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DIRECPATH ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY FOR BROADBAND SERVICES

1.         Introduction

We intend our Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") to help enhance the use of the Internet by setting standards for the acceptable use of our services and preventing unacceptable use. All users of DIRECPATH broadband services (the "Services"), including Voice over Internet Protocol (collectively, "you" or the "Subscriber"), must comply with this AUP. We support the free flow of information and ideas over the Internet and do not actively monitor use of the Services under normal circumstances. We also (subject to Section 4 below) do not exercise editorial control over the content of any Web site (with the exception of our own DIRECPATH Web site(s)), electronic mail transmission, news groups, or other material created or accessible over or through the Services. However, in accordance with our DIRECPATH Broadband Services Subscriber Agreement, we may remove any materials that, in our sole discretion, may be illegal, may subject us to liability, or which may violate this AUP.

Please read this AUP carefully: Your violation of this AUP may result in the restriction, suspension or termination of either your access to the Services and/or your DIRECPATH account(s) or other actions as detailed in Section 4 below. You should read this AUP in conjunction with our Terms and Conditions for Internet Access Service and other policies posted on our website.

This AUP is part of a binding contract between you and DIRECPATH. In consideration of the other terms and conditions of the Agreement between you and DIRECPATH, you agree as follows:

By subscribing to and/or using DIRECPATH Internet Services and equipment, including Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP), you agree to be bound by each of the terms and conditions of the DIRECPATH AUP as set forth below and amended from time to time by DIRECPATH. You also acknowledge and agree that: (a) DIRECPATH may contact you via your DIRECPATH.com Email address; (b) in no event shall DIRECPATH have any liability whatsoever for damages, suffered by you or by any third party, to the extent such damages are directly or indirectly caused by DIRECPATH's enforcement of this AUP, including the termination, restriction, suspension or interruption of your account without advance notice.

2.         Violations of DIRECPATH's Acceptable Use Policy.

For purposes of this AUP, "use" of or "using" the Services includes, without limitation, emailing, uploading and posting. "Use" of or "using" the Services also includes allowing, whether by action or inaction, one's computer to be used by any third party in a way that violates DIRECPATH's AUP.

It is important to understand that a user's computer may transmit data - including (but not limited to) harmful data such as Spam and Software Viruses - without the user's active participation or knowledge, as when, for example, the computer is "hijacked" or "hacked" by a third party. Under this Acceptable Use Policy, each DIRECPATH broadband Subscriber is responsible for all uses of his/her computer. Accordingly, allowing the use of one's computer for the transmission of harmful data (including data that falls within any of the categories (a) through (n) listed below) constitutes a violation of the AUP, even if harmful transmission or use occurs without the user's knowledge or active participation.

The following uses of the Services are prohibited:

a.      Unlawful Use. Using the Services to transmit any material intentionally or unintentionally that violates any applicable local, state, national or international law, or any rules or regulations promulgated thereunder, including, but not limited to, regulations promulgated by the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission, any rules of any national or other securities exchange, including, without limitation, the New York Stock Exchange, the American Stock Exchange or the NASDAQ, and any regulations having the force of law.

b.      Copyright Infringement.  Using the Services to transmit or receive any material that infringes on any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright or other proprietary or intellectual rights of any party, including, but not limited to, the unauthorized copying of copyrighted material, the digitization and distribution of photographs from magazines, books, or other copyrighted sources, and the unauthorized transmittal of copyrighted software.

c.       Threats and Harassment; Promotion of Illegal Activities.  Using the Services to transmit, post or disseminate any material that is unlawful, harmful, threatening, abusive, harassing, defamatory, vulgar, obscene, libelous, invasive of another's privacy, hateful, or racially, ethnically or otherwise offensive, or using the Services to promote or provide instructional information about illegal activities, promote physical harm or injury against any group or individual, promote any act of cruelty to animals, or otherwise violate any local, state, national, or international law, order or regulation.

