The following guidelines are designed to ensure that CrossLink Internet users understand what uses of the Internet are acceptable. Please read the following information carefully and feel free to contact us for clarification as necessary.

These terms and conditions will constitute a binding Contract between you and CrossLink Internet.

By using your CrossLink Internet account, you agree that your access to the Internet is provided in consideration of your acknowledgment and agreement to abide by the following terms and conditions.

CrossLink Internet reserves the right to change or modify these Terms of Use and Service at any time.

Any changes made will be posted here, and will be effective immediately. Please check back regularly.

By continuing to use the CrossLink Internet's access service following any revision to this agreement, you are accepting any such revisions and agree to abide by any such revision(s).

Violation of any of these guidelines may result in suspension or termination of CrossLink Internet accounts. Clean-up Fee(s) may also be charged if warranted, at CrossLink Internet's discretion.


General policy

We ask that users respect the customs and conventions of the forums in which they participate (mailing lists, newsgroups, IRC, etc.). CrossLink Internet does not monitor or referee behavior, mailings, postings, etc., that take place on our systems—nor would we want to.

CrossLink Internet will intervene when it is required to ensure the continued operation and quality of the service and, if necessary, to ensure compliance with applicable laws and regulations.


CrossLink Services

Internet access is a telecommunications service provided in accordance with the same terms and conditions of other telecommunications services. The telephone company, for example, charges a service fee for each billing period even if you do not make or receive any telephone calls. The CrossLink fee for Internet access is due and payable each billing period, whether or not you actually access the Internet.


Account types and usage

Residential and Personal Accounts are assumed to be for an individual or family with low to moderate usage not to exceed 120 hours per month.

Commercial usage of accounts is permitted only within the limits specified for each account category.

Each Dial-in Account may have only one Internet connection/session active at any given time. CrossLink Internet reserves the right to charge for multiple logins and/or connection time that exceeds the agreed upon limits of your package or service. CrossLink reserves the right to charge the fees currently in effect for commercial accounts if a residential or personal Internet access or web hosting account is put to commercial use. CrossLink reserves the right to upgrade any residential access account to commercial if a server is used on the line or pinging is used to stay connected. CrossLink does not issue static IP addresses for use with Residential and Personal Accounts.

Usage exceeding 240 hours a month per analog line or ISDN "B" channel constitutes full time commercial usage and the rate currently in effect for 24x7 service shall apply.

Excessive Access Policy

To ensure that all CrossLink Dial-In and DSL subscribers have fair and equal access to the Internet, CrossLink subscribers are subject to CrossLink's Excessive Access Policy. Statistically a very small number of Internet users are responsible for as much as half of all Dial-In and DSL Internet traffic. This excess use can negatively affect the fair and equal Internet access of all other subscribers. In accordance with CrossLink's Excessive Access Policy, CrossLink reserves the right to limit the usage of the top 3% of subscribers whose usage exceeds the average of all users for a CrossLink service (Dial-In or DSL)by the largest amount. CrossLink will notify subscribers whose usage falls under the Excessive Access Policy and request that they curb their excessive usage. If subscriber does not curb their excessive usage CrossLink will limit their usage to be fair to all other users. If the pattern of excessive usage continues CrossLink reserves the right to terminate subscribers account with 30 days written notice.



Inappropriate commercial use (Spam)

The Internet, like most places, has its own set of customs. Internet users don't like unsolicited commercial E-mail or advertising that is more hype than information.

UBE/UCE (Unsolicited Bulk E-mail/Unsolicited Commercial E-mail) is strictly against CrossLink Internet's Acceptable Use Policy. If an account is found to be in violation of this policy, it will be terminated and charged a $200 Clean-up Fee in addition to any other applicable charges. This also applies to chain letters, MLMs, pyramid schemes, soliciting of funds, political mailing, maintaining an open mail relay, etc. Some of these activities are also illegal, and will be reported to the appropriate authorities. We will, at our discretion, remove web sites that are "spamvertised." If you are the recipient of UCE/UBE, please send a copy of the Spam & its FULL headers to abuse@crosslink.net. We will do our best to correct the problem.


Post articles only to relevant newsgroups

Be thoughtful when posting to your selected newsgroups. When cross posting to multiple groups, think twice before posting to more than two or three groups. "Spamming" is the term used to describe bulk posting. The participants of these groups do not appreciate Spamming.

Spamming complaints will result in suspension or termination of your personal or commercial account, with applicable Clean-up Fees.

Many newsgroups have their own individual guidelines regarding commercial postings.

When in doubt, monitor a newsgroup for several weeks, or ask a regular poster how the readership responds to commercial postings.

Most newsgroups have Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs) available. Responding to an explicit request for information is usually OK, but consider sending mail directly to the requester instead of posting the response to the newsgroup.

For business and commercial users, CrossLink Internet can help you develop an Internet Presence and Marketing Plan that meets your business' requirements and respects the customs and conventions of the Internet. E-mail: websales@crosslink.net


Copyright and compliance with laws

When sharing information on the Internet, respect the intellectual properties of others. Do not post text from publications verbatim without permission. Do not digitize and distribute photographs from magazines, books or other sources. