SPHERE WEB HOSTING, LLC. HOSTING TERMS OF SERVICE (TOS)

These are the terms You agree to when ordering services from Sphere Web Hosting, LLC. The Agreement incorporates the following documents by reference: the plan Description that describes the services You are buying and related fees; these Terms of service (TOS); the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP), the Service Level Agreement (SLA), and the Privacy Policy. If You are purchasing Enterprise Email services your use of the Enterprise Email service is subject to the following additional terms and conditions: Enterprise Email Additional Terms of Service. When we use the term "Agreement" or "Agreements" we are referring collectively to all of them. If You have any questions about what You see on this page, please feel free to This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Defined Terms
Some words and terms used in the Agreement have particular meanings, whether capitalized or not:

"Sphere Web Hosting" or "Sphere" or "us" or "we" or "our" means Sphere Web Hosting, LLC.

"Account Holder", "Customer", "You" or "Your" means the person that completed the order process and agreed to and accepted the Agreements.

"System" means a combination of hardware, software and networking elements that comprise an information technology System that Sphere Web Hosting maintains, either directly or through 3rd party vendors, to provide hosting services to You, and to run the business of Sphere Web Hosting.

"Services" means a written description of the services You are buying from Sphere Web Hosting, and related fees, that is incorporated by reference in the Agreement, including any "plan" or other name given to a services description that You submit to Sphere Web Hosting as part of the order process and refers to all the services that we may provide to You, including the part of the System that Sphere Web Hosting provisions for your use.

"Bulk Mail" means email messages of similar content that are sent to more than 250 recipients. Mail messages sent within the same domain name, or from your domain name to your other domain name(s) hosted on the Sphere Web Hosting system are not "Bulk Mail" for the purposes of this definition.

"Junk Mail" means email that is captured by email filters and other email that is reported by you to Sphere Web Hosting as undesirable.

The Services We Provide
We will provide the services according to the specifications listed for the plan You select during the order process. All services provided by Sphere Web Hosting may only be used for lawful purposes. We do not promise that the services will be uninterrupted, error-free, or completely secure. You acknowledge that there are inherent risks in Internet connectivity, beyond the control of Sphere Web Hosting, that could result in the loss of your privacy, confidential information and property.

Support Availability
Access to support will be available to You 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

Permission to Host your Content
For us to host your website, it is necessary for You to upload your content to our System. When You do this uploading, You are creating one or more copies of your content on our System. By purchasing services from us, You acknowledge that these copies are being made, and give us the permission (a royalty free license) to maintain these copies within our System and make them available through your account, for the life of your account, to users of the Internet. You are solely responsible for providing the content and other data that make up your website.

When the Services Will be Available
Your account will first be available after we have received payment and have screened your order. In special circumstances, such as when our screening process shows the order to be a high risk transaction, You may be asked to provide a non-free email account, a government issued photo identification, and/or a scan of the credit card used for the purchase. If You fail to provide these requirements when asked, the order will most likely be denied. We reserve the right to refuse service to anyone.

In exchange for the fees You pay in advance, we will attempt to provide the services 24 hours a day, 7 days a week for as long as You have paid for them and abide by all our Agreements. Sometimes, however, for a number of reasons, the services may be unavailable to You. You must recognize and acknowledge that due to the nature of web hosting technology, occasional unavailability of the services cannot be avoided. Sometimes there are equipment malfunctions. At other times we undertake periodic maintenance procedures or repairs. Still other times, there are causes beyond our control and You understand that we have not promised to provide uninterrupted service.

Failure to abide to our Agreements will cause the services to be unavailable to You by the suspension of your account. Suspension will be followed by an investigation and further action, such as granting time for You to bring your activities and/or account into compliance with our Agreements, or account termination if necessary.

Automatic Renewal
When You sign up, your account will be enabled with auto renewal, which means that when your renewal date arrives, your hosting plan(s) and domain(s) will be renewed. When it is time for renewal, the credit card You have on file with us will be charged. You may cancel at anytime.

