East Tennessee Network Acceptable Use Policy

Effective April 1st 1998 on all dialup accounts

• Terms and Conditions for User access

  East Tennessee Network is pleased to provide Internet access and other related services to you. Please read this agreement carefully before accessing the service. By accessing the service, you agree to be bound by the Terms and Conditions below just as if you had signed it. If you do not wish to be bound by these Terms and Conditions, you may not access or use the service.   Parties. This agreement is between East Tennessee Network, hereinafter known as "East Tennessee Network", as the provider of Internet access and Subscriber as consumer of Internet access. Subscriber. Subscriber represents and warrants to East Tennessee Network that he/she is eighteen (18) years of age or older or is another type of legal entity, such as a corporation. Subscriber further represents that he/she possesses the legal right and ability to enter into this agreement. Services Provided. East Tennessee Network is an Internet Service Provider and thus provides access to the Internet, web advertising, and site services. For purposes of this agreement, East Tennessee Network provides dialup Internet Access. Internet Matters. Subscriber understands and agrees that the Internet is not in any way under the control of East Tennessee Network . At various Internet sites, obscene and offensive material may be encountered, it is agreed that East Tennessee Network has no responsibility for, nor any control over, any information accessed by the Subscriber on the Internet. Such materials are accessed at the Subscriber's own risk. E-mail & Privacy. Electronic mail and other transmissions passing over the Internet and through East Tennessee Network 's system are not confidential. Therefore East Tennessee Network cannot guarantee the protection or privacy of any information of any subscriber. East Tennessee Network reserves the right to monitor a subscriber's mail and transmissions as a necessary incident to providing service and otherwise to protect the rights or property of East Tennessee Network . East Tennessee Network will not disclose any such information unless required to do so pursuant to a court order, subpoena, or similar legal request or otherwise, on the advice of counsel. E-mail size limitation. No individual e-mail message may be sent or received that exceeds 1.44 megabytes. Technical Support.East Tennessee Network free technical support extends to configuring and maintaining Internet access, e-mail accounts, and other connectivity issues. Other issues resulting from web-site specific applications may not be supported. East Tennessee Network is not responsible for damage to a computer resulting from the assistance of technical support. East Tennessee Network is not responsible for any software or system failures encountered during the installation or use of software provided by East Tennessee Network No Representation of Warranty. Subscriber acknowledges that the East Tennessee Network service is used at the subscriber's sole risk and liability. Neither East Tennessee Network , its employees, affiliates, agents or any similar party, warrant or covenant to any subscriber that the East Tennessee Network service will be uninterrupted or free from error; nor do any of the foregoing make any representation or warranty regarding (i) the use of the East Tennessee Network service, or (ii) the accuracy, reliability or content of any information, service, or merchandise provided through East Tennessee Network. "As Is" Service. The East Tennessee Network service is provided on an "AS IS," "AS AVAILABLE" basis without representations or warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including warranties of title, implied warranties of merchantability, or fitness for a particular purpose. No oral advice or written information given by East Tennessee Network , it's employees, agents or any similar party, shall create or expand any representation or warranty; nor shall any subscriber be entitled to rely on any such information or advice. Limitation of Liability. Subscriber agrees that neither East Tennessee Network , nor any other person or entity involved in creating, producing or distributing the East Tennessee Network service shall have any liability for any direct, indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages that (i) result, or may result, from the use of, or inability to use the East Tennessee Network service; any software obtained through East Tennessee Network; or (ii) result or may result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files or e-mail, errors, defects, viruses, libel or intellectual property infringement by others, or delays in operation or availability, or transmissions, or any failure of performance, whether or not occurring by negligence, force majeure, acts of god, communications failure, destruction or unauthorized access. In all events, East Tennessee Network 's liability shall never exceed the amount actually paid for access to, and use of, East Tennessee Network during the three (3) month period immediately prior to the claimed injury or damage. Subscriber hereby releases East Tennessee Network from any and all obligations, liabilities and claims in excess of the limitations set forth in this section. This section shall apply to all