Terms & Conditions

This agreement represents the complete agreement and understanding between egret.net and the account holder (hereafter called the "client") and supersedes any oral agreement. Any changes to this agreement must be in writing and signed and dated by both egret.net and the client. Upon notice published on-line via egret.net, egret.net may modify these terms and conditions, amplify them, and/or modify the prices, as well as discontinue or change the services offered.

1.0 Provision of services

1.1	egret.net will provide services on its host computing systems to individual clients in exchange for payment of fees and compliance with the terms and conditions of this document. egret.net will provide the services for the fees listed in the egret.net Features & Prices document.
1.2	egret.net services are defined as the use by the client of computing, telecommunications, software, information services, web site design, web site maintenance, and web site promotion provided by egret.net.
1.3	egret.net will provide consultation via face-to-face, phone, or e-mail on web design for one hour for sites of up to 6 pages, and for an additional 10 minutes for each additional page beyond 6 pages. The client should have the text to be included on the web pages mostly written and preferably on disk prior to such consultation. egret.net will provide updates and changes to existing web pages for one year at the rate of one hour per page total, subject to the limits outlined below. Changes requested by the client beyond those limits will be billed at the hourly rate listed in Features & Prices. This agreement includes web page maintenance to regular web pages over a 12 month period up to an average of one hour per regular page, including updating links and making minor changes. If the client or an agent other than egret.net attempts updating the client's pages, time to repair web pages will be assessed at the hourly rate, and is not included as part of the updating time. The 12 month maintenance period commences upon receipt of the full payment for the web site design. Time required to make substantive changes to the text which are requested after the web pages have been constructed will be deducted from the hours reserved for updating the completed web site.
1.4	egret.net and the client must work together to complete the web site by an agreed upon completion date.
1.5	egret.net will publish a notice of fee increases 30 days before such increases take effect.
1.6	egret.net's setup fee does not include the domain registration fees. egret.net recommends domain registration through internetregistration.com, through the egret.net web site, which costs $19.95 for one year's registration.

2.0 Use of Material

2.1

Public Domain materials (e.g., images, text, and programs) may be downloaded or uploaded using egret.net services. Clients may also re-distribute materials in the public domain. The client assumes all risks regarding the determination of whether the material is in the public domain.

2.2

As provided by United States federal law and by International treaties, copyrighted materials (e.g., images, text, and programs) may not be uploaded using egret.net services without the permission of the copyright holder. Copyrighted materials may be downloaded for personal use. Except as expressly permitted, materials under copyright may not be distributed to others. Copyrighted material may not be changed nor can the author attribution notices nor the copyright notices be modified.

3.0 Bandwidth/FTP Use Policy

3.1	It is egret.net's intent to serve web documents. All web pages (html) must be "linked" with files stored on egret.net's server (in other words, you cannot use your account as a "dump" for files belonging to a web site not on egret.net's servers). Web sites that are found to contain either no html documents, or a great number of unlinked files are subject to warning, suspension or revocation at the discretion of egret.net administration.
3.2	Because of the high bandwidth usage, download archives are not permitted on egret.net servers. egret.net defines download archives as any web site that provides an excessive number of files that are formatted specifically for download by other parties (for example, ZIP, DOC, MP3, SIT, EXE or other archive/program file extensions are formatted specifically for download). This does not mean you may not place these items on your web site. This simply means that if your site includes an excessive number (25% or more of your total web space) of these items, we will consider your site to be a download archive and thus in violation of our terms and conditions.
3.3	Because of excessive bandwidth use, egret.net clients are not permitted to run any system where images are loaded from your site to a site on another server without the prior approval of egret.net. Categories that fall under this requirement are banner exchanges (expressly forbidden), web-ring images (allowed by prior permission only), Award Graphics (allowed by prior permission only), and other similar uses.
3.4	If you would like, we would be happy to evaluate your web site, either before or after moving it to egret.net. We will happily tell you whether your site would be considered in violation of these terms and conditions or not. Feel free to e-mail us if you would like this free service.
3.5	All FTP sessions are logged. If you do not agree with this policy then please contact egret.net before obtaining an account. Uploading of illegal, copyrighted or licensed software for the purposes of distribution and/or personal use will not be tolerated and will result in immediate account suspension and/or termination.