Promotional or Special Offers
From time to time, Sphere Web Hosting may offer promotional or special offers as sales incentives. These offers may be comprised of discounts, free time, free services, discounted services, trial offer periods and other types of offers. Such offers cannot be combined with other offers unless otherwise stated and are one-time use offers. One offer per Customer only. Offers are valid only where they are permitted by law. Offers are void where prohibited. Some offers require You, the Customer, to contact us prior to the expiration of the trial period in order to avoid being re-billed. Offers which provide a discounted monthly rate for a specified period of time will reset automatically to the full monthly rate once the promotional period has passed and You, the Customer, agree to pay in full, the full monthly rate, unless You cancel in advance.

Payment for Dedicated Servers and Virtual Dedicated Servers
Customer will maintain a valid credit card on file at all times. Sphere Web Hosting may charge such card for service fees or other fees on the first business day prior to any payment due-date. Customer will update credit card information as necessary in the Customer Portal. If any charge attempt is denied, Sphere Web Hosting may interrupt service without advanced notice but will make reasonable efforts to provide such notice. To avoid service interruption, contact our Billing Department and make payment arrangements before your invoice is due.

Payment for Pay-as-You-Go Transfer
Virtual Dedicated Server plans charge fees for the transfer of data on a Pay-as-You-Go basis. These Pay-as-You-Go fees are listed on our website and Sphere Web Hosting may charge your credit card for these fees on the first business day prior to any payment due-date. Pay-as-You-Go transfer fees are based on your previous month's transfer usage and are due before the start of your next month of service. If any charge attempt is denied, Sphere Web Hosting may interrupt service without advanced notice but will make reasonable efforts to provide such notice. To avoid service interruption, contact our Billing Department and make payment arrangements before your invoice is due.

Late Payments
Any account whose payment status is not current as of the start of the next billing period is deemed late. Generally, Customers are given a 7 day grace period after which the account is put on suspension. Dedicated Server and Virtual Dedicated Server Customers do not qualify for this 7 day grace period and must contact our Billing Department to make payment arrangements before the invoice is due. Once the invoice is late, we reserve the right to automatically charge a late fee of $10. To avoid the late fee, please contact us with payment arrangements before your invoice is due.

If after 20 days payment has not been received or we have not been contacted regarding payment, your account will be terminated without further notice. Reactivation of closed accounts due to delinquency incurs a $15 reactivation fee as well as payment in full of the existing balance due.

If your non-payment results in termination, your data will be deleted and no longer retrievable. You hereby acknowledge that this is Sphere's policy when it comes to data retention, and waive all rights in and to your data in these situations.

Money Back Guarantee
For new first time accounts only, as outlined below, Sphere Web Hosting offers an unconditional Money Back Guarantee:

  • 30 Days from account sign up for the first Shared Hosting plan.
  • 30 Days from account sign up for the first Reseller Hosting plan.
  • 30 Days from account sign up for the first Email Hosting plan.
  • 0 Days from account sign up for any Dedicated Server or Virtual Dedicated Server Hosting plan.
  • 0 Days from account sign up for any other purchase(s), add-on(s), setup fee(s) or other service(s).
  • 0 Days for Domain Name Registrations, Domain Name Transfers or Renewals, Identity Protection related to your Domain Name purchases.

If You are not completely satisfied with our service within the time frame outlined above, You will be given a full refund of your hosting plan's fee. This is only for the first qualifying plan purchased as outlined above. Domain names registration, Domain Name Transfers or Renewals and Identity Protection purchased from Sphere Web Hosting remain yours and are non-refundable.

If your hosting plan included any domain registrations or transfers in the price, a $15.00 fee will be deducted from your refund for each domain You registered, transferred or renewed as part of your hosting plan and the domain(s) will remain registered to You until the annual renewal date, at which time You will be responsible for any renewal fees. Once You cancel your account we are no longer obligated to maintain your domain name renewal or provide hosting services for it.

