Introduction

The main purpose of PrismWeb.Net Internet Service is to facilitate communication with the numerous computer networks that make up what is commonly referred to as "the Internet." It is PrismWeb.Net's intention to allow PrismWeb.Net users complete access to everything the Internet has to offer with minimal or no interference.

Although the Internet as a whole offers much independence and autonomy for those who use it, many of the individual networks or portions of the Internet have specific guidelines for use. As the Internet expands, it is increasingly common for an Internet Service Provider, such as PrismWeb.Net, to be blocked from use of another organization's systems due to repeated misuses of that system's resources. Because PrismWeb.Net runs multi-user systems, actions of one PrismWeb.Net customer may have a severe impact on other customers' ability to use the system(s). This is unfair to all PrismWeb.Net users.

To this end, PrismWeb.Net has adopted these Acceptable Use Policies. They are intended to provide a guide to PrismWeb.Net's views on what constitutes inappropriate use of PrismWeb.Net's access to the Internet and to inform PrismWeb.Net's Customers of what actions PrismWeb.Net may take, with or without notice, in the event that PrismWeb.Net becomes aware of inappropriate use of PrismWeb.Net's service. They will be used to help PrismWeb.Net system administrators deal with complaints from users of PrismWeb.Net or other Internet-connected systems, and to determine when action must be taken. It is expected that all PrismWeb.Net Customers will follow the policies set forth herein. Protection of PrismWeb.Net's technical resources and PrismWeb.Net's ability to continue to provide high quality service to its customers, compliance with existing laws and regulations, and the protection of PrismWeb.Net's reputation as a service provider are all contributing factors to the policies outlined below.

ACCESS TO PRISM WEB.NET'S INTERNET SERVICE IS PROVIDED SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND CONDITIONS:

1. Warranties/Disclaimers

PrismWeb.Net Internet service is provided on an "as is, as available" basis. No warranties, express or implied, including, but not limited to, those of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, are made with respect to PrismWeb.Net or any information or software therein. You release PrismWeb.Net from and PrismWeb.Net shall have no liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental or consequential damages suffered by you in connection with your use of or inability to use the PrismWeb.Net services including, but not limited to, damages from loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, or service interruptions, or due to inadvertent release or disclosure of information sent by you even if the same is caused by PrismWeb.Net's own negligence. Without limiting the generality of the foregoing, PrismWeb.Net disclaims to the full extent permitted by applicable law any responsibility for (and under no circumstances shall be liable for) any conduct, content, goods and services available on or through the Internet or the PrismWeb.Net services. In no event shall PrismWeb.Net's aggregate liability exceed the amount paid by you to PrismWeb.Net for the PrismWeb.Net services. Use of any information obtained via PrismWeb.Net's Internet service is at the user's own risk. PrismWeb.Net specifically disclaims any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its services.

 

2. Security

The Customer is responsible for all use of Customer's account(s) and confidentiality of password(s), including choosing safe passwords and ensuring file protections are set correctly. PrismWeb.Net will suspend access or change access to Customer's account(s) immediately upon notification by Customer that Customer's password has been lost, stolen or otherwise compromised. PrismWeb.Net is not liable for any usage and or charges prior to PrismWeb.Net making the necessary account alteration. Electronic mail on this system is as private as we can make it. PrismWeb.Net's Customers are reminded that no computer system can be considered as safe from intrusion. Email may pass through many computer systems, and should not be considered a secure means of communication unless encrypted, and even encrypted information is only as secure as the encryption method utilized.

 

3. Personal Files

PrismWeb.Net is not responsible for Customer's personal files residing on PrismWeb.Net. Customer is responsible for independent backup of Customer's data that is stored on PrismWeb.Net. PrismWeb.Net reserves the right to delete Customer 's personal files after one or both parties terminates the service agreement between PrismWeb.Net and Customer.

 

4. Non-Transferability of Account

The right to use PrismWeb.Net's Internet service is not transferable. Use of PrismWeb.Net accounts is expressly limited to the individual or business whose name appears on the account and dependents of the account holder living at the same address. A Customer may use no more than one log-in session per account at any time. If a Customer has multiple accounts, the Customer is limited to one log-in session per account at any time.

 

5. Network Address Ownership

Any network address assignments issued by PrismWeb.Net (i.e., Class C address space) are the property of PrismWeb.Net and are considered to be loaned to its customers. In the event service with PrismWeb.Net is discontinued for any reason, such addresses will revert to PrismWeb.Net.

