As an Internet Service Provider, ACI, Inc. offers its subscribers the means to acquire and disseminate a wealth of public, private, commercial and non-commercial information. ACI, Inc. also wants its subscribers to be fully informed of their rights and obligations - and those of ACI, Inc. - in connection with their use of the Internet. This Acceptable Usage Policy, which explains certain terms applicable to all ACI, Inc. users, in "plain English", will outline those rights and obligations. All users of ACI, Inc. services in any form constitutes acceptance of this Acceptable Use Policy and are required to be familiar with, and responsible for, the contents of the Policy.

Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

The fundamental fact about the Internet is that no one - neither ACI, Inc.. nor anyone else - owns or controls it. This fact accounts for much of the Internet's openness and value, but it also places a high premium on the judgment and responsibility of those who use the Internet, both in the information they acquire and in the information they disseminate to others.

When users obtain information through the Internet, they must keep in mind that ACI, Inc. cannot monitor, verify, warrant or vouch for the accuracy and quality of the information they may acquire. For this reason, the user must exercise his or her best judgment in relying on information obtained from the Internet, and also should be aware that some material posted to the Internet is sexually explicit or otherwise offensive. ACI, Inc. cannot monitor or censor the Internet, and will not attempt to do so. ACI, Inc. cannot accept any responsibility for injury to its subscribers that results from inaccurate, unsuitable or offensive Internet communications. Other ISPs, services, sites, and servers may also have an AUP type of agreement that you must agree to in order to access their services, and by using ACI, Inc.'s resources to access them you agree to be bound by their policies.

When users disseminate information through the Internet, they also must keep in mind that ACI, Inc. does not review, edit, censor or take responsibility for any information its subscribers may create. This places on users what will be, for most, an unfamiliar responsibility. When users place information on the Internet, they have the same liability as other authors for copyright infringement, defamation and other harmful speech. Also, because the information they create is carried over ACI, Inc. facilities and may reach a large number of people, including both subscribers and non-subscribers of ACI, Inc., subscribers' postings to the Internet may affect other subscribers and may harm ACI, Inc.'s goodwill, business reputation and operations. For these reasons, subscribers violate ACI, Inc. Usage Policy when they, their affiliates or subsidiaries engage in the following activities:

Spamming

Sending mass unsolicited Commercial Email (known as "UCE" or "SPAM") is a strongly disfavored practice among Internet users and service providers. It is particularly harmful not only because of its negative impact on consumer attitudes towards ACI, Inc., but also because it could possibly overload ACI, Inc.'s equipment and disrupt service to ACI, Inc. subscribers. Therefore it is contrary to ACI, Inc.'s policy:

• To post a single article or advertisement to more than ten (10) Usenet or other newsgroups, forums, email mailing lists or other similar groups or lists;
  
  

• To post to any Usenet or other newsgroup, forum, email mailing list or other similar group or list articles which are off-topic according to the charter or other owner-published FAQ or description of the group or list;
  
  

• To send unsolicited mass emailings to more than twenty-five (25) email users, if such unsolicited emailings provoke complaints from the recipients;
  
  

• To engage in any of the foregoing activities using the service of another provider, but channeling such activities through an ACI, Inc. account or remailer, or using an ACI, Inc. account as a maildrop or dial-in for responses;
  
  

• To falsify user information provided to ACI, Inc. or to other users of the service in connection with use of an Internet service;
  
  

• Billing for spam will be charged to the abuser's account will be as follows: $1 per complaint received, $1 per complaint response, $1 per "spam" sent, $1 per kilobyte of bandwidth used during "spam" process, $1 per minute labor on "spam" issue, as well as any monetary amount ACI, Inc. sees fit to compensate abused persons and ACI, Inc. for resources consumed in the "spam" process.
  

Copyright Violation

Violation of copyrights held by individuals and corporations or other entities can result in civil and criminal liability for the infringer, and can involve the ISP in litigation and possible loss of reputation.

Distribution and/or Transmission of
Obscene or Indecent Speech or Materials

Violation of indecency and obscenity laws can result in criminal penalties.

Defamation

Defamatory speech distributed over the Internet can result in civil liability for the defamer and litigation against the ISP whose facilities were used to distribute the defamatory material.

Illegal/Unauthorized Access to Other Computers or Networks

The illegal or unauthorized accessing (often known as "hacking") of computers or networks carries potential civil and criminal penalties under both federal laws and the laws of most states.

Distribution of Internet Viruses, Worms,
Trojan Horses and Other Destructive Activities

Distribution of Internet viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other destructive activities, such as hacking, can result in serious civil and or criminal liability under federal and state law.

Export Control Violations

The law limits the ability of persons to export encryption software, over the Internet or otherwise, to points outside the United States.

Other Activities

Other activities, whether lawful or unlawful, that ACI, Inc. determines to be harmful to its subscribers, operations or reputation, including any activities that restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the service or the Internet.

ACI, Inc. considers the above practices, or any unreasonable utilization of our resources, to constitute abuse of our services.

Engaging in one or more of these practices may result in:

• Termination of the offender's account and/or access to ACI, Inc. services;
  
  

• Informing the appropriate authorities of offenders actions, and release of offenders account information;
  
  

• Billing the offender for ACI, Inc. resources consumed, including, but not limited to, bandwidth, CPU cycles, administration labor, downtime, etc.
  
  

As we have pointed out, the responsibility for avoiding the harmful activities just described rests primarily with the subscriber. ACI, Inc. will not, as an ordinary practice, monitor the communications of its subscribers to ensure that they comply with ACI, Inc. policy or applicable law. When ACI, Inc. becomes aware of harmful communications, however, it may take any of a variety of actions. ACI, Inc. may remove information that violates its policies, implement screening software designed to block offending transmissions, or take any other action it deems appropriate, including termination of a subscribers account with ACI, Inc.

ACI, Inc. also is concerned with the privacy of on-line communications. In general, the Internet is neither more nor less secure than other common communications media, including mail, facsimile and voice telephone service, all of which can be intercepted and otherwise compromised. As a matter of prudence, however, ACI, Inc. urges its subscribers to assume that all of their on-line communications are insecure.

ACI, Inc. cannot take any responsibility for the security of communications transmitted over ACI, Inc.'s facilities. ACI, Inc. may be required to disclose information transmitted through its facilities in order to comply with court orders, statutes, regulations or governmental requests. Finally, ACI, Inc. may isclose information transmitted over its facilities where necessary to protect ACI, Inc. and its subscribers from harm, or where such disclosure is necessary to the proper operation of the system.

ACI, Inc. wishes to emphasize again that all users of ACI, Inc. services in any form constitutes acceptance of this Acceptable Use Policy and are required to be familiar with, and responsible for, the contents of the Policy. Subscribers therefore, indemnify ACI, Inc. for any violation of law or ACI, Inc. policy that results in loss to ACI, Inc. or the bringing of any claim against ACI, Inc. Among other things, this means that if ACI, Inc. is sued because of activities of the subscriber that violate any law, or this policy, the subscriber will pay any damages awarded against ACI, Inc. plus costs and reasonable attorneys' fees.

If you have any questions on this policy, or wish to report a violation of our AUP, please send email to abuse@aci.net.