Hoststar – general terms and conditions

Scope

1. These general terms and conditions (hereinafter «GTCs») govern the legal relationship between Hoststar – Multimedia Networks AG (hereinafter «Hoststar») and its customers (hereinafter «customer»). The version that is valid at the time of contract completion is authoritative.
2. Upon acceptance of services and products from Hoststar, the customer agrees to these GTCs in full and without alterations. This agreement can also be entered into by activating the relevant control field during the order process.

Contract completion

Upon submission of the online order form, the applicant is bound with regard to the use of Hoststar services and offers until acceptance or rejection by Hoststar. The contract becomes binding when Hoststar accepts the order. The contract begins in every case when Hoststar services and offers are used. Hoststar reserves the right to reject a customer’s order without giving a reason for doing so.

Hoststar services

1. Hoststar lists its products and services on its website https://www.hoststar.ch or publishes them in some other suitable form. The customer selects an item from the listed offers, where the selection is limited to the offers available at the time of the claim.
2. In the operation of its resources, Hoststar makes every effort to provide its services around the clock without error or interruption but does not guarantee that access to the agreed services cannot be interrupted at any time. Hoststar also does not guarantee that the contractually agreed  services and offers will function perfectly on all devices. As far as possible, the customer will be informed in good time about foreseeable service interruptions that are required to correct faults, deal with security threats, carry out maintenance, further develop the service etc.
3. Hoststar reserves the right to make changes and improvements to its products at any time. The customer is responsible for informing him-/herself in this connection. The services offered at the time of contract completion form the basis for contracts that have already been completed. Existing customers who want to benefit from changes and improvements must cancel their current contract and order a new service.
4. Hoststar may amend the scope of service at any time if particular services and offers negatively impact server stability and/or performance. Hoststar may carry out security-relevant updates and changes to system components and applications. Hoststar is not obliged to inform its customers in this regard. The customer is obliged to and is responsible for checking compatibility and carrying out any changes that are a part of system improvements.
5. Hoststar can use third parties in the provision of its services at any time.
6. Hoststar provides email and telephone support for its own services and offers. Hoststar is not obliged to provide support for programming, use of third-party software or server administration. If such support is in fact rendered it shall be considered as a service to the customer. However, Hoststar cannot be made liable for the provision of nor forced to provide such service. The priority level of responding to support emails that arrive on weekends or public holidays is at the discretion of the on-call staff. In the operation of its resources, Hoststar makes every effort to provide support services within the specified time but can give no guarantee in this regard.
7. Hoststar may conduct all its communications with the customer by email. Equally, but not exclusively, the customer agrees (in accordance with section 4.5) to keep their email addresses and all personal data up-to-date with regard to announcements regarding product changes and improvements, technical maintenance, invoicing, payment reminders, setup and cancellation confirmations, lost access data etc.

Rights and obligations of the customer

1. The customer may rightfully use the services and products provided by Hoststar in accordance with these GTCs and agrees to comply with any instructions from Hoststar that pertain to such use.
2. The customer must provide Hoststar with true and accurate information.
3. The customer must use their user name and password confidentially. The customer is responsible for their domain and liable for any damages that might arise from use thereof. The customer must take any necessary measures to ensure that no unauthorised access to external services, no manipulation of other applications and that no introduction of computer viruses is possible through their contractually agreed services. The customer is liable for all damages arising from misuse of a contractually agreed service (e.g. hacking due to incorrect or out-of-date scripts or through similar abuse of access data via FTP and databases, and spam attacks through customer email accounts). All security-relevant notices from Hoststar must be observed.
4. If the customer must forward their access data to a third party, this may only be done in conjunction with web design and programming works. The customer agrees to make sure that third parties adhere to all the stipulations of these GTCs. The customer is liable for all violations or punishable abuses related to these GTCs that arise from use of the services by authorised and unauthorised third parties. The customer exempts Hoststar from all third-party claims of any nature and in all cases.
5. The customer must keep their contact data up-to-date. Hoststar reserves the right to invoice the customer for any expenses incurred as a result of invalid customer data, e.g. email and postal addresses. This pertains above all to additional expenses arising from checking addresses and drawing up and posting new invoices.

