Introduction
This acceptable use policy (the "Policy") defines acceptable
practices relating to the use of Elemental Earth's services (the
"Service") by customers of Elemental Earth (“Customers”) and by users
that have gained access to the Service through Customer accounts (“Users”). By
using the Service, you acknowledge that you and your Users are responsible for
compliance with the Policy. You are responsible for violations of this Policy
by any User that accesses the Services through your account, which includes
without limitation Users for whom you provide services as a reseller of
Elemental Earth’s Services. While it is not our intent to control or monitor
online experience or the content of online communications, we may edit or remove
content that we deem to be in violation of the Policy or that we otherwise deem
unlawful, harmful or offensive. The Policy applies to all aspects of the
Service."Elemental Earth" means Elemental Earth and all of its
affiliates (including direct and indirect subsidiaries and parents).
"Elemental Earth Network" includes, without limitation, Elemental
Earth's constructed or leased transmission network, including all equipment,
systems, facilities, services and products incorporated or used in such transmission
network. As used in this Policy, “you” refers to Customers, and any
reference to “Users” is intended to encompass, as applicable, both Customers
and their Users.
This Policy is designed to assist in protecting the Elemental Earth Network,
the Service, our Users and the Internet community as a whole from improper
and/or illegal activity over the Internet, to improve Service and to improve
Service offerings. In situations where data communications are carried across
networks of other Internet Service Providers (ISPs), Users of the Elemental
Earth Network must also conform to the applicable acceptable use policies of
such other ISPs.
Suspension or Termination of Service
If Users engage in conduct or a pattern of conduct, including without
limitation repeated violations by a User whereby correction of individual
violations does not in Elemental Earth’s sole discretion correct a pattern of
the same or similar violations, while using the Service that violates the
Policy, or is otherwise illegal or improper, Elemental Earth reserves the right
to suspend and/or terminate the Service or the User's access to the Service.
Elemental Earth will generally attempt to notify you of any activity in
violation of the Policy and request that the User cease such activity; however,
in cases where the operation of the Elemental Earth Network is threatened or
cases involving unsolicited commercial email/SPAM, a pattern of violations,
mail relaying, alteration of your source IP address information, denial of
service attacks, illegal activities, suspected fraud in connection with the use
of Service, harassment or copyright infringement, we reserve the right to
suspend or terminate your Service or the User's access to the Service without
notification. In addition, we may take any other appropriate action against you
or a User for violations of the Policy, including repeated violations wherein
correction of individual violations does not in Elemental Earth’s sole
discretion correct a pattern of the same or similar violations. Elemental Earth
reserves the right to avail itself of the safe harbor provisions of the Digital
Millennium Copyright Act. We do not make any promise, nor do we have any
obligation, to monitor or police activity occurring using the Service and will
have no liability to any party, including you, for any violation of the Policy.
Cooperation with Investigations
Elemental Earth will cooperate with appropriate law enforcement agencies
and other parties involved in investigating claims of illegal or inappropriate
activity. Elemental Earth reserves the right to disclose Customer information
to the extent authorized by federal or state law. As a reseller Customer of
Elemental Earth’s Services (if applicable), by using and accepting Services,
you consent to our disclosure to any law enforcement agency, without the need
for subpoena, of your identity as the service provider of record (including
basic contact information), as applicable, for any User about whom Elemental
Earth is contacted by the law enforcement agency. In instances involving child
pornography, Elemental Earth complies with all applicable federal and state
laws including providing notice to the National Center for the Missing and
Exploited Children or other designated agencies.
Modifications to Policy
Elemental Earth reserves the right to modify this Policy at any time
without notice. We will attempt to notify Customers of any such modifications
either via e-mail or by posting a revised version of the Policy on our Web
site. Any such modifications shall be effective and applied prospectively from
the date of posting.
Filters and Service Information
We reserve the right to install and use, or to have you install and use,
any appropriate devices to prevent violations of this Policy, including devices
designed to filter or terminate access to the Service. By accepting and
using the Service, you consent to allowing us to collect service information
and routing information in the normal course of our business, and to use such
information for general business purposes.
Illegal Activity
The Service shall not be used for any unlawful activities or in connection
with any criminal or civil violation and the Services shall in all cases be
used in compliance with applicable law. Use of the Service for transmission,
distribution, retrieval, or storage of any information, data or other material
in violation of any applicable law or regulation (including, where applicable,
any tariff or treaty) is prohibited. This includes, without limitation, the use
or transmission of any data or material protected by copyright, trademark,
trade secret, patent or other intellectual property right without proper
authorization and the transmission of any material that constitutes an illegal
threat, violates export control laws, or is obscene, defamatory or otherwise
unlawful.
Unauthorized Access/Interference
A User may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to, or attempt to
interfere with or compromise the normal functioning, operation or security of,
any portion of the Elemental Earth Network. A User may not use the Service to
engage in any activities that may interfere with the ability of others to
access or use the Service or the Internet. A User may not use the Service to
monitor any data, information or communications on any network or system
without authorization. A User may not attempt to gain unauthorized access to
the user accounts or passwords of other Users.
Unsolicited Commercial Email/Spamming/Mailbombing
A User may not use the Service to transmit unsolicited commercial e-mail
messages or deliberately send excessively large attachments to one recipient.
Any unsolicited commercial e-mail messages or a series of unsolicited
commercial e-mail messages or large attachments sent to one recipient is prohibited.
