Terms of Service

These Terms of Service apply to all contracts for hosting, email, domain, server and related services provided by Carmen Alex & Frank Mantwill GbR, trading as Alma-ISP, Am Feldrain 20, 34253 Lohfelden, Germany, hereinafter referred to as the 'Provider'. The person or legal entity ordering or using the services is hereinafter referred to as the 'Customer'.

Any individual agreement, service description, order confirmation or separately agreed service level agreement shall take precedence over these Terms of Service in the event of a conflict.

The presentation of services on the Provider's website does not constitute a binding offer. By submitting an order, the Customer submits a binding offer to enter into a contract. The contract is concluded when the Provider accepts the order in text form, activates the service or begins providing the ordered service.

The nature and scope of the services, the price, the billing period and the initial contract term are determined by the applicable service description and order confirmation.

A Customer who is a consumer within the meaning of German law shall retain all mandatory statutory consumer rights. Where a statutory right of withdrawal applies, the Customer will receive separate withdrawal instructions. Nothing in these Terms limits any mandatory consumer right.

The Provider shall make the agreed hosting, email, domain, server or related service available in accordance with the applicable service description. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the Customer is not entitled to a particular server, data centre, IP address, hardware component, software version or technical platform.

The Provider may use data centres, network operators, registrars, software suppliers, payment providers and other subcontractors in order to provide the services.

The Provider may make reasonable technical or organisational changes where these are required for security, legal compliance, technical development, service stability or migration to another infrastructure, provided that the essential functionality of the service is not materially reduced.

The Customer must provide complete and accurate contact, billing and registration information and must keep this information up to date. The Customer must provide an email address that is regularly monitored and suitable for receiving legally and contractually relevant notices.

The Customer is responsible for keeping passwords, access credentials, authentication devices and recovery information secure. Credentials must not be disclosed to unauthorised persons. The Provider must be notified without undue delay if unauthorised access or another security incident is suspected.

The Provider may rely on instructions submitted through the Customer account or by the registered primary contact unless the Provider knows or reasonably suspects that the instruction is unauthorised.

The services may only be used in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, applicable European Union law and any other law mandatorily applicable to the Customer.

The Customer must not use the services to store, publish, distribute, transmit or make available unlawful content or content that infringes the rights of third parties. This includes, in particular:

• malware, ransomware, phishing pages or other harmful software;
• unauthorised access attempts, password attacks, network scanning or denial-of-service attacks;
• unsolicited bulk email, address harvesting, email header forgery or spamvertising;
• content that infringes copyright, trademark rights, personality rights, trade secrets or other intellectual property rights;
• content whose possession, publication or distribution is prohibited by law;
• content involving the sexual abuse or exploitation of children;
• services intended to conceal, facilitate or support criminal activity; and
• activities that materially interfere with the security or operation of the Provider's systems or the systems of third parties.

The Customer is responsible for all content, software, databases, email messages and other material placed on or transmitted through the services by the Customer or by persons using the Customer's access credentials.

The Provider may remove or block clearly unlawful content and may take technically necessary protective measures. Where legally and technically reasonable, the Provider will first notify the Customer and provide an opportunity to remedy the violation. Immediate action may be taken where necessary to protect systems, users or third parties, to prevent ongoing unlawful activity or to comply with a lawful authority request.

The Customer must comply with the storage, traffic, processor, memory, email, database and other limits of the ordered service. Services described as unlimited remain subject to reasonable and customary use for the intended type of hosting service.

The Provider may contact the Customer where resource usage materially affects other customers or the stability or security of the infrastructure. The Customer must then take reasonable corrective measures, reduce the usage or change to a suitable service plan.

Except in urgent security or stability cases, the Provider will provide a reasonable period for corrective action before restricting the affected service.

The Customer may only send commercial electronic messages where the recipient has provided the legally required consent or another lawful basis exists. The Customer must comply with all applicable requirements relating to sender identification, unsubscribe facilities, mailing lists and data protection.

The Provider may limit or suspend email transmission where there are reasonable indications of spam, compromised credentials, malware, excessive error rates, blacklist listings or other misuse. The Provider may also impose technically reasonable sending limits in order to protect mail server reputation and service availability.

For domain registrations and transfers, the Provider acts as an intermediary between the Customer and the relevant registrar or registry. The applicable registration rules and policies of the registry and registrar form part of the domain service.

The Customer must provide accurate registrant and contact information and must ensure that the requested domain name and its use do not infringe the rights of third parties.

A domain order does not guarantee successful registration or transfer. Registration, renewal and transfer depend on domain availability, registry requirements, registrar rules, technical conditions and timely cooperation by the Customer.

Domain registration, renewal, redemption and transfer fees relate to a complete registry period. Once the relevant order has been submitted to the registrar or registry, these third-party fees are generally non-refundable, subject to mandatory statutory rights.

The Customer remains the holder of the rights to the domain name subject to the applicable registry rules. The Provider does not acquire ownership of a Customer's domain merely because the Provider processes or advances a registration or renewal fee.

