Acceptable Use Policy
Violations, queries, and information regarding the Affordable Web Pages Inc.
Acceptable Use Policy should be addressed to
abuse@affordable-web-pages.com.
SCOPE
This document replaces all previous documents including to but not
limited to previous registration agreements, online registrations,
and any other method used or developed to grant access to the
Affordable Web Pages Inc. network. This Policy applies to:all components of
Affordable Web Pages Inc., including all subsidiaries, trade styles and
related concerns; All customers, clients, employees, advisors, and
agents of, and all authorized third parties that require the use of,
and are granted access to the Affordable Web Pages Inc. network; All
Information Systems Environments operated by Affordable Web Pages Inc.
or contracted with a third party by Affordable Web Pages Inc.. The term
"Information Systems Environment" defines the total environment and
includes, but is not limited to, all documentation, physical and
logical controls, personnel, software, hardware (e.g. distributed,
desktop, network devices), and information.
The Internet is a vast network of computers that allows an
individual user on the network to share the resources of other
computers. This sharing of resources creates a "community" and when
you use Affordable Web Pages Inc. to access the Internet you become a
member of two communities. You become part of the community of
Affordable Web Pages Inc., which includes our network and customers,
and you become a part of the larger community of networks and users
on the Internet.
Access to the Internet through Affordable Web Pages Inc. is a
privilege, not a right, and carries with it certain responsibilities
and duties. Our goal in establishing this Acceptable Use Policy
(AUP) is to protect both our users and the larger Internet community
from the consequences of irresponsible use of Affordable Web Pages Inc.
accounts and resources. Affordable Web Pages Inc.'s AUP chiefly prohibits
- acts that are illegal,
- acts that violate generally accepted standards for online behavior,
- acts that misuse Affordable Web Pages Inc.'s resources to the detriment of other users.
All customers, clients, and users of the Affordable Web Pages Inc.
network are required to comply with this Policy.
All violations of the Acceptable Use Policy will be reviewed for
appropriate action that could include termination of access. Our
failure to enforce this policy, for whatever reason, shall not be
construed as a waiver of our right to do so at any time.
Affordable Web Pages Inc. intends to provide its clients, customers,
and users access to everything the Internet has to offer. While
Affordable Web Pages Inc. is firmly committed to the principles of free
speech, certain activities are damaging to the resources of both
Affordable Web Pages Inc. and the Internet and cannot be permitted
under the guise of free speech.
The resources of Affordable Web Pages Inc. and the Internet (general)
are limited, and abuse of these resources by one user has a negative
impact on the entire community.
FAIR USE
No Customer, Client or any other Person shall use or permit to be
used the Affordable Web Pages Inc. Services in such a manner as to
prevent FAIR AND PROPORTIONATE use thereof by other Customers,
Clients or Persons thereto.
If it is deemed by Affordable Web Pages Inc. Inc., that a Customer,
Client or user is utilizing his/her/their Affordable Web Pages Inc.
Services in any manner that prevents FAIR usage thereof by other
Customers, Clients or Persons and/or it is deemed by Affordable Web Pages Inc.,
that a Customer, Client or Person is utilizing
his/her/their Affordable Web Pages Inc. Services in any manner that is
not a PROPORTIONATE usage thereof with other Customers, Clients or
Persons;
Affordable Web Pages Inc. Inc. may:
- Bill the Customer the disproportionate amount. Additional billing
will be in Account Increments based upon average usage. (If an
account holder utilizes twice the amount of resources as the average
user they will be billed for two accounts.)
- Limit the Customer's use of the Affordable Web Pages Inc. Services
(Limits will be set to the upper quadrant average usage by the
customer base)
- Discontinue and refuse to provide any Affordable Web Pages Inc.
Services. (The impetus for the creation of an ISP was the cost
involved in buying and maintaining the network operation. To solve
this problem and ISP provides "shared" resources to effectively
lower the overall costs. This is not a new idea, it is fundamental
in industries like insurance where your payment is calculated on a
proportionate basis. Like insurance, individuals can be charged
extra or denied insurance because of factors that would
disproportionately increase the costs for the other participants.)
ELECTRONIC MAIL
Your Affordable Web Pages Inc. account gives you the ability to send
and receive electronic mail. Affordable Web Pages Inc. believes that
electronic mail should be used for personal communication and not as
a broadcast medium.
The following examples are non-exclusive and are provided for your
guidance.
- You may not use your account to send unsolicited bulk or
commercial messages ("spam"). This includes, but is not limited to,
bulk mailing of commercial advertising, informational announcements,
charity requests, petitions for signatures, and political or
religious tracts. Such messages may only be sent to those who have
explicitly requested it.