In addition, "spamming" or "mailbombing" is prohibited. Use
of the service of another provider to send unsolicited commercial email, spam
or mailbombs, to promote a site hosted on or connected to the Elemental Earth
Network, is similarly prohibited. Likewise, a User may not use the Service to
collect responses from mass unsolicited e-mail messages. Elemental Earth may in
its sole discretion rely upon information obtained from anti-spamming
organizations (including for example and without limitation spamhaus.org,
spamcop.net, sorbs.net, and abuse.net) as evidence that a User is an active
“spam operation” for purposes of taking remedial action under this Policy.
Spoofing/Fraud
Users are prohibited from intentionally or negligently injecting false data
into the Internet, for instance in the form of bad routing information
(including but not limited to the announcing of networks owned by someone else
or reserved by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) or incorrect DNS
information.
A User may not attempt to send e-mail messages or transmit any electronic
communications using a name or address of someone other than the User for
purposes of deception. Any attempt to impersonate someone else by altering a
source IP address information or by using forged headers or other identifying
information is prohibited. Any attempt to fraudulently conceal, forge or
otherwise falsify a User's identity in connection with use of the Service is
prohibited.
USENET Postings
All postings to USENET groups must comply with that group's charter and
other policies. Users are prohibited from cross posting to unrelated news
groups or to any news groups where the post does not meet that group's charter.
Continued posting of off-topic messages, including commercial messages (unless
specifically invited) is prohibited. Disrupting newsgroups with materials,
postings or activities that are (as determined by Elemental Earth in its sole
discretion) frivolous, unlawful, obscene, threatening, abusive, libelous,
hateful, excessive or repetitious is prohibited, unless such materials or
activities are expressly allowed or encouraged under the newsgroup's name, FAQ
or charter.
Complaints
Elemental Earth receives complaints directly from Internet users, through
Internet organizations and through other parties. Elemental Earth shall not be
required to determine the validity of complaints received, or of information
obtained from anti-spamming organizations, before taking action under this AUP.
A complaint from the recipient of commercial email, whether received directly
or through an anti-spamming organization, shall be evidence that the message
was unsolicited. Elemental Earth has no obligation to forward the complaint to
the User or to identify the complaining parties.
The following activities are also prohibited:
This listing of prohibited activities is not exhaustive and Elemental Earth reserves the right to determine that any conduct that is or could be harmful to the Elemental Earth Network, Elemental Earth’s Customers or Internet users is in violation of this Policy and to exercise any or all of the remedies contained in this Policy.
Responsibilities of Customers
Users are entirely responsible for maintaining the confidentiality of
password and account information, as well as the security of their network. You
agree immediately to notify Elemental Earth of any unauthorized use of your
account or any other breach of security known to you. If you become aware of
any violation of this Policy by any person, including Users that have accessed
the Service through your account, you are required to notify us.
Impending Security Event Notification
All Users of the Elemental Earth Network are responsible for notifying
Elemental Earth immediately if they become aware of an impending event that may
negatively affect the Elemental Earth Network. This includes extortion threats
that involve threat of “denial of service” attacks, unauthorized access, or
other security events.
Configuration
All Users of the Elemental Earth Network are responsible for configuring
their own systems to provide the maximum possible accountability. Elemental
Earth shall not be liable for any damage caused by such system configurations
regardless of whether such configurations have been authorized or requested by
Elemental Earth. For example, Users should ensure there are clear
"path" lines in news headers so that the originator of a post may be
identified. Users should also configure their Mail Transport Agents (MTA) to
authenticate (by look-up on the name or similar procedures) any system that
connects to perform a mail exchange, and should generally present header data
as clearly possible. As another example, Users should maintain logs of
dynamically assigned IP addresses. Users of the Elemental Earth Network are
responsible for educating themselves and configuring their systems with at
least basic security. Should systems at a User's site be violated, the User is
responsible for reporting the violation and then fixing the exploited system.
For instance, should a site be abused to distribute unlicensed software due to
a poorly configured FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Server, the User is
responsible for re-configuring the system to stop the abuse.
Complaints
In most cases, we will notify our Customer(s) of complaints received by us
regarding an alleged violation of this Policy. You agree to promptly
investigate all such complaints and take all necessary actions to remedy any
violations of this Policy. We may inform the complainant that you are
investigating the complaint and may provide the complainant with the necessary
information to contact you directly to resolve the complaint. You shall
identify a representative for the purposes of receiving such communications.
Privacy
Because the Internet is an inherently open and insecure means of
communication, any data or information a User transmits over the Internet may
be susceptible to interception and alteration. Subject to our Online Privacy
Policy, we make no guarantee regarding, and assume no liability for, the
security and integrity of any data or information a User transmits via the
Service or over the Internet, including any data or information transmitted via
any server designated as "secure."
Claims of Copyright Infringement
Claimed Infringement notices pursuant to the Digital Millennium Copyright
Act, 17 U.S.C., Section 512(c) should be sent to abuse@elementalearth.net.
Additional Terms and Conditions
The use of the Elemental Earth Network by a Customer of Elemental Earth is
subject to the terms and conditions of any agreements entered into by such
Customer and Elemental Earth. This Policy is incorporated into such agreements
by reference.
Complaints and Contact Information
Any complaints regarding prohibited use or other abuse of the Elemental
Earth Network, including violations of this Policy, should be sent to
Elemental Earth. Please include all applicable information that will assist
Elemental Earth in investigating the complaint, including all applicable
headers of forwarded messages.
Sites experiencing live attacks from Elemental Earth Customers should email
noc@elementalearch.net and provide detailed information we can act upon
immediately. If you are unsure whether any contemplated use or action is
permitted, please submit questions or comments to Elemental Earth prior to
commencing the activity.