6. The customer must adhere to Swiss and international law as well as to recognised codes of conduct when using the services. The customer is responsible for content (text, images, sounds, computer programs, databases, audio/video files etc.) that they or third parties have forwarded or processed via their domain, accessed or made available for access. The customer is responsible for references (especially links) to this information. The following content in particular may not be distributed via the customer’s domain:

   • Violent images as per article 135 of the StGB (Swiss Federal Penal Code)
   • Pornographic texts, sounds or images and presentations as per article 197 of the StGB
   • Incitements to violence as per article 259 of the StGB
   • Racial discrimination as per article 261 of the StGB
   • Instructions on or incitements to punishable behaviours
   • Prohibited gambling games as per the Swiss Lottery Act
   • Fraudulent content (subscriptions, internet fraud etc.), promises of profits and similar that benefit only the promiser
   • Information, files and images that harm the national or international copyrights, related property rights or other intellectual property rights (image and brand rights) of third parties

7. The provision of services that negatively impact Hoststar’s business resources is not allowed. The following content in particular will not be tolerated:

   • File-download pages / file sharing / torrent trackers (MPEG, AVI, MP3 etc.)
   • Offer/provision/upload/use of files, software or material that is infected with a virus, manipulated (cracked) or harmed or that in any other way can damage or negatively impact another computer
   • Banner exchange and email exchange sites
   • Streaming / online radio
   • Online games
   • Adult website (sites with images of pornographic content in accordance with section 4.6)
   • Websites with radical political or radical religious content (in accordance with section 4.6)
8. The content which is covered by the above points is at Hoststar’s discretion. The customer must ensure that youths under 17 and/or 18 years have no access to websites that are only suitable for people over 17 and/or 18.
9. The subletting of web directories is permitted, but only when subjected to separate volume rates.
10. Hoststar may block access to the customer’s website (domain) should its user behaviour or the behaviour of the users of the customer’s website (e.g. large number of simultaneous connections to the customer website with DDoS attacks) in any way negatively impact the service’s performance or the customer’s website, or the security of Hoststar’s infrastructure. Nonconformity with the above and below-named customer obligations (sections 6 and 7) is considered improper usage. Access will remain blocked until the issue in question is explained, the customer presents evidence that demonstrates the innocuousness of the content and/or a legal dispute results in an adjudication. Hoststar expressly reserves the right to claim damages in every case of improper usage of the hosting/reseller hosting/vServer/services or violations of these GTCs. Furthermore, the provisions of the Code of Conduct Hosting (CCH) of the Swiss Digital Industry Association (SWICO) shall apply.

Domain names

1. General

   Within the scope of services ordered by the customer, Hoststar manages the customer’s domain name(s) and, at the request of the customer, arranges for the registration of the domain name(s) to the customer, the transfer of the customer’s existing domain name(s) for the purpose of administration by Hoststar, or the migration to a third party of domain name(s) already registered to the customer and administered by Hoststar.

2. Registration of domain names

   Hoststar treats incoming requests for registration equally. If there are several valid requests for one domain name, Hoststar resolves the issue on a first come, first served basis. The customer acknowledges and agrees that domain names do not become their property upon registration, but that they are only entitled to the use thereof.

3. Transfer of domain names

   1. Hoststar arranges for the transfer of a domain name when instructed in writing to do so by the customer. The customer agrees to bear the cost of procuring a notarial declaration should one be required for such transfer.
   2. Without a written request from the customer, Hoststar will only transfer a domain name upon presentation of an enforceable court decision or a contractual agreement between the customer and a third party in which Hoststar is explicitly authorised to carry out the transfer of a domain name to a third party. The third party must produce a certificate confirming the enforceability of the court decision.
   3. Hoststar may temporarily block transfer of a domain name if instructed to do so by the authorities. Hoststar reserves the rights to other measures permitted by courts and authorities. Hoststar may also block a domain name in the event that a third party has provably predicated a legal or arbitration suit against the current owner for deletion, rejection or transfer of the domain name.