d.      Junk E-mail.  Using the Services to transmit or facilitate any unsolicited or unauthorized advertising, promotional materials, "junk mail," unsolicited bulk E-mail and unsolicited commercial E-mail (collectively "Spam"). Any unsolicited commercial mail is Spam, regardless of the amount of mail sent, unless the recipient has specifically requested the information.

e.      Fraudulent Activity.  Using the Services to make fraudulent offers to sell or buy products, items, or services or to advance any type of financial scam such as "pyramid schemes," "ponzi schemes," and "chain letters." You may not use techniques to hide or obscure the source of any E-mail.

f.        False Impersonation.  Impersonating any person or entity, or falsely stating or otherwise misrepresenting your affiliation with any person or entity. You may not use invalid or forged headers, invalid or non-existent domain names or other means of deceptive addressing.

g.      Software Viruses. Using the Services to transmit any material that contains software viruses or any other computer code, files or programs designed to interrupt, destroy or limit the functionality of any computer software or hardware or telecommunications equipment.

h.      Unauthorized Access. Using the Services to access, or to attempt to access, the accounts of others, or to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate, security measures of DIRECPATH's or another entity's computer software or hardware, electronic communications system, or telecommunications system, whether or not the intrusion results in the corruption or loss of data.

i.        Collection of Personal Data. Using the Services to collect, or attempt to collect, personal information about third parties without their knowledge or consent.

j.        Network Disruptions and Unfriendly Activity. Using the Service for any activity which adversely affects DIRECPATH's property, or in any way interferes with or disrupts our network or the ability of other people or systems to use DIRECPATH Services or the Internet. This includes, but is not limited to, "Denial of Service" (DOS) attacks against another network host or individual user; uploading, posting or otherwise transferring WebBots, CGI or any other scripts or executables designed to interfere with any DIRECPATH web server; attempts to circumvent user authentication or the security of any host, network, network element or account (also known as "cracking" or "hacking"); unauthorized attempts to access secure or private data, accounts or servers, or to probe the security of other networks; using any kind of program/script/command or sending messages of any kind designed to interfere with any server or a user's session, by any means, locally or via the Internet. Interference with or disruption of other network users, network services or network equipment and pinging are all prohibited. It is every Subscriber's responsibility to ensure that his or her network is configured in a secure manner.

k.      Dedicated Server Sites.  DIRECPATH's internet access services are intended for residential use only and not for business or commercial use, and may not be used to host a dedicated server site on the Internet.

l.        Excess Utilization of Network Resources. The excessive use or abuse of DIRECPATH's network resources by one subscriber may have a negative impact on all other subscribers. Accordingly, you may not use the Services or take any action that will result in excessive consumption or utilization of the system or network resources, or which may weaken network performance, as determined in DIRECPATH's sole discretion. Such prohibited actions include, but are not limited to: using the Services to host a web server site which attracts excessive traffic at your location, continuously uploading or downloading streaming video or audio, Usenet hosting, or continuous FTP uploading or downloading. In the event that DIRECPATH detects excessive use by you, DIRECPATH may restrict your access to our network, increase the fees associated with your Service, including upgrading you to a higher class of Service, or terminate your Service.

m.    Reselling. Reproducing, duplicating, copying, selling, reselling or exploiting any portion of the Services without DIRECPATH's prior written consent.

n.      Unauthorized Commercial Activity. Engaging in commercial activities without subscribing to DIRECPATH-provided or approved programs. This includes without limitation offering for sale any products or services, soliciting for advertisers or sponsors, or conducting raffles or contests that require any type of entry fee.

o.      Newsgroups. DIRECPATH Subscribers should use their best judgment when posting to any newsgroup. Many groups have charters, published guidelines, FAQs, or "community standards" describing what is and is not considered appropriate. You must abide by such guidelines. The continued posting or listing of off-topic articles is prohibited. Commercial advertisements are off-topic in most newsgroups, especially regional groups not specifically named for such. The presence of such articles in a group is not indicative of the group's "intended" use. Please familiarize yourself with basic USENET netiquette before posting to a newsgroup. DIRECPATH considers "multi-posting" to 10 or more groups within a two week sliding window to be excessive. DIRECPATH servers currently limit the number of allowable "cross-posts" to nine.  DIRECPATH Subscribers may not cancel messages other than their own messages; however, a Subscriber may cancel posts forged in that Subscriber's name. DIRECPATH may cancel any postings that violate this AUP as determined in DIRECPATH's sole discretion.

