Cervalis provides web hosting services to various customers, which requires Cervalis to be responsible for protecting availability and security of the equipment and software and information contained thereon for each of our customers. Cervalis has published this Acceptable Use Policy ("Policy") as part of its overall effort to protect the privacy and security of our Customers and to comply with applicable laws. All Cervalis' customers (each individually a "Customer"), resellers, and alliance partners are responsible for reviewing and complying with this Acceptable Use Policy. The Policy has been created to ensure security, reliability, and privacy of Cervalis' systems and network and the systems and networks (collectively, the "Network") of others and to avoid situations in which Cervalis may incur civil or criminal liability.

The Acceptable Use Policy describes the type of use that is prohibited. Cervalis may in its sole discretion determine whether a use of the Network is a violation of this Policy. To the extent Cervalis is aware of a violation of this Policy, Cervalis may take all necessary action that it deems appropriate to address the violation.

The Acceptable Use Policy is subject to change with notice by publication on the web at http://www.cervalis.com/accepted. Customers are responsible for monitoring this web site for changes.

The Acceptable Use Policy supplements but does not supersede the contracts that customers have with Cervalis. In the event the contract further restricts a use of The Network that is not addressed in this Policy, the contract will govern with respect to such use.

The following prohibited uses described below are guidelines and are not intended to be exhaustive:

General
Each Customer is responsible for maintaining basic security of its systems from improper use by others to violate this Policy. Abuse that occurs as a result of Customer's improper security measures may result in suspension or termination with or without notice at Cervalis' sole discretion. Cervalis will not assume responsibility or accountability for failures or breach of customer-imposed protective measures, whether implied or actual. In addition, the Network and Cervalis' services (the "Services") may be used for lawful purposes only. No customer may use the Network or Services in a manner that could result in civil or criminal liability for Cervalis. The Customers may not use the Network or Services in any manner which:
• Violates any applicable law, regulation, treaty or tariff
• Violates the acceptable use policy of any networks, equipment, services which are accessed through Cervalis’ network
• Infringes on the intellectual property rights of others

Illegal/Criminal Activity
The Network may not be used in connection with criminal or civil violations of state, federal, or international laws, regulations, or other governmental requirements. Such violations include theft or infringement of copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets, or other types of intellectual property; fraud; forgery; theft or misappropriation of funds, credit cards, or personal information; and threats of physical harm or harassment.

Security Violations
Cervalis’ network may not be used in connection with attempts, whether successful or not, to violate the security of a network, service, or other system. Examples of prohibitive activities include but not limited to hacking, cracking into, monitoring, or using systems without authorization, scanning ports, conducting denial of service attacks, and distributing viruses, worms, Trojans, and/or other harmful software.

Spam
Spam includes any of the following activities and is prohibited:
• Posting a single message or messages similar in content, to more than five (5) online forums or newsgroups
• Posting messages to online forums or newsgroups that violates the rules of the forums or newsgroups
• Collecting the responses from unsolicited mail
• Sending any unsolicited email that could be expected, in Cervalis’ discretion, to provoke complaints
• Sending email with charity requests, petitions for signatures, or any chain mail related materials
• Sending unsolicited email without identifying in the email a clear and easy means to be excluded from receiving additional email from the originator of the email
• Sending email that does not accurately identify the sender, the sender’s return address, and the email address of origin
• Using Cervalis’ facilities to violate another Internet Service Provider’s acceptable use policy and/or terms of service

Threats
Cervalis’ network may not be used to transmit materials of a threatening nature, including threats of death or physical harm, harassment, libel, and defamation.

Offensive Materials
Cervalis’ network may not be used for the distribution of offensive materials, including obscene, pornographic - even if legal, indecent, and hateful materials or merchandise.

Resellers
Cervalis resellers or customers who provide web hosting services to their own users must abide by this Policy and must maintain valid postmaster and abuse addresses for their domain to comply with applicable Internet standards and laws and maintain accurate contact information to reasonably prevent violation of this Policy.

Cervalis’ responsibilities
• Cervalis reserves the right to report any illegal activity to any and all regulatory, administrative, and/or governmental authorities for prosecution
• Cervalis will cooperate with law enforcement agencies if criminal activity is suspected
• Cervalis reserves the right to check systems files, email, and other data on our servers for illegal content and materials, or for any other reasons deemed necessary
• Cervalis may not monitor, control, or censor communications on its network even if Cervalis disagrees with the views expressed by the customer

Consequences
Violation of this Policy will result in the removal of the offending materials and temporary suspension or permanent termination of service or other appropriate action deemed necessary at sole discretion of Cervalis. Whenever possible, Cervalis will attempt to give notice to its customers of any violation so that the customer may cure voluntarily. However, Cervalis reserve the right to take immediate action without notice to customer when necessary as determined at Cervalis’ sole discretion. Violators may also be subject to civil or criminal liability under applicable law.

Refunds or credits are not issued in connection with actions taken for violation of this Policy.

Incident Reporting
Any complaints regarding violations of this Policy by a customer should be directed to abuse@cervalis.com.