ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
1. Introduction
We intend our
Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") to help enhance the use of the Internet
by setting standards for the acceptable use of our services and preventing
unacceptable use. All users of SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates’s Internet
services (the "Services") must comply with this AUP. We support the
free flow of information and ideas over the Internet and do not actively
monitor use of the Services under normal circumstances. We also do not exercise
editorial control over the content of any Web site (with the exception of our
own SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates Web site and our SMS, Inc. and all of
its affiliates content pages), electronic mail transmission, news groups, or
other material created or accessible over or through the Services, including
your Personal Web Space as described below. However, in accordance with our
Terms and Conditions for Internet Access Service, we may remove any materials
that, in our sole discretion, may be illegal, may subject us to liability, or
which may violate this AUP. Your violation of this AUP may result in the
suspension or termination of either your access to the Services and/or your
SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates account or other actions as detailed in
Section 5 below. You should read this
AUP in conjunction with our Terms and Conditions for Internet Access Service
and other policies posted on our website.
2. Violations
Of SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates Acceptable Use Policy
For purposes of
this AUP, “use” of or “using” the Services includes, without limitation,
emailing, uploading and posting.
a. Unlawful Use.
Using the Services to transmit any material intentionally or unintentionally
that violates any applicable local, state, national or international law, or any
rules or regulations promulgated thereunder, including, but not limited to,
regulations promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any
rules of any national or other securities exchange, including, without
limitation, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the
NASDAQ, and any regulations having the force of law.
b. Copyright
Infringement. Using the Services to transmit any material that infringes on any
patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary or intellectual
rights of any party, including, but not limited to, the unauthorized copying of
copyrighted material, the digitization and distribution of photographs from
magazines, books, or other copyrighted sources, and the unauthorized
transmittal of copyrighted software.
c. Threats and
Harassment; Promotion of Illegal Activities. Using the Services to transmit any
material that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing,
defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful,
or racially, ethnically or otherwise offensive, or using the Services to
promote or provide instructional information about illegal activities, promote
physical harm or injury against any group or individual, or promote any act of
cruelty to animals.
d. Junk E-mail.
Using the Services to transmit or facilitate any unsolicited or unauthorized
advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail", Unsolicited Bulk
E-mail and Unsolicited Commercial E-mail (collectively "Spam”). Any unsolicited commercial mail is Spam,
regardless of the amount of mail sent, unless the recipient has specifically
requested the information.
e. Fraudulent
Activity. Using the Services to make fraudulent offers to sell or buy products,
items, or services or to advance any type of financial scam such as
"pyramid schemes," "ponzi schemes," and "chain
letters."
f. False
Impersonation. Impersonating any person
or entity, or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation
with any person or entity. Using anonymous remailers or nicknames and using
deliberately misleading headers ("munging" headers) in news postings
in order to avoid spam e-mail address collectors does not constitute false
impersonation.
g. Software
Viruses. Using the Services to transmit any material that contains software
viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt,
destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or
telecommunications equipment.
h. Unauthorized
Access. Using the Services to access, or to attempt to access, the accounts of
others, or to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate, security measures of SMS,
Inc. and all of its affiliates'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.
i. Collection of
Personal Data. Using the Services to collect, or attempt to collect, personal
information about third parties without their knowledge or consent.
j. Network Disruptions
and Unfriendly Activity. Using the Service For any activity which adversely
affects the ability of other people or Systems to use SMS, Inc. and all of its
affiliates Services or the Internet. This includes "Denial of
Service" attacks against another network host or Individual user, and
uploading, posting or otherwise transferring WebBots, CGI or any other scripts
or executables designed to interfere with any SMS, Inc. and all of its
affiliates web server. Interference with
or disruption of other network users, network services or network equipment is
prohibited. It is every Subscriber's
responsibility to ensure that his or her network is configured in a secure
manner.
k.
Reselling. Reproducing, duplicating,
copying, selling, reselling or exploiting any portion of the Services.
l. Unauthorized
Commercial Activity. Engaging in
commercial activities without subscribing to SMS, Inc. and all of its
affiliates-provided or approved programs. This includes without limitation
offering for sale any products or services, soliciting for advertisers or
sponsors, or conducting raffles or contests that require any type of entry fee.
m. News. SMS,
Inc. and all of its affiliates Subscribers should use their best judgment when
posting to any newsgroup. Many groups have charters, published guidelines,
FAQs, or "community standards" describing what is and is not
considered appropriate. USENET can be a valuable resource if used properly. The
continued posting of off-topic articles is prohibited. Commercial advertisements
are off-topic in most newsgroups, especially regional groups not specifically
named for such. The presence of such articles in a group is not indicative of
the group's "intended" use. Please familiarize yourself with basic
USENET netiquette before posting to a newsgroup. SMS, Inc. and all of its
affiliates considers "multi-posting" to 10 or more groups within a
two week sliding window to be excessive. SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates
servers currently limit the number of allowable "cross-posts" to 9. SMS,
Inc. and all of its affiliates Subscribers may not cancel messages other than
their own messages, however, a Subscriber may cancel posts forged in that
Subscriber's name. We may cancel any postings that violate this AUP.
3. Personal
Web Space
As a SMS, Inc.
and all of its affiliates Subscriber, you are entitled to Five (5) Megabytes
(MG) of Personal Web Space (PWS).
