Hosting Terms & Conditions

Website Hosting Terms and Conditions

This agreement is between Rize Marketing Company dba as Rize AVS, a division, and StudioTask, a website hosting and CMS platform (hereinafter referred to as Rize AVS), and the on-line individual or entity who is applying or utilizing Internet-related Services, (hereinafter referred to as the Client). The Client agrees to an on-line, subscription service, which will be automatically charged on a recurring basis until the service is explicitly cancelled by either the Client or Rize AVS. The Client acknowledges that all information provided is true and correct to the best of the Client’s knowledge. The Client agrees that the act of utilizing the StudioTask web server or web server space paid for by Rize AVS constitutes acceptance of all terms and conditions associated with the services applied for and that the act of usage shall be in lieu of a written signature.

General

Authorizations: The Client will use the services in a manner consistent with all applicable local, state, and federal regulations and laws and agrees to pay and authorizes Rize AVS to charge all fees due using the payment information provided by the Client at the time of application and for future due dates. The Client also agrees to maintain and keep current payment information for the duration of the service period.

Disclaimer: Rize AVS will not be responsible for any damages suffered by the Client. Rize AVS’s service is provided on an “as is, as available” basis and gives no warranty, expressed or implied, for the services, including without limitation, any warranty of merchantability or warranty of fitness for a particular purpose. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, wrong delivery, and any and all service interruptions caused by Rize AVS, its employees, or any associated 3rd party. Any damages incurred by the Client due to disruption of service by Rize AVS or its providers shall be expressly limited to the fees paid by the Client for services and shall under no circumstances include reimbursement for losses of income or other consequential damages claimed by the Client.

Indemnification: The Client agrees that it shall defend, indemnify, save and hold Rize AVS harmless from any and all demands, liabilities, losses, costs and claims, including reasonable attorney’s fees asserted against Rize Marketing Company, Rize AVS, its agents, its customers, officers and employees, that may arise or result from any service provided or performed or agreed to be performed or any product sold by customer, it’s agents, employees or assigns. The Client agrees to defend, indemnify and hold Rize AVS harmless against liabilities arising out of; (1) any injury to person or property caused by any products sold or otherwise distributed in connection with a Rize AVS server; (2) any material supplied by the Client infringing or allegedly infringing on the proprietary rights of a third party and (3) copyright infringement.

Rize AVS expects that its Clients will fully comply with all applicable laws, including national and local laws. A customer’s failure to comply with those laws will violate this policy. Finally, Rize AVS wishes to emphasize that in accepting services, the Clients indemnify Rize AVS for the violation of any law or Rize AVS policy that results in loss to Rize AVS or the bringing of any claim against Rize AVS. This means, among other things, that if Rize AVS is sued because of activities of the customer that violate any law, or this policy, the customer will pay any damages awarded against Rize AVS plus costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees.

Client Responsivities: Effective use of Rize AVS’s services presumes a certain degree of knowledge and skill on the part of the Client. For example, it is presumed that the Client possesses at least a rudimentary knowledge of Internet-related processes and software applications such as e-mail, web-browsing, and basic website editing skills. Rize AVS will not be held responsible for the Client’s inability to use its services due to the Client’s lack of the requisite knowledge and skills. Any issues occurring as a result of the Client adding or updating their website is the sole responsibility of the Client. The time and effort to repair and/or update the website by the Rize AVS as a result of the Client’s edits or updates will be strictly handled and charged on an hourly basis at the current hourly rate.

Domain Name Registration: Domain name registration is a separate and independent service from domain and web hosting. The Client accepts sole responsibility for monitoring and maintaining the status of the Client’s domain name registrations, as well as payment of all applicable domain name registration and renewal fees. Rize AVS does not monitor the registration status of domain names hosted on Rize AVS’s servers. Rize AVS’s services are independent of account usage and domain name records, and remain in effect (and billable) regardless of the status of the Client’s domain name record. The Rize AVS/StudioTask hosting fees start with the setup of the hosting account regardless of the status of the website’s completion or public visibility, also referred as to being “live”.

