Our Policies
The Boring Stuff
AUP: Acceptable Use Policy
Valley TechNologies sets forth an Acceptable Use Policy with the intent of protecting our service, our customers, and other users of the Internet from potentially abusive actions taken by Valley TechNologies customers. The following policy is non-exclusive; any action about which there is doubt should be referred to Valley TechNologies for evaluation. Valley TechNologies Reserves the right to edit this policy at any time deemed necessary.
- Privacy
- Discontinuation of Service
- Assignment of Late Fees
- Domain Reinstatement Fees
- Website Reinstatement Fees
- Statement of Responsibility
- Acceptable Use: Network
- Acceptable Use: Domain Names
- Acceptable Use: E-mail
- Reporting Abuse to Valley TechNologies
- Disclaimer, Liability, Privacy
- Web Display & Performance Policy
- Web Site Ownership
Privacy
Your personal information is safe with Valley TechNologies. We never have or ever will share any of your private information with anyone outside our organization. With Valley TechNologies you won’t have to worry about ending up on “Spam” lists, getting phone calls from telemarketers, or other such annoyances. Valley TechNologies values privacy, security, and confidentiality as much as you do.
Valley TechNologies reserves the right to interrupt any and all services in the event that any invoice remains unpaid more than 30 days after the payment due date.
Assignment of late fees
Any invoice that is not paid within 15 days of the due date is subject to late fees of 1.5% on the unpaid balance (or a minimum of $5.00) and for each month thereafter. If a late fee has been assessed but is ignored upon remittance of payment, the unpaid late fee will continue to accrue additional late fee assessment and may result in discontinuation of service. Valley Technologies will take into account hardship cases depending on circumstances, but it must be discussed with the business office.
Valley TechNologies initiated an automated invoice reminder system in spring of 2010 as an additional reminder for our clients convenience regarding any invoice more than 10 days overdue and when an invoice is more than 30 days past due.
Domain Reinstatement Fees
Domains that are not paid by the domain registration due date are subject to late fees. If paid within 30 days after domain expiration date (and within 15 days of invoice due date – see above assignment of late fees) the late fee for reinstatement is $10.
However, if the domain is allowed to lapse for more than 30 days, it is put into “recovery” status which incurs a penalty fee for recovery of $125.00.
The final alternative is to wait for an additional 60 days until the domain becomes public to try to reclaim the domain (with no certainty whatsoever), or to request a “back order” of the domain for a fee of $39.00. Additionally, the client will be billed for administration tasks required to back order and reinstate the site on our servers (time and materials). However, we cannot be assured of reclaiming the domain as another party may already have placed the same domain on back order.
Web Site Reinstatement Fees
Web hosting fees that are not paid by the hosting due date are subject to late fees. If paid within 30 days after hosting expiration date (and within 15 days of invoice due date – see above assignment of late fees) a minimum late fee of $30 is required for reinstatement of web services.
However, if the hosting fees are not paid within that 30 days, the site faces complete removal from service, and additional fees for reinstatement are assessed up to the possibility of:
- complete removal of files from the web server
- cancellation of all e-mail accounts
- set up fees for re-creation of the hosting site structure
Statement of Responsibility
Each Valley TechNologies Internet account has a password that is the key to gain access to the account. The customer who registered the account is solely responsible for all access and actions taken with regard to the account. It is the account owner’s responsibility to safeguard the account password and to ensure that Valley TechNologies Acceptable Use Policies are honored.
Valley TechNologies will hold the account owner responsible for any violations of the Acceptable Use Policies. The individual who signed the contract is responsible for educating site users on the Acceptable Use Policies. Violations of the Acceptable Use Policies by directly attached sites will be referred to the contract signer for resolution. The contract signer will be held responsible for any violations of the Acceptable Use Policies.
The Valley TechNologies Contract is a binding contract which requires the named customer to pay Valley TechNologies for services rendered. All prices on the Valley TechNologies Contract are subject to change without notice. Refunds for cancellations will be pro-rated from the time of activation to time of cancellation. User will pay full monthly charge for the used allotment of time. There will be no refund on Special Sales.
Valley TechNologies enforces these policies with respect to Valley TechNologies customers only. We are not responsible for abusive actions which originate from other sites or networks on the Internet. Valley TechNologies reserves the right to revoke or discontinue service at any time with or without reason.
If a user is found to have violated any portion of the Acceptable Use Policies, said user is subject to a penalty fee billed by Valley TechNologies Internet at a rate of $100/hour – two hour minimum – for the time it takes to research the incident in question. Said account will not be reactivated until penalty fee and existing invoice amounts have been paid in full.
Acceptable Use: Network
Acceptable use of the Valley TechNologies network facilities does NOT include:
Attempting to circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network, or account on Valley TechNologies systems or the Internet at large (“cracking”).
Use of Valley TechNologies systems or networks (willfully or negligently) in a manner that encumbers disk space, processors, bandwidth, or other system resources so as to interfere with others’ normal use of services on Valley TechNologies or other systems and networks (“denial of service” attack).
Use of TCP or UPD port scanners to scan remote networks without the expressed written consent of the network administrator of that network.
Activities which violate local, state, or federal statutes.
Attempting to knock a server off-line, slow down our connection, or knock another user offline.
Attempting to send any virus or malicious material such as an Out of Band packet to any other Internet user.
Acceptable Use: Domain Names
Valley TechNologies provides domain name service for any entity that subscribes to it. Keeping registry information updated and accurate is the responsibility of the domain holder and not Valley TechNologies.
