Hosting Terms of Service

CourseForum Technologies offers hosting services, whereby its CourseForum and ProjectForum software can be run on our servers, as an alternative to purchasing, downloading and installing the software at your own site.

This document describes the service that is offered, and what monetary transactions are required for those services. It describes your specific responsibilities that you should be aware of before signing up with the service, and describes some actions that are prohibited.

Acceptance of Terms

By signing up with our hosting service, you agree that you have read, understood, and will comply with the terms of service described on this page.

Service Description

Provided Software

Our hosting service runs standard licensed versions of the CourseForum and ProjectForum software, just as if you were running the software on your own systems. You should be familiar with the features of the software, as explained on their web pages and associated documentation.

Note however that SSL connections (available in the standard version of ProjectForum) are not currently supported on our hosting service.

We normally will run the latest production versions of the software on the hosting service, though at times the hosting service may continue to use older versions of the software after newer ones have been released. We will periodically update the software, generally without any specific notice.

Service Packages

We offer several different hosting service packages, as described on the CourseForum Hosting and ProjectForum Hosting pages. While these all use the same software, they vary in terms of the configuration (e.g. allowed number of courses or groups), and other resource limitations.

Domain Names

The domain name or web address (URL) used to access your service will vary with the hosting package you select.

The "Good" packages allow you to host a single course or group. Our hosting service consolidates single courses or groups together into a single CourseForum or ProjectForum site that you will share with others (you still have exclusive access to your own course or group). You will access your site via a URL like http://courses.courseforum.com/prefix/, or http://groups.projectforum.com/prefix/. The prefix is a unique identifier for your course or group, chosen by you, but that must be unique from all other courses and groups hosted on the service.

The "Better" packages offer you your own CourseForum or ProjectForum site, containing several courses or groups. These will be accessed with a URL like http://sites.courseforum.com/prefix/ or http://sites.projectforum.com/prefix/. Again, the prefix you choose must be unique to all sites hosted on the service. Individual courses or groups on your site are accessed from 'beneath' the base URL, e.g. http://sites.courseforum.com/mysite/mycourse/.

The "Best" packages can be setup like the "Better" packages, or can opt for use of a premium domain. You can have your site setup as http://prefix.courseforum.com or http://prefix.projectforum.com, again where prefix is unique to your site. Additionally, we can configure your site to answer to your own domain name, e.g. http://forums.yoursite.com. You would be responsible for registering the name and configuring the DNS (we can help with this), and we will configure our servers to respond to the name you choose.

Resource Usage

Disk space limits are described with each plan, and administrative tools are provided as part of the software to help you monitor and manage disk space. If needed, additional disk space may be added to a plan for an additional monthly fee.

We reserve the right in future to set additional resource limitations on hosting plans, such as bandwidth restrictions, number of accesses, and so on.

Branding Sites

The "Best" hosting packages offer the capability to "brand" sites, changing the appearance of colors and graphics to match institutional color schemes, other web properties, etc. This is accomplished by developing new themes; for details see our Themes page.

When branding sites on our hosting service, you are responsible for supplying us with the appropriate theme files which we will install on your site. Contact us if you would like additional help with branding.

Payment for Service

Monthly Payment

Service packages are provided in return for a monthly payment, as described in the specific hosting package you choose. Each payment covers the next month of service.

All payments are processed for us by PayPal, a veteran online secure payment processor. When signing up for your hosting package, you will authorize PayPal to charge your credit card every month. Charges will appear on your credit card statement from "PayPal".

If you are unable to pay monthly via credit card through PayPal, please contact us to make alternate arrangements.

Termination of Service

You may terminate your service with us at any time. You will no longer be billed in following months, but payments for the current month that have already been made will not be refunded.

Administering the Service

Your Administrative Responsibilities

When using our service, you will be given full administrative access to your course or group ("Good" plans), or your entire site ("Better" or "Best" plans). You should read and understand the sections in the software user manuals about administration. It is your responsibility to administer the software just as if you were running it yourself.

Security

Remember that your materials will be hosted on a publically accessible server. You are responsible for security of your course, group or site. In particular, CourseForum and ProjectForum provide facilities, described in the user manuals, for restricting who can access a site, course or group, and how it can be accessed.

Backups

You are responsible for making offsite backup copies of any data stored in your course, group or site. While we will attempt to provide them, we do not guarantee that we will have backups available in the event of a catastrophic system failure. We will particularly not be able to restore older copies of your data. (Note that normally you can use the "versions" feature of the software to restore accidentally deleted content on pages).

You can download current (within 24 hours) backups of your entire course, group or site via a link on the administrative pages. If you need to restore the entire site's content, you can then send us that backup file and we can use it to replace the current contents of your site.

You can also use these backup files if you would like to take the content from your hosted service and transfer it to a CourseForum or ProjectForum server that you have licensed to run locally on your own machines. Please see our FAQ for information on importing a single course or group into an existing site.

Technical Support

We provide a variety of supporting documentation online that can assist you with problems. Additional technical support questions are handled by email only; you can write to us at support@courseforum.com.

User Conduct

Full Responsibility for Your Hosted Site

You understand that you have full responsibility for your hosted course, group or site, including the actions of all users that access your materials.

In particular, you understand that all information, data, text, graphics, or other materials stored on your course, group or site are your responsibility. CourseForum Technologies does not monitor or control the content provided by the hosting service.

Restricted Content

You and your users cannot upload, post or otherwise transmit any content that (a) is unlawful, defamatory, obscene, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or otherwise objectionable; (b) you do not have the right to transmit under any law or under contractual or fiduciary relationships (such as inside informatino, proprietary and confidentail information); (c) infringes any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary rights of any party; or (d) interferes with or disrupts the hosting service or networks connected to the hosting service.