- Individuals who are operating their own mail servers should
ensure that their systems are secured against external relaying to
prevent abuse of resources.
- Individuals who maintain mailing lists should ensure that their
mailing list software requires confirmation of subscription to
prevent malicious subscriptions to lists by third parties.
- You may not use your account to collect responses from
unsolicited bulk or commercial e-mail sent from accounts with other
providers.
- Forging, altering or removing electronic mail headers is
prohibited.
- You may not send numerous copies of the same or substantially
similar message, nor may you send very large messages or files to a
recipient, with the intent to disrupt a server or account ("mail
bombing").
- You may not use electronic mail to harass or intimidate others.
Harassment, whether through language, frequency of messages, or size
of messages, is prohibited. Sending a single unwelcome message may
be considered harassment. If a recipient asks to stop receiving
email, you must not send that person any further messages.
- You may not forward or otherwise propagate chain letters, whether
or not such messages solicit money or other items of value, and
whether or not the recipient wishes to receive such mailings.
- Affordable Web Pages Inc. accounts may not be used to collect
replies to messages sent from another Internet service provider if
those messages violate this Acceptable Use Policy or the acceptable
use policy of the other service provider.
- If you use the services of another provider to promote a web site
hosted by or through Affordable Web Pages Inc., then the provisions of
this Acceptable Use Policy shall apply to the methods used to promote
such site.
Not every "flame" message or angry exchange of email or newsgroup
posting can automatically be considered harassment. Affordable Web Pages Inc.
is not responsible for the content or tone of any email or
other transmissions of the subscribers to its service or other
parties using the Internet. Subscribers or others should not expect
that Affordable Web Pages Inc. will attempt to mediate or otherwise
become involved in any particular disagreement or dispute between
Internet users. The Internet is a network intended for use by
mature, adult users. All users should recognize this principle and
undertake at all times to act with respect, courtesy and
responsibility, giving due regard to the interests and rights of
other Internet users, groups, and networks. We expect and appreciate
the use of common sense and good judgement while using the network.
SPAMMING
We have a ZERO tolerance policy in effect for spam!
If you are caught "spamming" you may loose your account!
You may also be subject to a $20.00US fine for EACH complaint filed.
HOMEPAGE, WEB PAGES, WEB SITES
The customers, clients or users are solely responsible for any
information contained on their homepages, web pages or web sites.
However, if complaints are received regarding language, content or
graphics contained on your homepage, web pages, or web sites,
Affordable Web Pages Inc. may, at its sole discretion, remove the
homepage, web pages, or web site hosted on Affordable Web Pages Inc.
servers and terminate your service and/or your access.
You may not use your personal home page site to publish material
that Affordable Web Pages Inc. determines, at its sole discretion, to
be unlawful, indecent or objectionable. For purposes of this policy,
"material" refers to all forms of communications including narrative
descriptions, graphics (including photographs, illustrations,
images, drawings, logos), executable programs, video recordings, and
audio recordings.
Unlawful content is that which violates any law, statute, treaty,
regulation, or lawful order. This includes, but is not limited to:
obscene material; defamatory, fraudulent or deceptive statements;
threatening, intimidating or harassing statements, or material which
violates the privacy rights or property rights of others (copyrights
or trademarks, for example).
Indecent content is that which depicts sexual or excretory
activities in a patently offensive matter as measured by
contemporary community standards.
Objectionable content is otherwise legal content with which
Affordable Web Pages Inc. concludes, in its sole discretion, it does
not want to be associated in order to protect its reputation and
brand image, or to protect its employees, shareholders and affiliates.
SECURITY
You are responsible for any misuse of your account, even if the
inappropriate activity was committed by a friend, family member,
guest or employee. Therefore, you must take steps to ensure that
others do not gain unauthorized access to your account. In addition,
you may not use your account to breach security of another account
or attempt to gain unauthorized access to another network or server.
For security purposes the listed account holder, and/or the listed
account administrator are the only authorized individuals that may
request edits, changes, or information for the account.
Authorization to release information and/or edit and/or make changes
from anyone other than the listed account holder and/or the listed
account administrator must be received in writing. Your password
provides access to your account. It is your responsibility to keep
your password secure. Passwords must contain at least six
characters, and should contain at least one number or symbol, should
contain both uppercase and lowercase letters, and should not be
based on any word found in the dictionary or on any personal
information (name or birth date, for example). Your password should
not be the same as your user ID. Sharing your password and account
access with unauthorized users is prohibited.
