Hosting policies
In order to provide a high-class, professional service, we have set up a few guidelines for users of our service. Some of these guidelines may seem strict, but they are necessary to assure a safe, functional, and trusted environment for our customers to publish their information on the Web. Many of our competitors do not require their customers to comply with these guidelines. This information is subject to change without notice, so please check this page for updates.- What content is not allowed on servers hosted by NinerNet Communications?
- What are your policies on e-mail usage and do you allow "spam"?
- How do you deal with illegal activities?
- Any other policies to ensure a stable service?
- What are your support boundaries and do you provide service beyond simple hosting?
- How do you quote and bill for custom projects?
- What are your billing policies and procedures?
- Do you pro-rate payments for hosting that starts or ends in the middle of the month?
- How and where can I pay my bill?
- Do you offer a discount if I pre-pay for a period longer than one quarter (three months)?
- What are your fees for returned payments?
- Do you offer discounts for new business referred by existing clients?
- Do you have a plan to allow Internet-based consultants to resell your services?
- What is your policy regarding communicating with your clients?
- What is your position on the naming and changing of domain contacts?
- Do you provide free space for parked domains?
- How do I close my account?
- Where can I get additional information about your policies?
- What do I do if my question is not answered here?
We do not allow any of the following content to be published on the NinerNet Communications system:
- Content of an illegal nature (including stolen copyrighted material),
- Pirated software sites,
- Gambling-related sites, and
- Hate sites or content that could be reasonably considered as slanderous or libellous.
Users posting any of the above content on their sites will have their Web and/or incoming anonymous FTP services temporarily suspended. They will then be contacted by NinerNet and given the opportunity to remove the content in question before having their services reinstated. A repeated offence may cause cancellation of service without refund of any fees.
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E-mail Usage
NinerNet does not support the sending of unsolicited e-mail messages (also known as junk e-mail or spam) by users of our systems. Users sending unsolicited e-mail messages from our systems or posting spam in Usenet Newsgroups will have all of their services temporarily suspended. They will then be contacted by NinerNet and informed of the suspension before having their services reinstated. A repeated offence may cause cancellation of service without refund of any fees.
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Illegal Activities
Customers who use our systems to engage in illegal activities, including but not limited to breaking in to remote systems, credit card fraud, theft, vandalism, threats, or violence, will have their accounts immediately cancelled without refund of any fees.
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Right to Refuse Service
NinerNet reserves the right to refuse service to anyone for any reason. We enforce this policy to ensure a professional environment for the users of our system.
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Maintenance Contracts and Support Boundaries
Unless otherwise indicated, support provided by NinerNet Communications on all hosting packages is limited to ensuring that all of the Internet services provided by NinerNet are functioning, and that we provide you with the necessary configuration information to use those services. This means that your server should be accessible by all Internet networking protocols included in your selected package, and all software installed on your server should be working as advertised. If something is not working, we will fix it at no cost to you.
NinerNet is not responsible for installing, debugging or testing custom software or scripts on your behalf, nor is NinerNet responsible to fix anything broken by such software or scripts. If custom software or scripts interfere with any of our other clients, we will fix or remove the problem using the quickest and least expensive means possible, and bill the responsible client for the work to do so.
If most of the Internet can access your server, but you or another unique individual cannot access your server, then this indicates a problem with your or the other individual's ISP that is beyond our control and is therefore not covered by our support policy. In such cases, please contact your ISP to resolve the problem.
If possible, and for free, we will point you towards resources that will help you with any of your projects. If you need help or support beyond the basic support included with every hosting package and detailed above, then you may either purchase a maintenance contract (which are designed to provide increasing levels of service on a monthly basis), or you may choose to pay only for the particular service that you need. Generally speaking the maintenance contracts are the best value, as they bundle numerous services together for a lower overall price, while giving you peace-of-mind knowing that there is someone watching over your server all the time.
Please review our services page for maintenance contracts and specific services.