To initiate the Money Back Guarantee, You must do so in writing by creating a ticket at our Support Desk and directing it to our Billing Department before the end of your first 30 days of service. You will then receive further instructions in order to confirm and complete the process. Phone or email cancellations will not be accepted.

Only first-time accounts are eligible for the Money Back Guarantee. For example, if You've had an account with us before or are adding additional accounts, You will not be eligible for the Money Back Guarantee. Violations of our Agreements will waive the refund policy.

Account Responsibility and Account Security
The Account Holder is responsible for the use of each account, for any purpose whether used under any name or by any person, and for ensuring full compliance with our Agreements, by all users of that account. It is the Account Holder's responsibility to provide us with an email address which is not connected with the domain(s) You host here.

You must use reasonable security precautions in connection with your use of the services, including without limitation encryption of social security numbers, medical records, and information of similar sensitivity that you store on our System. You must comply with the laws applicable to your use of the services and with the Acceptable Use Policy. You must cooperate with Sphere Web Hosting's reasonable investigation of service outages, security problems, and any suspected breach of the Agreement. You are responsible for keeping your billing and other account information up to date. You must pay the fees for the services You have purchased when due.

Account Holders are responsible for ensuring that all scripts and programs installed under their account are secure and directory and file permissions are set properly, regardless of origin or installation method. Account Holders agree to use secure passwords and are responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of those passwords. If we discover an insecure password, we reserve the right to ask You to change it to a secure password or we may change it for You. In the event there is a breach of security through your account, please contact our Abuse Department.

Account holders agree to establish an abuse@[yourdomain].com, and postmaster@[yourdomain].com address for each of the domains that are hosted on our System, as required by documents RFC2142, RFC822 6.3, RFC1123 5.2.7, and RFC2821 4.5.1 of the IETF Standards. You may configure your email service such that mail is not received at these addresses but is instead forwarded to a different email address.

Reseller: Client Responsibility
Reseller Account Holders are responsible for supporting their Customers. All support requests must be made by the Reseller on their Customers' behalf. If a Reseller's Customer contacts us directly, we will forward the information to the Reseller. Resellers are responsible for all content stored or transmitted under their Reseller Account, the actions of their Customers, and enforcing our Agreements.

Shared (non-reseller) Accounts
With the exception of Virtual Dedicated Server accounts, if you have a Shared Web Hosting account You may not resell your disk space, or any other part of the service included with your Shared account, to host websites or provide hosting services to other people. If You wish to resell web hosting, or host websites for other people, You must purchase a Reseller Web Hosting Account or purchase a separate Shared Hosting Account for each domain you host. This includes developers that provide web hosting to their customers as part of a service.

Transfer of Website(s)
This offers applies to first time Sphere Account Holders only. The transfer of a website is not the transfer of a domain name registration. You understand that domain name registration, transfer or renewal is not part of this clause. Website transfers are done in the order they are received. If your hosting plan does not list the number of transfers included, You can contact us for that information. To initiate a site transfer You must register at our Support Desk and create a support ticket listing the details to access your existing account and any special instructions we will need to make a successful transfer. By doing so, You grant Sphere Web Hosting permission to access your existing account and agree to hold Sphere Web Hosting harmless for any damage or issues that may arise because of that access. You agree to take a backup of your existing account and store it on your local computer before requesting a site transfer.

Sphere Web Hosting provides basic help in the transfer of your existing website to our servers as a courtesy service and thus no refunds or discounts are given should we be unable to transfer your site(s) for any reason. While we will assist in every way we can, we cannot guarantee the transfer process, its availability, the amount of time it may take or that your old existing applications will run without modification on your new account. Because every host/server is configured a little differently, in some cases we may be unable to assist You in the transfer of data from an old host.

For first time Sphere Reseller Account Holders. We will help in the transfer of up to 10 existing accounts. Accounts You acquire after your sign up date do not qualify for this offer. It is your responsibility to submit a list to the Support Department within 72 hours of sign-up detailing the sites You require assistance moving.

