Ponderosa Edge Internet Acceptable Use Policy
Effective Date: August 27, 2012
READ THIS ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY CAREFULLY BEFORE USING PONDEROSA'S
INTERNET SERVICE INTRODUCTION.
Ponderosa Edge ("Ponderosa") provides a
variety of Internet services (the “Services”) to their customers
(the “Subscribers"). The Services use resources that are shared
with many other users throughout the Internet. Each Subscriber
benefits by being able to share resources and communicate with
other users through the Services. However, as with any community,
the benefits and privileges of the Services must be balanced with
duties and responsibilities so that all users can have a
productive experience. This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) is
designed to help protect Ponderosa, Subscribers, and the Internet
community in general from irresponsible or, in some cases, illegal
or otherwise objectionable activities. By using the Services,
Subscribers consent to be bound by the terms of this AUP. This AUP
should be read in conjunction with our
Internet Terms & Conditions
available at
http://www.goponderosa.com/termsofusedirectory.html,
along with the Privacy Policy and other applicable policies, all
of which are incorporated herein. Each Subscriber, and those who
access some of the Services through a Subscriber’s account but do
not have accounts (“Visitors”), is responsible for ensuring that
the use of all Services complies with this AUP.
Violation
of any term of this AUP may result in the immediate suspension or
termination of either your access to the Services or Ponderosa
Edge account. UPDATING THIS AGREEMENT.
Ponderosa Edge may revise, amend, or modify this AUP
from time to time. Notice of any revision, amendment, or
modification will be posted on Ponderosa's website, and/or on your
start pages and/or by email and/or in mailings to your primary
Ponderosa Edge email account and will be effective on the date noted in
the posting. This Agreement may not be amended or modified by you
except by means of a written document signed by both you and an
authorized representative of Ponderosa. By continuing to use the
Services after the amendments are effective, you accept and agree
to abide by them.
VIOLATIONS OF PONDEROSA'S ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY.
The following is a non-exclusive list of actions
that Ponderosa Edge considers to be inappropriate and thus prohibited,
and discussed in further detail following this Section. The
examples identified in this list are provided as examples only for
your guidance. If you are unsure whether any contemplated use or
action is permitted, please contact Ponderosa.
• Using the
Services for any activity that violates any local, state, federal
or international law, order or regulation. • Using the Services
to transmit, distribute, store or access any material (by e-mail,
publishing, uploading, posting or otherwise) which is
inappropriate, profane, obscene, indecent, pornographic, libelous,
harassing, constitutes a threat or encourages bodily harm or
destruction of property, or otherwise objectionable or unlawful.
• Using the Services to transmit, distribute, store or access any
material (by e-mail, publishing, uploading, posting, or otherwise)
that infringes copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or
other proprietary rights of any third party. You assume all risks
regarding the determination of whether material is in the public
domain. • Using the Services to make fraudulent offers to buy
or sell products, items, or services, or to advance any type of
financial/soliciting scams including, but not limited to, “pyramid
schemes,” “Ponzi schemes,” “mail bombing,” and “chain letters.”
• Using the Services to harm or attempt to harm a minor,
including, but not limited to, hosting, possessing, distributing,
or transmitting child pornography or other material that is
unlawful. • Any fraudulent activities, including impersonating
any person or entity or forging anyone else's digital or manual
signature. • Disrupting or interfering with the Services in any
way, including through the uploading of files which contain
viruses, worms, “Trojan horses,” or other software or programs
that may be damaging to the Services or another user’s computer.
• Using the Services to transmit, or to facilitate the
transmission of, any unsolicited commercial e-mail or unsolicited
bulk e-mail. • Using the Services to access, or to attempt to
access, the accounts of others, or to penetrate, or attempt to
penetrate, security measures of Ponderosa’s or another entity’s
computer software or hardware, electronic communications system,
or telecommunications system, whether or not the intrusion results
in the corruption or loss of data. • Using the Services to
collect, or attempt to collect, personal information about third
parties without their knowledge or consent. • Reselling the
Services without Ponderosa’s authorization. • Using the
Services for any activity that adversely affects the ability of
other people or systems to use the Services or the Internet. •
Using the Services for excessive posting or cross-posting of the
same or substantially similar messages, or binary files to
newsgroups not specifically named for that purpose, or flooding or
disruption of Usenet newsgroups. • Using the Services to
perform chat “flooding”, maintaining more than two simultaneous
chat discussions, using the Services to connect to chat servers or
channels from which they have been previously banned, or forging,
altering, or obscuring your identity while participating in chat
sessions. • Using the Services to post any content that holds
Ponderosa (including its affiliates), employees or shareholders up
to public scorn or ridicule or would any way damage or impair
Ponderosa's reputation or goodwill. SECURITY.