Personal Web Space is defined as a file system allocation on one or more
of SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates's publicly available web servers that is
used for the sole purpose of displaying or providing information of a
non-business and/or not-for-profit nature to the public Internet World Wide Web
community. Each SMS, Inc. and all of its
affiliates Subscriber is solely responsible for all information, data, text,
software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other
materials (the “Content”) contained within his or her PWS Site. SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates does not
inspect or otherwise participate in the posting of Content to the PWS service
and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity or quality of such
Content. Every PWS Site, including all
Content on any PWS Site, is available freely to anyone using the Internet. The
PWS service is not intended for use as a private forum or as a private file
transfer service. FTP access, for the
purpose of uploading and updating Content, is provided to and allowed only by
the owner of the account.
SMS, Inc. and all
of its affiliates reserves the right at any time, and periodically, to modify
or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, the PWS Service (or any part
thereof) with or without notice. Use of the PWS service is subject to SMS, Inc.
and all of its affiliates’s AUP. SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates may, in
its sole discretion, terminate your password, your SMS, Inc. and all of its
affiliates PWS Site, terminate your use of the PWS Service, and remove any
Content on your PWS Site for any reason, including, without limitation, lack of
use, or the reasonable belief that you have violated this AUP. You agree that
SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates shall not be liable to you or to any third
party for any modification, suspension or discontinuance of the PWS Service, or
for any claims arising from your use of the PWS Service.
4. Subscriber
Contributed Content
SMS, Inc. and all
of its affiliates may, from time to time, invite and encourage Subscribers to
contribute content (“Subscriber Contributed Content” or “SCC”) to the SMS, Inc. and all of its
affiliates content pages. For example,
SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates might request ideas and information from
Subscribers regarding a particular topic on the content pages. Any response you make to such a request or
invitation is SCC.
Use of the SCC
feature is subject to SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates AUP and you agree to
use the SCC feature only to post content that is legal, proper and related to
the particular subject matter of the applicable content page(s). You agree that
you are responsible for the SCC you post and for any consequences thereof. SMS,
Inc. and all of its affiliates does not endorse, support, represent or
guarantee the truthfulness, accuracy, or reliability of any SCC or endorse any
opinions expressed in SCC. SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates does not control
the content posted as SCC, and SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates has no
obligation to monitor SCC. However, SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates
reserves the right at all times to disclose any information as necessary to
satisfy any applicable law, regulation, legal process or governmental request,
or to edit, refuse to post or to remove SCC, in whole or in part, for any
reason whatsoever, in SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates sole discretion. You
acknowledge that any reliance on SCC will be at your own risk and that all SCC
is public and not private communication.
By posting any SCC on the SMS,
Inc. and all of its affiliates content pages, you automatically grant SMS, Inc.
and all of its affiliates a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive
license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute,
perform, and display the SCC alone or as part of other works in any form,
media, or technology whether now known or hereafter developed, and to
sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of sublicensees. SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates reserves
the right at any time, and periodically, to modify or discontinue, temporarily
or permanently, the SCC feature (or any part thereof) with or without notice.
5. Use
of Your Account by Others
You may not,
through action or inaction, allow others to use your account for illegal or
inappropriate actions. You may not permit your account, through action or
inaction, to be configured in such a way that gives a third party the
capability to use your account in an illegal or inappropriate manner. At some time in the future SMS, Inc. and all
of its affiliates may offer two types of accounts: Master accounts and sub-accounts tied to
Master Accounts. If you are the Master
Account holder, you are responsible for all activity on the Master Account and
on any of your sub-accounts. Violations of this AUP committed on any of your
sub-accounts can lead to termination of the Master Account. You should therefore supervise the use of
your account by anyone else, and you should not reveal your password to other
users. When we send notices or warnings to any sub-accounts, we copy the Master
Account. We will send general notices
about changes to your services only to your Master Account. It is therefore important for you to
regularly check your Master Account e-mail.
6. Reporting
Violations of SMS, Inc. and all of its affiliates AUP
a. SMS, Inc. and
all of its affiliates requests that anyone who believes that there is a
violation of this AUP to direct the information to our Customer Help Desk (800)
227-0876. If available, please provide the following information:
·
The IP address used to commit the alleged violation;
·
The date and time of the alleged violation, including the time zone or offset
from GMT;
·
Evidence of the alleged violation E-mail with full header information that
provides the above.
Other situations
will require different methods of providing the above information.
b. SMS, Inc. and
all of its affiliates may take any one or more of the following actions in
response to complaints:
·
issue written or verbal warnings;
·
suspend the Subscriber's newsgroup posting privileges;
·
suspend the Subscriber's account;
·
terminate the Subscriber's account;
·
bill the Subscriber for administrative costs and/or reactivation charges
associated with any AUP violation;
·
bring legal action to enjoin violations and/or to collect damages, if any,
caused by any AUP violation.
SMS, Inc. and all
of its affiliates reserves the right to cooperate with law enforcement and
other authorities in investigating any claims of illegal activity.
7. Revisions
to this Acceptable Use Policy
SMS, Inc. and all
of its affiliates reserves the right to revise, amend, or modify this AUP, our
Terms and Conditions for Internet Access Service and our other policies at any
time and in any manner. Any revision,
amendment, or modification will be effective thirty (30) days after SMS, Inc.
and all of its affiliates publishes such revision, amendment, or modification.
Your continued use of our services after such revision, amendment, or
modification shall constitute your acceptance of the modifications to this AUP. Therefore, it is important that you review
this AUP from time to time. If you have
questions about the AUP, or about your rights and responsibilities as a SMS,
Inc. and all of its affiliates subscriber, please contact our Customer Help
Desk.