You may not use this hosting service to violate intellectual property laws (e.g. distributing software cracks/warez, or RIAA/MPAA violations), or for any pornographic purposes.

Indemnity

You agree to indemnify and hold CourseForum Technologies, and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, agents, co-branders or other partners, and employees, harmless from any claim or demand, including reasonable attorneys' fees, made by any third party due to or arising out of content or material you submit, post to or transmit through this hosting service, your connection to the service, your violation of the terms of service, or your violation of any rights of another.

Other Restrictions

You agree not to reproduce, duplicate, copy, sell, resell or exploit for any commercial purposes, any portion of the hosting service, use of the service, or access to the service.

You acknowledge and agree that the hosting service and any necessary software used in connection with the service contain proprietary and confidential information that is protected by applicable intellectual property and other laws. Except as expressly authorized by CourseForum Technologies, you agree not to modify, rent, lease, loan, sell, distribute, or create derivative works based on the service or the software, in whole or in part.

Modifications to Service

Software Updates

We will from time to time update the software running on the hosting service to newer versions. We make no guarantee on the timeliness of these updates, nor that we will provide notice ahead of time. In general, we design our updates to be fully backward compatible with previous versions.

Service Interruptions

From time to time, it may be necessary to interrupt the service for very brief periods for routine maintenance. In the event of longer interruptions, we will endeavour to minimize these interruptions to the best extent possible.

Modification of Service Parameters

From time to time, we may review and modify parameters of our hosting plans. These modifications may include, but are not restricted to: introduction of new plans, discontinuation of old plans, changes to resource limitations, changes to features, and changes to pricing. We will endeavour to offer at least three months notice to you before any substantial changes to your plan.

Privacy

Personal Information

During registration for use of this service, we will ask for the name and email address of the person who will be the primary contact for the hosting package. This email address will be used to periodically send information deemed necessary for the operation and management of the chosen hosting package. We will not divulge this personal information to any third party.

Data Collected

Through normal use of the hosting service, we will collect standard information such as your IP address, browser, and pages accessed. This information is used only in combination with that of other users, for statistical purposes and site maintenance and improvements.

The software also tracks information about the number of page views, edits, and downloads, which is made available to the administrator of each course or group. Additional material provided by users, such as postings, pages, or uploaded files or images, are also of course stored and available to administrators.

Site Materials

You are responsible for the material within your courses or groups, and are responsible for abiding by our User Conduct terms as described above. The software provides facilities whereby you can further protect your materials, for example using passwords. You should use these facilities, but understand that no security mechanism can be 100% reliable. Despite best efforts, whether through password guessing, flaws in the software or underlying operating system, or other means, it is possible that your data may be made available to others.

It is our policy to not monitor data stored by others on our hosting service. We will, however, investigate all complaints we receive regarding content stored on the hosting service, and this may include our own review of the content, and where deemed necessary, the delivery of your material to law enforcement officials.

Additional Terms

Disclaimer of Warranties

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT:

(a) YOUR USE OF THE SERVICE IS AT YOUR SOLE RISK. THE SERVICE IS PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. COURSEFORUM TECHNOLOGIES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NON-INFRINGEMENT.
(b) COURSEFORUM TECHNOLOGIES MAKES NO WARRANTY THAT (i) THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR REQUIREMENTS, (ii) THE SERVICE WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, TIMELY, SECURE, OR ERROR-FREE, (iii) THE RESULTS THAT MAY BE OBTAINED FROM THE USE OF THE SERVICE WILL BE ACCURATE OR RELIABLE, (iv) THE QUALITY OF ANY PRODUCTS, SERVICES, INFORMATION, OR OTHER MATERIAL PURCHASED OR OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH THE SERVICE WILL MEET YOUR EXPECTATIONS, AND (v) ANY ERRORS IN THE SOFTWARE WILL BE CORRECTED.
(c) ANY MATERIAL DOWNLOADED OR OTHERWISE OBTAINED THROUGH THE USE OF THE SERVICE IS DONE AT YOUR OWN DISCRETION AND RISK AND THAT YOU WILL BE SOLELY RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY DAMAGE TO YOUR COMPUTER SYSTEM OR LOSS OF DATA THAT RESULTS FROM THE DOWNLOAD OF ANY SUCH MATERIAL.
(d) NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION, WHETHER ORAL OR WRITTEN, OBTAINED BY YOU THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICE SHALL CREATE ANY WARRANTY NOT EXPRESSLY STATED IN THE TERMS OF SERVICE.

Limitation of Liability

YOU EXPRESSLY UNDERSTAND AND AGREE THAT COURSEFORUM TECHNOLOGIES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO, DAMAGES FOR LOSS OF PROFITS, GOODWILL, USE, DATA OR OTHER INTANGIBLE LOSSES (EVEN IF COURSEFORUM TECHNOLOGIES HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES), RESULTING FROM: (i) THE USE OR THE INABILITY TO USE THE SERVICE; (ii) THE COST OF PROCUREMENT OF SUBSTITUTE GOODS AND SERVICES RESULTING FROM ANY GOODS, DATA, INFORMATION OR SERVICES PURCHASED OR OBTAINED OR MESSAGES RECEIVED OR TRANSACTIONS ENTERED INTO THROUGH OR FROM THE SERVICE; (iii) UNAUTHORIZED ACCESS TO OR ALTERATION OF YOUR TRANSMISSIONS OR DATA; (iv) STATEMENTS OR CONDUCT OF ANY THIRD PARTY ON THE SERVICE; OR (v) ANY OTHER MATTER RELATING TO THE SERVICE.