You should take care to prevent others from using your account since
you will be held responsible for such use. Attempting to obtain
another user's account password is strictly prohibited, and may
result in termination of service. You must adopt adequate security
measures to prevent or minimize unauthorized use of your account.
You may not attempt to circumvent user authentication or security of
any host, network or account ("cracking"). 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 is
prohibited. Examples of these tools include, but are not limited to,
password guessing programs, cracking tools or network probing tools.
You may not attempt to interfere with service to any user, host, or
network ("denial of service attacks"). This includes, but is not
limited to, "flooding" of networks, deliberate attempts to overload
a service, and attempts to "crash" a host.
Users who violate systems or network security may incur criminal or
civil liability. Affordable Web Pages Inc. will cooperate fully with
investigations of violations of systems or network security at other
sites, including cooperating with law enforcement authorities in the
investigation of suspected criminal violations.
BILLING
All Affordable Web Pages Inc. Accounts are monthly accounts and are
prepaid. Charges for new accounts are prorated to accommodate the
billing cycle. The billing cycle runs from the first of the month to
the last day of the month. Charges for terminating accounts are not
prorated. Charges for usage by customer beyond the base amount of
usage contained in customer's service plan shall be billed the
following month along with base charges for the coming month. Volume
discounts for bulk purchases of monthly connectivity services remain
in effect for the total length of the term, otherwise, full fees
will apply. Pre-authorized Payment by credit card or automatic bank
debit is the preferred method of payment. Payment is due by the
first of the month or upon receipt of any invoice.
Affordable Web Pages Inc. may terminate any account with no refund to
customer in the event of customer's breach of any of the terms or
conditions contained herein. Delinquent accounts are those that
remain unpaid at the beginning of the next accounting cycle, and are
subject to a 2% per month service charge (24 % per annum). Accounts
that are delinquent for more than five days are put on "accounting
hold", their files are then archived and access is denied. Affordable Web Pages Inc.
accounts continue to accrue charges while they are on
hold. Accounts that are unpaid for ten days after due date have
their files purged. There is a service reconnection charge equal to
one half the currently charged set-up fee, or ten dollars, whichever
is greater, to remove accounts from accounting hold status. The
account holder acknowledges responsibility for the account until
payment in full is made.There is a $20.00 service charge for each
returned check. An automatic reminder has been programmed into your
account to notify you when your account is about to expire, as well,
your account has been automatically added to the Affordable Web Pages Inc.
listserver in order for you to receive the Affordable Web Pages Inc.
newsletters and important notices.
TECHNICAL SUPPORT
Affordable Web Pages Inc. will only be responsible for the Internet
software that is included with the Affordable Web Pages Inc.
installation packages for standardized hardware. Internet software
that has not been provided by Affordable Web Pages Inc. or systems that
are not standardized are not the responsibility of Affordable Web Pages Inc.
either for support, functionality or replacement. The User
agrees to obtain a basic knowledge of their computer's operating
system, configuration and interface, along with a basic knowledge of
the Internet and its operating principles and procedures.
NETWORK PERFORMANCE
Affordable Web Pages Inc. accounts operate on shared resources.
Excessive use or abuse of these shared network resources by one
customer may have a negative impact on all other customers. 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 on shared
resources. You may not use resource-intensive programs that
negatively impact other customers or the performance of Affordable Web Pages Inc.
systems or networks. Affordable Web Pages Inc. reserves
the right to terminate or limit such activities.
PENALTIES
Abuse of the system by a user generally costs Affordable Web Pages Inc.
time, money and resources. It is not fair that this additional cost
should be borne by the other customers of Affordable Web Pages Inc.. A
minimum service fee of $500.00 will therefore be applied to the
users account. Account holder and user further agree to pay
Affordable Web Pages Inc. reasonable collection and attorney fees on
service charges shown, without regard to further legal action taken
by Affordable Web Pages Inc. to recover other or related consequential
damages suffered by account holder or user's actions.
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
ALL SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS, AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. NO
WARRANTIES, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THOSE
OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE, ARE MADE
WITH RESPECT TO THESE SERVICES OR ANY INFORMATION OR SOFTWARE
PROVIDED THEREBY. Affordable Web Pages Inc. is not responsible for
Customer's files residing on the Affordable Web Pages Inc. network.
