USP
ASDL and Hosted Services: Acceptable Use Policy
This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is intended to help protect both customers and the Internet community from the inappropriate use of the Internet. A customer's use of any service constitutes acceptance of this AUP. The Service Provider reserves the right to revise and update this AUP from time to time. The Service Provider expects customers to cooperate with the company’s TOS/Abuse department when requested to assist in their investigations.
This AUP is divided into two sections:
• Section 1. Violations and Descriptions of Appropriate Use
• Section 2. Reporting to the Service Providers TOS/Abuse department
Section 1: Violations and Descriptions of Acceptable Use
• General Violations
• Network Disruptions
• E-mail
• Facilitating a Violation of This AUP
• News
• Web
• Excessive Bandwidth or Disk Utilisation
General Violations
Our AUP prohibits the following: • Impersonation/Forgery
Adding, removing, or modifying identifying network header information ("spoofing") in an effort to deceive or mislead is prohibited. Attempting to impersonate any person by using forged headers or other identifying information is prohibited. The use of anonymous re-mailers and nicknames does not constitute impersonation. Using deliberately misleading headers ("munging" headers) in news postings in order to avoid spam e-mail address collectors is allowed provided appropriate contact
information is contained in the body of the posting.
• Privacy Violations
Attempts, whether successful or unsuccessful, to gain access to any electronic systems, networks or data, without proper consent, are prohibited.
• Threats
Threats of bodily harm or destruction of property are prohibited.
• Harassment
Threatening or harassing activity is prohibited.
• Illegal Use
The use of this service for illegal purposes is prohibited.
• Reselling
The resale of any service without proper authorisation from the is prohibited.
• Copyright Infringement USP’s connectivity partners International Ltd
All material published must be owned by the publisher or the appropriate releases must have been obtained prior to publishing. USP’s will co-operate with all agencies attempting to assert their rights in these matters.
Network Disruptions and Network-Unfriendly Activity
Any activities, which adversely affect the ability of other people or systems to use USP services or the Internet, are prohibited. This includes "denial of service" (DoS) attacks against another network host or individual user.
Interference with, or disruption of, use of the network by others, network services or network equipment is prohibited.
It is the customer's responsibility to ensure that their network is configured in a secure manner. A customer may not, through action or inaction, allow others to use their network for illegal or inappropriate actions. A customer may not permit their network, through action or inaction, to be configured in such a way that it gives a third party the capability to use their network in an illegal or inappropriate manner.
USP does not tolerate, endorse or participate in e-mail spamming. Sending unsolicited commercial e-mail is prohibited. We do not authorise bulk e-mailing although we do recognise that in some instances this is a valid and useful form of marketing for both senders and recipients. However, all bulk mail activities must be discussed and agreed in advance of any bulk mailing.
Using a USP e-mail or Web site address to collect responses or otherwise attempt to track embedded actions from unsolicited commercial e-mail is prohibited.
Sending large volumes of unsolicited e-mail, whether or not that e-mail is commercial in nature is prohibited. All solicited e-mail should have been confirmed through the use of a double opt-in list (i.e. the recipient must confirm their wish to receive that particular e-mail twice).
Activities that have the effect of facilitating unsolicited commercial e-mail, or large volumes of unsolicited e-mail, whether or not that e-mail is commercial in nature, are prohibited. Users operating mail servers must ensure that they are not “open relays” but limited to password authorised use only.
Anonymous bulk e-mailings are not permitted and we will terminate the accounts of any customers who attempt to do this. This may happen without notice. If we receive any complaints from recipients or other third parties, or any mailing causes technical problems on our systems, we may take further action to stop this happening again. This may involve the termination of any accounts the sender has and may occur without notice.
In the event that we are alerted to anyone sending bulk e-mails, we will generally attempt to make contact with the senders to discuss appropriate actions.
We recommend that anybody undertaking this kind of activity has a data protection statement on their Web site explaining how the company fulfils their obligations in terms of the Data Protection Act.
Senders must give recipients the ability to easily contact the sender and remove themselves from their mailing list. A single link should be provided in any email message sent to any automated list that causes removal from the automated mailing list.
Senders must be sure that recipients are aware that they are listed on the sender's e-mailing list and that they themselves provided their information or authorised a third party to do so on their behalf.
Senders must make every effort to ensure that the information they are sending is of interest to the recipient and matches the reason given for the collection of the e-mail address in the first place (e.g. e-mail collected from people interested in Motorcycle Products should not be sent e-mail relating to tattoos, no matter how likely it may seem that they will be interested in the same topic.
In the event of any problems being caused by this type of activity, we will make every effort to ensure that the problem is resolved as quickly as possible. This includes full co-operation with any relevant authorities.
Facilitating a Violation of this AUP
Advertising, transmitting, or otherwise making available any software, programme, product, or service that is designed to violate this AUP, or the AUP of any other Internet Service Provider, which includes, but is not limited to, the facilitation of the means to spam.
Newsgroups
USP does not directly support NNTP newsgroup activity or operate relevant news servers.
Web
Using a USP hosted web site or connectivity for the purpose of distributing illegal material is prohibited. USP will co-operate with authorities to remedy breaches of this policy. Using a USP hosted web site or USP provided connectivity to send or collect responses in connection with any aspect of unsolicited commercial e-mail (aka SPAM) is also prohibited.
Excessive bandwidth or Disk Utilisation
USP’s account descriptions specify current limits on bandwidth and disk utilisation. Where limits are not specifically defined the judgement of the Internet Technical Support team shall be used to define those limits. The use of bandwidth or disk space in excess of those limits is not permitted. The total number of bytes transferred from an account’s Web and FTP space determines bandwidth utilisation.
The total number of bytes required to store an account’s Web, FTP, and Mail data determines disk utilisation.
If USP determines that excessive bandwidth or disk space utilisation is adversely affecting USP’s ability to provide service, USP may take immediate remedial action. USP will attempt to notify the account owner by e-mail as soon as possible.
Section 2: Reporting to the TOS/Abuse Department
USP requests that anyone who believes that there is a violation of this AUP should direct the information to the AUP Abuse Staff at this address: support@usp.net
Customers who wish to report ‘spam’ from a non-USP source should send copies of the e-mail they received along with full message header information. Some messages may not receive a response, but USP may use the information received at this address to aid in the development of filter lists.
All issues involving other e-mail abuse originating from USP provided e-mail or network addresses should also be sent to the above address.
Other suspicious activity may include such events as port scans or attempts to penetrate network resources and virus distribution.
Copyright Infringement.
USP may take any one or more of the following actions in response to complaints:
Issue warnings: written or verbal
Suspend the customer's account
Terminate the customer's account
Invoice the customer for administrative costs and/or reactivation charges
What information should be submitted?
1. The IP address used to commit the alleged violation
2. The date and time of the alleged violation, including the time zone or offset from GMT
3. Evidence of the alleged violation
Copies of e-mail with full header information provide all the required information, as do syslog files and firewall logs. Other situations will require different methods.
This policy is subject to amendment and revision at any time without notice. It is intended to be practical expression of the common sense that has allowed the internet to exist and develop relatively free from formal controls and political interference and we strongly recommend to all users that this is the best way for the internet to continue to operate.