Legal

Terms of Service

The reasonably civilized rules of the mill

Effective Date: [DATE]

Not yet reviewed by counsel, and still has real placeholders below ([DATE], [LEGAL ENTITY NAME], [BUSINESS ADDRESS]) that need actual values before this is binding — replace before this site takes real orders.

Welcome to The Packet Mill.

We rent virtual servers from Portland, Oregon, where the coffee is strong, the rain is persistent, and somebody is probably still running a beige computer from 1997 because “it works fine.”

These Terms explain what you can expect from us, what we expect from you, and what happens when something goes sideways.

By creating an account, ordering a server, or using our services, you agree to these Terms.

1. The Short Version

You rent a virtual server from us.

You are responsible for what happens inside it.

We are responsible for keeping the underlying mill running, connected, cooled, powered, and generally pointed toward the Internet.

Please don’t use our servers to:

• break the law;
• attack other computers;
• send spam;
• run botnets;
• distribute malware;
• phish people;
• intentionally ruin somebody else’s afternoon.

Pay your bill.

Keep your own backups.

If something bad happens, we’ll generally try to contact you before pulling the plug.

If your VM is actively setting the Internet on fire, however, we may unplug it first and talk afterward.

2. What You’re Renting

The Packet Mill provides virtual machines and related computing services.

Depending on your plan, your little slice of the mill may include things like:

• virtual CPUs;
• memory;
• SSD storage;
• Internet connectivity;
• IPv4 or IPv6 addresses;
• bandwidth;
• console access;
• operating-system images; and
• other features shown when you order.

You are renting computing resources.

You are not buying the physical server, the rack, the IP address, or the mysterious blinking light three shelves down.

3. Your VM Is Your VM

Inside your virtual machine, you’re the administrator.

That means you are responsible for:

• your operating system;
• updates;
• passwords;
• SSH keys;
• applications;
• firewalls;
• user accounts;
• databases;
• security;
• backups;
• and whatever wonderfully strange thing you’re building.

We don’t manage your VM unless you have specifically purchased a managed service or asked us for help.

Root access comes with root responsibility.

Very Unix.

4. Acceptable Use

We want people to build things.

Websites? Great.

Game servers? Sure.

Development environments? Absolutely.

A tiny forgotten personal webpage with a visitor counter and an animated GIF? We respect the tradition.

You may not knowingly use Packet Mill services for:

• malware;
• ransomware;
• viruses;
• botnets;
• command-and-control systems;
• phishing;
• credential theft;
• fraud;
• unauthorized computer access;
• denial-of-service attacks;
• unauthorized vulnerability scanning;
• spam;
• unlawful content;
• deliberate copyright infringement after proper notice;
• illegal activity;
• or anything else whose primary purpose is making other people’s computers miserable.

Security research is allowed when you own the target or have permission to test it.

Running tools such as Nmap, Wireshark, Metasploit, or similar software is not automatically abuse.

Context matters.

Please use your powers for good.

5. Don’t Be a Bad Neighbor

Virtual servers share physical infrastructure.

You are welcome to use the resources included in your plan.

However, if your VM behaves like someone bringing a drum kit onto a TriMet bus at rush hour, we may need to intervene.

If sustained CPU, storage, network, or other activity materially interferes with other customers, we may contact you and ask you to adjust the workload.

Whenever practical, we’ll try to solve the problem with you before limiting service.

6. Abuse Reports

Sometimes someone on the Internet sends us an email saying one of our IP addresses is doing something unpleasant.

That does not automatically mean you did anything wrong.

We may investigate credible abuse reports involving Packet Mill infrastructure.

When practical, we’ll send you the relevant information and give you a chance to investigate or fix the issue.

If your VM was compromised, we would generally much rather help you clean it up than ceremonially throw it into the Willamette.

Repeated abuse, failure to respond, or intentional misuse may result in suspension or termination.

7. Emergency Shutdowns

There are situations where we may need to act immediately.