Backups and Data Loss
Your use of our service gives us permission, by You, to maintain one or more backups of your files. We use an advanced backup System and while we strive to maintain current, accurate backups, You agree to take full responsibility for your files and data and to maintain all appropriate backups of files and data stored on our System and acknowledge that we do not provide a guarantee for the accuracy, date, or integrity of backups. For example, any changes made to your site after the last backup and before the next backup cannot be restored. Dedicated hosting accounts, including Virtual Dedicated Servers, are not included in our backup System. To arrange for dedicated server backups please contact our Customer Service Department.

You can request a restore of your site or database by submitting a ticket to our Support Department and pre-paying any applicable service fees. If You would like to know the backup status of your site or database, please create a ticket via the Support Desk and we will be happy to assist You.

Cancellations
Customers may cancel at anytime, in writing, by creating a ticket via our Support Desk and directing it to our Billing Department. Your account will be terminated before your next billing anniversary and your account will not be charged again. Refunds will be issued as outlined in the Money Back Guarantee section of this document. Phone or email cancellations will not be accepted.

Dedicated Servers
Sphere Web Hosting reserves the right to reset the password on a dedicated server if the password on file is not current. It is the responsibility of the Customer to ensure that there is a valid email address and current root password on file for their dedicated server. We are not responsible for downtime caused by forced password resets. Sphere Web Hosting reserves the right to audit servers and to perform administrative actions as needed.

Domain Name services
If You purchase our Domain Name services to register, renew or transfer a domain name, or You sign up for a free Enom account in conjunction with your Reseller Hosting Account, you agree Sphere Web Hosting's sole responsibility is to submit the request to Enom (the "Registrar"). Sphere Web Hosting is not responsible for any errors, omissions or failures of the Registrar. Unless the hosting plan you purchased from Sphere Web Hosting includes domain name registration, renewal or transfer in the price, you are solely responsible for the costs of the Domain Name services. All Domain Name services must be paid in full before we will submit the request to the Registrar and all Domain Name services sales are final and exempt from the Money Back Guarantee. Your use of domain name services is subject to the applicable legal terms of the Registrar posted on their website. You are responsible for managing your domain(s), closing any account with any prior reseller of or registrar for the requested domain name, and you are responsible for responding to any inquiries sent to you by the Registrar.

IP Addresses
If Sphere Web Hosting assigns the Account Holder an Internet Protocol address or addresses in connection with the Account Holder's use of the Sphere Web Hosting services, the right to use that Internet Protocol address will remain with and belong only to Sphere Web Hosting, and the Account Holder will have no right to use that Internet Protocol address except as allowed by Sphere Web Hosting in its sole and absolute discretion. Sphere Web Hosting reserves the right to change assigned IP address(es) or revoke assigned IP address(es) at anytime.

Export Matters
You represent and warrant that You are not on the United States Department of Treasury, Office of Foreign Asset Controls list of Specially Designated National and Blocked Persons and are not otherwise a person to whom Sphere Web Hosting is legally prohibited to provide the services. You may not use the services for the development, design, manufacture, production, stockpiling, or use of nuclear, chemical or biological weapons, weapons of mass destruction, or missiles, in a country listed in Country Groups D: 4 and D: 3, as set forth in Supplement No. 1 to the Part 740 of the United States Export Administration Regulations, nor may You provide administrative access to the service to any person (including any natural person or government or private entity) that is located in or is a national of any country that is embargoed or highly restricted under United States export regulations.

No High Risk Use
You may not use the services in any situation where failure or fault of the services could lead to death or serious bodily injury of any person, or to physical or environmental damage. For example, You may not use, or permit any other person to use, the services in connection with aircraft or other modes of human mass transportation, nuclear or chemical facilities, or Class III medical devices under the Federal Food, Drug and Cosmetic Act.

Who May Use The Service
If your account is not a Shared Web Hosting account, You may permit your subsidiaries and affiliated companies to use the services if You wish. Sphere Web Hosting will provide support only to You, not to your customers, subsidiaries or affiliates. There are no third party beneficiaries to the Agreement, meaning that your customers, subsidiaries, affiliates and other third parties do not have any rights against either of us under this Agreement. This paragraph does not grant You the right to transfer or reassign your Sphere Web Hosting Account.

