Terms of Service

Last Updated: 10/2/2025

Hostcrate Terms of Service

PLEASE READ THESE TERMS IN FULL. By purchasing, renting, renewing, or otherwise using Hostcrate services (whether inside Second Life or outside Second Life), you agree to be bound by these Terms of Service and all related policies.

If you have any questions, please contact us directly before purchasing.

Agreement Overview

Use of Hostcrate services (purchasing/renting/renewing on Hostcrate.stream / Hostcrate.com / Hostcrate.net) constitutes acceptance of these Terms of Service and all policies, whether or not you have read them.

This agreement is between Hostcrate and Clients (subscribers, renters, or customers of our hosting and SHOUTcast services). It applies during any period of active subscription, regardless of whether the account is created or managed inside SL or outside SL.

If a Hostcrate account is used to violate these terms, Hostcrate may suspend or terminate service without notice and without refund. Some issues may result in warnings, but severe violations can trigger immediate termination. Our choice not to enforce a policy in one case does not waive our right to enforce it in the future.

Prohibited Use

Services may not be used for illegal purposes or to support illegal activities, whether in SL or RL.

Hostcrate reserves the right to cooperate with legal authorities (including Linden Lab and real-world agencies) and injured third parties in investigating suspected violations. This includes, but is not limited to, DMCA takedowns and copyright disputes.

Broadcast Bitrate & Overstreaming

320kbps Limit: You may stream at up to 320kbps. Note that many listeners cannot support this rate and SL has playback limitations. Choose a bitrate that balances quality and accessibility.
Overstreaming: Exceeding your plan’s bitrate is prohibited. This may result in auto-suspension or permanent termination without refund.
Responsibility: Clients are responsible for maintaining proper broadcast settings.
System Response: Streams will auto-stop if overstreaming is detected. Clients must manually restart in their control panel.

Content & Content Restrictions

Clients assume sole responsibility for their content (streams, websites, uploads, etc.).
Hostcrate is not liable for actions taken against clients as a result of their content.
Prohibited content includes:
Illegal or infringing material (RL and SL)
Copyrighted files shared without authorization
Defamatory, slanderous, or harassing content
Spam or bulk email campaigns
Resource-intensive programs designed to overload servers

Hostcrate does not actively monitor streams or websites but reserves the right to act when violations are reported.

Licenses

Clients are responsible for obtaining any required licenses (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, RIAA, etc.) for their broadcasts. Hostcrate does not provide or include licensing with any service plan.

Liability & Data Responsibility

Hostcrate is not liable for injury, loss of data, lost business, or other damages caused by service use or interruptions.
Service is provided “as is” without guarantees of uptime. Scheduled or emergency maintenance may occur.
Hostcrate does not perform backups. Clients are fully responsible for backing up their data.
Hostcrate is not liable for incidental or consequential damages.

Privacy

Hostcrate will not release client information without consent, unless legally required.

Clients may choose to make certain information public (e.g., promotional listings).

Account & Stream Transfers

Second Life Transfers

Fee: L$500 transfer fee (non-negotiable).
Standing: Accounts must be in good standing.
Authorization: Both transferor and recipient must complete Hostcrate-issued authorization notecards.
Presence: Both parties must appear in-world with Hostcrate staff to complete transfer.
New Owner: Must update all passwords immediately.

Outside SL Transfers

Transfers must be requested in writing via support ticket with ID verification and approved by Hostcrate administrators.

Unauthorized Transfers:

Any unsanctioned transfer (inside or outside SL) will result in termination without refund and permanent banning.

Payments, Refunds & Cancellations

Payment is due in advance before service activation. Minimum 1–4 weeks depending on plan; up to 3 years max prepay.
No refunds. Clients may request a demo before purchase.
SL rentals: cancel via “Won’t Renew” option at Main Office or by IM / Notecard to LustyLexxi Larimore directly.
RL services: cancel via written request through billing/client portal.
All payments are final and non-refundable.

Resource Usage

Accounts may not exceed 10% CPU or RAM for more than 90 seconds.
Violations may result in process termination, suspension, or account cancellation.

Customer Conduct

Abusive language or behavior toward staff will result in permanent termination without refund.
Hostcrate reserves the right to refuse service to anyone, at any time, with or without cause.

Resell Authorization

Reselling Hostcrate streams or accounts (inside or outside SL) requires written approval / reseller plan. Unauthorized reselling will result in termination and permanent ban.

Third-Party Equipment & Software

Hostcrate staff are not responsible for third-party equipment (e.g., SHOUTcast boards, SAM, VDJ, Winamp).
Staff may assist informally, but such help is not guaranteed and may be offered privately, outside of Hostcrate.

Service Level Agreement

Hostcrate is not liable for outages, security breaches, and or software updates.
If a preventable issue occurs, credit (up to 2 weeks) may be issued by written request via IM/Notecard within SecondLife to LustyLexxi Larimore and for RL via ticket system.
SLA requests must be submitted within 3 days.
Credits will not be issued for client-side issues (ISP, software, etc.).

VIP Licenses (Formerly Lifetime Licenses)

Full details: VIP/Lifetime License Policy

Copyright, Royalties & Licensing

Clients are solely responsible for all copyright and royalty obligations (ASCAP, BMI, SESAC, etc.).
Hostcrate cannot be held liable for infringement inside or outside SL.

Unmetered / Unlimited Policy

See: Unmetered/Unlimited Policy

Transfer of Ownership

If Hostcrate is sold or transferred, notice of at least 5 days will be provided. Clients may choose to remain or terminate services.

