Special Terms for the @ostbelgien.be Email Service

Only the German version of this text is binding; this is a translation. German version

@ostbelgien.be is a private email service of Euregio.Net AG and not a service of the German-speaking Community, a municipality or any other public body.

1. Scope

These terms govern exclusively the @ostbelgien.be email service of Euregio.Net AG, Zur Holzwarche 27, B-4761 Büllingen, VAT BE 0455.638.890 ("Euregio.Net"), for private individuals ("Customer"). Together with the service description and the consumer information required by law, they form the basis of the contract. The general terms and conditions, addenda, data processing agreements and general price lists of Euregio.Net AG do not apply to this service.

2. Who can use the service

The service is aimed at adult private individuals resident in Belgium, Germany, Luxembourg or the Netherlands and is intended for private use. The Customer does not acquire ownership of the address, but a right of use for the duration of the contract. The address may not be sold or passed on to third parties.

3. Address

The address follows the pattern [email protected] or another form accepted by Euregio.Net. Permitted are the letters a–z, the digits 0–9, full stop and hyphen (not at the start or end). Each address is issued only once; issuing depends on availability and review by Euregio.Net. Euregio.Net does not issue addresses that sound like an authority, municipality, public body, a function (e.g. info@, contact@) or another person, and may block an address if it is used to deceive others about identity.

4. Service

• Mailbox with 24 GB of storage; access via IMAP, POP and webmail; sending via SMTP with login.
• Sending to no more than 300 recipients within 24 hours.
• Messages up to 50 MB in total size (including the encoding of attachments). Receiving servers may have lower limits.
• If storage is full, new messages may be rejected.
• Out-of-office notice and forwarding, which the Customer sets up in the webmail. Euregio.Net gives no guarantee that forwarded messages will be delivered by the destination provider.
• Delivery to the recipient: Euregio.Net hands outgoing messages over to the recipient's mail server. Whether a message is accepted there and where it ends up (inbox, spam folder or rejection) is decided by the recipient and their provider, for example through spam filters, blocklists, size or storage limits, or technical problems on their side. Euregio.Net has no influence on this and gives no guarantee for it. If a message is rejected, the Customer usually receives a non-delivery report.
• Virus and spam filter. No filter is error-free: unwanted messages may get through and wanted messages may be held back by mistake.
• The servers are located in Belgian data centres. Euregio.Net endeavours to ensure trouble-free operation; maintenance work and brief interruptions are possible.

Support: Included is help with disruptions to the service and problems with the mailbox itself. For setup on a computer, smartphone or tablet, a setup guide is available; personal help on the Customer's device is not included and, on request, is charged at the applicable hourly rate.

Restoration from backup: Where a suitable backup is available, Euregio.Net can, on request, reset the entire mailbox with all folders to an available backup state, usually the state of the previous day. Individual messages or folders cannot be restored selectively. The current mailbox contents are completely replaced in the process; the Customer is responsible for backing them up beforehand. For the restoration, Euregio.Net charges €102.85 including 21% VAT (€85 net). The fee covers the restore operation; it is no promise that particular messages are contained in the backup state. Statutory rights in the event of data loss for which Euregio.Net is responsible remain unaffected.

5. Access data and security

The access data is sent to the contact address the Customer gives in the application. The Customer changes the first password immediately after the first login, keeps it secret and informs Euregio.Net without delay if they suspect misuse. If misuse of access data is suspected, Euregio.Net may reset the password or temporarily block access and will inform the Customer of this at their contact address.

6. Price and payment

1. The service costs €24 per year including 21% VAT, payable in advance. For online orders, payment is made through the payment service Mollie; the Customer receives a payment confirmation showing the VAT by email.
2. The first annual payment is due before the mailbox is activated. On activation, Euregio.Net tells the Customer when the first term starts and ends.
3. Later payments are requested by email. If a payment is not made, the Customer first receives a free payment reminder on a durable medium (email) stating the amount due, the service, the due date and a payment period of 14 calendar days. Only after that period has expired may Euregio.Net suspend the service and, if payment is still not made, terminate the contract; the mailbox is then subject to § 7.5 (30 days' access to back up data). Euregio.Net does not charge consumers any reminder or collection fees.

7. Term, cancellation and end of the mailbox

1. Conclusion of the contract: the contract is concluded when Euregio.Net accepts the request or confirms the online order; the withdrawal period runs from that moment (§ 8). Start of the service: the service starts when the mailbox is activated. Initial term: from activation, the contract initially runs for one year.
2. If it is not cancelled at least one month before the end of the first year, it continues for an indefinite period. After that, the Customer can cancel at any time with one month's notice, without compensation. Amounts already paid for the period after the contract ends are refunded to the exact day.
3. Euregio.Net reminds the Customer at least 60 days before the end of the first year, and thereafter before each new annual payment, at the contact address (not only at the @ostbelgien.be mailbox) of the renewal and the option to cancel.
4. Cancellation is possible by email to [email protected]; Euregio.Net confirms it.
5. End of the mailbox: After the contract ends, access is blocked; the stored messages are kept for 30 days. During this period the Customer can request temporary reactivation of the mailbox to back up their data; this does not entitle them to continue using the service. After that, the messages are deleted from the active system. Backups are kept for 14 days; from deletion, the data therefore remains in backups for at most another 14 days, after which no restoration is possible. The Customer arranges a backup of their messages in good time.
6. An @ostbelgien.be address is not issued to anyone else after the contract ends, so that messages intended for it do not reach third parties.