The Services may not be used to breach the
security of another user or to attempt to gain access to any other
person's computer, software or data, without the knowledge and
consent of such person. The Services also may not be used in any
attempt to circumvent the user authentication or security of any
host, network, or account. This includes, but is not limited to,
accessing data not intended for you, logging into or making use of
a server or account you are not expressly authorized to access, or
probing the security of other networks. Use or distribution of
tools designed for compromising security, such as password
guessing programs, cracking tools, packet sniffers or network
probing tools, is similarly prohibited.
You may not attempt
to disrupt the Services. The Services also may not be used to
interfere with computer networking or telecommunications services
to any user, host or network, including, without limitation,
denial of service attacks, flooding of a network, overloading a
service, improper seizing and abuse of operator privileges and
attempts to "crash" a host. The transmission or dissemination of
any information or software that contains a virus or other harmful
feature also is prohibited. You are solely responsible for the
security of any device you choose to connect to the Services,
including any data stored on that device. INAPPROPRIATE
CONTENT.
There may be content on the Internet or
otherwise available through the Services which may be offensive to
some individuals, or which may not be in compliance with all local
laws, regulations and other rules. For example, it is possible to
obtain access to content that is pornographic or offensive,
particularly for children. Ponderosa Edge cannot assume any
responsibility for the content contained on the Internet or
otherwise available through the Services. You must assume the risk
of accessing content through the Services, and Ponderosa Edge shall not
have any liability for any claims, losses, actions, damages, suits
or proceedings arising out of or otherwise relating to access to
such content.
You are solely responsible for any
information that is transmitted from your IP address or your
account on the web, other Internet services, or that you publish
on the web or other Internet services. You must ensure that the
content is only made available to appropriate recipients.
Ponderosa Edge has no obligation to monitor transmissions made on the
Services. Ponderosa Edge reserves the right to monitor any Subscriber’s
transmissions. Ponderosa Edge may remove, or refuse to post, any
information or materials, in whole or in part, that Ponderosa, in
its sole discretion, deems to be offensive, indecent, or otherwise
inappropriate regardless of whether such material or its
dissemination is unlawful.
By using the Services to
reproduce, publish, display, transmit and distribute content, a
Subscriber is warranting that the content complies with this AUP,
and authorizing Ponderosa Edge to reproduce, publish, display, transmit
and distribute such content as necessary for Ponderosa Edge to deliver
the content in a timely manner. ELECTRONIC MAIL.
The Services may not be used to send unsolicited
bulk or commercial messages. This includes, but is not limited to,
bulk mailing of commercial advertising, informational
announcements, charity requests, petitions for signatures and
political or religious messages.
You may not reference
Ponderosa Edge (e.g. by including "Organization: Ponderosa" in the
header or by listing an IP address that belongs to Ponderosa) in
any unsolicited email even if that email is not sent through the
Services.
"Mail bombing" is prohibited. That is, you may
not send numerous copies of the same or substantially similar
messages, nor may you send very large messages or files to a
recipient with the intent to disrupt a server or account. The
propagation of chain letters is similarly prohibited, whether or
not the recipient wishes to receive such mailings.
Ponderosa Edge is not responsible for the forwarding of email sent to
any account that has been suspended or terminated. Such email will
be returned to sender, ignored, deleted, or stored temporarily at
Ponderosa's sole discretion. INTERNET RELAY CHAT.
The Services may be used to participate in
"chat" discussions. These discussions may be hosted by Ponderosa
Edge servers, by third party servers, or may not involve any servers at
all. In all cases, Ponderosa Edge does not normally monitor the
contents of the discussions and is not liable for the contents of
any communications made via Internet chat.
The Services
may not be used to perform chat "flooding." Flooding is defined as
deliberately repeating actions in quick succession in order to
fill the screens of other Internet users with text.