Pricing

Hostcrate may change prices at any time without notice.
Prepaid time is honored until expiration.
Grandfathered pricing no longer applies (effective October 9, 2019).

Public Feedback

Clients must attempt private resolution before posting negative public feedback.
Public complaints without prior resolution may result in account termination.
Posting publicly waives confidentiality protections (privacy policy, NDA, etc.).

Suspension & Termination

Overdue accounts risk termination.
Standard streams are recycled after termination.
VIP/Lifetime accounts may be reactivated via approved reactivation vendors.
Notices are issued via in-world bots (SL) and email for those using USD payments through our billing system. It is client responsibility to keep up on their account including for their paying for their services.

Backup Stream Policy

Backup accounts are not guaranteed including for VIP License holders.
Backup streams are free of charge for VIP license holder during outages / service issues when available to do so. For those without a VIP license, fees apply.
Clients are strongly encouraged to maintain a secondary stream / hosing account.

Additional Terms for RL Customers

In addition to the Terms of Service above, the following terms apply specifically to real-life (RL) customers using Hostcrate’s services and products outside of Second Life.

These RL terms do not change the no-refund / in-world policies that apply to Second Life customers; they add requirements and protections for RL customers.

Account Setup & Accurate Details

Accounts are provisioned after payment and verification, including fraud screening.
A valid, reachable primary email must be kept on file at all times. This must not be solely tied to the hosted domain.
Hostcrate may request government-issued ID and/or credit card verification for high-risk orders. Failure to comply may result in cancellation.

Transfers & Migration Assistance

Free site/account transfers available within the first 60 days (cPanel-based).
After 60 days: $15 per cPanel account.
Non-cPanel or partial backups: $35 per account/site.
Resellers: up to 15 accounts free in first 60 days, then $15/account thereafter.

Account Content & Jurisdiction

Services must comply with all applicable laws in Indiana, USA.
Prohibited: counterfeit sales, explicit pornography, IRC bots, warez/pirated software, proxy services, game servers, harmful/illegal content.
Client indemnifies Hostcrate against claims arising from their use of RL services.

Account Security

Client is responsible for safeguarding all account credentials.
Use strong, unique passwords; use SFTP/FTPES instead of FTP.
Compromised accounts may be suspended pending investigation.
Security investigations may be billed at $85/hour.

Zero Tolerance: Spam & Phishing

Unsolicited bulk email (spam) is strictly prohibited.
Phishing content leads to immediate termination without refund.
Investigations into spam/phishing violations may be billed at $90/hour.

Payments, Grace Period & Auto-Billing

Payments are billed in advance and renew automatically unless properly canceled.
Accepted methods: Visa, MasterCard, Discover, Amex, PayPal.
7-day grace period after invoice due date (courtesy, not guaranteed).
Day 7 overdue: suspension + late fee of $5. Day 15 overdue: termination.
Duplicate payments apply as account credit.
Hostcrate may change recurring rates and fees at any time.

RL Cancellations & Refunds

RL hosting cancellations must be submitted via ticket.
30-day limited money-back guarantee applies only to first-time RL accounts for eligible services.
Domains, licenses, additional space / listeners, etc and add-ons are non-refundable.
No refunds for returning/second accounts or accounts terminated for violations.
Note: This does not alter the strict no-refund rule for SL streams.

RL Resource Usage

On RL shared/premium/reseller plans, Clients may not:

Run unattended daemons (e.g., IRCD), IRC-related services, BitTorrent hosting, P2P, file-sharing, URL shorteners, hosted chat boxes, or game servers.
Run cron jobs more often than every 5 minutes without written approval.
Use hosting space as backup storage unrelated to active websites.
Store/distribute copyrighted material without authorization.

Bandwidth Usage

RL hosting plans include specific bandwidth allocations. Exceeding allocations may result in suspension, fees, and or required upgrades.

SLA Credit (RL Hosting)

If physical downtime exceeds 1 hour, Client may request credit equal to 2× downtime.
Credit capped at monthly recurring charge.
SLA excludes: scheduled maintenance, malicious attacks, legal actions, etc.
Applies only to: Shared Hosting, Stream Hosting, VIP Licenses, and Reseller Hosting.
Must reques SLA credit within 3 days of incident/downtime.

RL Reseller Responsibilities

Resellers must support their own clients and enforce Hostcrate’s policies.
Shared hosting / Streaming customers may not resell hosting without a reseller plan.

Backups & Data Loss

Clients are solely responsible for their data.
Hostcrate may maintain platform-level backups but does not guarantee availability.
Accounts >20GB or generating >200GB monthly changes may be excluded from backup systems.
cPanel backups older than 72 hours may be automatically removed.
Dedicated servers are not backed up unless separately contracted.

Indemnification & Limited Liability

Clients agree to indemnify and hold Hostcrate harmless from claims arising from use of RL services.
Hostcrate’s liability is limited to the fees paid for the affected month of service.

Changes to RL Terms

Hostcrate may amend RL-specific terms at any time without notice.
Clients are responsible for staying updated.

Additional Policies

This TOS incorporates the following policies by reference:

Acceptable Use Policy
Privacy Policy
Upgrades (SL-specific)
Unlimited/Unmetered Policy

Amendments

Hostcrate reserves the right to revise these terms at any time. Clients are responsible for reviewing updates.

Revised: October 2nd, 2025