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Background
infotex's
(hereinafter referred to as Provider)
Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is designed to provide a clear understanding of the
rules, regulations and restrictions regarding the use of Provider's Sifter
Filtering services.
From time to time Provider may impose
reasonable rules and regulations regarding the use of its services. The AUPs are
not exhaustive and Provider
reserves the right to modify the AUPs at any time, effective upon either the
posting of the modified AUPs to this URL or notification of the modified
AUPs.
By registering for and using
the services, and thereby accepting the terms and conditions of the Terms of
Service Agreement or its equivalent, you agree to abide by the AUPs as modified
from time to time. Any violation of the AUPs may result in the suspension or
termination of your account or such other action as Provider
deems appropriate. An unlisted activity may also be a violation of the AUPs if
it is illegal, irresponsible, or disruptive use of the Internet. No credits will
be issued for any interruption in service resulting from policy violations.
VIOLATION OF ANY AUP IS
STRICTLY PROHIBITED AND MAY RESULT IN THE IMMEDIATE TERMINATION OR SUSPENSION OF
THE SERVICES YOU RECEIVE FROM PROVIDER. YOU SHALL REMAIN SOLELY LIABLE AND RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR USE OF THE SERVICES AND
ANY AND ALL CONTENT THAT YOU DISPLAY, UPLOAD, DOWNLOAD OR TRANSMIT THROUGH
PROVIDER
SYSTEMS. THE USE OF THE SERVICES "CONTENT" INCLUDES, WITHOUT LIMITATION, YOUR
E-MAIL TRANSMITTED THROUGH IT. IT IS
PROVIDER'S
POLICY TO TERMINATE REPEAT INFRINGERS. PROVIDER
RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO ANYONE AT ANY TIME.
Explanation of Services
The Sifter -- Offsite Filter is a service
intended to eliminate the vast majority of unsolicited email (Spam) and known
viruses and malicious content in email for its subscribers. By the nature of
this service, provider
will have in its technical possession the email and attachments of its
clients. Provider
takes this responsibility very seriously. The servers and systems that provide
this service are protected with security systems and precautions far above the
accepted norm. However, there is no guarantee of security in any computer system, and
none is implied in this arrangement.
Provider
will not intercept with the intention of reading email except in the normal
course of technical troubleshooting and quality assurance. Any information
exposed to Provider
employees during the normal course of duties is considered absolutely
confidential unless there is obvious evidence of illegal information or activity
being transmitted through Provider
systems.
Spam Filtering as provided in
this service is a new and emerging technology. Changes to the technology are
inevitable in the future.
Provider
will modify its service to keep pace with these technologies and provide the
best service possible as Provider
deems necessary. Overly experimental code or techniques will not be used until
Provider
engineers are absolutely confident in the technology. Users will be notified
of any significant changes in technique and, at that time, will have the
opportunity to opt out of new changes.
Warranties and
Limitations
Filtering of any sort is a
best effort service. No guarantee is made as to catching 100% of Spam or
eliminating 100% of viruses.
Provider
will make every effort to provide the best service possible. Virus detection is done using
systems and software
Provider deems most
effective. This can change as technologies emerge.
Provider
shall not be liable for any failure to perform or any delay in performing any of
its obligations when such failure or delay is due to circumstances beyond its
reasonable control, including and without limitation, any act of God, war,
strike, riot, fire, flood, earthquake, lock-out, late or non delivery by
suppliers, shortage or unavailability of materials, components or transportation
facilities, or any act, refusal to act, regulation, order, or any governmental
authority. Under no circumstances shall Provider be liable for any special,
indirect, incidental, or consequential damages of any kind or nature whatsoever,
including and without limitation: lost goodwill, lost resale profits, loss of
data or software, work stoppage or impairment of other goods, whether arising
out of breach of any express or implied warranty, breach of contract, tort
(including negligence), strict product liability or otherwise, even if advised
of the possibility of such damage could have been reasonably foreseen, except in
case of personal injury and where to the extent applicable law requires such
liability. Provider reserves the right to refuse business to any party. The
rights and obligations of the parties under this agreement shall be governed by
the laws of the State of Indiana.
Finally, this
engagement cannot be relied upon to discover all errors, fraud or illegal acts
that may exist.