4. No examination of the rights of the customer

   Hoststar does not have to check the customer’s right to register, transfer or migrate the domain name. A request for registration, transfer or migration of a domain name represents Hoststar’s binding assurance of the requesting customer that the registration, transfer or migration of the domain name in question may be legally carried out and that the customer may register, transfer or migrate the domain name.

5. Hoststar’s right to deny domain name services

   1. The customer is considered the holder of the domain name and bears sole responsibility for its use.
   2. Should there be a clear indication or if there are grounds to believe that the customer is not entitled to register, transfer or migrate a domain name, Hoststar reserves the right to suspend the service in question.
   3. If Hoststar discovers misuse of its domain name services or the unauthorised use of data and information by the customer, Hoststar may suspend these services without notice until proper conformity has been restored.

6. Parking domain names

   Hoststar may if it so chooses link domain names reserved by the customer to a domain name server it specifies that is administered by Hoststar or a third party so long as the customer does not expressly stipulate that they do not want the domain name to be temporarily deactivated. Hoststar or an authorised third party may at its own discretion run its own or other’s advertisements on websites accessible on the reserved domain name.

7. Loss of domain names

   Hoststar is not liable for the loss of use rights to a domain name by the customer, for instance due to late or non-payment of fees.

8. Domain reactivation

   After expiration of the contract term, domains whose contract term has not been renewed are automatically subject to a blocking period of 30 to 60 days, depending on the domain extension. Hoststar may reactivate the domain during this period at the customer's request for a fee. The costs for reactivation will be charged to the customer.

9. Domain trustee service

   Hoststar offers customers who would like to register domains, but who are not located in the geographic area required for this, the possibility of using of a third-party trustee service (hereinafter «trustee»). This means that the trustee serves as the administrative contact and is registered as the domain holder. The customer fully retains the rights and obligations associated with the domain. Correspondence concerning the domain is only required between the customer and Hoststar and not the trustee. The customer is not entitled to make any direct claims against the trustee. Any additional costs incurred by the trustee in connection with domain administration beyond costs associated with the initial registration and removal will be charged to the customer.

Email

1. The customer may not send emails to a third party for the purposes of advertising unless the third party requests this. Should Hoststar discover the customer has sent emails to a third party without such permission, Hoststar reserves the right to suspend the customer’s hosting/reseller hosting/vServer/domain/services without notice until the facts have been satisfactorily explained. The sending of unwanted mass emails (spamming, email bombing) from Hoststar servers is forbidden. The use of mailing lists at a quantity that endangers the operational stability of our systems is forbidden. Such behaviours shall be considered improper usage and will incur sanctions as detailed above (section 4.10).
2. Hoststar points out that the use of a spam filter can also filter or block wanted and expected emails as a consequence of particular configurations. Hoststar does not accept any liability for undelivered emails.

Data security

1. The customer is responsible for making copies of data – regardless of its format – that they store on Hoststar’s servers. Even though Hoststar’s servers are backed up, the customer is responsible for the backup of any data they have transferred to Hoststar. In the event of data loss, the customer is responsible for again copying the data in question to Hoststar free of charge.
2. We suggest that the customer carries out a full backup before making any changes. If data loss occurs during any changes, the obligation detailed in section 7.1 is activated.
3. The customer is likewise responsible for their obligation to update their system (including third-party software), in particular promptly installing security-relevant updates. Hoststar reserves the right to block unsafe applications without notice. The application remains blocked until the relevant facts have been explained and/or it is patched with any needed updates to its latest security level. Hoststar does not accept any liability for any damages arising from such intervention.
4. In terms of data protection, Hoststar must only inform the customer directly about their data stored by Hoststar. No data will be forwarded to third parties. The customer is responsible and liable in this regard (see section 4.4). Hoststar likewise accepts all changes to the ordered services solely through the customer. Third parties may not request any changes or amendments to an existing service on a customer’s behalf.
5. In the event of the customer’s death, Hoststar is only required to hand over information related to the access data for the services of the deceased customer to the inheritor(s) when shown an official certificate of inheritance (see order form in PDF format).
6. In the event of change of ownership or of contractual partners with Hoststar, customer data will only be transcribed upon submission of the completed form («Change of contractual partner», available as a PDF in My Panel by Account → My details→ Contact details) signed by both parties, and of any other necessary documentation. In the event of disagreement between several parties about the domain and/or an account at Hoststar, the parties must reach agreement independently. Hoststar will not function as a conciliation office.
7. In the event of a violation of section 4.6 – prohibited site content – Hoststar can only be forced to block the site in question by a court order or upon the customer’s request. Hoststar does not accept any liability in such cases.