We may suspend, isolate, filter, rate-limit, null-route, or disconnect a VM when reasonably necessary to stop:

• an active attack;
• malware propagation;
• a denial-of-service incident;
• fraud;
• a major security issue;
• damage to Packet Mill infrastructure;
• harm to other customers;
• or activity we are legally required to stop.

In other words:

If your VM suddenly starts behaving like Skynet, we are not waiting seven business days for an email reply.

We’ll stop the problem first and contact you as soon as reasonably practical.

8. Billing

Servers are billed monthly or annually according to the option you select at checkout.

Annual plans may receive the discount shown at checkout.

Our standard annual discount may be 15% compared with twelve monthly payments, unless another price is specifically shown.

Recurring services automatically renew until canceled.

The renewal amount and billing frequency will be clearly displayed before you purchase.

No hidden subscription scavenger hunt.

9. Payment Processing

Payments are handled by an external payment processor.

We intentionally design our systems so Packet Mill does not need to store your complete credit-card number or card security code.

We tell the payment processor what needs to be charged.

The processor tells us whether it worked.

That is approximately as involved as we want to be with your credit card.

We may retain information such as:

• transaction ID;
• invoice amount;
• payment status;
• date paid;
• refunds;
• disputes;
• and limited payment-method details provided by the processor.

The actual sensitive payment credentials stay with the payment processor.

10. When Your Card Says “Nope”

Cards expire.

Banks get suspicious.

People forget.

Computers do computer things.

If your payment fails, we’ll try to notify you.

Unless otherwise stated, you receive a 7-day grace period after the payment due date.

During that period, we may retry payment.

After 7 days, we may suspend the VM.

Suspended means the machine may be powered off or disconnected, but we will normally keep the data around temporarily.

If the account remains unpaid for 30 days after the original due date, we may delete the VM and its associated storage, snapshots, backups, and other resources.

After deletion, recovery may not be possible.

Please do not use our billing grace period as your disaster-recovery strategy.

11. Canceling

You may cancel a service at any time through the customer portal or another cancellation method we provide.

No phone call to a mysterious retention department.

No fax machine.

No handwritten letter delivered by bicycle messenger.

Cancellation normally prevents the next renewal and leaves the service active through the period you’ve already paid for.

Before the service ends, download anything you want to keep.

12. Refunds

Monthly charges are generally non-refundable once the billing period begins.

Annual services may have a separate refund policy displayed when you purchase them.

We may issue refunds or service credits for billing mistakes, major service problems, or other circumstances when we believe it is appropriate.

Nothing here removes rights that cannot legally be waived.

13. Chargebacks

If you think we charged you incorrectly, contact us.

We would much rather fix a billing problem over email than meet your bank through a chargeback form.

A legitimate chargeback is not automatically a Terms violation.

However, if payment for an active VM is reversed, that service may become unpaid and follow the normal non-payment process.

Fraudulent payment activity may result in immediate suspension.

14. Backups

Please back up your stuff.

Seriously.

Hard drives fail.

Files get deleted.

Software breaks.

Administrators type the wrong command.

Sometimes rm -rf has opinions.

Unless your service specifically includes managed backups, Packet Mill does not guarantee that your data is backed up.

Even if snapshots or backups are available, important information should exist somewhere else too.

The Internet has been teaching this lesson since before Netscape Navigator.

15. Availability

We work hard to keep the mill running.

But no computer service has perfect uptime.

Things that can happen include:

• hardware failures;
• power problems;
• upstream network outages;
• fiber cuts;
• software bugs;
• maintenance;
• DDoS attacks;
• routing problems;
• acts of nature;
• and mysterious events best described as “well, that’s interesting.”

We aim for high availability but do not guarantee uninterrupted service unless you have a separate written Service Level Agreement.

Our status page may provide current and historical service information.

16. Maintenance

Sometimes computers require maintenance.

We know.

Shocking.

We will try to provide advance notice for planned work expected to materially interrupt service.

