Acceptable Use
- Introduction
- This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) is designed to (i) promote high quality, reliable service for all of Cypress Communications, Inc. (“Cypress”) customers; (ii) enhance the integrity, security and sufficiency of Cypress’ network; (iii) enhance the integrity, security and privacy of customer data, systems and networks; (iv) protect Cypress customers and the Internet community as a whole from debilitating, improper or illegal uses of Cypress services, equipment and the Internet; and (v) encourage Cypress customers to use our equipment, networks and other facilities responsibly and in accordance with applicable laws. Although this AUP describes certain prohibited uses, it is not intended as a precise or comprehensive listing of all activities that may violate this AUP. Cypress will, in its sole discretion and on a case-by-case basis, determine whether any use or application of Cypress’ services, equipment, network or other facilities is a violation of this AUP.
- This AUP applies to all users of Cypress’ services, equipment and network facilities. This AUP is made a part of each and every contract, agreement or service order (“Contract”) between Cypress and its Customer; provided, however, that with respect to any conflict between this AUP and any such Contract, the terms of the Contract shall control.
- This AUP is subject to any and all applicable laws and regulations that govern the provision, sale, use or application of Cypress’ services, equipment or network facilities.
- Consent to AUP
- By using Cypress’ services, equipment or network facilities, you agree to comply with this AUP, and Cypress may suspend or terminate your Cypress account if you fail to comply with any of the terms or condition set forth herein. IF YOUR ACTUAL OR PROPOSED USE OF ANY OF CYPRESS’ SERVICES, EQUIPMENT OR NETWORK FACILITIES VIOLATE THIS AUP IN ANY MANNER, YOU MUST NOTIFY CYPRESS IMMEDIATELY SO THAT CYPRESS MAY SUSPEND OR TERMINATE ALL AFFECTED SERVICES AND TAKE SUCH OTHER ACTION AS CYPRESS DEEMS NECESSARY OR PRUDENT TO PROTECT THE CAPACITY, INTEGRITY, SECURITY, SUFFICIENCY OR PRIVACY OF CYPRESS’ SERVICES, EQUIPMENT, SYSTEMS, NETWORKS, CUSTOMERS OR PROVIDERS.
- Prohibited Uses
- Violations of Law. Customer shall not store, disseminate or transmit any unlawful messages or material by or across Cypress’ services, equipment or network facilities. The storage, dissemination or transmission of unlawful messages or materials could subject the customer to criminal and civil liability, in addition to the penalties described in this AUP. Other violations include (i) theft or infringement of copyrights, trademarks, trade secrets or other types of intellectual property; (ii) fraud; forgery, theft, or misappropriation of funds, credit cards or personal information; (iii) threats of physical harm or harassment; (iv) distribution of obscene, pornographic, indecent or hateful materials; (v) distribution of defamatory or libelous materials; or (vi) activities that cause harm to minors.
- Fraud. Customer shall not use Cypress’ services or equipment to make fraudulent offers to buy or sell products or services, or engage in any type of consumer or financial scam, e.g., “pyramid” schemes, “ponzi” schemes or chain letters. Customer shall not add, remove or modify network, email or SMTP identifiers in an effort to impersonate, deceive or mislead others.
- Security Violations. Customer must take necessary anti-virus precautions before downloading or copying any file from the Internet. Customer should examine all downloaded and compressed files for viruses prior to opening or decompressing same. Customer shall not store, disseminate or transmit material or programs that are designed to compromise, or do compromise, the integrity or security of Cypress’ services, equipment or network facilities, or other websites, networks or computer systems. Examples of such programs include, but are not limited to, hacking programs, password guessing programs, packet sniffers, cracking tools, network probing tools, port scanning tools, and programs that distribute viruses, worms and other harmful software. Customer shall not engage in any activity that is designed or intended to make unauthorized entry to any other machine, information or material that is accessible via Cypress’ services or equipment. Any attempt to access any of Cypress’ corporate assets is strictly prohibited. Customer shall not share passwords or accounts with other individuals or corporate users. Cypress may monitor the use or security of customer passwords, and Cypress may require Customer to change its passwords, at any time.
- System Misuse or Abuse. Customer shall not engage in any use of Cypress’ services, equipment or network facilities which debilitates, interrupts or disrupts the normal use of such services, equipment or network facilities by others. Examples of system abuse include, but are not limited to, consuming excessive amounts of time, memory or bandwidth; propagation of computer worms and viruses; and flooding, mail bombing and “spamming” (see 2.e below). Customer shall not copy, modify, adapt, reproduce, translate, distribute, misappropriate, reverse engineer or disassemble any aspect of the services or equipment provided by Cypress.
