1. Policy Introduction.
Activities of Customers and Users of, Internet services, including Hosting (collectively referred to herein as “IP related Services”) may expose, disrupt or degrade Protected Trust’s’ IP related Services. Moreover, because of various conventions used in the industry (including blocking, filtering and blacklisting) these activities may impair Protected Trust’s ability to interconnect with other IP related Service providers. These activities may relate to the content stored by Customers or Users, to content of the messages transmitted by Customers or Users or to the nature of the transmissions themselves such as sending large numbers of unsolicited messages (Spam).
While Protected Trust does not normally monitor the stored content or transmissions of its Customers, we must be able to respond to complaints by governmental authorities, affected parties and other Internet Service Providers. Protected Trust has adopted this “Acceptable Use Policy” (“AUP”) in an attempt to balance interference or risk of harm arising from its Customers’ use of Protected Trust’s IP related Services with the interests of those who may be affected by such use. Because the rules in this area are in a state of development, this AUP may change from time to time; any such changes will be posted at this site and shall be applied prospectively only.
2. AUP Coverage.
The AUP applies to all Customers and Users of Protected Trust’s IP related Services. If a Customer violates the AUP or permits its Users to do so, Protected Trust may, depending on the nature and severity of the violation, suspend or terminate service, as provided below. If a User (other than a Customer) violates the AUP, Protected Trust may suspend service for so long as necessary for steps to be taken which, in Protected Trust’s reasonable judgment, will prevent the violation from continuing or reoccurring.
3. Notice.
When feasible, Protected Trust shall provide Customers with written notice via e-mail or otherwise of an AUP violation so that such violation may be corrected without impact on service. Protected Trust reserves the right, however, to act immediately and without notice to suspend or terminate service in response to a court order or government notice that certain conduct must be stopped or when Protected Trust reasonably determines (1) that it may be exposed to sanctions or prosecution, (2) that such violation may cause harm to or interfere with the integrity or normal operations or security of Protected Trust’s network or networks with which Protected Trust is interconnected or interfere with another Customer’s use of Protected Trust Services or the Internet; (3) that such violation otherwise presents imminent risk of harm to Protected Trust or Protected Trust’s Customers or their respective employees.In other situations, Protected Trust will use reasonable efforts to provide, at least 5 business days notice before suspending or terminating service.
4. PROHIBITED ACTIONS.
Protected Trust is committed to remaining in compliance with laws and regulations governing use of the Internet and e-mail transmissions, and to preserving for all of its Customers the ability to use Protected Trust’s network and the Internet without interference or harassment from other users. Protected Trust prohibits use of its IP related Services in any ways that are unlawful, interfere with use of Protected Trust’s network or the Internet, infringe intellectual property rights, result in the publication using Protected Trust Services of threatening or offensive material, constitute Spam/E-mail/Usenet abuse, or present security or privacy risks.
5. Unlawful Activities.
Protected Trust IP related Services shall not be used in connection with any criminal or civil violation of any applicable local, state, provincial, federal, national or international law, treaty, court order, ordinance, regulation or administrative rule.
6. Interference.
Protected Trust IP related Services shall not be used in a manner that interferes with any communications network or the usage of services received by others.
7. Intellectual Property.
Protected Trust IP related Service shall not be used to transmit, re-transmit, or store any content or to engage in any activity that infringes the intellectual property rights or privacy rights of Protected Trust or any individual, group or entity, including but not limited to any rights protected by any copyright, patent, trademark, trade secret, trade dress, right of privacy, right of publicity, moral rights or other intellectual property right now known or later recognized by statute, judicial decision or regulation. While Protected Trust reserves the right to restrict any actions alleged to violate the intellectual property rights of another party, it is not Protected Trust’s policy to decide whether claimed infringements are valid or not. Thus, while Customers consent to Protected Trust’s right to suspend service if Customer is alleged to be violating another’s rights, Protected Trust may also permit the continuing activity of its Customer despite allegations of an infringement where Customer in writing (1) fully assumes responsibility for its activity and (2) agrees to fully indemnify Protected Trust for all damages, claims, expenses and attorneys fees as a result of the alleged infringement. Should Protected Trust choose to permit the continued activity of its Customer at Customer’s request, Protected Trust may require a bond securing it for the full amount of potential indemnification, which amount shall be determined in Protected Trust’s reasonable judgment.