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Deposits and Quotations
A quotation is required before work starts on a project, is valid for thirty (30) days, and must be agreed to by the client in writing. Payment in full for work quoted is due before work commences. However, this requirement may be relaxed (at the sole discretion of NinerNet Communications Company) for repeat clients who have demonstrated an acceptable payment record. Larger projects (typically the design of a new Web site) will be broken down into phases, with quotations for each phase. At the end of each phase (except the final phase) the quote for the subsequent phases will be revised and renewed, and such quotes must be agreed to and accepted in writing for work to continue. Payment in full for each phase is required at the beginning of each phase in advance of work on that phase starting. Payments for custom work are non-refundable unless some or all of the amount paid is intended to cover direct expenses (e.g., domain registration, software licences, etc.). In such cases, these amounts will be refunded only if the expenses in question have not already been made by NinerNet on the client's behalf. Quotations will be carefully itemised, and only items detailed in the quotation are included in the final price. Changes by the client of the specifications of the project that result in a change in the quoted price must be authorised by the client in writing; changes which result in a decrease in the quoted price will only result in a refund if, as detailed above, any related expenses have not already been made by NinerNet on the client's behalf.
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Billing
All billing for recurring services is done mid-month (usually on the 15th) in advance of the period being billed, and payment is due by the due date printed on the invoice (twenty-eight [28] days after the billing date). The minimum billing period is one quarter (three months). All invoices are sent by e-mail in the form of an Adobe Portable Document Format (PDF) file, attached to a plain-text e-mail message which will contain a basic summary of the invoice in the attachment. Arrangements for an alternate method of delivery of invoices (facsimile or postal mail) may be arranged, but may be subject to extra charges. Accounts that are not paid within twenty-eight (28) days are subject to termination without notice, and will be terminated at the point when the client's credit runs out. An overdue charge will be assessed at a rate of 2% per month on outstanding balances.
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Pro-rating Payments
Generally speaking, NinerNet will pro-rate monthly and some annual fees applicable only to hosting packages (not maintenance contracts, domain registrations or SSL certificates) in those cases when service is ended before the expiry date of the service. Fees paid in advance for whole months (including maintenance contracts) that are unused when a client ceases hosting with NinerNet will be refunded in full.
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Payments
Accounts may be settled by Visa or MasterCard through the PayPal system. Our account details are included with every invoice issued. We also accept cheques and money orders, drawn on either a US or a Canadian bank and made payable to "NinerNet Communications Company", at the following address:
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NinerNet Communications
P.O. Box 30095 RPO Marpole
Vancouver BC V6P 6S3
Canada
Pre-payment Discounts
The minimum billing cycle is quarterly (three months). Clients who choose to pay in advance for two quarters (six months) will receive a 5% discount; clients who choose to pay for three quarters (nine months) will receive a 10% discount; clients who choose to pay for four quarters (one year) will receive a 15% discount. Pre-payment for longer than four quarters will not be accepted.
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Returned Payments
Any payment that is returned to us due to insufficient funds, or for any other reasons, will incur a charge on the client's account of C$30 or US$25 (as appropriate), or the current rate of our bank, whichever is greater.
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Referral Discounts
At its sole discretion, NinerNet may apply a credit to the invoice of any client who refers a new client to NinerNet. In order to qualify for any such credits, the accounts of both the referrer and the referee must be in good standing. Credits will only be applied to the referrer's invoice in the period after they are paid by the referee. NinerNet reserves the right to recover from any referrer credits initially granted but which are subsequently disqualified due to non-payment of amounts owed by the referee. In order to qualify for a referral discount, the referrer must be a current client of NinerNet Communications.
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Reselling Agreements
NinerNet has a reseller programme for those who are interested in reselling our hosting services as their own. Under the reseller agreement, as opposed to the referral discounts detailed above, the reseller is responsible to his/her clients to provide technical support and billing, while NinerNet will invoice the reseller at an agreed-to wholesale rate. It is NinerNet's responsibility to ensure that the resold services are operating as agreed, and the reseller may contact NinerNet support if they are not. NinerNet will not deal directly with the reseller's clients. You do not have to be a current client of NinerNet Communications to be a reseller, although we do encourage it so that you are familiar with our systems and are better able to support your clients. If you would like to participate in this opportunity to earn Internet-based income, please contact NinerNet Communications for the details.
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Client Contacts
When a new account is set up with NinerNet, we need the e-mail address of at least one person with whom we can communicate on issues regarding your account; we do not abuse your trust and target these contacts with marketing e-mail. With individuals and one-person companies, our contact will generally be one person. Bigger companies and organisations may prefer that we communicate with different people on different topics. We like to designate three contacts:
- Administrative contact: This is our main contact for the account and should be someone in a position to make executive decisions regarding the company or organisation's Internet presence. This will also be the person to whom we will default should either the billing or technical contacts not be available. Occasional informational mailings sent specifically to the billing or technical contacts will often be copied to the administrative contact for the purpose of keeping that person informed.