Customer Security
Responsibilities
The customer is solely
responsible for any breaches of security affecting accounts and resources under
customer control. If a customer's account or domain is involved in an attack on
another server or system or is used as an open mail relay, it will be shut down
and an immediate investigation will be launched to determine the cause/source of
the attack. In such event, the customer is responsible for the cost to rectify
any damage done to the customer's server and any other requirement affected by
the security breach. The labor used to rectify any such damage is categorized as
emergency security breach recovery and is currently charged at $150 USD per
hour. Enquiries regarding security matters may be directed to abuse@infotex.com.
System And Network
Security Violations
Violations of system and
network security practices
are prohibited, and may result in criminal and civil liability.
Provider may
investigate incidents involving such violations and may involve and will
cooperate with law enforcement if a criminal violation is suspected. Examples of
system or network security violations include, without limitation, the
following:
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Unauthorized access to or
use of data, systems or networks, including any attempt to probe, scan or test
the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or
authentication measures without express authorization of the owner of the
system or network. System vulnerability scans are welcome when
performed by experienced parties, and require advance notification to avoid
drastic defensive efforts on
Provider's
part that may interrupt service.
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Unauthorized monitoring of
data or traffic on any network or system without express authorization of the
owner of the system or network.
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Interference with service
to any user, host or network including, without limitation, mail bombing,
deliberate spam delivery, flooding, deliberate attempts to overload a system
and broadcast attacks.
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Forging of any TCP-IP
packet header or any part of the header information in an e-mail or a
newsgroup posting.
Violators of the policy are
responsible, without limitations, for the cost of labor to clean up and correct
any damage done to the operation of the network and business operations
supported by the network, and to respond to complaints incurred by Provider and other
clients sharing the same resources. Such labor is categorized as emergency
security breach recovery and is currently charged at $150 USD per hour required. Enquiries regarding security matters may be directed to abuse@infotex.com.
Provider is
concerned with the privacy of online communications and web sites. In general,
the Internet is neither more nor less secure than other means of communication,
including mail, facsimile, and voice telephone service, all of which can be
intercepted and otherwise compromised. As a matter of prudence , however,
Provider urges its
customers to assume that all of their online communications are insecure. Provider
cannot take responsibility for the security of information transmitted over
Provider's
facilities.
Password Protection
The client is responsible for protecting
client's
passwords and for any authorized or unauthorized use made of client's passwords.
The client will not use or permit anyone to use Provider's
services to guess passwords or to access other systems or networks without
authorization.
Provider
will fully cooperate with law enforcement authorities in the detection and
prosecution of illegal activity.
Contact Information
Client is responsible for
maintaining contact information in the Sifter management system such that
the email address is always reachable even in the event of their Provider servers
being shut down, or a phone number that will be accessible.
Internet Etiquette
The client is expected to be familiar with and to practice good Internet
etiquette (Netiquette). The client will comply with the rules appropriate to
any network to which Provider
may provide access. The client should not post, transmit, or permit Internet
access to information the client desires to keep confidential. The client is
not permitted to post or transmit any material that is illegal, libelous,
tortuous, indecently depicts children or is likely to result in retaliation
against Provider
by offended users. Provider
reserves the right to refuse or terminate service at any time for violation of
this section.
Copyright Infringement -
Software Piracy Policy
The
Provider
network may only be used for lawful purposes. Transmission, distribution, or
storage of any information, data or material in violation of United States or
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
other intellectual property rights. Making unauthorized copies of software is
a violation of the law, no matter how many copies you are making. If you copy,
distribute or install the software in ways that the license does not allow, you
are violating federal copyright law. If caught with pirated software, you or
your company may be liable under both civil and criminal law, and you may be
fined up to $250,000 and/or receive up to 5 years in jail. In compliance with
the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the "DMCA"), please send DMCA
notifications of claimed copyright infringements to abuse@infotex.com.
Provider will
cooperate fully with any civil and/or criminal litigation arising from the
violation of this policy.
Network Responsibility
Clients have a
responsibility to use the Provider
network responsibly. This includes respecting other clients of Provider.
Provider reserves
the right to suspend and or cancel service with any client who uses the Provider network in
such a way that adversely affects other Provider clients. This includes but is not limited to:
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Attacking or attempting to
gain unauthorized access to servers and services that belong to
Provider or its
customers (i.e. computer hacking), and/or
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Participating in behavior
which result in reprisals that adversely effect the
Provider
network or other customers' access to the
Provider
network.
