Changes in the TOS

A

AbbieRose

New member
If your host changes services during a contract period, are you required to maintain the same TOS that they agreed to? Or are the customers expected to either accept the changes, or move elsewhere (which to me is very bad business)?
 
The host has the option of making changes to the TOS and clients would have to abide by the new terms.
Any TOS would include a line stating that they are subject to change and that is what the client agrees to when signing up.
 
AbbieRose said:
If your host changes services during a contract period
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You need to really check if the host have changed TOS with the changes he has done in services or not; because, it is not necessary the host is going to change TOS also.

But, yes if the Host has done changes in TOS; also, then clients have to abide by the new terms, if they want to continue hosting with the same company.
 
TOS's can change within a period, and really should if the host finds a problem with the current TOS (comes across something illegal the hard way). I feel they should let you know of any changes however.
 
I always think its shady when a place will change their TOS and end up not doing any type of announcement for their clients. What happens if a client does not intentionally break one of the new rules?
 
shockym said:
I always think its shady when a place will change their TOS and end up not doing any type of announcement for their clients. What happens if a client does not intentionally break one of the new rules?
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That is a different scenario all together.
If the host changes the TOS without informing their clients then they have no standing at all.

All changes to TOS have to be transmitted to clients before the change and at the time of the change for them to be legitimate.
 
The TOS clauses that the customer agrees to are meant to protect the hosting company as much as possible. Often enough this means that a TOS clause allows the host to just change the TOS at any time, with or without notification (keep in mind that notifications may, due to no fault of the host, not reach their destinations).

But, between that and what happens in practice, there can be differences. The host can try to notify all customers (by email, on forums, on the site etc.), give customers enough time to change hosts, give prorated refunds even if the TOS does not promise such etc. It all comes down to doing the right thing, and trying to maintain the customer's good will, even if he'll end up leaving.
 
Another question comes to mind. If you are changing the TOS, do you write and just send a list of the new TOS, or do you actually highlight the changes to the TOS? I received the new one for my bank today, and yet I cannot see what the difference is and it would take significant studying to work it out.

Why don't they just tell you what the change is?
 
They probably don't want you to know what the change is.
Often these changes involve making it easier for them to charge you service fees.
 
I would assume,that changing the TOS during a tenure wouldn't be ethical.
but sometimes Hosting companies dont have a choice.
 
Blue said:
That is a different scenario all together.
If the host changes the TOS without informing their clients then they have no standing at all.

All changes to TOS have to be transmitted to clients before the change and at the time of the change for them to be legitimate.
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No offense, but I do not buy that for one second. I stated what I did being humble and an honest person that I would inform my clients, but no not all do. Either before the changes are made or after, and any research can show this if you take the time to look it up.

Most hosting companies have a stipulation like " All provisions of this contract are subject to the TOS (Terms of Service) of ***Said company name here*** and AUP (Acceptable Use Policy). The AUP may be changed from time to time at the discretion of the Company. Subscriber understands that change to the AUP by the Company shall not be grounds for early contract termination or non-payment. "

So please tell me where it says "They have to".......:confused:

The only time that the host is required to transmit an AUP to all intended parties is when the AUP is not posted in public or a clients control panel at the point that they make alterations.

Is that what you meant instead? Keep in mind that 1 way email transmissions are not binding contracts because there is no way to prove that the destination party recieved and read the email.
 
So please tell me where it says "They have to"....
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An issue that can be real, is the existence of laws and regulations on the matter (could vary a lot with the country); not everything that is stated in a TOS will hold in court.
 
The host generally reserve the right to modify/change its policies at any time for any reason, and without notice. However IMO changing policies frequently is not good sign for a company because it shows bad management by their executives and more likely these companies are not stable.
 
bobchrist that is true, but only by someone who has ethics and therefore is a "good person", there are many "bad hosts" out there and "bad people" alike, so that is the point I was getting at with 'Tell me where" as it is not (that I am aware at this time of writing this) an international hosting law so to speak. :D
 
Interesting. So depending on where you are you might not have to tell people? That sounds like a total set up to be honest and I'm not sure I would risk it, fearing a law coming and biting me in the butt instead.

You see if that were the case you could get a hundred customers, change the TOS on them such that they are all breaking your TOS and giving you the right to terminate services without refund. You get a bucket load of cash for nothing and sell on the services to someone else. I'm sure there must be laws in place to prevent this.
 
Typically when you register you will click to agree to the TOS... And usually at the bottom of the TOS is a statement such as, "We reserves the right to adjust the TOS at any time." ... You will be expected to follow the terms most likely.
 
The whole point here being that you have to know about those terms if you are to be able to follow them. So like I said in my previous post, I can see the possibility of someone deliberately setting up to scam customers out of money by changing the TOS in such a way that the customers are breaking terms, and not telling them thus leaving them in violation.
 
Yeah, technically they don't have to inform you of the changes, but personally to me it is good business practice. Like right now, if my current host were to change it's TOS and say that PHPBB is not allowed on their servers, and I get shut down, I could post complaints about it in many different places including this forum, that in turn, can hurt their business because they weren't really out at the best interest of their customers.
 
Web Hosts are able to change their TOS at any time.
This includes their AUP etc and they do not need to inform you.

However as Smash mentioned it is good business practice to inform their clients by announcing such changes on the company forum for example.
 
Yes, you can change the TOS at anytime and can even include that you may do a change at anytime.

However at a legal standpoint, if you want to cover all your bases it is best to inform your customers of any changes. :) Good communication with your clients is the key.
 
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