OULU CLOUD Terms of Service

Last updated: January 4, 2024

1. Overview

These Terms of Service are issued by OULU CLOUD TECHNOLOGY LIMITED ("OULU CLOUD"). OULU CLOUD owns and operates the services described on this website.

By clicking to agree, registering an account, placing an order, or otherwise using our services, you confirm that you have read, understood, and accepted these Terms in full.

Any matter not expressly covered in these Terms should be confirmed with customer support before purchase. Responsibilities beyond these Terms are borne by the user.

2. User Conduct and Compliance

You are solely responsible for all content, traffic, data, and activity generated through your account or services. You must comply with applicable local laws, the laws of Hong Kong SAR, the laws of the server location, and generally accepted internet practices.

2.1 Prohibited Content

You may not use our services to create, copy, publish, store, or distribute content that:

• violates applicable laws or regulations;
• endangers national security or public safety;
• promotes hatred, discrimination, violence, terrorism, gambling, pornography, or criminal activity;
• defames, insults, harasses, or infringes the lawful rights of others;
• contains any other content prohibited by law.

2.2 Prohibited Activity

You may not use our services to:

• gain unauthorized access to systems, networks, accounts, data, or applications;
• delete, alter, or interfere with systems, software, or transmitted data without authorization;
• create, distribute, or facilitate malware, viruses, destructive code, scans, or similar attacks;
• interfere with the normal operation of OULU CLOUD services or other users.

2.3 Fraud and Misuse

Telecom fraud, online fraud, phishing, impersonation, and similar abuse are strictly prohibited. Services involved in such activity may be suspended or terminated immediately and reported to the relevant authorities where required.

2.4 Protection of Minors

If you are under 18, you may use the platform only with the guidance and consent of your legal guardian. We prohibit any content or activity that harms, exploits, or improperly targets minors.

• sexually suggestive content involving minors;
• graphic, shocking, or harmful content aimed at minors;
• content that encourages unsafe or illegal behavior by minors;
• other content that may affect the safety or healthy development of minors.

2.5 IP Abuse Charge

Each substantiated IP complaint or abuse case may incur a USD 20 handling charge, payable by the user.

If we discover clearly unlawful or prohibited activity, we may stop transmission, preserve records, remove content, suspend the service, and report the matter as required by law.

If you seriously violate these Terms or our AUP, OULU CLOUD may delete related data without backup, refund, or compensation.

3. User Information and Privacy

You must provide true, accurate, and complete registration and billing information and keep it up to date.

You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and for all actions taken through it.

You authorize OULU CLOUD to contact you using the information you provide, including by email and other communication methods, for account notices, billing, and urgent service issues.

We keep customer information confidential and use it only as reasonably necessary to provide and improve our services, subject to applicable law.

4. Data Responsibility

• Storage media may fail even in redundant environments. You are responsible for your own backups.
• We strongly recommend that you back up important data regularly.
• We are not liable for data loss caused by hardware failure, third-party issues, misuse, compromise, or user error.
• If data loss is directly caused by our operational error, we will cooperate in good faith to help restore data where possible and discuss a reasonable solution.

5. Suspension and Termination

• Orders may be suspended or deleted if payment is not made on time.
• Expired services may be suspended or deleted without further notice.
• Service data may be removed after expiration or prolonged overdue status, and may not be recoverable.
• We are not responsible for access issues or data loss caused by non-payment, non-renewal, or forgotten renewal.
• If backups are still available, restoration after non-provider-related termination may be offered as a paid service.
• We may terminate services immediately if you violate these Terms or the Acceptable Use Policy.
• Services involved in refunds, abuse, or serious disputes may be terminated without separate notice.

6. Service Changes, Interruptions, and Liability

We may perform scheduled or unscheduled maintenance, upgrades, routing adjustments, or emergency work. Reasonable interruptions caused by such work do not create liability.