Provider
will react strongly to any use or attempted use of an Internet account or
computer without the owner's authorization. Such attempts include, but are not
limited to, port scanning, password capturing, vulnerability scanning, etc. Any
unauthorized use of accounts or computers by a Provider client, whether or not the attacked account or computer belongs to
Provider, will
result in severe action taken against the attacker. Possible actions include
warnings, account suspension or cancellation, and civil or criminal legal
action, depending on the seriousness of the attack. Any attempt to undermine or
cause harm to a server or client of Provider
is strictly prohibited.
Violations of this policy may
be reported directly to the FBI's National Infrastructure Protection Center at
http://www.nipc.gov.
Provider will
cooperate fully with any civil and/or criminal litigation arising from the
violation of this policy.
Lawful Purpose
All services may be used for lawful purposes only. Transmission, storage, or
presentation of any information, data or material in violation of any applicable
law, regulation, or AUP is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to:
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copyrighted material or
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material protected by trade secret and other statute or
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dissemination of harmful or fraudulent content.
Using any Provider service or
product for the purpose of participating in any activity dealing with subject
matters that are prohibited under applicable law is prohibited.
Any conduct that constitutes
harassment, fraud, stalking, abuse, or a violation of federal export restriction
in connection with use of Provider
services or products is prohibited. Using the Provider
network to solicit the performance of any illegal activity is also prohibited,
even if the activity itself is not performed. In addition, knowingly receiving
or downloading a file that cannot be legally distributed, even without the act
of distribution, is prohibited.
Servers hosted within Provider network
are open to the public. You are solely responsible for your usage of the
Provider network
and servers and any statement you make on servers hosted within the Provider network
may be deemed "publication" of the information entered. Acknowledging the
foregoing, you specifically agree not to use our service in any manner that is
illegal or libelous.
Child Pornography on the
Internet
Our policy on child pornography is zero tolerance.
Provider
will cooperate fully with any criminal investigation into a client's violation
of the Child Protection Act of 1984 concerning child pornography. Clients are
ultimately responsible for the actions of their clients over the Provider network,
and will be liable for illegal material posted by their clients.
According to the Child
Protection Act, child pornography includes photographs, films, video or any
other type of visual presentation that shows a person who is or is depicted as
being under the age of eighteen years and is engaged in or is depicted as
engaged in explicit sexual activity, or the dominant characteristic of which is
the depiction, for a sexual purpose, of a sexual organ or the anal region of a
person under the age of eighteen years or any written material or visual
representation that advocates or counsels sexual activity with a person under
the age of eighteen years.
Violations of the Child
Protection Act may be reported to the U.S. Customs Agency at 1-800-BEALERT.
Adult Content on the
Internet
Provider will
provide notification and will inform any client in writing of improper
materials on our servers. However, Provider
reserves the right to disconnect any client immediately. Adult content
is not permitted on
Provider
servers, may not be transmitted through email on Provider
servers, or be distributed via any other method using Provider
resources.
Commercial Advertisements
with E-mail
Provider takes a
zero tolerance approach to the sending of Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (UCE) or
SPAM over our network. Very simply, this means that clients of
Provider may not
use or permit others to use our network to transact in UCE. Clients of
Provider may not
host or permit hosting of sites or information that is advertised by UCE from
other networks. Violations of this policy carry severe penalties, including
termination of service.
Sending a message, especially
an advertisement, to more than ten recipients, is by itself spamming unless the
individuals have specifically requested to be added to a mailing list on that
topic. This includes both commercial advertisements and informational messages
sent to recipients via electronic mail (email) as well as off-topic messages
posted in Usenet discussion groups where the recipient has not requested or
invited the message. Mailing lists must be true opt-in mailing lists. Before
sending any email to a listed user, a confirmation email with a tracking
number must be sent to the new subscriber, to which they must respond with a
confirmation that they wish to be added to the list. You must keep these
confirmations on file, so that in the case that a spam complaint is made against
you, you have proof that the user did indeed opt-in. In addition, you must
provide at least one easy way to opt out; see the MAPS guidelines
(http://mail-abuse.org/rbl/manage.html) for details. Opt-out requests must be
honored immediately.
E-mail is a person-to-person
medium, not a broadcast medium.
