also responsible for any and all costs related to such arbitration.

Disclaimer
PinchHost is not responsible for any damages to any client's business. PinchHost makes no warranties or guarantees of any kind, expressed or implied for services that we provide. Use of PinchHost's web hosting and email service is at the client's sole risk. PinchHost's services are provided on an "as is, as available" basis.

PinchHost does not guarantee that our services will be uninterrupted or error free. PinchHost will provide every effort in good faith to ensure that its services are available to as many Internet users as possible with minimal service interruptions.

In no circumstance will PinchHost be liable for any claims resulting from the use or inability to use PinchHost's services - including, but not limited to, service interruptions, client errors, Internet connectivity problems, miscommunications, unauthorized access to PinchHost servers, DNS caching, Internet bandwidth congestion, power failures, vandalism and natural disasters.

Affiliate Program Use of PinchHost's affiliate program is at the client's sole risk. We reserve the right to not pay an affiliate fee if it is considered by us to be unjust (e.g. fraud based or a purchase by the affiliate account holder). PinchHost reserves the right to revise our policies at any time.