- Email Abuse. Customer shall not (i) send, forward or otherwise disseminate unsolicited messages or advertising to other users, (ii) send, forward or otherwise disseminate unlawful, threatening, harassing, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, pornographic, profane, or otherwise objectionable material of any kind to other users, (iii) forge e-mail addresses in order to disguise the place of email origin or sender or (iv) engage in any form of “spamming” Including without limitation any activities that would violate the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. For purposes of this AUP, “spamming” includes transmitting large volumes of unsolicited email messages; sending very large attachments to one or more recipients; posting a single message to more than seven (7) mailing lists or newsgroups; posting messages to online forums or newsgroups that violate the rules or charter of such groups; sending any unsolicited email that could be expected, in Cypress’ discretion, to provoke complaints; sending email with solicitations for money petitions for signatures, or any chain mail; and sending email that does not accurately identify the sender, the sender’s return address or the email address of origin.
- Copyright Violations; Pirated Software. The unauthorized use, installation, copying or distribution of copyrighted, trademarked or patented material on the Internet is strictly prohibited. As a general rule, if a customer did not create material, does not own the rights to it, or has not obtained authorization for its use, the customer should not display or disseminate such material over the Internet. Notwithstanding the foregoing, content and materials in the public domain may be downloaded, uploaded and disseminated using Cypress’ services and equipment, provided that the customer assumes all risks regarding the determination of whether such content or material is in the public domain. Customer shall not retrieve, download, upload, disseminate or exchange software or information via the Internet for purposes of avoiding the lawful purchase or license of same by the individuals involved. In addition, the import or export of software or technical information in violation of U.S. import or export control laws is strictly prohibited.
- Resale of Services or Equipment. In subscribing for any of Cypress’ services or equipment, each customer acknowledges that such services and equipment are provided only for customer’s personal and individual use, and not for resale, barter, exchange or similar commercial transactions. Customer shall not (i) resell, transfer or assign all or any portion of the services or equipment to others or (ii) allow its account to be used by any third parties (other than Cypress employees) without Cypress’ express written consent.
- Collection of Personal Data. Customer shall not use the services or equipment to collect or retrieve personal information about third parties, or that is maintained by third parties, without their knowledge and consent.
- Other Activities. Customer shall not engage in any other activities that Cypress determines to be harmful to its services, equipment, network, operations, customers or reputation, including any activities that interfere with any other user’s use or enjoyment of any of Cypress’ services or the Internet.
- Supervision and Investigation
- Cypress reserves the right to monitor and investigate suspected violations of this AUP upon advance notice to Customer, including gathering information from customer(s) or complaining party(ies), monitoring Internet usage and traffic, and retrieving and examining the quality and quantity of data, content or material that is transmitted across Cypress’ facilities or network. Cypress will guard all content or material examined as confidential.
- During any investigation, Cypress may suspend the customer’s use of the services or equipment involved, block transmissions, or remove any offensive or excessive data, content or material from its servers or network. Cypress reserves the right to release the user names of customers involved in violations of this AUP to other communications carriers, service providers, website administrators and law enforcement authorities in order to prevent, resolve or report such violations on Cypress’s network or any other network or forum.
- Penalties for Abuse
- Violations of this AUP may result in (i) the immediate suspension or termination of customer accounts and services by Cypress and (ii) the prosecution of any and all criminal and civil penalties available under the law. Penalties imposed by Cypress may vary based on the level of the offense. Accounts that have been disabled due to any violation of this AUP may not be restored by the customer without Cypress’ prior written consent.
- Any violation of this AUP may be deemed an event of default by the customer under some or all of the Contract(s) between the customer and Cypress, which event of default may entitle Cypress to pursue additional remedies not described in this AUP.
- Cypress will not reimburse customers whose service is suspended, disabled or terminated due to any of the reasons listed above.
- Disclaimer; Indemnity
- Cypress has no control over sites, data and information that is located on or transmitted across the Internet, and Cypress does not review, edit or censor information or transmissions that are disseminated by or across Cypress’ facilities or network. Therefore, Cypress expressly disclaims any responsibility or liability for the use, purchase, sale or dissemination of, or any access to, false, inaccurate, misleading, unlawful, unsuitable or offensive transmissions or content that exist on, or are disseminated across, Cypress’ facilities or networks.
- By executing contracts for services or equipment, all Cypress customers agree to indemnify and hold Cypress, its officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents, subsidiaries, and affiliates harmless from any and all damages, liabilities, claims, costs and expenses (including court costs and attorney’s fees) related to customer’s violation of this AUP.
- Revisions to the AUP
- Cypress may modify this AUP at any time. Such modification will be effective when posted to the Cypress web site.
