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Acceptable Use Policy

On September 17, 2012, Intuit Websites' (now a Homestead company) and Homestead's Acceptable Use and Mass Mailing Policy were updated. Please review the updated policies below. To view the previous Acceptable Use and Mass Mailing Policy, click here.


Acceptable Use Policy
  1. Definitions
    1. "User" refers to the person or business entity that has contracted with Homestead for email services.
    2. "End User" refers to the person, persons, or entity using a specific account (designated by a unique email address) within a domain controlled by User and operated by Homestead.
  2. Unsolicited Bulk Email
    Homestead Technologies Inc. ("Homestead") maintains a zero tolerance policy for use of its network or services in any manner associated with the transmission, distribution or delivery of any bulk e-mail, including unsolicited bulk or unsolicited commercial e-mail, or the sending, assisting, or commissioning the transmission of commercial e-mail that does not comply with the U.S. CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 ("SPAM").

    It is the User's obligation to ensure that e-mail sent by any User or End User, or on behalf of any User or End User, does not violate this law. We assume SPAM complaints are valid unless we are provided with credible information to the contrary. To avoid action under our Acceptable Use Policy, please familiarize yourself with the CAN-SPAM Act by following this link: http://www.ftc.gov/bcp/edu/pubs/business/ecommerce/bus61.shtm

    Any User who sends unsolicited advertisements or solicitations, commercial or otherwise, may have its account disabled and be disallowed further service. The User is responsible for ensuring that its End Users use the email services obtained from Homestead in an appropriate manner. Therefore, the User must take steps to manage the use of the services obtained in such a way that network abuse is minimized. The User must also make contact information publicly available, and must respond in a timely manner to any complaints. Homestead shall consider any complaints regarding the User's End Users to apply to the User. In extreme cases, Homestead operations personnel have the option to immediately disable any User account in order to forestall further abuse or damage to email systems. Should this occur, the User shall be notified as soon as possible.

    Unsolicited advertisements or solicitations sent from other networks which reference email accounts hosted at Homestead shall be treated as if they originated from the account referenced, unless there is sufficient reason given for Homestead operations staff to believe that the message truly originated with some unrelated party. Likewise, postings made to the usenet newsgroups or other online forums which reference email accounts hosted at Homestead, and are deemed to be inappropriate according to the local ethical standards of that forum, may be treated in the same manner as unsolicited bulk email above.
     
  3. Filtering of Incoming Email
    As owner of the equipment and other resources utilized to provide services, Homestead has the legal right to block electronic communications from other entities on the Internet. Users should be aware that such blocking or filtering might take place if deemed necessary by designated members of the Homestead operations staff (or a third party chosen by Homestead and made known to the User). Whenever possible, the party being blocked shall be made aware of such action before it occurs.
     
  4. Illegal Activities
    Email services offered may only be used for lawful purposes. Transmission, distribution, or storage of any information, data or material in violation of United States or of state regulation or law, or by the common law, is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, material protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, or any other statute. Homestead and the TPESV reserve the right to cooperate with law enforcement and other legal authorities in investigating claims of illegal activity.
     
  5. Right to Damages
    Homestead and the TPESV consider most instances of unsolicited bulk email to be a theft of services and reserve the right to prosecute originators of same in a court of law. Homestead and the TPESV reserve the right to collect damages (software, hardware, and man hours) if any harm is done to Homestead or to the TPESV's network or equipment that requires repair or reconfiguration of any kind. If deemed appropriate by Homestead and/or the TPESV, User will be billed not less than $500 per individual complaint received by Homestead staff. In addition, Homestead and the TPESV reserve the right to collect punitive damages in recompense for any perceived loss of brand reputation.

    Nothing contained in this Section 27 shall be construed to limit action Homestead and/or the TPESV may take or remedies available to Homestead and the TPESV in any way with respect to any of the described conduct. Homestead and TPESV reserves the right to take any additional actions Homestead and/or TPESV considers appropriate with respect to such conduct, including without limitation taking action to recover costs and expenses of identifying offenders and removing them from Homestead and TPESV 's network or systems, and levying cancellation charges to cover costs in the event of disconnection for the causes outlined in this Agreement. In addition, Homestead and TPESV reserve at all times all rights and remedies available to Homestead and TPESV with respect to such conduct at law or in equity. Non-enforcement of any term or condition herein does not constitute consent or waiver, and Homestead and TPESV reserve the right to enforce such term or condition at its sole discretion.

Mass Mailing Policy
The following are the guidelines for all mass mailings by User, or a third party contracted on behalf of User to send mass mailings to End Users.
  1. Policy objectives: The goals of this mass mailing policy include, but are not limited to, the following issues: controlling mailing rates that stress systems; eliminating service degradations; mitigating the thousands of bounce messages in mail queues that delay mail delivery; mitigating invalid return address information; and eliminating mass mailings during peak business hours.
     
  2. Definitions:
    1. "Opt-in" mailings are those which are to more than 250 End Users by either Users or their third party partner to any group of End Users. Opt-in means that the End User has signed up for mailings voluntarily. "Opt-in" implies that the mailing is not SPAM (defined below).
    2. "SPAM" is defined as unsolicited bulk email that includes advertisements or solicitations, commercial or otherwise, regardless of content. Without exception, Homestead prohibits the practice of mass-mailing unwanted email solicitations of any type, regardless of content, and will take action to prevent this practice.
  3. Mass Mailing Requirements:
    1. Mail send rate: Mass mailings will be done at a maximum rate of 10 messages/second.
    2. Use of appropriate servers for originating mailings: use of Homestead or its suppliers' hosted SMTP servers for mass mailings is strictly prohibited.
    3. Delivery of mass mailings: (i.e. mass mailing sent by a domain hosted or not hosted by Homestead to domains hosted by Homestead) all mass mailings must be delivered through Homestead or its suppliers' inbound MX machines. All mass mailings sent through Homestead or its suppliers' SMTP servers will not be delivered.
    4. Allowable send times: mass mailings will be started and completed between 9pm and 4am US Pacific Time.
    5. Valid "From", "Reply-To", "Return-Path" and "Error-To" headers: If the following values are listed in your mail header please confirm that they are valid addresses and each email address must accept any bounces at the rate they may occur:
      • "From",
      • "Reply-To",
      • "Return-Path"
      • "Errors-To"
    6. Valid "Abuse contact": Users who send/receive mass mailings must supply Homestead with an emergency "abuse contact" to contact if there are any problems/complaints associated with the mailing.
    7. Notifying Homestead of mass mailing: Homestead requires 5 days advance notice for all mailings. The following information must be mailed to support@hs-support.homestead-inc.com:
      • Customer Name
      • Number of recipients
      • "From" domain
      • "Target" domain
      • Mailing Subject
      • Mailing Date
      • Mailing Start-End Times
      • Rate of mailing (maximum of 10 messages per second)
      • Valid "From", "Reply-To", "Return-Path" and "Error-To" addresses (please list the values used, if any)
      • Copy of the message content
      • Method for users to "opt-out" of mailings

  4. Failure to Comply with Mass Mailing Requirements. Failure to comply with the conditions set forth above may result in any or all of the following:
    1. Blocking of the mailing currently causing the problems/complaints.
    2. Blocking of future mailings until the above requirements are satisfied. (Or until there is an agreement or special dispensation made by the Homestead Abuse Administrator)
    3. If no "abuse contact" is provided to Homestead, Homestead reserves the right to block mailings without notifying User as necessary.
    4. Homestead reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts for breaches of Homestead's Mass Mailing Policy.
Homestead reserves the right to suspend or terminate accounts for breaches of Homestead's Mass Mailing Policy.

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