Any
computer or other device connected through the Services may not
maintain more than two simultaneous chat connections. This
includes the use of automated programs, such as "bots" or
"clones". Automated programs may not be used when the account
holder is not physically present at the device.
The
Services may not be used to send messages which disrupt another
Internet user's equipment, including software, hardware, and user
display.
A Subscriber may not use the Services to connect
to chat servers or channels from which they have been previously
banned or indicated non-receipt.
The Services may not be
used to continue to send chat messages to an Internet user who has
indicated their desire to not receive such messages.
Forging, altering, or obscuring your identity (other than using a
nickname from which Ponderosa Edge could, if necessary, determine your
real name) while participating in chat sessions is forbidden.
BANDWIDTH, DATA STORAGE AND OTHER LIMITATIONS.
You must comply with then-current bandwidth,
data storage and other limitations on the Services. Subscribers
must ensure that their activity does not improperly restrict,
inhibit, or degrade any other Subscriber's use of the Services,
nor represent (in the sole judgment of Ponderosa) an unusually
large burden on the network itself. In addition, Subscribers must
ensure that their activity does not improperly restrict, inhibit,
disrupt, degrade or impede Ponderosa's ability to deliver the
Services and monitor the Services, backbone, network nodes, and/or
other network services.
Certain applications that you may
use will, by their nature, permit other Internet users to gain
access to your computer. These applications include, for example,
your use of your computer as a server to allow others to download
files using FTP or to access content you placed on a Web site
using HTTP. You are permitted to run such applications for your
personal use and within the limitations of this Agreement,
provided that you take the appropriate security measures and you
assume all risk of security breaches such as those described
above. Ponderosa Edge shall have no liability whatsoever for any
claims, losses, actions, damages, suits, or proceedings resulting
from or arising out of or otherwise relating to your use of such
applications, including, without limitation, damages resulting
from other Internet users' having access to your computer.
SUSPENSION; TERMINATION.
Ponderosa Edge takes no responsibility for any
material created or accessible through the Services. Ponderosa
Edge is
not obligated to monitor or exercise editorial control over such
material for violation of this AUP, but reserves the right to do
so. In the event that Ponderosa Edge becomes aware that any such
material may violate this AUP or expose Ponderosa Edge to civil or
criminal liability, Ponderosa Edge reserves the right to block access
to such material and suspend or terminate any Subscriber creating,
storing or disseminating such material. Ponderosa Edge further reserves
the right to cooperate with legal authorities and third parties in
the investigation of alleged wrongdoing, including disclosing the
identity of the Subscriber that Ponderosa Edge deems responsible for
the wrongdoing.
Any Subscriber that Ponderosa Edge determines to
have violated any element of this AUP may be subject to a
suspension or termination of service, and if Ponderosa Edge deems it
necessary, immediate suspension or termination of such
Subscriber's service without notice. Ponderosa Edge may take such
further action as it determines to be appropriate under the
circumstances to eliminate or preclude repeat violations.
Ponderosa Edge shall not be liable for any damages of any nature
suffered by any Subscriber, user, or any third party resulting in
whole or in part from Ponderosa's exercise of its rights under
this AUP. The above-described actions are not Ponderosa’s
exclusive remedies and Ponderosa Edge may take any other legal or
technical action it deems appropriate. ENTIRE AGREEMENT.
This AUP contains and refers to the entire
agreement of the parties relating to the rights granted and
obligations assumed in this AUP. Any oral representations or
modifications concerning this AUP shall be of no force and effect
unless contained in a subsequent written modification signed by
both parties to this AUP or unless modified pursuant to
Section 2 ( UPDATING THIS
AGREEMENT). HEADINGS.
The headings in this Agreement are for
convenience of reference only and shall not be given any effect in
the interpretation of this AUP. NO WAIVER.
No course of dealing or failure of either party
to enforce strictly any right, term, or condition of this AUP
shall be deemed or construed as a waiver of such right, term, or
condition. JURISDICTION.
This AUP is governed by California law without
regard to conflict of law provisions. SEVERABILITY.
If any provision of this AUP is held by a court
or regulatory agency of competent jurisdiction to be invalid,
void, or unenforceable, the rest of the AUP shall remain in full
force and effect.
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