GBIS | Legal — Acceptable Use Policy and Content
Guidelines
Acceptable Use Policy and Content Guidelines
We have adopted a philosophy that assumes the honest and good intent of our
subscribers. Therefore, our services are provided in as unrestricted a manner
as possible to allow our users to have the richest Internet experience possible.
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
- Users of dialup accounts may remain connected for an unlimited length of
time, provided that the user actively attends the connection.
- Basic dialup accounts are not designed to provide a permanent connection
to the Internet and are meant for one connected session at a time. Corrective
action will be taken to resolve this situation.
- The illegal download or exchange of any copyrighted material through the
GBIS network as defined in the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998, will
result in suspension of service and or termination of your account.
- Users may not make threats against another person or organization via email,
news or any other electronic media / services we provide.
- Users may not mount an attack against our system or any other systems.This
includes, but is not limited to, mail bombing, “hacking” or attempting
to gain root access, flood-pinging or other “denial of service”
attacks, or deliberately propagating viruses or worms.
- Users may not “spam” or flood the Usenet with a single post
to a large number of newsgroups (more than three) not related to the topic
of your article.Users may not post off-topic messages to Usenet. This includes
messages violating the specific newsgroup’s charter or purpose.
- Users may not “spam” people via email. This is defined as unsolicited
(unwanted, unrequested) email sent to many people. Please see our Content
Guidelines for more details. Users may not forge email or news postings (to
include cancel messages, whether manual or automated).
- Users will maintain a valid e-mail address with GBIS for GBIS communication
reasons.
- Users may not flood (send text repeatedly) other clients on Internet Relay
Chat.
- Trying to “hack” into our machines is forbidden.Attempting to
do so will result in immediate account termination.
- Users may not run packet sniffers or other similar programs.
- Use of Great Basin Internet Services constitutes acceptance of these terms
and conditions.
Content Guidelines
We believe Great Basin Internet Services (and similar connectivity-only providers)
to be in a “carrier-like” position – except as noted below,
we have neither interest in nor responsibility for user-generated content. Unfettered
communications is as important as excellent performance and reliability, and
our responsibility persists especially when we personally detest the content
in question: that is the real test of free speech.
GBIS attempts to distinguish between content and conduit.Content is data, which
may be of human interest.The conduit is the networking equipment, systems and
software that convey the data.
However, due to increasingly common international abuse of network and client
software limitations, we are forced to recognize the existence of “spam”
and “spammer sites”.The tendency towards highly emotionally charged
responses for and against requires restraint and a careful approach when dealing
with “spam” problems.
HERE ARE TWO BASIC GUIDELINES
- It is our general policy to not interfere with anyone’s communications
regardless of purpose or intent; however, GBIS will take immediate action
to prevent, if possible, communication or activities that:
- We perceive to be or are informed are harmful to the conduit (such as
flood-pinging, or SMTP port attacks, etc.) or;
- We are substantially informed that are illegal.Note that it is not GBIS’
responsibility to determine what is illegal and what is not. If we must
block access, we will do only as little as is required to solve the immediate
problem, and will attempt to restore access as soon as the (perceived)
problem is solved.
- We also recognize that electronic communications in general are ever changing
and that the technical systems involved are not robust, and their usefulness
can be impaired by words and deeds whose effects may be ephemeral and unintended.Therefore
we will listen to all complaints presented to us in a rational manner, with
succinct supporting data, and reserve the right to take actions, when necessary,
outside the scope of this policy; we hope these exceptions will be exceedingly
rare.
SPAMMING
Bulk email, AKA spamming, is defined here as delivery and reception of unsolicited
email, from one site, the spamming site, to many recipients, generally characterized
by lack of the usual bulk-mail controls: removal from mailing lists, access
to humans at the spamming site, etc.Spamming is in violation of our Acceptable
Use Policy, and will result in corrective action.
FINAL THOUGHTS
It is the policy of Great Basin Internet Services to provide full cooperation
with law enforcement officials upon receipt of legal documentation.
As always, use of the GBIS network constitutes agreement to this policy.
There is an oft-quoted, little-heeded pair of truisms that apply to all human
activity, everywhere.Everyone loves to quote the first one, but the second is
far more important:
- Thou shalt not annoy.
- Thou shalt not be easily annoyed.
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