content, products and/or services available directly or indirectly through East Tennessee Network . Indemnification. Subscriber agrees to indemnify East Tennessee Network from and against any and all liabilities, expenses (including attorney's fees) and damages arising out of claims based upon use of subscriber's account, including any claim of libel, defamation, violation of rights of privacy or publicity, loss of service by other Subscribers and infringement of intellectual property or other rights. East Tennessee Network will notify Subscriber promptly of any claim for which it seeks indemnification and will afford Subscriber the opportunity to participate in the defense of such claim, providing that Subscriber's participation will not be conducted in a manner prejudicial to East Tennessee Network 's interests, as reasonably determined by East Tennessee Network . Other Networks. Attempts to gain unauthorized access to other computer systems is prohibited. Subscriber will abide by all rules, regulations and policies of networks and computer systems accessed via East Tennessee Network . If Subscriber is unsure of those policies, it is the Subscriber's responsibility to ascertain said policies. Software. As a courtesy to Subscribers, East Tennessee Network has accumulated a library of software which is "shareware" or "freeware". East Tennessee Network is not the author of, or otherwise responsible for, any such software or engaged in the sale or licensing of such software. East Tennessee Network makes no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, with respect to freeware or shareware available to subscribers. East Tennessee Network accepts no liability of any kind with respect to such software or any damages resulting from use thereof. Subscriber assumes all risks with respect to such software. Subscriber, not East Tennessee Network , must pay all shareware license fees. No Subscriber will assert any claim against East Tennessee Network with respect to any shareware or freeware obtained through East Tennessee Network . Non Transferable. The right to use East Tennessee Network is not transferable. Accounts are for the use of Subscriber only. Subscriber is responsible for the confidentiality of Subscriber's passwords. Lawful Use. Services provided to you through East Tennessee Network , including Internet access, may only be used for lawful purposes. Transmission of any data, information or material in violation of any federal or state regulation or law (including, but not limited to, material protected by copyright or trade secrets, and information that is confidential as a matter of law) is strictly prohibited. Subscriber may not, under any circumstances, use East Tennessee Network in an unlawful manner, including, but not limited to: 1) posting or transmitting any unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, or pornographic information of any kind, including without limitation any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense or give rise to civil liability; 2) intercepting or attempting to intercept e-mail; and 3) uploading files that contain software or other material protected by copyright laws unless you own or control the rights thereto. System Rules. Subscriber agrees to comply with the following system rules of East Tennessee Network . The following are strictly prohibited: any attempt to introduce viruses, worms, Trojan Horses, or any other destructive programs, or to deliberately crash or overload the server systems of East Tennessee Network ; sending unsolicited bulk mail messages ("junk mail" or "spam"). This includes but is not limited to, bulk-mailing of commercial advertising, informational announcements, political announcements and religious information. Such material may only be sent to those who have explicitly requested it; forwarding or posting "chain letters" of any type; forging email or USENET posting header information; newsgroup violations including posting the same or similar message to large numbers of newsgroups (excessive cross-posting or multiple-posting, also known as "newsgroup spam"), posting binary files to newsgroups not specifically named for that purpose, and violation of newsgroup charter or FAQ. The poster is responsible for determining the etiquette of a given newsgroup, prior to posting to it; use of maillist, listserver or any form of auto-responder from a subscriber's account; user processes that run or are activated while the user is not logged in; group use of Subscriber logins; use of more logins then number of accounts owned; Anti-Idle and Re-connect devices, hereby defined as the use of programs or methods that trick our systems from disconnecting an inactive user after a pre-determined amount of time, and/or a program that connects or re-connects the user's session automatically and without his manual intervention, are prohibited. East Tennessee Network only permits active, non-automated use of dialup account, unless contracted otherwise, active is defined as 'a human person interacting continuously with the service', which specifially excludes unattended usage such as continuous automatic mail polling, use of a webbrowser with a web page that automatically reloads after a period of time, use of interactive chat services such as IRC, automatic web-roaming robots that download large amounts of data to the users