- Billing contact: This is the person to whom we will send invoices. This person should be in a position to expeditiously deal with incoming invoices so that they are paid on-time, and should also be able to answer questions should payment not arrive by the due date.
- Technical contact: This is the person in charge of maintaining the company or organisation's Web site, and will be the only person with whom we will communicate on sensitive issues such as user IDs and passwords (except under extraordinary circumstances).
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Modification of Domain Information
In most cases NinerNet is listed as a technical contact for any domains hosted with us. NinerNet will be pleased to co-operate with the legal owner of any domain hosted with us in order to effect changes to the domain's information with the domain's registrar. However, while the domain is hosted with NinerNet, we will not authorise changes to the technical contact from us to another person, company or organisation. If the domain is to be moved to another host, we will co-operate with any changes to the domain's information only if the account associated with the domain is in good standing.
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Free Parked Domains
At its sole discretion, NinerNet may, as a courtesy, "park" a client's domain at no charge to the client, thus reserving the domain for the client's future use even though the client may not be immediately prepared to use the domain. The page displayed when a parked domain is visited is a generic one indicating the name of the parked domain. No variation on the style or wording of the page is permitted until such time as the client is ready to publish a Web site, and is prepared for billing to commence. A parking page is included at no extra charge with every domain registered with NinerNet.
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Closing Your Account
We realise that there are certain situations under which you would either move or close your account, and we have developed procedures to ensure this happens smoothly for all concerned and with no disruption to your service if you are moving to another hosting provider. Most of the information below pertains to servers that are to be moved to a new host. If you are simply closing your server, then it is simpler for you because you will not need to concern yourself with the information related to moving.
The first thing you need to do is be certain that you want to cancel your service. (If, once we have stopped your service, you want to get it going again, you will be charged the usual set-up fees as if you were setting up a new account.) Then you need to send an e-mail message to support from your administrative e-mail address with the following information:
- The domain name or user ID of the service you want to cancel,
- The date you would like to stop service, and
- The current password of your service.
We would also very much like to know the reasons for your cancellation, what you liked about our service and what you think we can improve upon.
If you are moving to a new host, it is your responsibility to transfer or arrange for the transfer of necessary data and files to the new host. It is also your responsibility, or the responsibility of the new host to assist you, to arrange for updates to your domain record so that your domain points to the new server. As detailed above in the Modification of Domain Information section, we will only authorise changes to your domain record if your account is in good standing with us.
If you would like us to assist with the transfer of data or the modification of your domain record, we will charge for those services at our published rates. We have no "exit fees", which is why it is your responsibility to do the work necessary to move to a new host. However, if you do need our help, then we do bill for our services and time. Any services rendered after cancellation notification has been provided to us, or services that are usually rendered in preparation for the transfer of a server to a new host, must be paid for in advance. If you are paying for these services by cheque or money order then it will take time for these to reach us and clear, so please take this into consideration. It is in your best interests to give us as much advance notice as possible if you are planning to move to a new host. We are happy to co-operate to ensure a smooth transition and uninterrupted availability of your server (so that your viewers won't even notice the move), but we do need to protect our cash flow. We recommend you allow 30 days to ensure there are no unforeseen circumstances which could cause problems.
Please note that, after the date specified by you for cancellation, you will not have access to your old server to retrieve files or e-mail. You should ensure that you check your e-mail one last time before the old server is shut down. Additionally, if you have a dynamic site (with, for example, a shopping cart or a message board) then it will probably be in your best interest to have both your old and new servers running at the same time for a brief overlap period (we'd suggest about a week) to ensure that none of your viewers receive errors. When it is clear that your old server (hosted with us) is no longer receiving hits, you can transfer the dynamically-generated data to the new server. Another option is to disable the dynamic parts of your old site, posting instead a message to your viewers with information about your moving to a new server. Again, we would be happy to make your move as smooth as possible. Just let us know you need the help and, if there is something that needs doing that falls outside of our list of published fees, then we will provide you with a quote to do the job thoroughly and properly.
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NinerNet User Agreement
Our complete User Agreement for hosting services goes into more detail about our policies and the terms of use of our systems. All NinerNet customers will need to accept the terms of this agreement when contracting our services, and comply with the terms of the agreement while using our service. You can view a copy of our User Agreement by clicking here.
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Further Questions
If you have questions or comments regarding any of our policies, please contact us.
