If you have any questions about our policies, please contact us at support@ciicweb.com


E-Mail Restrictions 
You might wonder why we have a policy against unsolicited e-mailing, or why we restrict bulk e-mailing. Hopefully the information below will shed some light on this unwanted and costly activity.


Unsolicited e-mail, commonly know as "spam" is one of the more heated issues on the Internet. It is considered a breach of "Netiquette" and often generates many more complaints than sales. This is due to the tremendous number of unsolicited e-mails received everyday by some individuals and because of the damage and expense spamming causes.


Spammers who can send up to several million e-mails per day can cause hundreds, if not thousands, of dollars in bandwidth charges a day to Internet Service Providers (ISP's) like CIIC. This activity can cause incredible damage to an ISP's network resources not to mention the cost involved in trying to stop this activity. Most experts agree that more than 80% of all e-mail is spam. Spam ties up network resources, slows down mail and web servers, and is a leading source of fraud on the Internet.


Many other problems are generated when the spammers try to avoid the hassles of bounced e-mail and complaints by spoofing and forging header information. The bounced e-mail is often sent to an unsuspecting, innocent user, who often has to bear the brunt of angry victims. In a further attempt to hide their identity, some "spammers" hijack third party servers, sometimes causing server crashes and system damage, as well as the additional data transfer cost.


This sort of unsolicited advertising is also against the policies of upstream providers. By allowing our customers to violate our policy, we would be violating our contract with our providers and risking disruption of service.


CIIC reserves the right at all times to determine what is considered to be unacceptable bulk-email or spam.


This barely begins to scratch the surface of the "spam" issue. Further information can be found at the sites listed below:

http://spam.abuse.net/

http://www.cauce.org/


Complaint Procedures
CIIC investigates all complaints about the sites we host. In order for an unsolicited e-mail or newsgroup abuse complaint to be considered, however, it must have the full header information for verification purposes.


We are currently operating under a "three strikes" procedure in which we warn, suspend, then delete accounts which violate our policy. CIIC reserves the right at all times to determine what is considered to be unacceptable bulk-email or spam.


It is very important to remember that often times spammers forge header information and innocent web sites are caught in the angry crossfire that follows. Please remember that just because a domain name we host may show up in unsolicited e-mail, it does not necessarily mean they are the person responsible for the spam.


Allegations of trademark/copyright infringement and intellectual property disputes are handled under another policy. Domains found to have engaged in "mailbombing" or other serious or damaging breaches of policy can be suspended or deleted with no warning.


Policy Violations and Refunds
Any customer who has been suspended for a violation of our policy will no longer be eligible for the 30 day money back guarantee.


Root Directory
It is often asked why the spammer's web site is still active, but only shows a root directory. This is because we have suspended the account. Often times it can take several days to sort through the ramifications of deleting a site for a violation of policy, and the site will be kept in suspended status until such time as the account is actually terminated and removed from our network and servers.


Bulk E-Mail 
Our Accepted Uses Policy forbids the transmission of certain types of e-mail. There are many reasons for not accepting bulk e-mail which are outlined in this document. Bulk e-mail can be acceptable only under the circumstances outlined below:

  1. You should have a prior relationship with the person receiving the e-mail, and they should be aware that they will be receiving e-mail from your domain.
  2. If you have an email subscription list, there should be a confirmation e-mail sent to the subscriber before their email address is added to it.
  3. There should always be an AUTOMATED METHOD for the user to quickly and easily "unsubscribe" from your list. All unsubscription requests must be honored and should be done quickly.
  4. A valid "From:" and "Reply to" address must be included with each and every email message.

The following items would violate our policy:

  1. Any kind of forged header information.
  2. Lists which include "harvested" addresses.
  3. "Targeted" e-mail lists.
  4. Using a script on your site to send bulk or unsolicited e-mail.
  5. Using an autoresponder at your site to send bulk or unsolicited e-mail.

Please note that this includes all domain names, IP addresses, and e-mail addresses at a site. CIIC reserves the right at all times to determine what is considered to be unacceptable bulk-email or spam.


Received Bulk E-Mail 

Occasionally our customers do receive spam. Since we cant possibly track and block all incoming spam, we ask that you forward these complaints to the spammer and their hosting company.

When sending a spam complaint, please make sure to copy and paste the entire email and include the full header information ("Received From:" lines) so that it is possible to trace the source of the message.


"Targeted" Lists 
One of the many types of e-mail address lists for sale today is the "targeted" e-mail list. These lists are compiled using various methods in an attempt to reach a specific audience who, in theory, would be interested in the product or service being offered in the spam.

Unfortunately these lists are still unsolicited and therefore violate our policy. We do not allow these lists to be used to promote domains, IP addresses, or e-mail addresses that are hosted on our servers.


Disputes and Allegations 
We are very sensitive to Internet related issues raised about the web sites we host. These include trademark/copyright infringement, improper advertising, and a few others. We are willing to help resolve these issues between the complainant and our customers, but cannot act as judge and jury or delete every account accused of violating the law.


We suggest the following: 

  1. If our client does not respond to your cease-and-desist demand by your deadline, please forward our name, address, email, etc. to your counsel so we may cooperate in resolving the matter without litigation.
  2. Through your counsel, or the legal branch of the appropriate local, state, or country authorities, please inform us as to how our client has responded or not responded to your demand. Although our client may express an opinion to us regarding your claim(s), the only response that counts is the one our client sends to you, and we will not necessarily receive a copy of it.
  3. If the response from our client is unsatisfactory to you, we will work with your counsel or the legal branch of the appropriate local, state, or country authorities -- if he or she is willing -- to agree upon the wording of an injunction which will legally require CIIC to remove the offending web site. If we can agree on the wording of the injunction, CIIC will not oppose your motion requesting it.

These are guidelines and suggestions. Each case is handled on a unique and individual basis.