Note: this does not apply to domain names. Any domain name that is issued to an PrismWeb.Net subscriber, e.g. your_business.com, is property of that subscriber and is transferable to another provider in the future.

6. Compliance with all Laws

Customer agrees to use the service in a manner consistent with any and all applicable laws and regulations. Reproduction or transmission of any material in violation of any local, state, U.S., or international law or regulation is prohibited. Customer agrees that any material to be reproduced or transmitted on PrismWeb.Net's service through Customer 's account(s) does not violate or infringe any copyright, trademark, patent, statutory, common law or proprietary rights of others, or contain anything obscene, libelous or threatening . Software intended to facilitate any such violations or infringements may not be stored on PrismWeb.Net. Customer shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless PrismWeb.Net from and against any claims, liabilities and expenses, including attorneys fees, resulting from Customer's use of the PrismWeb.Net service or Customer's account in an unlawful manner or otherwise in violation of or contrary to Customer's Agreement with PrismWeb.Net or PrismWeb.Net's Acceptable Use Policies. At PrismWeb.Net's discretion, PrismWeb.Net may revoke Customer's access to PrismWeb.Net services or accounts for inappropriate usage.

 

7. Unacceptable Conduct

The following types of conduct are grounds for immediate suspension of service pending investigation by PrismWeb.Net and may result in termination of the account(s) the investigation determines to have originated or transmitted these types of traffic. In addition, PrismWeb.Net reserves the right, where feasible, to implement technical mechanisms which block multiple postings by a PrismWeb.Net Customer as described in (a) and (b) below before such postings are forwarded:

(a) Posting a single article or substantially similar articles to an excessive number of newsgroups (i.e., more than 20) or continued posting of articles which are off-topic (e.g., off-topic according to the newsgroup charter or the article provokes complaints from the regular readers of the newsgroup for being off-topic).

(b) Sending unsolicited mass emailings (i.e., to more than 25 users) which provoke complaints from the recipients.

(c) Engaging in either (a) or (b) from a provider other than PrismWeb.Net and using an account on PrismWeb.Net as a mail drop for responses, or to draw attention to a web site housed within PrismWeb.Net's networks.

(d) Continued harassment of other individuals on the Internet after being asked to stop by those individuals and by PrismWeb.Net.

(e) Mail bombing, i.e., sending large volumes of unsolicited e-mail to individuals or to individual business accounts.

(f) (g) Privacy violations: Attempts, whether successful or not, to gain access to any other system or users' private data without express consent of the user.

(h) Use of IRC bots or clonebots on PrismWeb.Net, whether on IRC servers controlled by PrismWeb.Net or by other parties. An IRC bot is a program which runs and is connected to an IRC server 24 hours a day, automatically performing certain actions.

(i) Network unfriendly activity: Attempts to interfere with the regular workings of PrismWeb.Net's systems or network connections or which adversely affect the ability of other people or systems to use PrismWeb.Net services or the Internet, including, but not limited to:

1. any unauthorized attempts by a user to gain root access or access to any account not belonging to that user on this or any other PrismWeb.Net system;
2. any use of this or any other PrismWeb.Net system as a staging ground to disable other systems.

8. Right to Disconnect Non-Dedicated Accounts

PrismWeb.Net unlimited interactive usage dial-up connections are not intended to be full-time dedicated connections and will be disconnected after 15 minutes of inactivity. Customer agrees not to use any automatic method to avoid disconnection, to keep the connection active only when the Customer is actively using it, and not to provide public information services over the connection. PrismWeb.Net reserves the right to impose a restriction on accounts it deems to be in violation of these conditions.

 

9. Multiple Logins

With the PrismWeb.Net unlimited interactive usage accounts, multiple simultaneous connections are not permitted. PrismWeb.Net considers that anytime a single account is connected to more than one of our modems to be a simultaneous connection. This would require the person with the account to have multiple modems and phone lines and to use them at the same time for this to occur. Since we do not limit the amount of hours used, we must limit the number of connections to only one at a time to keep accounts from being abused and to offer the lowest price to you.