Rize AVS will provide reasonable assistance to the Client in the area of domain name registration and modification. Reasonable assistance may include submission of registration or modification requests to appropriate domain name registration agencies and/or supplying the Client with the necessary information to effect registration or modification of the Client’s domain. Rize AVS will not, under any circumstances, make changes to any part of a domain name record except nameserver and technical contact information relating to the pointing of the Client’s domain name to Rize AVS’s servers.

Possessory Lien: Rize AVS maintains a possessory lien on the Client’s domain name and files from the date that any associated fees are unpaid and due, including late fees or other charges, and for expenses reasonably incurred in collection of those fees. In the event of the exercise of this lien, release of the Client’s domain name and/or files shall be at the sole discretion of Rize AVS.

Notifications: Rize AVS relies on e-mail as the primary means of notifying Clients of important system news, problems with the Client’s accounts or usage of those accounts, billing problems, etc. Any notifications will be e-mailed to the Client’s domain’s primary e-mail address and/or to the contact e-mail address provided by the Client upon application for services. The Client agrees to monitor these e-mail addresses on a regular basis and to respond promptly, if required, to any notifications. The Client agrees to notify Rize AVS of any changes to the Client’s physical or e-mail address, telephone numbers, etc.

Policy Changes: These policies may change with or without notice. The Client agrees to comply with these policies in their current and future state. The Client agrees to periodically review published policies to ensure understanding of and compliance with current policies.

Refusal of Service: Rize AVS reserves the right to refuse or cancel service at Rize AVS’s sole discretion, with or without reason, with or without warning.

Acceptance: The Client expressly understands, acknowledges, and agrees that in submitting an application and paying for any and all services to be rendered by Rize AVS, the Client shall abide by all Terms and Conditions stated herein.

Uptime Determination: The Client expressly understands, acknowledges, and agrees that 99% uptime guarantee is over a one-year period, from date of signup to anniversary of signup, and Uptime Robot third (3rd) party website monitoring is used to determine if website uptime falls below 99% uptime.

Jurisdiction: The Client agrees to submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of United State and Texas courts. This Agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Texas. For all disputes and any litigation, mediation, or arbitration which may arise from any dispute concerning any of the provisions herein, venue shall lie in Gregg County, Texas. The prevailing party in any litigation hereunder shall be entitled to recover its reasonable attorney’s fees and court costs.

Acceptable Use Policies

User-Supplied Content: All services may be used for lawful purposes only. Through Rize AVS’s Service, the Client may have access to chat areas, web pages, email, or other services that enable the Client to send or post materials (“content”) and make that content available to others. The Client must not submit, publish, or display on the Network any defamatory, inaccurate, abusive, obscene, infringing, or threatening content. In addition, the Client may not submit, publish, or display any content that violates any US Federal, State, or Local law. The Client is solely responsible for the content made accessible through the Network. The Client may not use the Service to assist any other person or entity to violate any Federal, State, or Local laws, ordinances, or regulations.

Rize AVS is not obligated to monitor the network to examine available content. The Client hereby acknowledges that if Rize AVS is made aware of content that is determined to be, in Rize AVS’s sole discretion, a violation of another’s copyrighted material, unacceptable, undesirable, offensive, indecent, obscene, excessively violent or otherwise objectionable, Rize AVS has the right, but not the obligation, to edit, remove or deny access to such content. Rize AVS may disclose any content or records concerning the Client’s account as required to satisfy any law, regulation, governmental request or court order.

Pornography and sex-related merchandising are prohibited on all servers. This includes sites that may infer sexual content, display nudity, or link to adult content elsewhere. This is also true for sites that promote any illegal activity or content that may be damaging to Rize AVS’s servers or any other server on the Internet. Links to such materials are also prohibited. In addition, any site selling or promoting bulk e-mail service is not allowed.

Client Supplied Content: The following content and activities may not be displayed or promoted by the Client nor associated in any way with the Client’s account or Rize AVS’s services. Rize AVS shall be the sole arbiter as to what constitutes violation of this provision.