Customer is responsible for independent backup of all such data at a
site determined by customer. Affordable Web Pages Inc. cannot and does
not exercise any control whatsoever over the information passing
through its network or through the Internet. Affordable Web Pages Inc.
is in no way responsible for any data loss or damage arising from
viral infection from the Internet. Affordable Web Pages Inc. and/or
contributors shall have no liability whatsoever to you for any
claim(s) relating in any way to: your inability or failure to
perform research or related work or to work properly or completely,
or any lost profits or consequential, exemplary, incidental,
indirect or special damages relating in whole or in part to your
rights hereunder or use of, or inability to use, Affordable Web Pages Inc.'s
Internet Services. Affordable Web Pages Inc. will not be
responsible for any damage suffered by you, including, but not
limited to, loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries,
mis-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by its own
negligence or your errors or omissions. Use of any information
obtained via Affordable Web Pages Inc.'s Internet Services is at your
sole risk. Affordable Web Pages Inc. specifically disclaims any
responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained
through Affordable Web Pages Inc.'s Internet Services. As a user you
are warned that some Internet sites accessible via the Affordable Web Pages Inc.
network allow posting, retrieval, and/or electronic mailing
of materials that may be considered obscene or objectionable.
Affordable Web Pages Inc. is not responsible for inadvertent or
deliberate access to such material and cannot prevent access of such
material. It is recommended that each customer closely monitor use
of his/her account especially in the case of potential use or misuse
by minor children. Accounts for minor children must be opened by a
parent or legal guardian with their explicit consent. Affordable Web Pages Inc.
network services may be used only for lawful purposes.
Transmittal of any material in violation of any international,
federal or state regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not
limited to: copyrighted materials, material legally judged to be
threatening or obscene, or material protected by trade secret or
software protected by copyright. You agree to indemnify and hold
harmless Affordable Web Pages Inc. (AKA www.affordable-web-pages.com,
www.affordable-data-center.com, www.awp-hosting.com, and www.3.75-hosting.com)
from any claims resulting from your use of the
service that damages you or another party. Any access to other
networks through the Affordable Web Pages Inc. network must comply with
the rules appropriate for the other network. Violation of the rules
of other networks is grounds for account cancellation. This
includes, but is not limited to, mass Usenet posting, Usenet
cross-posting, mass emailing, and/or the sending of unsolicited
email, commercial or otherwise. Affordable Web Pages Inc. and its
affiliates shall not be liable under any legal theory (including
tort or contract) for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or
consequential damages in any way related to the product or services
provided. Under no circumstances and under no legal theory, tort,
contract, or otherwise, shall Affordable Web Pages Inc. be liable to
you or any other person for any indirect, special, incidental, or
consequential damages of any character including, without
limitation, damages for loss of goodwill, work-stoppage, computer
failure or malfunction, or any and all other commercial damages or
losses, or for any damages even if Affordable Web Pages Inc. has been
informed of the possibility of such damages, or for any claim by any
other party.
OPERATION
Affordable Web Pages Inc. reserves the right to change its services
without notice including but not limited to access procedures, hours
of operation, menu structures, commands, documentation, and services
offered. Notice of modifications to this Acceptable Use Policy will
be posted to this Affordable Web Pages Inc. Web page. Customers are
encouraged to review the current Acceptable Use Policy on a regular
basis. Customer's use of Affordable Web Pages Inc. network after such
notice shall constitute Customer acceptance of such modifications.
Customer understands that Affordable Web Pages Inc. services may be
interrupted for several reasons, including but not limited to
malfunctions, maintenance, and improvement or as required to protect
network resources in the event of malfunctions or misuse. Customer
understands that it may not receive advance notification of any such
interruption of service. There will be no refunds for scheduled or
unscheduled service interruptions of less than 24 hours duration. At
its sole discretion, Affordable Web Pages Inc. may elect to provide a
pro rata or additional/extension of service refund for service
interruptions of greater than 24 hours. Affordable Web Pages Inc.
reserves the right at its sole discretion to delete any information
entered into Affordable Web Pages Inc. network computer systems by
Customer. Affordable Web Pages Inc. and its authorized representatives
shall retain the right, but shall not be obligated, to
review/accept/reject publicly viewable information. Affordable Web Pages Inc.
reserves the right to disconnect non-dedicated dial-up
connections with inactivity for more than 15 minutes ("time-out").
Non-dedicated dial-up connections may not be utilized as a dedicated
connection, and Affordable Web Pages Inc. reserves the right to
disconnect non-dedicated dial-up connections exceeding 4 hours in
connection duration. Affordable Web Pages Inc. reserves the right to
delete Customer's files, including but not limited to Web page(s)
and email, for which a storage fee has not been paid and which have
not been accessed for more than one (1) month. Affordable Web Pages Inc.
reserves the right to refuse and/or terminate service to anyone
or any entity for any reason at its sole discretion with or without
notice. The owner of this document is the Network Operations Centre
(NOC) of Affordable Web Pages Inc.