Acceptable usage guidelines of Dial-Up Accounts:
Subscriber and its Users agree to use dial-up accounts solely
on an active dial-up basis, meaning only as needed and in no way on a standby
or inactive basis in order to maintain a connection. Without limitation
of the foregoing, Subscriber and its Users shall abide by the following
provisions regarding usage:
The following are violations of Blacksburg.net policies:
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Revealing your account password to others or allowing use
of your account by others (other than authorized users in your household).
At no time can there be simultaneous use of the same user name and password
combination.
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Using a personal account for high volume useage (commercial
or otherwise). If you would like to provide high-volume or commercial services,
please contact Blacksburg.net for information about opening up a commercial
account.
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Using Blacksburg.net services for illegal purposes, or in
support of illegal activities. Blacksburg.net reserves the right to cooperate
with legal authorities and/or injured third parties in the investigation
of any suspected crime or civil wrong. Activities which are prohibited
as potentially illegal include, but are not limited to:
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Unauthorized copying of copyrighted materials including,
but not limited to, digitization and distribution of photographs from magazines,
books, or other copyrighted sources, and copyrighted software.
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Exporting software or technical information in violation
of U.S. export control laws.
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Posting or e-mailing of scams such as 'make-money-fast' schemes
or 'pyramid/chain' letters.
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Making fraudulent offers of products, items, or services
originating from your account.
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You may not post or transmit charity requests, petitions
for signatures, chain letters or letters relating to pyramid schemes. You
may not post or transmit any advertising, promotional materials or any
other solicitation of other users of the Service for goods for services
except in those areas (e.g., a classified bulletin board) that are designated
for such purposes.
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Threatening bodily harm or property damage to individuals
or groups.
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Attempting to access the accounts of others, or attempting
to penetrate beyond security measures of our or other systems (referred
to as hacking) whether or not the intrusion results in corruption or loss
of data.
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Harassing others by 'mail-bombing' or 'news-bombing'. 'Mail-bombing'
constitutes sending more than ten (10) similar e-mail messages to the same
e-mail address. 'News-bombing' constitutes sending more than 10Mbytes of
data to a newsgroup.
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You may not post or list articles which are off-topic according
to the description of the group or list or send unsolicited mass e-mailings
to more than twenty-five (25) e-mail users, if such unsolicited mailings
provoke complaints from the recipients.
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Forging any message header, in part or whole, of any electronic
transmission, originating or passing through Blacksburg.net services.
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Distributing viruses to or from Blacksburg.net systems.
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Use of software or any device that would allow your account
to stay logged on while you are not actively using Blacksburg.net's services
or use the account for the purpose of operating a server of any type.
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A dial-up account has only one mailbox for incoming electronic
mail unless additional mailboxes have been purchased.
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Cross-posting advertisements for products, items, or services
to ten (10) or more unrelated newsgroups.
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Disrupting any newsgroup with frivolous, excessively vulgar
or repetitious postings.
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Posting of binary, or excessively large, unrelated text files
to non-binary newsgroups that have specifically requested such material
not be posted in the group's FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions).
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Installation of 'auto-responders', 'cancel-bots' or similar
automated or manual routines which generate excessive amounts of net traffic,
or disrupt net newsgroups or e-mail use by others.
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Engaging in any of the above activities using the service
of another provider but channeling such activities through a Blacksburg.net
account or re-mailer, or using a Blacksburg.net account as a mail drop
for responses.
Subscribers found in violation of the Blacksburg.net usage
policies may be subject to $1.95 an hour in addition to their monthly membership
fee and other damages as a result of violation of this agreement.
INACTIVITY DISCONNECT POLICY:
Blacksburg.net reserves the right to disconnect a dial-up
account after 15 minutes of inactivity, as detected by Blacksburg.net through
electronic means. This time is approximate and subject to change without
notice in Blacksburg.net's sole discretion. Electronic or mechanical means
to avoid an inactivity disconnect are strictly prohibited. Electronic or
mechanical means include, but are not limited to "pinging" the mail server,
employing electronic or software autodialer features to maintain an active
connection or repeatedly checking for mail by auto login to the mail server.
Blacksburg.net reserves the right to electronically audit connections to
enforce the above requirements.
ABSOLUTE DISCONNECT POLICY:
Blacksburg.net reserves the right to disconnect a dial-up
account after 6 hours of connect time. This policy is to primarily to protect
againist accidental or deliberate failure to disconnect at the end of a
session. The subscriber may immediately reconnect after such a disconnectinon
if the subscriber is interactively using the dialup connection but may
not use an automatic means such a as a program to initiate the reconnection.
Use of Services:
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During an investigation, Blacksburg.net may suspend the account
or accounts involved and/or remove the material involved from its servers.
If Blacksburg.net believes, in its sole discretion, that a violation these
guidelines has occurred, it may take responsive action. Such action may
include, but is not limited to, additional hourly charges of $1.95 an hour
in addition the monthly fees, damages, temporary or permanent removal of
material from Blacksburg.net's servers, the cancellation of newsgroup posts,
warnings to the Subscriber or Subscribers responsible, and the suspension
or termination of the account or accounts responsible. Blacksburg.net ,
in its sole discretion, will determine what action will be taken in response
to a violation on a case-by-case basis. Violations of these Guidelines
could also subject the Subscriber to criminal or civil liability.
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The Subscriber of record is responsible for all use of the
account, with or without the knowledge or consent of the Subscriber.
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The Subscriber may not store or distribute certain other
types of material on Blacksburg.net's servers. Examples of prohibited material
include, but are not limited to, programs containing viruses or trojans
and tools to compromise the security of their sites.
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Blacksburg.net staff may monitor the security of Subscriber's
passwords at any time. An Subscriber with an insecure password may be directed
to change the password to one which complies with the above rules. Subscribers
who repeatedly choose insecure passwords may be assigned a password by
Blacksburg.net; continued failure to maintain password security may be
grounds for account termination.
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The Subscriber is prohibited from utilizing Blacksburg.net
services to compromise the security or tamper with system resources of
accounts on computer at Blacksburg.net or at any other site. 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.
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Subscribers, may not run programs which provide network services
from their accounts. Examples of prohibited programs include, but are not
limited to, mail, game, http and irc servers and multi-user interactive
forums.
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You may not post or transmit any message anonymously or under
a false name.
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You may not post or transmit any message which is libelous,
defamatory or which discloses private or personal matters concerning any
person. You may not post or transmit any message, data, image or program
which is indecent, obscene or pornographic.
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You may not interfere with other users' use of the Service.
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You may not post or transmit any message which is harmful,
threatening, abusive or hateful. It is not the Service's intent to discourage
you from taking controversial positions or expressing vigorously what may
be unpopular views; however, Blacksburg.net reserves the right to take
such action as it deems appropriate in cases where the Service is used
to disseminate statements which are deeply and widely offensive and/or
harmful.
Subscribers found in violation of the Blacksburg.net usage
policies may be subject to $1.95 an hour in addition to their monthly membership
fee and other damages as a result of violation of this agreement. Revised
08-31-97
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