The Client may not use the Services to violate any governing law or regulation, including laws prohibiting: copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, or other intellectual property infringement, misuse, or misappropriation; distribution of child pornography, child erotica, non-consensual sex acts (including in the support of or furtherance of sex trafficking), or bestiality; gambling; defamation, harassment, libel, or slander; fraud or false advertising; and hacking, phishing, social engineering, or any transmission of malicious code or unauthorized use of the computing resources of an end user. It is Rize AVS’s policy to terminate the Services of Clients who are repeat infringers of intellectual property rights. Further, the Client may not use the Services in connection with any content that Rize AVS reasonably believes: promotes, incites, or threatens violence; is in support of or furtherance of sex trafficking; contains harassing content or hate speech; violates any person’s privacy; constitutes terrorism or trafficking in weapons or other illegal items; or is likely to result in retaliation against Rize AVS system, network, or employees, including behavior that results in any denial of service attack. The Services may not be used in violation of export laws, controls, regulations, or sanction policies of the United States or the Client’s applicable jurisdiction. The Services may not be used by any individual or legal entity which is involved with or suspected of involvement in activities or causes relating to: illegal gambling; terrorism; narcotics trafficking; arms trafficking or the proliferation, development, design, manufacture, production, stockpiling, or use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, weapons of mass destruction, or missiles; in each case including any affiliation with others whatsoever who sponsor or support the above such activities or causes.

High-Risk Use: The Client may not use the Services in any circumstance or fashion where a failure of the Services could result in death or physical injury.

SPAM: If the Client uses the Services to transmit email, the Client must do so responsibly. Sending or promoting spam using the Services is prohibited and may result in immediate termination of the Client’s account. Rize AVS considers spam to be the transmission of any email messages that are in violation of the most recent regulations issued by the Federal Trade Commission implementing the CAN-SPAM Act or, if the Client is sending emails to non-domestic end users, any foreign equivalent thereof. In addition, and at Rize AVS discretion, Rize AVS may place limits on the number of outbound messages the Client sends if Rize AVS’s review of the Client’s account indicates that the Client is jeopardizing Rize AVS network stability. Without limiting any other rights Rize AVS may have, the parties agree that should the Client breach this section by sending spam it would be difficult to determine actual damages. Accordingly, a $500 charge per violation will be assessed as a reasonable estimate of the damages. The parties further agree that such $500 would not act as a penalty.

Regulated and Sensitive Information: It is possible to run an ecommerce site on our platform, provided that Clients follow some best practices that prevent credit card information from being processed or stored on Rize AVS’s platform. Clients are not permitted to use or cause the Services to store or process sensitive or otherwise regulated health or financial information, including Protected Health Information (as that term is defined under HIPAA), cardholder data protected under PCI DSS regulations (such as credit or debit card data), or other financial data (including any financial account details). The Client acknowledges and agrees that Rize AVS is not responsible for any liabilities arising from the Client’s violation of this restriction.

Copyright Infringement: It is Rize AVS’s policy to respond to notices of alleged infringement that comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act and other applicable intellectual property laws, which may include removing or disabling access to material claimed to be the subject of infringing activity. If we remove or disable access to comply with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we will make a good-faith attempt to contact the owner or administrator of each affected site so that they may make a counter notification pursuant to sections 512(g)(2) and (3) of that Act.

Network Security: The Client may not use Rize AVS’s Network in an attempt to circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network, or account. This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for the Client, logging into a server or account the Client is not expressly authorized to access, password cracking, probing the security of other networks in search of weakness, or violation of any other organization’s security policy. The Client may not attempt to interfere or deny service to any user, host, or network. This includes, but is not limited to, flooding, mail bombing, or other deliberate attempts to overload or crash a host or network. Rize AVS will cooperate fully with investigations of violations of systems or network security at other sites, including cooperating with law enforcement authorities in the investigation of suspected criminal violations. Users who violate system or network security may incur criminal or civil liability.