harddisk unattended or other methods. Line Camping, hereby defined as the use of dialup as a semi-dedicated line as well as the sharing of facilities or the resale of service, is not permitted. Accounts found in violation of this policy shall be billed the appropriate commercial rate for such use. Session limit. There is a five (5) hour limit on any connection session however there is no limit on the number of sessions. In addition there is also a thiry(30) minute inactivity timeout. Excessive consumption of resources, including CPU time, memory, disk space and session time. You may not use resource-intensive programs which negatively impact other customers or the performance of East Tennessee Network systems or networks. East Tennessee Network reserves the right to terminate or limit such activities. You may not provide network services from your account (for example, you may not use your account to operate an ftp or a web server). solicitation of East Tennessee Network Subscribers to become subscribers of other online services competitive with East Tennessee Network . Failure to comply with system rules may result in suspension or termination of Subscriber's account. In the event account is terminated under this section or the System Rules, no refund shall be due. Subscriber further agrees that if they violate any portion of the System Rules of these Terms & Conditions that they will be liable for all charges to remedy the infractions they committed. The additional pertain to canceling the account, responding to offended Internet users and deletion of related e-mail in response to such violations. The rate shall be $60.00 per hour with a four hour minimum. Subscriber agrees to pay these additional charges. In the case of a credit card transaction, Subscriber authorizes these charges and agrees not to contest these charges with their credit card company and further waives all chargeback options Subscriber may have with their credit card company. Telephone Charges. Subscriber is responsible for providing all telephone, modem and other equipment required to access East Tennessee Network . Subscriber agrees to be responsible for all telephone charges, if any, incurred by Subscriber in accessing East Tennessee Network . East Tennessee Network 's fees are entirely separate from, and wholly unconnected to, any of these costs. Accordingly East Tennessee Network assumes no liability for any of these expenses incurred by Subscriber in accessing East Tennessee Network .East Tennessee Network will not under under any circumstances reimburse any customer for long distance charges. It is the sole responsibility of the customer to determine if the number they are calling is local. Disk Space. Subscribers have a 10 megabyte limitation of disk space for all storage of data (files, directories, e-mail messages, web pages). The Subscriber must monitor and maintain all data and delete or compress files if the 10 megabyte limit is reached or exceeded. East Tennessee Network reserves the right to delete any data as required to reach Subscriber's space limit. Subscriber will not be able to receive e-mail if account exceeds disk limit. Homepage Content Guidelines East Tennessee Network has carefully developed the following page content guidelines to promote the free flowing exchange of ideas about your interests, activities, and hobbies, and at the same time maintain standards consistent with the Internet community and the societies of the world at large. Please refrain from using your free Personal Home Page for the following activities: Providing material that is grossly offensive to the Web community including blatant expressions of bigotry, racism, hatred, or profanity Promoting or providing instructional information about illegal activities, or promoting physical harm or injury against any group or individual Using your free Personal Home Pages for commercial purposes, including but not limited to the following: Offering for sale any products or services Soliciting for advertisers or sponsors Displaying a sponsorship banner of any kind, including those that are generated by banner or link exchange services. Displaying banners for services that provide cash or cash-equivalent prizes to users in exchange for hyperlinks to their web site Promoting or soliciting for participation in multi-level marketing or pyramid schemes Conducting raffles or contests that require any type of entry fee Displaying material containing nudity or pornographic material of any kind Displaying material that exploits children under 18 years of age Developing restricted or Password-only access pages, or hidden pages or images (those not linked to from another accessible page) Using your page (or directory) as storage for remote loading or as a door or signpost to another server Using your page for acts of copyright infringement including offering pirated computer programs or links to such programs, information used to circumvent manufacturer-installed copy-protect devices, including serial or registration numbers for software programs, or any type of cracker utilities Violating Internet standards for the purpose of promoting your home page Developing pages that consist of hyperlinks to content not allowed in East Tennessee Network Members are solely responsible for everything contained in their own Personal Home Pages. East Tennessee