Acceptable use of the Valley TechNologies domain name service does NOT include:
Falsifying or omitting valid domain contact information, including the administrative, technical, zone, and billing contacts.
Acceptable Use: Email
Acceptable use of Email does NOT include:
Sending unsolicited mass mailings of any nature, including those with a “negative option” for continuation. The negative option is inviting those who do not wish to receive more email to reply to you.
Sending a large number of email messages, or singularly large email messages, to a single address in order to flood someone’s mailbox. (mail-bombing)
Forging email headers to obscure the true originator of the message.
Creating or participating in pyramid schemes or chain letters.
Sending harassing email, either by language, size, or frequency. This includes sending email (or real time) messages to a person who has asked explicitly that you do not.
Activities which violate local, state, or federal statutes.
Acceptable Use: Web/FTP Sites
Acceptable use of Valley TechNologies web/FTP space does NOT include:
The posting of pornographic or otherwise indecent or offending materials.
Unauthorized use of copyrighted or trademarked logos, phrases or names by Internet, Web, or Domain Hosting customers.
Distribution of restricted software or materials in violation of copyrights or distribution licenses. (Mp3’s/Warez/etc.)
The posting of slanderous or defamatory materials or articles.
Distribution of materials which violates local, state, or federal statutes.
Disclaimer, Privacy, Liability, Indemnity
Valley TechNologies reserves the right to amend or update these policies without notice. Failure to follow any terms and conditions may result in account deactivation. Valley TechNologies furthermore expects that its customers who provide Internet services to others will fully comply with all applicable laws concerning the privacy of online communications. A customer’s failure to comply with those laws will violate this policy.
Privacy: Your personal information is safe with Valley TechNologies. We never have or ever will share any of your private information with anyone outside our organization. With Valley TechNologies you won’t have to worry about ending up on “Spam” lists, getting phone calls from telemarketers, or other such annoyances. Valley TechNologies values privacy, security, and confidentiality as much as you do.
Liability: Valley TechNologies (including its employees and agents) provides suggestions and advice to it’s customers in good faith and makes every effort to present accurate and reliable information. Valley TechNologies anticipates that these suggestions and advice may be a viable and cost-effective means to resolving your issue, however it must be agreed that no guarantee or warranty is given or implied and that Valley TechNologies does not assume any legal liability or responsibility for consequences resulting from the use of the suggestions or advice provided. Furthermore Valley TechNologies assumes no liability for loss of profits due to technical interruption or loss of web site use for any reason whatsoever.
Valley TechNologies will not be responsible for any damages your business may suffer. Valley TechNologies makes no warranties of any kind, expressed or implied for services we provide. Valley TechNologies disclaims any warranty or merchantability or 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 Valley TechNologies and its employees or representatives.
Indemnity: Finally, Valley TechNologies wishes to emphasize that in accepting services, customers indemnify Valley TechNologies for the violation of any law or Valley TechNologies policy, that results in loss to Valley TechNologies or the bringing of any claim against Valley TechNologies. This means that if Valley TechNologies is sued because of activities of the customer that violates any law, or this policy, the customer will pay any damages awarded against Valley TechNologies, plus costs and reasonable attorneys’ fees.
Valley TechNologies reserves the right to restrict or terminate service without refund in the event of an Acceptable Use Policies violation. Valley TechNologies also reserves the right to take action on abuse which is not specifically named in this Acceptable Use Policies at the sole discretion of Valley TechNologies.
Use of the Valley TechNologies systems constitutes understanding and agreement of this policy. Any and all legal expenses incurred by Valley TechNologies resulting from failure to follow Acceptable Use Policies guidelines will be borne by the account holder responsible for the infraction.
Failure to follow the guidelines set forth in this policy can result in termination of Internet Accounts from Valley TechNologies.
Valley TechNologies also reserves the right to interrupt any and all services in the event that any invoice remains unpaid after 30 days of the billing date.
Web Display & Performance Issues
Why doesn’t a web site display properly, or work the way it does on my office (or home) computer?
If a web page does not display correctly, first make sure that you are using the latest version of the software.
There are dozens of web browsers used all over the world, and several have their own little “quirks” that may mean extra time in our designs in order to accommodate them. All designs by Valley TechNolologies comply with display standards set by any web browser that is used by at least 15% of Internet users as established by W3Schools. Visit W3Schools link to see the current stats on browsers.
Mozilla Firefox and Google Chrome users currently account for over 80% of the current web browser usage, and our designs are configured to work best with supported versions of those browsers. We will explore presentation on other browsers, but the client must understand that additional fees may apply.
Our clients are expected to monitor their website performance (e.g. display of site, forms, interactive applications, e-commerce storefronts, and emails, etc) and report any issues to us. We cannot be held accountable for non-performance or display issues if we are not informed. Please check your web site performance/ appearance periodically, and by all means alert us immediately if issues arise.
Valley TechNologies turns over rights to web site graphics and design based on payment received for those specific design services. Should a project be halted before completion, design services must be paid in full before release of the design.
If a client employed design by Valley TechNologies and is hosting with Valley TechNologies but transfers services or decides to utilize another developers service, it must be understood that the original design must be credited to Valley TechNologies if the client continues to display the design.
Other programming is strictly based on the proprietary nature of the product. For example, database applications developed by Valley TechNologies for multiple clients. These programs and processes are the sole ownership of Valley TechNologies and may require license, transfer or purchase fees to continue use.
Finally, if a client wishes to receive backup copies of any program, file, or executable file from Valley TechNologies, additional fees do apply for time and materials to back-up or copy these items.