Data protection

1. Hoststar points out that personal data will be saved during the course of contract completion. Hoststar observes legal requirements related to data protection when processing personal data.
2. Hoststar may forward customer data to third parties if required to do so in the provision of its services.
3. If it discovers illegal or unethical conduct, Hoststar may forward customer data to third parties, namely legal authorities. The customer is also advised that Hoststar can be required to hand over customer data to courts and other authorities.

4. Disclosure of data in conjunction with domain names

   The customer notes and accepts that the customer’s following (personal) data must be published on the Internet (‘whois’ service) both for realisation of the contract and for legal reasons pertaining to domain name services:

   • Customer name (holder of domain name);
   • Full address of holder,
   • Should the holder of the domain name be a legal person, a collective or limited partnership, the names of the natural persons who represent it;
   • Full address of the technical contact (incl. email address);
   • The registration data for the domain name in question and the last change to this registration;
   • The IP address of the activated DNS server.
5. Use of the Internet entails several data protection risks for the customer. In particular, data protection is not guaranteed when data is transmitted in an unencrypted form. It must therefore be taken into account that emails transmitted without encryption can be read, changed or blocked by third parties not authorised to do so. Encryption of transmitted data can improve protection against unauthorised access. Firewalls can prevent access from unwanted and unauthorised third parties, or in any case make this more difficult. Carrying out measures to improve data protection is the customer’s responsibility.

Liability

1. In the case of damaging events that occur through Hoststar’s or other service providers’ transmission paths, Hoststar is only liable should such damages be the result of intent or gross negligence on the part of Hoststar. Hoststar accepts no responsibility for damages to the customer resulting from third-party abuse. This includes damages resulting from computer viruses.
2. The customer is responsible for the compatibility of the hardware and software they use. Hoststar does not guarantee that the domain (website) and services will function perfectly on all devices. Hoststar accepts neither guarantee nor liability for the loss or unauthorised alteration of email messages. Hoststar is not liable for interruptions to business operations resulting from fault correction, infrastructure migration (switching etc.) or the introduction of new or different technologies. Hoststar’s liability is always limited to the immediate damages. Liability for consequential damages of every variety, in particular of lost earnings, is excluded.
3. Hoststar shall not be liable for damages caused by third party services or products. Not even when they are activated or installed via the Hoststar management interface (My Panel), the Hoststar website, or any other platform of Hoststar, such as security certificates, directly installable web applications (Software Center).