8. Offensive or Threatening Material or Content.
Protected Trust IP related Services shall not be used to host, post, transmit, or re-transmit any content or material that is threatening, harassing, obscene, indecent, pornographic, hateful, malicious, racist, defamatory, libelous, treasonous, excessively violent or promotes the use of violence, or provides instruction, information or assistance in causing or carrying out violence against any government, organization, group or individual, or provides guidance, information or assistance with respect to causing damage or security breaches to Protected Trust’s network or to the network of any other IP related Service provider.
9. E-mail Abuse and Unsolicited Bulk Email (“UBE”, “spam”).
The sending of any form of Unsolicited Bulk Email through Protected Trust’s IP service is prohibited. Protected Trust IP services may not be used to solicit customers from, or collect replies to, messages sent from another Internet Service Provider where those messages violate this Policy or that of the other provider. Examples of E-mail Abuse include but are not limited to the following activities:
(i) using another site’s mail server or Protected Trust’s IP services to relay mail without the express permission of the domain;
(ii) collecting the responses from unsolicited electronic messages;
(iii) sending electronic messages with petitions for signatures, or any chain mail related materials;
(iv) sending unsolicited electronic messages with charity requests;
(v) sending messages that are harassing or malicious, or otherwise could reasonably be predicted to interfere with another party’s use of the Protected Trust IP related Services;
(vi) sending bulk (i.e., twenty-five or more recipients) electronic messages in quantities that exceed standard industry norms or that create the potential for disruption of the Protected Trust’s network or of the networks with which Protected Trust interconnects;
(vii) sending electronic messages that do not accurately identify the sender, the sender’s return address, the e-mail address of origin, or other information contained in the subject line or header;
(viii) distributing or using software designed to promote the sending of unsolicited bulk electronic messages;
(ix) using distribution lists containing addresses that include those who have opted out;
10. Security Violations.
Protected Trust Services may not be used to interfere with, to gain unauthorized access to or otherwise violate the security of Protected Trust’s or another’s server, network, personal computer, network access or control devices, software or data, or other system, or to attempt to do any of the foregoing. Examples of Security Violations include but are not limited to:
(i) intercepting, interfering with or redirecting e-mail intended for third parties, or any form of network monitoring, scanning or probing, or other action for the unauthorized interception of data or harvesting of e-mail addresses;
(ii) attempting to attack, breach, circumvent or test the vulnerability of the user authentication or security of any host, network, server, personal computer, network access and control devices, software or data (except in the case of authorized legitimate network security operations);
(iii) using any program, file, script, command or the transmission of any message or content of any kind, designed to interfere with a terminal session or the access or use of the Internet or any other means of communication;
(iv) distributing or using tools designed to compromise security, including cracking tools, password guessing programs, packet sniffers or network probing tools (except in the case of authorized legitimate network security operations);
(v) falsifying packet header, sender, or User information whether in whole or in part to mask the identity of the sender, originator or point of origin; and
(vi) distributing viruses, worms, trojan horses or other harmful software.
11. Customer Responsibilities.
Customers remain solely and fully responsible for their Content.Customers are responsible for maintaining the basic security of their systems, including implementation of necessary patches and operating systems updates, to prevent use by others in a manner that violates this AUP. Examples of failure to provide basic security include but are not limited to improperly securing a mail accounts so that it may be used by others to distribute Spam or used by others to illegally distribute copyrighted material. Customers are responsible for taking corrective actions on vulnerable or exploited accounts to prevent abuse.
12. Incident Reporting.
Any complaints (other than claims of copyright or trademark infringement) regarding the violation of this AUP by an Protected Trust Customer or User should be directed to abuse@protectedtrust.com. Where possible, include details that would assist Protected Trust in investigating and resolving the complaint (i.e. expanded headers and a copy of the offending transmission).
13. Revisions to this AUP.
Protected Trust may modify this AUP at any time, effective when posted to Protected Trust’s AUP web site (https://www.senditsecure.com/acceptable-use-policy). Notice of any change to this AUP may also be provided via electronic or regular mail.