Network does not verify, endorse, or otherwise vouch for the contents of any Personal Home Page. Members can be held legally liable for the contents of their Personal Home Pages, and may be held legally accountable if their Personal Home Pages include, for example, material protected by copyright, trademark, patent, or trade secret law without the permission of the author or owner or defamatory comments. The member agrees to indemnify and hold harmless East Tennessee Network for any loss, liability, claim, damage, and expenses (including reasonable attorney fees) arising from or in connection with the contents of the member's Personal Home Page. In the event that East Tennessee Network receives a complaint that the contents of a personal home page infringe intellectual property rights or otherwise is unlawful, East Tennessee Network shall request written substantiation of the complaint from the complaining party, for example, substantiation of proof of ownership in the form of a trademark, service mark, or copyright registration and will take such steps that it believes to be appropriate under the circumstances, including, for example: 1.Suspend the site immediately until the dispute is resolved 2.Provide the member with contact information for the complaining party 3.Instruct the member to contact the complaining party to resolve the dispute 4.Inform the complaining party of our actions and ask them to work directly with the member Note: All correspondence between the parties must also be sent to East Tennessee Network 5.Take the following action based on the progress of the dispute: If the member has not pursued resolution within 14 days of notification, the site is deleted If complaining party has not pursued resolution within 14 days of member's response, the site is re-activated If legal action is pending or the dispute is not settled, the site may remain suspended until resolution is reached and East Tennessee Network is notified by both parties as to the outcome If a resolution is reached between the parties, site is reactivated with any mutually agreed upon modifications East Tennessee Network reserves the following rights: To release current or past member information in the event East Tennessee Network believes that accounts are in violation of the terms of service or content guidelines, used to commit unlawful acts, if the information is subpoenaed, or when East Tennessee Network deems it necessary and/or appropriate. To deny membership to repeat offenders of these guidelines or terms of service To amend or change these guidelines at any time and without notice [PAYMENT TERMS] Payment Responsibility. Subscriber agrees to pay all charges for the principal account and any associate accounts registered to Subscriber in accordance with published rates. Accounts must be prepaid. Billing Periods. Monthly, quarterly, and annual billing periods are available. Invoices for Monthly billing will incur an additional $1.25 charge. Payment Methods. All payments must be in U.S. currency. Cash, Checks, Money Orders and Credit Cards (Visa, Mastercard, American Express and Discover Card) are accepted. Discounts. (1) Prepayment Discount - As an incentive for quarterly or annual prepayment, a discount is offered. It is understood that no refund shall be available if this discount plan is selected. (2) Teacher/Educators Discount - Proof of current employment in the education field is required. (3) Discount programs are not retroactive and will be applied on next billing cycle. (4) All discount programs are subject to change. Prices and Price Changes. Price schedules are published online. Fees for services are subject to change at East Tennessee Network 's sole discretion. All price changes will take place upon Subscriber's next anniversary date for payment. Additional Charges. Subscribers on the 10 hour per month plan or any non-dedicated ISDN plan will incur charges in addition to the base charge if the base number of hours is exceeded. Excess usage will be billed at $1.25 an hour. This additional amount will be invoiced or charged on Subscriber designated credit card the subsequent month. This is calculated on a monthly basis. Check Payment. Subscribers paying by check are invoiced by U.S. mail and/or e-mail approximately two (2) weeks before the next installment is due. If payment is not received with ten (10) days of the due date, service will be suspended for a period of thirty (30) days pending receipt of payment. If payment is not received within the thirty (30) day period, the service will be terminated. Credit Cards. Credit Card Subscribers authorize East Tennessee Network to charge the designated card on each successive billing date without further authorization from Subscriber after the initial charge. Each time you use East Tennessee Network , you agree and reaffirm that East Tennessee Network is authorized to charge your designated card. Your card issuer's agreement governs your use of your designated card in connection with East Tennessee Network ; you must refer to such agreement (not this agreement) with respect to your rights and liabilities as a cardholder. Changes in Billing Data. Subscriber agrees to provide East Tennessee Network with accurate, complete and current updated information required for billing, including Subscriber's name, address, telephone number(s), and payment