1stel® Acceptable Use Policy

This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) sets forth provisions of acceptable use of 1stel® networks and services. All users of 1stel networks and services are required to comply with this policy and all applicable laws and regulations in full, in addition to all terms and conditions of applicable agreements, and any additional policies that may be applicable to a specific service offered by 1stel. 1stel strives to provide its customers with the highest quality Internet service available, while at the same time respecting the standards that have been created both within the Internet community, and by legislation. To that end, inappropriate or abusive activities and conduct will not be tolerated on 1stel networks. 1stel reserves the right to modify this AUP from time to time, without notice. Users of 1stel networks are encouraged to review this AUP often for changes or new information. The most current version of this AUP will be posted here. Please send questions, comments, or complaints regarding this AUP to [email protected].

COMPLIANCE

Duties

• Each user is responsible for complying with this AUP, and for providing assistance to 1stel in investigating and resolving any issue, as 1stel may request from time to time. Additionally, 1stel customers and users are required to determine the conditions of, and comply with, the acceptable use policies or equivalent documents of all network(s) which their data transits.
• Users will be held responsible for the actions of any third party agent that acts on behalf of, or for the benefit of, any end user, and such end users shall be held directly accountable for any violations of this AUP by third party agents.
• 1stel does not control the content of data traversing 1stel networks; accordingly, 1stel assumes no responsibility for the content of any data or communication that may be transmitted over 1stel networks.

Configuration

• All systems which are connected to 1stel networks shall be configured in accordance with industry standards, applicable laws and regulations, specifically to conform with approved “Request For Comments”, standards documents which are published from time to time by the Internet Engineering Task Force (http://www.ietf.org/rfc.html).
• Systems connected to 1stel networks shall not be configured in any way which obscures system-identity information.
• Proxy servers of any kind shall be configured so as to prevent un-authenticated use from the public Internet.

Reporting Obligations

• Customers of 1stel are responsible for immediately reporting to 1stel any issue which could compromise the stability, service or security of any user or system connected to 1stel networks.

Resellers and Downstream Service Providers

• Resellers of 1stel services are responsible for informing their customers of this AUP and for enforcing its restrictions with regard to their customers’ actions.
• Breach or non-compliance of this AUP by a customer or end-user of a reseller shall be considered a violation of this AUP.

PROHIBITED USES

These lists are not meant to be exhaustive, but merely illustrative of examples of inappropriate and improper conduct, which are prohibited on 1stel networks.

Illegal Use

1stel’ Networks may only be used for lawful purposes. The transmission, distribution, or storage of any data or material in violation of any applicable law or regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to material or data which:

• Infringes any copyright, trademark, trade secret, or other intellectual property right.
• Violates export control laws or regulations.
• Violates any party’s confidentiality rights.
• Constitutes use or dissemination of child pornography.
• Is illegal or unlawful.

Abuse

The following general actions are considered “abuse” and are strictly prohibited:

• Any conduct which is inconsistent with generally accepted norms and expectations of the Internet community (whether or not detailed in this AUP). 1stel reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to make a determination whether any particular conduct violates such norms and expectations.
• Using 1stel networks to transmit material that 1stel believes to be illegal, obscene, or inappropriate.
• Forging of message headers or identity information, or taking any action with the intent of bypassing restrictions or limits on access to a specific service or site. This prohibition does not restrict the legitimate non-commercial use of pseudonymous or anonymous services.
• Falsifying identity or contact information (whether given to 1stel, to the InterNIC, or other parties).

Security

• Users of 1stel networks must configure their systems in a secure manner. Should a user’s system be exploited by unauthorized persons, the user is responsible for both reporting the violation (where applicable), and then fixing the exploited system. For instance, should the security of a mail server be compromised to distribute unsolicited emails, the user is responsible for immediately re-configuring the system to prevent further unauthorized use.
• Users are prohibited from interfering or attempting to interfere with services “Denial of Service Attacks”, whether intentionally or through neglect, of any other user, host, or network. The prevention of “unintentional attacks”, such as infection and subsequent propagation of computer viruses, are the responsibility of every user: anti-virus software should be installed on every system which connects to 1stel networks.
• Users are prohibited from injecting, intentionally or negligently, false or unauthorized network control data into 1stel networks, for instance in the form of incorrect routing or DNS information.

E-Mail

Users are prohibited from engaging in improper use or distribution of electronic mail “e-mail”. Users are strictly prohibited from engaging in any of the following activities:

• Sending unsolicited mass or commercial e-mail (spamming) for any purpose whatsoever.
• Having third parties send out commercial emails on any user’s behalf.
• Using 1stel facilities to receive replies from unsolicited emails (drop-box accounts).
• Configuring any email server in such a way that it will accept third party emails for forwarding (commonly known as an open mail relay). If a site has roaming users who wish to use a common mail server, the mail server must be configured to require some form of user identification and authorization.
• Mass or commercial email may be sent only to recipients who have expressly requested receipt of such e-mails, by the sending of an email request to the person performing the mass or commercial mailings. This exchanging of requests, acknowledgements, and final confirmations (commonly referred to as a double opt-in process) must be adhered to in their entirety for any mass or commercial email to be considered (solicited) by 1stel. Users that send mass or commercial e-mail are required to maintain complete and accurate records of all e-mail subscription requests, specifically including the email and associated headers sent by every subscriber, and to immediately provide 1stel with such records upon request of 1stel. Subscriptions that do not have a specific recipient generated email request associated with them are invalid, and are strictly prohibited. In the absence of positive, verifiable proof to the contrary, 1stel considers complaints by recipients of e-mails to be de-facto proof that the recipient did not subscribe or otherwise request the e-mail(s) about which a complaint was generated.

Usenet (also known as Netnews or Newsgroups)

1stel recommends that users not post to any newsgroup until they have familiarized themselves with the subjects, established guidelines, and restrictions of such newsgroups. All Usenet guidelines and restrictions are incorporated herein by reference, and users of 1stel networks agree to adhere to such guidelines unconditionally.

Without limitation of the foregoing, it is strictly prohibited to engage in any of the following activities:

• Making any posting for commercial purposes (including without limitation the pointing to specific URLs for commercial purposes), except where such postings are expressly permitted under the charter and/or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) of an applicable newsgroup.
• Posting binary files to newsgroups whose charter or name does not include allowances for such files.
• Canceling newsgroup postings other than your own, or using auto-responders or cancel-bots (except in cases of official newsgroup moderators performing their duties).
• Excessive Cross-Posting or Excessive Multi-Posting, or Usenet spam: 1stel retains the exclusive right to define these and other terms, however, we generally defer to the definitions found at http://www.cybernothing.org/faqs/net-abuse-faq.html
• Disrupting newsgroups with materials, postings, or activities that are (as determined by 1stel in its sole discretion), excessive, or repetitious, unless such materials or activities are expressly allowed or encouraged under the newsgroup’s name, FAQ, or charter.
• Performing any unauthorized creation, cancellation, or removal of newsgroups.

The legitimacy of a given post or cancellation is generally determined by the official newsgroup or mailing-list moderator, therefore, 1stel usually defers to their judgment on these issues, however, 1stel retains the exclusive right to make these determinations.

1stel® Inc.
205 E. Henderson Street
Cleburne, TX 76031