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Terms of Service
This document includes both "terms of use"
for our visitors and e-mail users, as well as "terms of service" for our
customers.
1) OBSCENE MATERIAL:
First of all GoSparkle defines "obscene material" by the United States Supreme Court
case Miller vs. California, decided June 21, 1973. This case outlines three
criteria for determining obscenity of materials:
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whether "the average person, applying
contemporary community standards" would find that the work, taken as a whole,
appeals to the prurient interest (representations or descriptions of
ultimate sexual acts, normal or perverted, actual or simulated)
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whether the work depicts or describes, in
a patently offensive way, sexual conduct specifically defined by the
applicable state law (representations or descriptions of excretory
functions and lewd exhibition of the genitals)
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whether the work, taken as a whole, lacks
serious literary, artistic, political, or scientific value.
Obscene material in any shape or form is not
permitted on GoSparkle's servers. If GoSparkle discovers obscene material on a
user's web site, we reserve the right to (a) remove the material, (b) suspend or
terminate, at our option, the user's account.
2) BANDWIDTH DISCLAIMER:
If the bandwidth utilization of a user's e-mail or webspace account is causing
problems for GoSparkle's servers or for other users, GoSparkle reserves the
explicit right to suspend the user's account while negotiating a different
bandwidth usage plan with the user.
3) UPTIME DISCLAIMER:
While GoSparkle attempts to provide high reliability services (above the 99th
percentile), occasionally circumstances beyond our control interfere with our
internet connectivity or server stability. By utilizing GoSparkle services, you
agree to hold GoSparkle harmless for any adverse effects that these rare outages
may cause.
4) SUSPENSION/TERMINATION OF ACCOUNTS:
We will first warn you that your account has been identified as being in
violation of our Terms of Service. You will have an amount of time to remove the
offending material and explain its presence, or your account will be suspended
or terminated. Blatant violations of the Terms of Service will result in
immediate suspension or termination, such as adult web sites. Grounds for
suspension include any illegal or obscene material that is being transferred or
stored on GoSparkle's servers, including e-mail or webspace. Users will
reserve the right to explain the presence of the material, but the decision of GoSparkle is
binding and final. Decisions may be reconsidered at GoSparkle's discretion if new information or evidence that could
possibly change a decision is found.
5) FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION DISCLAIMER:
We understand that the Internet is a global network based on the principles of
freedom of expression, and we respect this. However, your right to freely
express yourself ends where the majority of people's rights to not be offended
begins. If you are a visitor, and a hosted site offends you, we request that you simply leave the site. GoSparkle services MAY NOT be used for any illegal or questionable practices.
6) E-MAIL SERVICES:
Though GoSparkle attempts to provide reliable (above the 99th percentile) e-mail
services, occasionally internet connectivity problems or server issues may cause
short periods of downtime. You agree to hold GoSparkle harmless for this
downtime. By using this service, you also agree that the
administrator/postmaster may view your e-mail inbox and/or turn over
materials found to authorities upon their request if (a) probable cause has
been presented that illegal activities are occurring, (b) law officers or a
court requests or subpoenas the information, or (c) such access is
necessary for server diagnostics. GoSparkle respects users' privacy, and does not make it a policy to
idly view
users' email. Suspension and termination of accounts
(see above) also applies to e-mail service if the Terms of Service has been breached. GoSparkle will not tolerate any of its e-mail users sending mass e-mail
through GoSparkle servers. This is grounds for suspension or termination of a
user's account.
7) CUSTOMER DISSATISFACTION/CONFLICT
RESOLUTION
GoSparkle is committed to providing our customers with the best possible service
and support. However, we realize that in some isolated circumstances
customers may have a grievance that cannot be resolved. In that case, we will
offer a full refund within the first month, and after that a pro-rated refund on the time remaining in the customer's hosting plan.
We CANNOT, however, refund the price of domain name purchases. We can work with
you, though, to transfer your domain name to a different registrar, and you will
receive the remaining time on your domain name lease.
8) ACCEPTANCE OF TERMS OF SERVICE:
By signing up for an e-mail address or web site, you agree to the Terms of
Service and agree to be bound by them. If you do not agree to the Terms of
Service, you must discontinue your use of our service.
9) CLARIFICATION OF INTENT CLAUSE
GoSparkle reserves the right to clarify intent of any clause in this document.
GoSparkle's decision is final and binding, but may be reconsidered if
information that would change a decision becomes available
10) UPDATE/MODIFICATION CLAUSE:
We reserve the right to change these TERMS OF SERVICE AND USE at any time. We
will clearly post the changes in bold that we have made for fifteen (15) days. If you wish to stay up-to-date
with this policy, it is accessible at
http://www.gosparkle.net/termsofservice.htm.
Last updated 3/11/2004.
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