We may modify, interrupt, or discontinue any service at any time when reasonably necessary.

• maintenance or system upgrades;
• force majeure events, including natural disasters, government action, legal changes, strikes, unrest, and similar events;
• upstream carrier, network, or data center technical issues;
• other circumstances beyond our reasonable control.

If downtime or data loss is directly caused by our fault, the maximum compensation will not exceed the service fee paid for one month of the affected service.

• staff operating error that directly causes downtime;
• data loss directly caused by our fault;
• no compensation for force majeure, war, political events, weather, earthquakes, or similar events;
• no compensation for losses caused by your own breach of these Terms.

7. Billing and Overdue Accounts

• Please renew at least 2 days before the due date.
• Expired or overdue services may be suspended, cancelled, or deleted, with a risk of permanent data loss.
• Late fees may apply after overdue status.
• If a third-party payment gateway does not return payment confirmation correctly, please contact us by ticket for manual review.

8. Cancellation Requests

• A cancellation request stops future renewal. It is not the same as a refund.
• If you want to restore normal renewal after submitting a cancellation request, contact support by ticket.
• Invoices generated after cancellation may be voided automatically. If already paid, any approved return will normally be credited to your account balance.

9. Promotions and Price Changes

We may offer promotions, discounts, and price adjustments from time to time based on market conditions or business needs. New pricing generally applies to new orders only and does not automatically apply to existing services.

10. Abuse Toward Staff and Reputation Damage

We aim to provide professional support. If you believe a staff member acted improperly, please contact us at admin@oulucloud.com.

Repeated harassment, threats, abusive language, malicious defamation, or similar conduct toward OULU CLOUD staff may result in service suspension or termination without refund, and we reserve all legal rights.

11. Refunds

Refund requests apply only to eligible virtual server services and do not include third-party licenses, paid add-ons, IP charges, or similar extra items.

Refunds are not available or may be limited in the following cases:

• the service is involved in a violation of these Terms or the AUP;
• if less than 50% of the billing period has been used, an eligible refund may be calculated daily;
• if more than 50% of the billing period has been used, no refund applies;
• non-refundable add-ons or gifts, such as domains, are deducted from any approved refund;
• issues not caused by OULU CLOUD;
• malicious trial use or repeated refund abuse;
• unresolved disputes or abusive conduct;
• physical servers, dedicated servers, and colocation services are non-refundable;
• IPs blocked by the GFW during use are not refundable.

Approved refunds are normally returned to account credit rather than to the original payment method.

12. Account Security

• Keep your password secure and use strong credentials.
• Do not share your account with others.
• Notify OULU CLOUD immediately if you suspect unauthorized access.
• All actions performed through your account are treated as your responsibility.
• We may temporarily restrict or freeze accounts showing abnormal activity to protect account security.

13. Intellectual Property

All intellectual property rights related to OULU CLOUD services, including trademarks, copyrights, design, software, and related materials, belong to OULU CLOUD or the relevant rights holders.

You may not copy, modify, distribute, or publish our materials without prior written permission.

You retain ownership of content you upload, but you grant OULU CLOUD a non-exclusive right to use, store, and process that content as needed to provide the service.

14. Taxes and Exchange Rates

You are responsible for any taxes, duties, bank charges, or similar costs arising from your use of our services.

Cross-border payments may involve exchange-rate risk, which is borne by the user.

Unless explicitly stated otherwise, all listed prices are tax-exclusive.

15. Miscellaneous

We may update these Terms from time to time. Updated versions may be posted on the website. Continued use of the services after an update means you accept the revised Terms.

In the event of a merger, acquisition, restructuring, listing, or name change, you agree that OULU CLOUD may transfer relevant rights and obligations to a successor entity.

Any dispute related to these Terms should first be resolved through friendly consultation. If consultation fails, the dispute shall be submitted to the courts of Hong Kong SAR, where OULU CLOUD's principal place of business is located.