Our Rights to View Your Content
We respect your privacy. The content of your items is your confidential information. We agree that our personnel will not view the content of your items except in the specific ways defined below and we will not disclose confidential information to a third party except as defined in our Privacy Policy. You agree that our personnel may view the content of your data and your customers' data residing on our System, including but not limited to files, databases, email and other items for the following purposes:
  • as necessary to respond to your specific support request;
  • to ensure that backups are being performed properly;
  • for Bulk Mail, to ensure compliance with our requirements for Bulk Mail stated in the Acceptable Use Policy;
  • for Junk Mail, to improve our email filter; and
  • to ensure your data is in compliance with the Acceptable Use Policy or while investigating a violation of the Acceptable Use Policy.

DMCA Copyright Infringement Information
In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, we have adopted a policy to suspend or terminate the accounts of website owners found to be in violation of copyright. We respect the intellectual property of others, and we ask You to do the same. We may, in appropriate circumstances and at our discretion, disable and/or terminate the accounts of users who may be repeat violators. If You believe that your work has been copied in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, or your intellectual property rights have been otherwise violated, please provide our Copyright Agent (identified below) the following information:

  • an electronic or physical signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the copyright or other intellectual property interest;
  • a description of the copyrighted work or other intellectual property that You claim has been infringed;
  • a description of where the material that You claim is infringing is located on the site;
  • your address, telephone number, and email address;
  • a statement by You that You have a good faith belief that the disputed use is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law;
  • a statement by You, made under penalty of perjury, that the above information in your Notice is accurate and that You are the copyright or intellectual property owner or authorized to act on the copyright or intellectual property owner's behalf.

Our agent for notice of claims of copyright infringement can be reached as follows:
By mail:

Sphere Web Hosting, LLC.
1917 Trade Center Way #1
Naples, FL 34109

Or by e-mailing our This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Suspension of Services
We may suspend services to You or your customers without liability if: You fail to pay for the services; we reasonably believe that the services are being used in violation of the Agreement; You don't cooperate with our reasonable investigation of any suspected violation of the Agreement; there is an attack on your account or your customers' account, or your account or your customers' account is accessed or manipulated by a third party without your consent; we are required by law to suspend your services or the services of your customer, or there is another event for which we reasonably believe that the suspension of services is necessary to protect our network or our other Customers. We will give You advance notice of a suspension under this paragraph of at least twelve (12) Business Hours unless we determine in our reasonable commercial judgment that a suspension on shorter or contemporaneous notice is necessary to protect Sphere Web Hosting or its other Customers from imminent and significant operational or security risk. If your account or your customers' account is compromised, then You must address the vulnerability prior to Sphere Web Hosting placing the account back in service.

Force Majeure
Neither of us will be in violation of the Agreement if the failure to perform the obligation is due to an event beyond our control, such as significant failure of a part of the power grid, significant failure of the Internet, natural disaster, war, riot, insurrection, epidemic, strikes or other organized labor action, terrorism, or other events of a magnitude or type for which precautions are not generally taken in the industry.

Indemnification
Customer agrees that it shall defend, indemnify, save and hold Sphere Web Hosting harmless from any and all demands, liabilities, losses, costs and claims, including reasonable attorney's fees asserted against Sphere Web Hosting, 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, its agents, employees or assigns. Customer agrees to defend, indemnify and hold harmless Sphere Web Hosting against liabilities arising out of; (1) any injury to person or property caused by any products sold or otherwise distributed in connection with Sphere Web Hosting; (2) any material supplied by Customer infringing or allegedly infringing on the proprietary rights of a third party; (3) copyright infringement; (4) any defective products sold to Customers from Sphere Web Hosting's server and (5) any damage, corruption or loss related to or in connection with the content of the Account. The terms of this Section will survive any termination of this Agreement.