Clients of
Provider are
strictly prohibited from using or permitting others to use UCE or SPAM over our
network. As our clients are ultimately responsible for the actions of their
clients over the Provider
network, it is advisable that clients develop a similar, or stricter, policy
for their employees.
Violation of Provider's SPAM
policy will result in severe penalties. Upon notification of an alleged
violation of our SPAM policy, Provider
will initiate an immediate investigation (within 48 hours of notification). During the investigation,
Provider
may restrict customer access to the network to prevent further violations. If a
client is found to be in violation of our SPAM policy, Provider may, at
its sole discretion, restrict, suspend or terminate client's account. Further,
Provider
reserves the right to pursue civil remedies for any costs associated with the
investigation of a substantiated policy violation. Provider
will notify law enforcement officials if the violation is believed to be a
criminal offense.
Violation of
Provider's SPAM
policy may be reported to abuse@infotex.com
Network Performance
Provider
accounts operate on shared resources. Excessive use or abuse of these shared
network resources by one client may have a negative impact on all other
clients. Misuse of network resources in a manner which impairs network
performance is prohibited by this policy and may result in termination of your
account.
You are prohibited from excessive consumption of resources, including CPU
time, memory, disk space and session time. You may not use resource-intensive
programs, such as peer-to-peer or audio/video streaming applications, which
negatively impact other customers or the performance of Provider systems or
networks. Provider
reserves the right to terminate or limit such activities.
Billing
The client understands that the client is
responsible for paying expenses related to providing the Offsite Filtering
service. These fees are billed monthly and are agreed upon before entrance into
any service arrangements. Failure to pay according to terms will result in loss
of service. Client mail will be redirected unfiltered to the client's systems.
If client is
delinquent to Provider for any services unrelated to Sifter, client is deemed
delinquent to Provider in regards to all services, including Sifter services.
If the client's account is
not paid in a timely manner or inappropriate activity is detected, all accounts
of the client in question will be deactivated until an investigation is complete
or full payment is received after a reasonable collection attempt has been made.
Prior notification to the client is not assured.
Suspension
Provider
reserves the right to suspend network access or mail filtering services to any
client if, in the judgment of the Provider
network administrators, the client's server is the source or target of the
violation of any of the other terms of the AUPs or for any other reason which
Provider chooses. If inappropriate activity is detected, all accounts of the Customer in question
will be deactivated until an investigation is complete. Prior notification to
the client is not assured. In extreme cases, law enforcement will be
contacting regarding the activity. The client will not be credited for the
time the client's machines were suspended. The client will be credited on a
prorated basis based on the monthly fees the client pays for the servers that
are suspended for the time the client's machines were suspended.
Cancellation
Provider
reserves the right to cancel service at any time. If the client's account is
not paid in a timely manner or inappropriate activity is detected, all accounts
of the client in question will be deactivated until an investigation is
complete or full payment is received after a reasonable collection attempt has
been made. Prior notification to the client is not assured. In extreme cases,
law enforcement will be contacting regarding the activity. All fees paid in
advance of cancellation are non-refundable if Provider
institutes its right of cancellation. Any violation of policies which results in
extra costs will be billed to the customer (i.e. transfer, space etc.).
Indemnification
Provider wishes
to emphasize that in signing the Master Services Agreement or its equivalent,
customer indemnifies Provider
for any violation of the Master Services Agreement or its equivalent, law or AUP
that results in loss to Provider
or the bringing of any claim against Provider
by any third-party. This means that if Provider
is sued because of a client's or a customer of a client's activity, the
client will pay any damages awarded against Provider,
plus costs and reasonable attorney's fees.
Disclaimer of
Responsibility
Provider
is under no duty to look at each client's or user's activities to determine if
a violation of the AUPs has occurred, nor do we assume any responsibility
through our AUPs to monitor or police Internet-related activities.
Provider disclaims
any responsibility for any such inappropriate use and any liability to any
person or party for any other person's or party's violation of this policy.
All Sub-Networks, resellers
and managed servers of Provider
must adhere to the above policies. Failure to follow any term or condition will
be grounds for immediate Cancellation.
INDIRECT OR ATTEMPTED
VIOLATIONS OF THE AUPs AND ACTUAL OR ATTEMPTED VIOLATIONS BY A THIRD PARTY ON
YOUR BEHALF, SHALL BE CONSIDERED VIOLATIONS OF THESE AUPs BY YOU.
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