Contract duration and cancellation

1. The contract runs for an unspecified period, although at least one year.
2. Notification and/or calculation for extending the contract shall occur two (3) months before contract expiration (i.e. 9 months after the contract start) and be sent by email either to the contact email address specified during the order or to the contact email address stored in the customer’s data (see also section 4.5). If no payment has been made by the date of the contract extension (12 months after contract start), Hoststar may block or cancel the account and withhold all other services. This block remains in force until Hoststar receives payment. Hoststar does not accept any liability for any consequent damages to or claims from the customer.
3. Each contractual partner can cancel the contract in accordance with a notice period of 30 days leading to the end of the one-year subscription period. Cancellation not conforming to the notice period automatically extends the contract by another year. The contract may also be cancelled within the notice period or at a specified date as long as both parties (customer and Hoststar) agree to this. In the event that the contract is cancelled before one year has passed or at a specified date (non-conform cancellation not at contract end), pro rata temporis reimbursement of any paid fees is excluded, and Hoststar may retain said fees.
4. After the contract has expired (cancellation date), Hoststar may delete all of the customer’s data. The customer is responsible for the timely backup of their data. In the event of an extraordinary cancellation of contract without notice period, the data in question will be deleted after a safety period of 10 days from the date of the notification of cancellation.
5. In the event of improper usage, Hoststar reserves the right to cancel the contract with immediate effect. Nonconformity with the customer obligations listed in sections 4 and 6 is considered improper usage.
6. In the event of repeated or serious violation of the present GTCs, in particular damage to the reputation or denigration of Hoststar of any kind (in forums, chats, etc., fakes and defamatory behaviour or threats against employees), Hoststar may cancel the contract with immediate effect.
7. In the event of misuse of services (unlawful acts as described in sections 4, 6, 7, 9 and 10), Hoststar may cancel, block and delete the account in question without notice. Hoststar does not accept any liability for any damages resulting from such account blocking/deletion.

Prices

1. Prices are based on Hoststar’s currently valid price list (published on Hoststar’s website).
2. Any price reductions of our services may not be applied to previously completed contracts. There is also no right to reclamation of annual fees already paid by the customer.

Terms of payment

1. All services provided by Hoststar shall be paid in advance annually. Hosting and server installations and domain name registration and extension can only take place after they have been manually checked and payment has been received. Payment in advance is also required for all other Hoststar services.
2. The customer shall use the invoice sent by email or made available in My Panel as a PDF as a basis for payment. All costs incurred by Hoststar in the form of bank and postal expenses will be invoiced to the customer. Invoices must be settled by the due date indicated on the invoice. If no due date is specified, invoices must be settled within 30 days of the invoice date.
3. If the customer activates ‘credit card’ as the payment method for settling invoices, the amount due for the following year will be automatically charged 3 months before the end of the subscription. The subscription is thus extended for another year on a binding basis and reimbursement of any payment already made is excluded.
4. If an invoice is not paid on time, this is considered late payment by the customer even if no reminder notice has been issued. In the event of late payment by the customer
   • Hoststar may halt provision of contractually agreed services (in accordance with section 10.2); and
   • the customer shall pay Hoststar default interest at a rate of 5% p.a.
5. The customer shall pay Hoststar an administration fee of CHF 50 for the second reminder and for each subsequent reminder issued. In the event of late payment by the customer, Hoststar may engage a third party to collect payment.
6. In the event of late payment, Hoststar may also suspend provision of the services and/or cancel the contract without notice (without compensation) at any time and without setting any grace period prior to this.  Any reinstatement of the service will be subject to a fixed charge of CHF 50 and will take place only after receipt of payment of all outstanding amounts, in addition to the fixed charge.
7. In the case of domain name services, Hoststar reserves the right to deactivate the domain name seven (7) days before expiry of the current contractual period: (i) If the customer has not settled the invoice for the next subscription period and (ii) no cancellation instruction conforming to the relevant notice period has been submitted.
8. The offsetting of reciprocal financial obligations is excluded.

Intellectual property

1. Customers have non-transferable, non-exclusive rights of use of the relevant services and/or products for the duration of the contract.
2. All rights to existing intellectual property and intellectual property due to be activated upon contract completion relating to Hoststar’s services and products (e.g. applications, templates, data, My Panel), remain with Hoststar or with third parties appointed by Hoststar.

Transfer of contractual rights and obligations

Final provisions

1. Hoststar expressly reserves the right to change these general terms and conditions and its individual services at any time. The new terms and conditions will be made known to the customer and are considered valid without objection within a period of one month.
2. Should one or more of the provisions of our general terms and conditions prove invalid, it shall be replaced by what legally corresponds best to the intended purpose. The remaining provisions retain their legal validity.
3. The presented GTCs are available in German, English, French and Italian. In the event of uncertainties or contradictions, the German version is authoritative.

Applicable law and jurisdiction