information such as authorization to charge Subscriber's credit card together with such credit card number and expiration date. Taxes. Subscriber shall be responsible for the gross amount of any present or future federal, state, municipal or other government sales, use, excise, value added or other similar taxes applicable to the price, sales or delivery of any services furnished hereunder or to their use by Subscriber. Returned Checks. All returned checks will be charged a $25.00 return check fee for each occurrence. Late Charges. Delinquent accounts are subject to a finance charge equal to the greater of 1.5% per month or the maximum rate allowed by law on the past due balance. Delinquent accounts and collection attempts may be reported to a certified credit reporting agency. Discrepancies in Billing. Unless Subscriber notifies East Tennessee Network of any discrepancies or irregularities within sixty (60) days after they first appear on your invoice or credit card statement, they will be deemed accepted by you for all purposes, including resolution of inquiries made by card issuer. SUBSCRIBER RELEASES East Tennessee Network FROM ALL LIABILITY AND CLAIM OF LOSS RESULTING FROM ANY ERROR OR DISCREPANCY THAT IS NOT REPORTED TO East Tennessee Network WITH SIXTY (60) DAYS OF ITS PUBLICATION DATE. [TERMINATION] Subscriber Cancellation. Subscriber must notify East Tennessee Network in writing via U.S. Postal Service [P.O. Box 626, Blountville, TN 37617] or by fax [(423)323-5763] of intent to cancel account(s). Written notification shall contain Subscriber's name, login, date of cancellation and Subscriber's signature. Fees for any setup and the first month's service are not refundable, unless Subscriber is unsuccessful in using the account and notifies East Tennessee Network with ten (10) days of establishing said account. Accounts in which a discount was taken will terminate on the account expiration date following notice of cancellation; in these cases no refund will be due. Subscriber accounts are not "monitored" for inactivity and East Tennessee Network does not assume a wish to cancel if account is not used. There are no refunds for time not used. Secondary or Associate Accounts. In the event a Primary or Principal account is terminated, all secondary or associate accounts shall also terminate. If the User of a secondary or associate account wishes to continue their accounts, they must make arrangements to convert their account to a regular account. East Tennessee Network Cancellation. East Tennessee Network reserves the right to cancel service for any reason without prior notice. When an account is canceled for violation of published terms and conditions, no refund shall be due. Balance Due at Cancellation. Termination or suspension of service shall not relieve Subscriber from the obligation to satisfy outstanding invoices. In the event collection effort is required, Subscriber shall be responsible for all costs of collections including attorney fees. [OTHER CONDITIONS] Severability. In the event that any portion of these Terms and Conditions is held to be invalid or unenforceable, the invalid or unenforceable portion shall be construed in accordance with applicable law as nearly as possible to reflect the original intentions of the parties and the remainder of the provisions shall remain in full force and effect, and all provisions of these Terms and Conditions which operate to protect the rights of East Tennessee Network shall continue in force even in the event of termination of these Terms and Conditions on other grounds. No Waiver. East Tennessee Network 's failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of these Terms and Conditions shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or right. Governing Law. This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Tennessee. Both parties consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of courts in Sullivan County, Tennessee in all disputes arising out of or relating to this Agreement. Captions and Headings. The various sections of these Terms and Conditions are for convenience only and carry no legal effect and shall no way effect the interpretation or construction of the provisions of this agreement. Relationship of Parties. Subscriber acknowledge that no joint venture, partnership, employment, or agency relationship exists between Subscriber and East Tennessee Network . Subscriber agrees not to hold itself out as a representative, agent or employee of East Tennessee Network , and that East Tennessee Network will not be liable by reason of any representation, act or failure to act by the Subscriber. Term and Modification of Agreement. This Agreement takes effect on the date application is processed and continues until account is terminated either by Subscriber or East Tennessee Network. This Agreement may be changed or modified from time to time by East Tennessee Network . Notice of such changes may be provided online or by mail. Use of any East Tennessee Network service following the implementation of any such changes or modifications shall constitute acceptance of any such changes and/or modifications. Complete Agreement. This Agreement represents the entire agreement between Subscriber and East Tennessee Network and supersedes all prior agreements, oral or written. Copyright © 1998 East Tennessee Network, Inc.