 

10. Excess Utilization of System or Network Resources

PrismWeb.Net account descriptions in some cases may specify limits on bandwidth, CPU and disk utilization for certain types of Customers, and use up to these limits is included in the price for that type of Customer. In the event PrismWeb.Net determines that a Customer is exceeding the bandwidth, CPU and/or disk utilization limits, the Customer will be notified by email. If the excess use continues for more than 48 hours after such notification, the Customer may be requested to upgrade to a web hosting service agreement or to modify the activity creating the excess use. If excessive bandwidth, CPU or disk space utilization is determined by PrismWeb.Net to adversely affect PrismWeb.Net's ability to provide service for all customers, immediate action may be taken to alleviate the problem. In such event, the Customer will be notified by email as soon as practicable.

 

11. Compliance with Rules of Other Networks

Any access to other networks connected to PrismWeb.Net's Internet service must comply with the rules for that other network as well as with PrismWeb.Net's rules.

 

12. Monitoring/Privacy

PrismWeb.Net reserves the right to monitor any and all communications through or with PrismWeb.Net facilities. Customer agrees that PrismWeb.Net is not considered a secure communications medium for the purposes of the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and that no expectation of privacy is afforded. It may become necessary for PrismWeb.Net employees to examine system accounting logs and other records to determine if privacy violations or other network unfriendly activities have occurred. PrismWeb.Net also reserves the right to access a Customer's mailbox or other files stored on PrismWeb.Net systems to resolve system problems or mail system errors.

 

13. Cooperation with Authorities

PrismWeb.Net reserves the right to cooperate with law enforcement and other authorities in investigating claims of illegal activity including, but not limited to, illegal transfer or availability of copyrighted material, postings or e-mail containing threats of violence or other illegal activity.

 

14. Confidentiality of Personal Subscriber Information

PrismWeb.Net will not release a Customer's personal subscriber information, nor a Customer's billing information, to any third party except upon presentation of a valid court order of a government or entity within our jurisdiction. Customer agrees that PrismWeb.Net's judgment as to the validity of any court order or subpoena shall be considered proper and final.

 

15. PrismWeb.Net's Right to Suspend or Cancel Account

PrismWeb.Net reserves the right to suspend or cancel service to a Customer at any time and without notice, for any reason, including, but not limited to, refusal or failure to pay for services provided or by sole judgment of PrismWeb.Net that the Customer may be performing activities harmful to PrismWeb.Net or its Customers, employees, vendors, business relationships or any other users of the Internet.

 

16. Right to Damages

PrismWeb.Net reserves the right to collect damages (software, hardware and man hours) if any harm is done to PrismWeb.Net which requires repair or reconfiguration of any kind.

 

17. Other Remedies/Non-Waiver

Nothing contained in these policies shall be construed to limit action PrismWeb.Net may take or remedies available to PrismWeb.Net in any way with respect to any of the described conduct. PrismWeb.Net reserves the right to take any additional actions PrismWeb.Net may consider appropriate with respect to such conduct, including without limitation taking action to recover the costs and expenses of identifying offenders and removing them from the PrismWeb.Net service, and levying cancellation charges to cover PrismWeb.Net's costs in the event of disconnection of dedicated access for the causes outlined above. In addition, PrismWeb.Net reserves at all times all rights and remedies available to PrismWeb.Net with respect to such conduct at law or in equity. Non-enforcement of any policy or rule herein does not constitute consent or waiver, and PrismWeb.Net reserves the right to enforce such policy or rule at its sole discretion.

 

18. PrismWeb.Net's Right to Change Service

PrismWeb.Net reserves to right to change without notice the PrismWeb.Net service, including, but not limited to, access procedures, hours of operation, menu structures, commands, documentation, vendors and services offered.

 

19. PrismWeb.Net's Right to Modify its Acceptable Use Policies

PrismWeb.Net may modify its Acceptable Use Policies upon notice published online via PrismWeb.Net. Customer's use of PrismWeb.Net services after such notice shall constitute Customer's acceptance of the modifications to these policies.

20. Long Distance Charges Incurred using PrismWeb.Net Services.

         PrismWeb.Net shall not be held liable for long distance charges incurred by customers who fail to dial correctly or dial the proper prefixes in their dial-up setting properties. It is the responsibility of our customers to know whether the access number they connect to will be long distance or local to our areas of service and to ensure that their computers are properly setup to dial the local number to said services.

   Furthermore if a server in any location is unavailable to our customer(s) to connect to the Internet and said customer(s) decides to dial into a server that is out of their local service area bringing long distance toll charges, PrismWeb.Net shall not be held liable for any long distance fees brought about this manner.