Emergency maintenance may occur without notice when required to keep the network safe or restore service.

17. IP Addresses

IP addresses assigned to your VM remain under the control of Packet Mill or the provider from which we obtain them.

You are using the address.

You do not own it.

We may occasionally need to change or reassign addresses because of network changes, provider requirements, abuse mitigation, or other operational reasons.

We’ll avoid doing that unnecessarily because changing IP addresses is approximately as much fun for us as it is for you.

18. Your Data Belongs to You

We do not claim ownership of your files merely because they’re stored on our servers.

Your data remains your data.

You give Packet Mill only the rights necessary to store, transmit, process, back up, or otherwise handle the data as needed to provide the service.

We are a mill, not a content company.

19. We Aren’t Snooping Around Your VM

Packet Mill does not routinely inspect the contents of customer virtual machines.

We have better things to do.

We may access a VM or related information when reasonably necessary to:

• provide support you requested;
• troubleshoot infrastructure;
• investigate a security incident;
• investigate credible abuse;
• protect the network;
• or comply with applicable law.

Any access should be limited to what is reasonably necessary.

20. Legal Requests

If we receive legally valid process requiring us to preserve or provide information, we may be required to comply.

When legally permitted and reasonably practical, we may notify the affected customer.

We reserve the right to challenge requests that appear invalid, excessive, or legally deficient.

A badge, sternly worded email, or request containing the word “URGENT” does not automatically override the law.

21. Termination by You

You can leave whenever you want.

We’ll be sad in the quiet, emotionally reserved way of a 1990s UNIX administrator.

Before canceling, retrieve your data.

Once your VM reaches the end of its retention period, it may be permanently deleted.

22. Termination by Us

We may suspend or terminate service for:

• non-payment;
• serious violations of these Terms;
• repeated abuse;
• fraud;
• major security threats;
• unlawful activity;
• legal requirements;
• or behavior creating substantial risk to our network or other customers.

Whenever practical, we’ll tell you what’s wrong and give you a reasonable chance to fix it.

Immediate termination is reserved for situations serious enough that waiting would create unacceptable risk.

23. Deletion Means Deletion

Suspension and deletion are not the same thing.

Suspended: your VM probably still exists.

Deleted: the saw has gone through the log.

Once data has been deleted and storage reclaimed, we may not be able to recover it.

Again: backups.

24. No Perfect Computer Promise

Services are provided on an “as available” basis to the extent permitted by law.

We cannot promise that every operating system, application, configuration, kernel module, networking experiment, homegrown database, shell script, or piece of software from a GitHub repository last updated in 2013 will work perfectly.

You are responsible for determining whether the service fits your intended use.

25. Liability

To the maximum extent permitted by law, Packet Mill is not responsible for indirect, incidental, special, consequential, exemplary, or punitive damages arising from use of the service.

This includes things such as lost profits, lost revenue, lost opportunities, or lost data.

To the maximum extent permitted by law, our total liability related to a particular service will not exceed the amount you paid us for that service during the twelve months before the event giving rise to the claim.

Nothing in these Terms limits rights or liability that legally cannot be limited.

26. Changes to These Terms

Computers change.

Networks change.

Laws change.

Portland somehow remains under construction.

We may update these Terms from time to time.

If we make a material change, we’ll provide reasonable notice through email, the customer portal, or our website.

The effective date at the top tells you which version is current.

27. Oregon

These Terms are governed by the laws of the State of Oregon, except where another law legally must apply.

We’re headquartered in the Portland area.

Yes, it rains.

No, that doesn’t hurt the packets.

28. The Whole Agreement

These Terms, our Privacy Policy, applicable service descriptions, and any separate agreement we make with you form the agreement governing your use of Packet Mill.

If a specific written agreement conflicts with these general Terms, the specific agreement controls for that issue.

29. Questions?

Questions about billing, abuse, service, or these Terms are welcome.

Please contact:

Packets in.
Compute out.
Please don’t make us unplug yours.