Frequently Asked Questions

The NearlyFreeSpeech.NET FAQ (*)

Our Service (*)

What is adjunct access?

What is the fine print on the "two cents" free trial?

What is a resource accounting unit?

How do I set up TLS (HTTPS) for my web site?

What is an alternate emergency contact?

How exactly are storage charges calculated?

Will bandwidth charges apply to my ssh usage?

What are the default directories created when I set up a new site?

What is resource billing?

How do I transfer something to another member?

How do I set up two-factor authentication for my membership?

How do I set up TLS using my own key and a third-party certificate?

The IP addresses listed for my site have changed since I last looked. Should I be concerned?

How do I cancel my membership?

To manage services for multiple entities, should I create multiple memberships or accounts?

How did my account get overdrawn?

Can I change the name of my _____?

How can people contribute funds to support my site?

If I want to start my site over, should I delete it and make another with the same name?

Why was I warned that my PayPal deposit is nonrefundable?

How come I can't ping/traceroute stuff on your network?

How do I sign up my friend for NearlyFreeSpeech.NET?

I tried to change my contact email address but I never got a confirmation email. How do I get another one sent to me?

You forwarded me a DMCA notification affecting my site. Now what?

What is maintenance mode?

How do I transfer something from one account to another on my membership?

How can multiple people manage services hosted here?

Why does my bank's website say you charged my credit card even though your site said the payment(s) failed?

What is the "Excess Non-Production Sites" charge?

I don't log in to your site all the time. How do I stay up to date on news and announcements?

How do I remove or replace my two-factor device?

How do I hand over control of hosted services to someone else?

How do I see what users I have granted adjunct access to my site?

How do I transfer funds between accounts on my membership?

How do I remove TLS?

What are the IP addresses of your name servers?

Is my website non-production, production, or critical?

What is unbilled storage?

What is account sharing?

Why can't I cancel my membership?

How do I change the contact email address I gave you when I created my membership?

How do I get a receipt for a deposit I made?

Is penetration testing of sites hosted here allowed?

Generally, no. Most of the buffoonery that calls itself "penetration testing" is just an attempt to compromise the security and/or availability of our service and/or a member site. We take an extremely dim view of that. It's also a federal crime. We respond to unauthorized "penetration testing" just as we would for any other hacking attempt, ranging from blocking source IPs from accessing our network up to and including contacting the relevant authorities, pressing charges, and seeking civil damages if appropriate. If we find that unauthorized penetration testing was done with a member's cooperation or at a member's direction, that membership will be terminated without warning or refund.

If you do wish to engage in authorized penetration testing, it can be arranged, but the cost is considerable and you must meet significant requirements:

If you fail to abide by these requirements, or agree to them and fail to follow them (for example if you test outside approved hours, deviate from the approved test plan, or fail to provide results after performing a test), then authorization for future tests is unlikely to be granted.

These requirements are onerous, and reflect that penetration testing is a risky practice that must only be undertaken by skilled, qualified professionals after careful planning. (And yes, people with legitimate need can and do meet these requirements.) If the firm you hire to perform the test balks at these requirements, they are not qualified. If you have a legitimate need, please feel free to contact us; we can direct you to qualified firms.

If these requirements are too onerous, or if the cost is too high (which would be odd; while substantial by our standards, they will be a rounding error compared to the cost of having a proper test performed), that is a good sign that your site is not appropriate for penetration testing.

We do regularly perform and have others perform penetration tests on our own network in order to ensure that our service is as secure as possible. No accesses to member web sites are performed by these tests, but representative sites managed by us are thoroughly tested in addition to our own production sites.

How can I send funds to another member's account or site?

Since your service is prepaid, how do I know when to add funds?

Do you provide refunds for services already rendered?

What do I do if I find a typo or mistake in your documentation?

What is NearlyFreeSpeech's backup strategy for user content?

Will my site still incur charges if it is disabled?