3.                  Use of Your Account by Others.

You may not, through action or inaction, allow others to use your account for illegal or inappropriate actions. You may not permit your account, through action or inaction, to be configured in such a way that gives a third party the capability to use your account in an illegal or inappropriate manner, or in violation of any provision of this AUP.

4.         Personal Websites.

DIRECPATH offers subscribers a certain amount of disk space for hosting website(s) ("Web Space"), depending on the Service level selected. Web Space is defined as a file system allocation on one or more of DIRECPATH's publicly available web servers that is used for the sole purpose of displaying or providing information to the public Internet community. You are solely responsible for all information, data, text, software, music, sound, photographs, graphics, video, messages or other materials ("Content") contained within your Web Space. DIRECPATH does not inspect or otherwise participate in the posting of Content to its Subscribers' Web Space and, as such, does not guarantee the accuracy, integrity, security, or quality of such Content. DIRECPATH disclaims any liability for the security of any Content posted on the Web Space, and all such Content is stored at your own risk. Such Web Space is freely available to anyone using the Internet. DIRECPATH reserves the right at any time, and periodically, to modify or discontinue, temporarily or permanently, your Web Space, with or without notice. DIRECPATH may, in its sole discretion, terminate your Web Space, and remove any Content contained on your Web Space for any reason, including without limitation, lack of use, or the reasonable belief that you have violated any provision of this AUP. You acknowledge that DIRECPATH will not be liable to you or to any third party for any modification, suspension, or discontinuance of your Web Space.

5.         Reporting Violations of DIRECPATH's AUP

a.         DIRECPATH requests that anyone who believes that there is a violation of this AUP to direct the information to our Customer Help Desk at abuse@DIRECPATH.com. If available, please provide the following information:

  • The IP address used to commit the alleged violation;
  • The date and time of the alleged violation, including the time zone;
  • Evidence of the alleged violation E-mail with full header information that provides the above.
  • Other situations will require different methods of providing the above information.

b.         In the event that you violate this AUP, DIRECPATH may take any one or more of the following actions:

  • issue written or verbal warnings;
  • suspend the your newsgroup posting privileges;
  • restrict or suspend your account without providing advance notice;
  • terminate your account;
  • bill you for administrative costs and/or reactivation charges associated with any AUP violation;
  • increase the fees associated with your Service, including upgrading you to a higher class of Service;
  • bring legal action to enjoin violations and/or to collect damages, if any, caused by any AUP violation.

DIRECPATH reserves the right to cooperate with law enforcement and other authorities in investigating any claims of illegal activity. Subscribers who violate systems or network security or who use DIRECPATH Services and/or equipment may incur criminal or civil liability. You must cooperate with DIRECPATH in any fraud investigation and use any fraud prevention measures that DIRECPATH prescribes, and your failure to provide reasonable cooperation may result in your liability for all fraudulent usage.

6.         Revisions to this Acceptable Use Policy

DIRECPATH reserves the right to revise, amend, or modify this AUP, our Terms and Conditions for Internet Access Service and our other policies at any time and in any manner. Any revision, amendment, or modification will be effective ten (10) days after DIRECPATH publishes such revision, amendment, or modification. Your continued use of our services after such revision, amendment, or modification shall constitute your acceptance of the modifications to this AUP. Therefore, it is important that you review this AUP from time to time. If you have questions about the AUP, or about your rights and responsibilities as a DIRECPATH subscriber, please contact our Customer Help Desk at ____________________.

IT IS YOUR RESPONSIBILITY TO CHECK THIS WEBSITE REGULARLY, AS ALL OR ANY PART OF THIS AUP MAY CHANGE WITHOUT NOTICE.