8. Right of withdrawal

Consumers can withdraw from a contract concluded online within 14 days of its conclusion without giving any reason – most simply via the "Withdraw from contract here" function on this website, which immediately confirms receipt by email, or by email to [email protected] (a model withdrawal form is available). If the Customer expressly requests when ordering that Euregio.Net begin setup before the withdrawal period has expired, and then withdraws, they pay a proportionate amount for the period up to the withdrawal; the rest is refunded.

9. Permitted use and blocking

Prohibited in particular are sending spam or bulk emails, distributing malware, unlawful content and any use that impairs the systems of Euregio.Net or third parties.

• In the event of spam, misused access data, attacks or obviously unlawful use, Euregio.Net may block the mailbox immediately.
• In the event of other violations, Euregio.Net first warns the Customer and sets a reasonable deadline for remedy.
• In the event of serious or repeated violations, Euregio.Net may terminate the contract.

9a. Contact point and complaints (Digital Services Act)

1. Contact point for Customers and authorities: [email protected], telephone +32 80 64 27 93; languages: German, French, Dutch, English.
2. If Euregio.Net blocks or restricts a mailbox (§ 9), it informs the Customer of the reason and the legal basis by email to the contact address, unless this would jeopardise the detection or prevention of abuse.
3. The Customer can lodge a complaint against such a decision, free of charge, by email to [email protected] within six months. Euregio.Net reviews it promptly through a person and communicates the outcome. The Customer may also turn to an out-of-court dispute settlement body certified under Art. 21 of the Digital Services Act. Legal recourse remains open.
4. Euregio.Net does not read the content of mailboxes; virus and spam filters work automatically (§ 4, § 10).
5. As a small enterprise, Euregio.Net is exempt from the transparency report obligation (Art. 15 DSA) but publishes the report voluntarily: DSA reports at euregio.net/abuse.

10. Data protection

Euregio.Net processes the Customer's data as controller in accordance with the privacy policy of ostbelgien.be (section "Email service @ostbelgien.be") – in particular to provide the service, for spam and virus filtering, for security and abuse logs, for support, for backups, for billing and to comply with legal obligations. Deleted messages may remain in backups for up to 14 days.

11. Liability

1. Euregio.Net is liable in accordance with the statutory provisions for intent, gross negligence and the breach of essential contractual obligations.
2. In cases of slight negligence, Euregio.Net is liable only for the direct damage that is typical for this type of contract and foreseeable when the contract was concluded. Liability for breach of material contractual obligations is not excluded by this paragraph but limited to the typical, foreseeable damage. The exclusion of lost profit and consequential damage applies only to breaches that do not concern material contractual obligations. These limitations apply exclusively to slight negligence.
3. The Customer is responsible for their own backups of important messages; in the event of data loss, Euregio.Net is liable only for the damage that would also have occurred had the Customer made an adequate backup.
4. Mandatory consumer rights, in particular regarding digital services, remain unaffected.
5. Euregio.Net maintains professional liability insurance with Hiscox SA, Brussels.

12. Changes

1. Euregio.Net may change the service for objective reasons – in particular for reasons of security, technical development, compatibility with other systems, necessary changes to the infrastructure or legal requirements –, provided this causes the Customer no additional costs and they are informed in good time. The Customer's statutory rights to information and to cancel in the event of changes that adversely affect them remain unaffected.
2. Price changes and material changes to the service apply at the earliest to the period after the first contract year. Euregio.Net announces them at least two months in advance by email to the contact address; the Customer can cancel free of charge until they take effect.

13. Applicable law and jurisdiction

Belgian law applies. Mandatory consumer protection rules and information obligations of the country in which the Customer lives remain unaffected – including with regard to the rule that the German version of these terms is binding. Consumers may bring proceedings in their place of residence or in Belgium; for actions by Euregio.Net against consumers, the courts at the consumer's place of residence have jurisdiction.

Annex: Model withdrawal form

(If you wish to withdraw from the contract, you can use the "Withdraw from contract here" function or fill in and return this form.)

To: Euregio.Net AG, Zur Holzwarche 27, B-4761 Büllingen, [email protected]

• I/We (*) hereby give notice that I/We (*) withdraw from my/our (*) contract for the provision of the following service (*): @ostbelgien.be email service, address: ……………………
• Ordered on (*) / received on (*): ……………………
• Name of consumer(s): ……………………
• Address of consumer(s): ……………………
• Signature of consumer(s) (only if this form is notified on paper): ……………………
• Date: ……………………

(*) Delete as appropriate.