Terms of Service

Well, you really need to consider EVERY factor :) If something goes wrong and you didn't outline a response for the situation within the terms of service, people will come knocking very quickly.

One of the lines that is default in most terms of services is that the host reserves the right to update and implement new rules on the TOS with or without notice - continued use of the services is considered acceptance of these new rules.

What I'd suggest is to visit 20+ websites, print out their TOS and start comparing. You'll then want to contact a lawyer and have them review the information and make adjustments as needed - but having a starting area will help. Remember not to just copy & paste someone else's TOS as it's not only a copyright violation, but you also don't know if the wording carries any weight and can really protect you.

Spend the $200, get the contract reviewed by a professional.
 
Also look at the TOS you yourself must follow and these will also apply to anyone who hosts with you.

ie. your host/supplier may not allow streaming on their network, but you dont place this in your own TOS and one of your clients starts streaming then your host/supplier can suspend or terminate you for breaching their TOS
 
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Yep, that's a biggie as Terry mentioned. What is allowed from your provider will also help dictate your own TOS. Adult material is not allowed at one datacenter we use, however another center has no issue with it. When a client came to us asking if selling adult toys was permitted (even if no pictures are displayed other than the toy itself) - we had to doublecheck with the datacenter before we could answer. Turns out, they interpreted the rules as being "adult nature" and disallowed the site. The client was then placed at an alternate datacenter.

So, as Terry said, doublecheck your centers rules and their procedures for dealing with such issues.
 
We provide all our resellers with a generic copy of our TOS/AUP/PP highlighted what they need to change such as business name etc. as ours have been legally checked and verified
 
when doing your own tos, you have to think from you side, but also from a customer side, is there anyway around your tos, without actually breaking it etc etc...
 
ServerMicro said:
when doing your own tos, you have to think from you side, but also from a customer side, is there anyway around your tos, without actually breaking it etc etc...
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when working out your TOS, you need to look at the TOS you have to follow as whatever your have to follow then your own clients also have to follow.
ie. your host does not allow IRC on their services, but you do not mention this in your own TOS and one of your clients starts an IRC site, guess what your host will suspend and maybe terminate your account.

also does your TOS comply with current legislation regarding consumer protection laws.

what we did with our TOS/AUP is when we designed these we sent a full copy to the UK trading standards and had them look over them for us. they did this FOC for us and when they were returned it was like doing a full rewrite with all the parts they marks unacceptable and others where we needed to add extra info etc. so if we amend these we send the amendment to TS before we add this to our live TOS/AUP.
 
Read and read a few times over. I swear it felt like it took us longer to setup the TOS than it did to come up with the company name. Spam is a big issue, for us its almost almost (when we catch it) an email spam issue too. Tons of people are using bots for mass newsletters which are more like spamathons. :(
 
To know more read more ... check out TOS of most providers compare them to your own services and your own rules and principles and come with a pure and net TOS that suit your needs and keep you safe.
 
the important thing is your own foundation of how you believe your service is i guess. like for me i would create a set of things i want and limitations to have.

after that is research and just comparing to other tos from different companies to have a better idea if something was missed out or not, or perhaps one issue doesn't seem to be as vital as initial thought of.

the basic idea is first to make sure you have yourself covered, because there is no way to complete provide competitive service if you don't have yourself covered first. after that you can freely work on how to maximize whatever restrictions you have to create an the most efficient scenario possible where you can provide a really good service/product to the best of what you can squeeze out at least haha
 
Well, you really need to consider EVERY factor If something goes wrong and you didn't outline a response for the situation within the terms of service, people will come knocking very quickly.
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I completely agree with you. While writing the company TOS, you are to safe your company from all sides . In case some inconveniences appear for you , you should also have an answer from the TOS sections.

First of all, while creating the company AUP ,you are to mention contents: copyrighted material, threatening materials or obscene, pornography or materials protected by trade secret and other statute should not be allowed.

Moreover, you can't but mention the resource usage. For example users may not initiate the following on the server:

Run any process that requires more than .... Mb of memory space, more than 30 CPU seconds, or consume more than 5% of all available system resources at any time.
- Run any type of interactive real-time chat applications as they consume much server resources. Remotely-hosted services are fully allowed.
- Run stand-alone, unattended server-side processes at any point of time on the server. This includes any and all daemons, proxy servers and anonymizers.
- Run any software that interfaces with an IRC (Internet Relay Chat) network.


Moreover, the hosting company should say a few words about the backups.For example: The backup system is fully automated and there is no way to guarantee that a particular file or piece of data will be backed-up at the specific time.

Finally, don't forget to indicate in your TOS some information about Fees and Payments, Network Security, cancellation, Server Abuses and Money back guarantee.
 
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