4.0 Use of Services

4.1	In cases where the client has authorization to modify the source code of the web site, the client agrees to maintain a secure password to the account.
4.2	The client agrees to use the services provided by egret.net as permitted by applicable local, state, and federal laws. The client agrees, therefore, not to use these services to conduct any business or activity or solicit the performance of any activity that is prohibited by law.

5.0 Indemnification

5.1	The client acknowledges that egret.net makes an honest effort to keep the information available on egret net's' systems accurate. However, egret.net can make no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, regarding the quality, accuracy, or validity for the data and/or information available. Use of information obtained from or through egret.net or the Internet is at the risk of the account holder.
5.2	The client also acknowledges that the information available through the interconnecting networks may not be accurate. egret.net has no ability or authority over the material. egret.net can make no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, regarding the quality, accuracy, or validity of the data and/or information residing on or passing through these networks. Use of information obtained from or through egret.net services is at the risk of the account holder.
5.3	The client agrees to indemnify and hold egret.net harmless from any claims, including attorney's fees, resulting from the client receiving egret.net services which cause direct or indirect damage to another party.
5.4	The client agrees to indemnify and hold egret.net harmless for any "down time" or failure of the servers or host computers.

6.0 Payment of fees and penalties

6.1	The egret.net accounting cycle begins on the date that the site goes online. An accounting cycle is one month in length.
6.2	Up front fees to be paid are the setup fee, hosting fees for the first three months, and license and setup fees for programs and scripts which may be utilized on the site. Also, if egret.net has advanced the domain registration fee to the client, the client must reimburse egret.net before the site goes online. Payment of hosting fees are to be paid three months in advance. Page design fees are due within 15 days of the date that the page goes online and the page meets the client's satisfaction.
6.3	Delinquent accounts are those that remain unpaid 5 days after beginning of accounting cycle.
6.4	Accounts that are delinquent are put on "accounting hold" and may not be used. Accounts that are unpaid for a whole accounting cycle automatically have their files archived. Accounts that are unpaid for 2 accounting cycles have their files purged. egret.net accounts continue to accrue charges while they are on hold.
6.5	There is a service reconnection charge equal to one half the currently charged set-up fee to remove accounts from accounting hold status.
6.6	The client acknowledges responsibility for the account until payment in full is made.
6.7	There is a $15.00 service charge for each returned check.
6.8	After-the-fact changes: If a feature is ordered, designed, and installed on the web site, and then the client decides against using it on the web site, the client is still responsible for paying the fees for the feature.

7.0 Account Cancellations

7.1

All egret.net accounts must be paid in full before the transaction will be considered complete.

8.0 Abuse of Services

8.1	For clients who have access to egret.net's systems, any use of egret.net system resources that disrupts the normal use of the system for other egret.net customers is considered to be abuse of system resources and is grounds for administrative intervention. Some examples of system abuse include spawning dozens of processes, consuming excessive amounts of memory or CPU for long periods of time.
8.2	Sending "bulk e-mail" (SPAM) with your account is an abusive of services.
8.3	Posting adult-oriented materials on egret.net servers is prohibited. Adult sites can be placed on separate servers.
8.4	Allowing usage of egret.net's resources for accounts hosted on other servers is an abuse of services. A web site not hosted with egret.net could not use its account to reference graphics, midi, cgi, etc. from our server.
8.5	Posting any Warez-related (hacking) material on your site is an abuse of services.
8.6	Posting any "hate" material on your site targeting any cultural, religious, or ethnic group, or posting any material slandering another person or organization is an abuse of services.
8.7	Depending on the nature and the severity of the abuse, the client may receive an e-mail warning or have their account suspended or permanently removed by egret.net .

If you are interested in obtaining a business web site from egret.net, and you have read this document and have also read Features & Prices, then please fill out the Pre-signup Form where you can tell us about how you envision your web site so that we can get back to you quickly with a price quote. If you wish you can register your domain name right now. Thank you.