Disclaimer of Warranties
You acknowledge and agree that Sphere Web Hosting exercises no control over, and accepts no responsibility for, the content of the information passing through the host computers, network hubs and points of presence or the Internet. NEITHER SPHERE WEB HOSTING, ITS EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, SUPPLIERS, THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION PROVIDERS, MERCHANTS, LICENSORS NOR THE LIKE MAKE ANY WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, OR NON-INFRINGEMENT FOR THE SERVICES OR ANY EQUIPMENT SPHERE WEB HOSTING PROVIDES. NEITHER SPHERE WEB HOSTING, ITS EMPLOYEES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS, THIRD-PARTY INFORMATION PROVIDERS, MERCHANTS, LICENSORS OR THE LIKE, WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL NOT BE INTERRUPTED OR ERROR FREE; NOR DO ANY OF THEM MAKE ANY WARRANTY AS TO THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICES OR AS TO THE ACCURACY, RELIABILITY OR CONTENT OF ANY INFORMATION SERVICES OR MERCHANDISE CONTAINED IN OR PROVIDED THROUGH THE SERVICES. SPHERE WEB HOSTING IS NOT LIABLE FOR THE CONTENT OR LOSS OF ANY DATA TRANSFERRED EITHER TO OR FROM YOU OR STORED BY YOU OR ANY OF YOUR CLIENTELE VIA THE SERVICES PROVIDED BY SPHERE WEB HOSTING.

Limitation of Liability
IN NO EVENT SHALL SPHERE WEB HOSTING BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY OTHER PERSON FOR ANY INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, SPECIAL, EXEMPLARY OR PUNITIVE DAMAGES, INCLUDING LOSS OF PROFIT OR GOODWILL, FOR ANY MATTER, WHETHER SUCH LIABILITY IS ASSERTED ON THE BASIS OF CONTRACT, TORT (INCLUDING NEGLIGENCE), BREACH OF WARRANTIES, EITHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, ANY BREACH OF THIS AGREEMENT OR ITS INCORPORATED AGREEMENTS AND POLICIES, YOUR INABILITY TO USE THE SOFTWARE OR SERVICES, YOUR LOSS OF DATA OR FILES OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF SPHERE WEB HOSTING HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. In no event will Sphere Web Hosting's liability for any damages, losses and causes of actions whether in contract or tort (including negligence or otherwise) exceed the actual dollar amount paid by You for the services during the 6-month period prior to the date the damage or loss occurred or the cause of action arose. The provisions of this Agreement pertaining to service Level Agreement apply to credits available to You for System downtime.

Governing Law and Choice of Form
The Agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Florida, exclusive of its choice of law principles, and the laws of the United States of America, as applicable. The Agreement shall not be governed by the United Nations Convention on the International Sale of Goods. Exclusive venue for all disputes arising out of the Agreement shall be in the state or federal courts in Collier County, Florida, and we each agree not to bring an action in any other venue. You waive all objections to this venue and agree not to dispute personal jurisdiction or venue in these courts. You agree that You will not bring or participate in any class action lawsuit against Sphere Web Hosting or any of its employees or affiliates. Each of us agrees that we will not bring a claim under the Agreement more than one year after the time that the claim accrued.

Retrieval of Data
Termination or cancellation of an account automatically deletes all files associated with that account and therefore no files located on the account will be retrievable. We recommend that You take a backup of your files before submitting a cancellation request. You hereby acknowledge that this is Sphere's policy when it comes to data retention, and waive all rights in and to your data in these situations.

Account Transfer
A Sphere Web Hosting account may not be transferred without prior written notice to Sphere Web Hosting and Sphere Web Hosting's review and acceptance of the new Account Holder.

When these Terms Take Effect
This agreement becomes effective once You submit your order with us or open an account with us for services of any kind. Sphere Web Hosting reserves the right to revise its policies at any time without notice. Policies become effective upon publishing to spherewebhosting.com. If You are an existing Customer, and You do not agree with the terms herein, please cancel your account. Otherwise, if You sign up for or continue to use the services, You agree to what is written here.

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