Acceptable Use Policy

This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is an extension of your Internet Services Agreement and is subject to change at any time. You are required to check this document on a monthly basis to insure you are up-to-date on our policies and in full compliance. This policy is subject to change at any time to reflect our policies on new activities, services, abuses, changes in technology, or to expand or refine new or existing policies.

The Internet is a loose association of voluntarily connected and maintained hardware and a worldwide audience of voluntary users. There is no central governing body nor is there any one nation responsible for governing the Internet or its users. There is, however, a necessary adherence to certain minimum standards so that users from all over the world accessing the Internet with a multitude of different computers and operating systems may interact with servers and other users distributed throughout the world also adhering to these voluntary standards. Many, though not all, of the accepted technical standards can be located in the RFC archives. Standards of behavior are often referred to as "netiquette" and one should strive to obey these standards as well as they are tried and true and help promote meaningful discussion and exchange of information and ideas that makes the Internet the success it is today.

Although there is no governing body, it is the responsibility of each M5 Systems Customer to adhere to the following principles in order to preserve and self-regulate the Internet so as to protect the Internet and it's users from harmful or unlawful abuses.

• 1. Respect - The internet is intended for use by mature and responsible adults. Children, including teenagers, should only use the Internet under the direct supervision of a responsible adult. Treat others on the Internet the same as you would want them to treat you - you never know when the tables might turn!
• 2. International Audience - The Internet consists of users from all nationalities and all walks of life. Before reacting to something you might deem offensive be certain to take into account both the culture of the individual as well as the possibility that they may not have the same command of the English language as yourself. Also, realize that it is permitted for individuals to communicate in their native language, even if it does look like gibberish on your screen. It is, however, encouraged that all public posts on Usenet be in English if English is the predominate language for that newsgroup.
• 3. Knowledge of the Internet - It is each Customer's responsibility to familiarize themselves with the software, hardware, and the commonly accepted practices of the Internet. There are numerous books, videos, and classes - both online and off - available to help you become better acquainted with the Internet.
• 4. Lawful Uses Only - It is each Customer's responsibility to familiarize themselves with the local, state, and federal laws governing their use of the Internet as well as any and all other applicable laws governing the Customer's behavior. The Customer is responsible for ensuring that they, anyone who uses their account, and any computers or other hardware they may have connected to the Internet are used only for lawful purposes. Customers may not use the Internet to libel, defame, harass, stalk, threaten, invade another's privacy, compromise Copyrights, compromise trade secrets, improperly use trademarks, interfere with the operation of Internet servers or the ability of Internet users to access the Internet, or the export of technical or military data to prohibited countries (this includes, but is not limited to, restricted export of encryption devices ("ITAR")).
• 5. Improper Uses - Customer is expected to avoid violating certain generally accepted guidelines and principles on Internet usage. Such restrictions include, but are not limited to, mass emailing, mass advertising, mass Usenet posting and cross-posting, unlawful pirating or copying of software, mail bombing, denial of service attacks, and attempts to intentionally violate the security of other systems and users.
• 6. Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) and Spam - Customer may not use M5 Systems resources to mass email or post to Usenet newsgroups with unsolicited information. This includes email and Usenet posts which may not originate from M5 Systems resources but which make references to M5 Systems resources (e.g. an email address or Website URL which points to a server maintained by M5 Systems). Unsolicited emails of a commercial or private nature may not exceed the lesser of 10 emails per day or 100 emails per month. Remember that mass emailing may be inexpensive to the sender but it costs M5 Systems, the recipient, and the recipient's ISP dearly in terms of complaint handling, bandwidth used, necessary storage, download time, and mailbox management time. What may seem like one "simple" email to you quickly becomes multiplied by the thousands and even millions for the ISPs which must handle the flood of emails. There is no such limitation on the emailing of information specifically requested by individuals or organizations. If you should mass email to a group of explicitly opted-in recipients, please try to schedule the mass mailings for sometime between the hours of 12:01am and 6:00am in the morning. The Internet has much more available (unutilized) capacity during these hours, as do most email servers. If you are in doubt as to whether a planned mass emailing is in compliance with this AUP, contact M5 Systems management for clarification and/or consideration.
• 7. Security - Customer is responsible for protecting the integrity of their accounts and for protecting M5 Systems servers from security risks which might be created as a result the Customer's actions (e.g. the upload of a CGI script with a serious security hole). In the case of scripts and applications installed on servers owned or maintained by M5 Systems, this security includes validating (or taint checking) all data received from a remote user or machine. In the case of user accounts this security includes protecting your password and access to your computer(s) from others. If you feel you may have, whether intentional or unintentional, allowed M5 Systems's security to be violated you must notify M5 Systems management immediately (call (602) 288-8304) so that proper steps to secure any compromised resources may be made.
• 8. Excessive Resource Usage - The Customer will not be permitted to use excessive amounts of CPU processing, disk or memory storage, bandwidth, or other shared resources. In the event that resources are utilized excessively, M5 Systems will be forced to immediately suspend Customer's account(s) in order to protect M5 Systems's ability to continue serving its customers which are not excessively utilizing available resources.
• 9. Pornography - Although M5 Systems strongly supports the rights of adult entertainment businesses to exist and operate on the Internet, M5 Systems does not permit its resources to be used for the purposes of adult entertainment or for the dissemination of pornographic material. You have the right to free speech, we have the right not to listen! This restriction is not intended to prohibit organizations, institutions or individuals from providing bonafide sexual reproductive information or the displaying of artwork which may contain nudity but which is not especially sexual in nature. If you are in doubt with respect to this requirement, contact M5 Systems management for clarification and/or consideration.
• 10. Discretion and Good Judgment - Customer is responsible for using proper discretion and judgment in all Internet transactions. This includes, but is not limited to, ethical business practices, ensuring that adult material is not transmitted to juveniles, ensuring that trade secrets are properly protected, and the general application of "Common Sense".

Last Revised: Sunday, April 1, 2007 at 07:46AM Mountain Standard Time.