FAQ: Appropriate Use Policy (AUP)

June 17, 2002

Appropriate Use Policy (AUP)

Our Appropriate Use Policy (AUP) is designed to help protect our customers and the Internet community from irresponsible or illegal activities. As good net citizens, we prohibit the impersonation of others, unsolicited commercial appeals, and any activities that might disrupt Internet services. Examples of such activities are given below:

E-mail

General

You understand that if your account includes an email box, you are limited to 10 megabytes of space on the email server. Our server will automatically reject new mail messages when your mailbox exceeds the 10 megabyte threshold.

Commercial E-Mail

Sending unsolicited commercial e-mail (also known as UCE or SPAM) is strictly prohibited. If we receive reports that indicate that your account has been used to send UCE, we reserve the right to automatically and immediately terminate your account without notification and without refunding ANY prepaid fees. Using an Atl-Connect e-mail address to collect responses from unsolicited commercial e-mail is also prohibited. Please refer to the section on Commerce on the Internet for additional guidance.

Mail Bombing

Sending large volumes of unsolicited e-mail with the intention of disrupting mail service to another individual or entity is strictly prohibited. If we determine, in our sole discretion, that you have used our network to deliberately send large volumes of email in an attempt to crash any server, then we reserve the right to asses a misuse fee of $250 in addition to terminating your account without refund of any prepaid fees.

Harassment

Sending threatening or harassing e-mail after being requested to stop, is prohibited. Extremely threatening or harassing e-mail is always prohibited.

Usenet News

Newsgroup Spamming

Excessive cross-posting, or posting the same article to several newsgroups, is prohibited. Generally accepted standards allow no more than 15 newsgroups, or cross-postings, for a single article or substantially similar articles. Such articles may be cancelled. Atl-Connect does not control the content of newsgroups. Note that Atl-Connect's upstream provider for newsgroup services strictly prohibits posting SPAM to newsgroups; they will cut off our posting privileges if they get notification that one of our accounts has posted SPAM...accordingly, if we get word that you have posted SPAM to a newsgroup, we reserve the right to automatically and immediately terminate your account without notification and without refunding ANY prepaid fees.

Off-topic or Inappropriate Postings

Atl-Connect exerts no control over the content of messages posted to newsgroups. Generally, each newsgroup defines the acceptable content and communicates it through a FAQ document that is periodically posted to the list. Continued posting of off-topic articles is prohibited. Please note that commercial advertisements are off-topic in the vast majority of newsgroups, and will be handled as UCE or SPAM.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

The use of IRC bots is prohibited, as is the violation of any accepted policies on IRC servers. If Atl-Connect is banned from a server, the offending account will be terminated.

General

Impersonation

Attempting to impersonate any person, using forged headers or other identifying information, is prohibited. The use of anonymous re-mailers and nicknames does not constitute impersonation.

Network Unfriendly Activity

Activities which adversely affect the ability of other people or systems to use Atl-Connect services or the Internet is prohibited.

Privacy Violations

Attempts, whether successful or not, to gain access to any computer system, or customer's data, without consent is prohibited. Any such attempt is grounds for immediate termination, and will be dealt with to the fullest extent of the law. You understand that Atl-Connect may, in its sole discretion, cancel your account for any reason.

Financial

Sharing Unlimited accounts with anyone other than immediate family member, or re-selling service without express written consent from Atl-Connect, or offering any public information service, such as running a web server or FTP server, is prohibited. Using programs to defeat system timers limiting inactivity is prohibited. Untimely payment of your outstanding account balance may result in account cancellation or suspension.

Excessive bandwidth or disk utilization

Atl-Connect account descriptions specify limits on bandwidth and disk utilization, and use in excess of those limits is not permitted. Bandwidth utilization is determined by the total number of bytes transferred from an account's Web and FTP space. Disk utilization is determined by the total number of bytes required to store an account's Web and FTP data.

In the event Atl-Connect determines that an account is exceeding the bandwidth or disk utilization, the account owner will be notified by e-mail. If the excess use continues for more than 48 hours after such notification, the owner may be requested to upgrade the account's service charges or to modify the activity creating the excess use.

If excessive bandwidth or disk space utilization is determined to adversely affect Atl-Connects ability to provide service, immediate action will be taken. The account owner will be notified by email as soon as practical.

Privacy

It may be necessary for Atl-Connect employees to examine system accounting logs and other records to resolve system problems. Atl-Connect reserves the right to access an account's mailbox to resolve system problems or mail system errors.

In addition, Atl-Connect will cooperate with the appropriate legal authorities in investigating claims of illegal activity, including but not limited to illegal transfer or use of copyrighted material, postings or e-mail containing threats of violence, or other illegal activity.

Atl-Connect makes no guarantee and assumes no liability for the security of any data on any server including "secure servers."

Our customers are reminded that no computer system should be considered safe from intrusion. E-mail may pass through many computer systems, and should not be considered a secure means of communication unless encrypted. Even then, information is only as secure as the encryption method.

Common Sense

This document provides a general understanding of Atl-Connect's policy on the Appropriate Use of Atl-Connect services. Common sense and judgment are a necessary part of any system of rules, and this AUP is no exception. Of course, flagrant or repeated violations of the Policy are viewed in a very different light than minor infractions.

Protection of our customers and our resources, the ability to provide quality service to our customers, conformance with existing law, and the protection of our reputation as a service provider are all contributing factors to decisions on AUP violations.

It is our intention to allow Atl-Connect customers access to everything the Internet has to offer with minimal or no interference. Our belief in Free Speech is a firm commitment to our customers. However, Free Speech does not include the right to shout "Fire" in a crowded theater. In an analogous manner, certain activities are considered inappropriate by the Internet community at large, and cannot be permitted under the guise of Free Speech.

Atl-Connect does not control, monitor, or censor the content of any newsgroups, email, or web sites. We believe such choices should be left to the individual. We do advise our users that tools, such as Cyber Patrol, are available to screen an account's access these items one considers offensive. It is the account owner's responsibility to make use of such tools if desired.

Atl-Connect does not monitor the activity of accounts except for measurements of system utilization and billing records. However, in our efforts to promote good citizenship within the Internet community, if we become aware of inappropriate use of Atl-Connect service, we will respond.

If we determine that an Atl-Connect account holder has violated the AUP, we reserve the right to terminate service without notice. Our preferred course of action would be to advise the account owner of the inappropriate behavior and corrective action necessary. However, flagrant violations of the AUP will result in immediate termination of service.

In the event that an account is temporarily inactivated as a result of any prohibited activities, the account may be subject to reactivation charges and/or deposit requirements to be determined by Atl-Connect.

Posted by WebWiz at June 17, 2002 03:16 PM