Background Running Applications: Background daemons in general are prohibited. Rize AVS will consider requests to allow these applications on a case-by-case review basis. If allowed, extra charges will be assessed based on resources and system maintenance needed.

Server Resources: Any web site that uses a high amount of server resources (such as, but not limited to CPU time, memory usage, and network resources) will be given an option of either upgrading their service level or reducing the resource used to an acceptable level.

Cancellation Policy

Cancellation: The Client bears all responsibility for ensuring effective cancellation of the Client’s account. All cancellation requests must be sent in writing (email request is acceptable only if an acknowledgement is received) at least 10 days before renewal or next payment is due. Automatically renewed payments will not be refunded unless the cancellation request is received as stated above. This responsibility includes providing effective and authenticated notification to Rize AVS of the Client’s desire to cancel an account. This responsibility shall not be waived or modified by Rize AVS or the Client in any way at any time subsequent to the submission by the Client of a cancellation notice for Rize AVS account. Rize AVS will act immediately to implement the Client’s cancellation notice, providing the terms of this cancellation policy have been followed. Rize AVS is not required to provide client with a prorated refund of services paid. The Client is required to pay Rize AVS for services rendered.

Ownership Policy

Ownership: Rize AVS maintains control and ownership of any and all IP numbers and addresses that may be assigned to the Client and reserves in its sole discretion the right to change or remove any and all IP numbers and addresses. The Client shall keep the rights of ownership and use of the Client’s domain name registration and files even if client changes Rize AVS, with the following exception: Rize AVS maintains a possessory lien on the Client’s domain name and files from the date that associated fees are unpaid and due, including late fees or other charges, and for expenses reasonably incurred in collection of those fees. In the event of the exercise of this lien, release of the Client’s domain name and/or files shall be at the sole discretion of Rize AVS.

In case of disputes regarding authority over domain names, Rize AVS will follow industry standard practice of giving ultimate authority to the domain name registrant. Rize AVS maintains control and ownership of any copyright, proprietary and/or licensed software, scripts, programs, images, or other electronic data or media installed and/or provided by Rize AVS.

Billing and Payments

Payment: Rize AVS maintains control and ownership of any and all IP numbers and addresses that may be assigned to the Client and reserves in its sole discretion the right to change or remove any and all IP numbers and addresses. The Client shall keep the rights of ownership and use of the Client’s domain name registration and files even if client changes Rize AVS, with the following exception: Rize AVS maintains a possessory lien on the Client’s domain name and files from the date that associated fees are unpaid and due, including late fees or other charges, and for expenses reasonably incurred in collection of those fees. In the event of the exercise of this lien, release of the Client’s domain name and/or files shall be at the sole discretion of Rize AVS.

Past Due Accounts: If payment is not received by the due date, Rize AVS will send at least 1 notification via e-mail to the Client’s primary contact e-mail address. If the Client does not respond to that notification, the following actions will be taken:

Account Suspension: Due Date + 5 Days: If the Client’s account is not paid in full by the 5th day after the due date, the Client’s account will be disabled — all web, e-mail, FTP, and other access to the account will be non-functional. The account will be reactivated within 72 hours of the disablement, upon receipt of payment plus a $95.00 account reactivation fee.

Account Cancellation: If payment, including late fees, interest, and reactivation fees are not received in full within 30 days for Website Hosting and 15 days for Email Hosting from the renewal date, the account will be queued for automatic cancellation and deletion and the balance due will be sent to collections and the credit reporting agencies notified.

Account Reactivation: After Cancellation: Once an account has been placed in the cancellation queue, it must remain disabled for at least 36 hours. After 36 hours, but before 7 days, the Client may request reactivation of the account by paying the account balance plus a $95.00 account restoral fee.

After 7 days, the account is “officially” cancelled and all files associated with the account are permanently removed from the servers. At this point, the account cannot be reactivated, but the Client can request a “new” account for the domain. If necessary, files may be restored from backups and placed on the new account within 30 days of cancellation for the normal backup restoral fee.

Venue: For any action involving matters of this Agreement, venue shall lie in Gregg County, Texas.

END AGREEMENT