The Customer is responsible for requesting a domain transfer or cancellation in sufficient time before the applicable renewal date. Termination of a hosting package does not automatically delete or transfer an associated domain unless the Customer provides corresponding instructions.

The applicable prices are those shown in the order confirmation or separately agreed with the Customer. Prices are stated in euros and include or exclude value-added tax as indicated in the applicable offer or invoice.

Recurring services are normally invoiced in advance for the agreed billing period. Invoices are due on the date stated on the invoice. The Customer is responsible for ensuring that the agreed payment method remains valid.

If payment is overdue, the statutory provisions concerning payment default, default interest and recovery costs shall apply. The Provider may charge reasonable costs actually incurred as a result of the payment default where permitted by law.

Where an undisputed payment remains overdue after a reminder and a reasonable payment period, the Provider may suspend the affected service until payment is received. The Customer remains responsible for fees accrued up to the effective termination date.

A chargeback or reversal of a justified payment does not cancel the underlying payment obligation. The Provider may suspend the affected service or take reasonable measures to secure an associated domain until the undisputed amount has been paid, but shall not acquire ownership of the domain solely as a result of the chargeback.

The initial contract term is stated in the order confirmation. Unless otherwise agreed, the contract begins when the service is activated.

After the initial contract term, a recurring service contract shall continue for an indefinite period and may be terminated by either party with one month's notice. A shorter termination period stated in the order confirmation shall remain unaffected.

Termination may be submitted in text form, including by email or through the Customer account or support system. Consumers may also use any statutory online cancellation facility provided on the Provider's website.

Termination of a service does not remove the Customer's obligation to pay amounts that became due before the effective termination date.

Prepaid recurring service fees relating solely to periods after the effective termination date will be refunded on a pro-rata basis where required. This does not apply to domain, licence, certificate, setup or other third-party fees that have already been incurred or cannot be recovered by the Provider.

The Customer must download or otherwise secure all required data before the termination becomes effective. After termination, the Provider is not obliged to retain Customer data unless retention is required by law or separately agreed.

Either party may terminate the contract without notice for good cause where continued performance of the contract is unreasonable after considering all circumstances and the interests of both parties.

The Provider may suspend or terminate an affected service in particular where:

• the Customer materially or repeatedly violates these Terms;
• the service is used for unlawful activity;
• the Customer fails to remedy a serious security risk;
• continued operation presents a significant risk to systems, networks, other customers or third parties;
• the Customer remains in payment default after receiving a reminder and reasonable deadline; or
• suspension or termination is required by a court, competent authority, registrar or registry.

Where the violation can reasonably be remedied, the Provider will normally provide notice and an appropriate opportunity to remedy it before terminating the contract. No prior notice is required where immediate action is necessary or where the violation is so serious that continued performance cannot reasonably be expected.

The Customer is responsible for maintaining current and independently stored backups of all websites, databases, email messages, configurations and other data.

Unless a specific backup service has been ordered, any backup created by the Provider is an additional technical precaution and does not replace the Customer's own backup. The Provider does not guarantee that a backup will contain every file, message, database or version or that restoration will always be possible.

Restoration work may be charged according to the applicable price list or individual agreement unless the restoration is required due to a breach of duty for which the Provider is responsible.

The Provider aims to maintain a high level of service availability. A specific percentage of availability is guaranteed only where expressly stated in an individual service level agreement.

Temporary restrictions may occur due to maintenance, security updates, technical faults, network failures, attacks, failures of third-party providers, domain name system changes or events outside the Provider's reasonable control.

The Provider may carry out maintenance and security work where reasonably necessary. Planned work that is expected to cause a material interruption will be announced in advance where reasonably possible.

IP addresses assigned to the Customer remain under the control of the Provider or the relevant network operator. IP addresses may be changed where technically or operationally necessary.

Technical support covers the services and systems for which the Provider is responsible. Assistance with third-party applications, programming, website content, individual scripts, obsolete software or software modified by the Customer is not included unless separately agreed.

Any voluntary assistance outside the agreed service scope does not create an ongoing obligation to provide such assistance in the future.

The Customer agrees that the Provider may transfer this Agreement, together with the rights and obligations arising from it, to another hosting provider or legal successor in connection with the sale, transfer, restructuring, discontinuation or succession of all or a substantial part of the Provider's hosting business.

A transfer under this section is permitted only if the new provider assumes the contractual obligations relating to the transferred services and is capable of continuing the services substantially in accordance with the existing Agreement.

The Provider shall notify the Customer in text form at least six weeks before the intended transfer takes effect. The notice shall identify the new provider, state the intended transfer date, provide the new provider's relevant contact and data protection information and explain the Customer's termination right.

The Customer may terminate the affected Agreement in text form without additional termination charges with effect no later than the intended transfer date. The termination must be submitted within six weeks after receipt of the transfer notice. Mandatory statutory termination rights remain unaffected.

If the Customer exercises this termination right, the Provider shall provide reasonable cooperation with the transfer of domains and Customer data to the Customer or to another provider selected by the Customer, subject to applicable registry rules, technical feasibility and payment of undisputed amounts already due.

To carry out an authorised business and contract transfer, the Provider may transfer to the new provider the Customer account data, contact information, billing records, service configurations, domain information, DNS records, website files, databases, email accounts and other hosted data to the extent necessary to continue the affected services.

Such data may only be transferred for the continuation, administration and performance of the affected contracts and must not be used for unrelated purposes. The Provider and the new provider must comply with applicable data protection law and any applicable data processing agreement.

The Provider processes personal data in accordance with applicable data protection law and the Privacy Policy published on the Provider's website.

For Customer account, contact and billing data, the Provider generally acts as controller. Where the Provider processes personal data contained in hosted websites, databases, email accounts or other Customer content solely on the Customer's behalf, the respective roles and obligations are governed by the applicable data processing agreement and Article 28 of the General Data Protection Regulation.

The Provider may disclose information to courts, law enforcement authorities, regulatory authorities, registrars, registries or other authorised bodies only where and to the extent that the disclosure is required or permitted by applicable law.

Each party retains its intellectual property rights. The Customer must have all rights and licences necessary to store, process, publish and transmit Customer content through the services.

For the duration of the Agreement, the Customer grants the Provider the limited, non-exclusive right to store, reproduce, transmit, cache, back up and technically process Customer content only to the extent necessary to provide, secure, maintain, restore or migrate the services.

The Customer must not use the services in a manner that infringes copyrights, trademarks, trade names, patents, personality rights or other rights of third parties.

If a third party asserts a claim against the Provider because of Customer content or conduct for which the Customer is responsible, the Customer shall indemnify the Provider against the justified claim and the reasonable costs of legal defence. This does not apply where the Customer is not responsible for the infringement.

The Provider shall inform the Customer of the claim without undue delay and shall provide the Customer with a reasonable opportunity to assist in the defence. The Provider shall not acknowledge or settle the claim at the Customer's expense without taking the Customer's legitimate interests into account.

The Provider shall be liable without limitation:

• for intent and gross negligence;
• for injury to life, body or health resulting from a negligent or intentional breach of duty;
• under the German Product Liability Act;
• where the Provider has fraudulently concealed a defect; and
• where the Provider has expressly assumed a guarantee.

In the event of slight negligence, the Provider shall only be liable for breach of an essential contractual obligation whose fulfilment is necessary for the proper performance of the contract and on whose fulfilment the Customer may regularly rely. In such cases, liability shall be limited to the damage that was foreseeable and typical for this type of contract at the time the Agreement was concluded.

Except in the cases stated above, liability for slight negligence is excluded.

Where the Provider is liable for a loss of data, liability shall be limited to the reasonable and typical cost of restoring the data from proper and current backups, except where the Provider is liable without limitation under this section.

The above limitations also apply to the Provider's legal representatives, employees and agents.

Neither party shall be liable for a failure or delay caused by an event outside its reasonable control, including natural disasters, war, civil unrest, widespread power or telecommunications failure, major internet routing failure, epidemic, strike, government action, cyberattack of exceptional scale or failure of an essential third-party infrastructure provider.

The affected party shall take reasonable measures to reduce the effects of the event and shall resume performance as soon as reasonably possible.

The Provider may propose reasonable amendments to these Terms where required by changes in law, court decisions, security requirements, technical developments or changes to the services.

The Provider shall notify the Customer in text form before a material amendment takes effect. Amendments become binding only to the extent permitted by law or agreed with the Customer. Where the Customer's consent is legally required, the Provider shall request that consent separately.

If a proposed amendment materially disadvantages the Customer, the Customer may terminate the affected service before the amendment takes effect, unless the amendment is strictly necessary to comply with mandatory law.

Contractual notices may be sent in text form to the email address stored in the Customer account. The Customer is responsible for keeping this address current and accessible.

Notices to the Provider may be sent to the support email address published on the Provider's website or submitted through the Customer support system.

This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Federal Republic of Germany, excluding its conflict-of-law rules and the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods.

If the Customer is a merchant, a legal entity under public law or a special fund under public law, the exclusive place of jurisdiction for all disputes arising out of or in connection with this Agreement shall be Kassel, Germany.

Mandatory statutory provisions concerning applicable law and jurisdiction, in particular provisions protecting consumers, shall remain unaffected.

Individual agreements between the parties shall take precedence over these Terms.

If a provision of these Terms is wholly or partly invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions shall remain effective. The invalid or unenforceable provision shall be replaced by the applicable statutory provision.

The Customer may not transfer the Agreement to another person without the Provider's consent where the Provider has a legitimate interest in withholding consent. The Customer's statutory rights to assign monetary claims or other rights remain unaffected.

These Terms, the applicable order confirmation, the service description and any separate data processing or service level agreement constitute the contractual documents applicable to the ordered service.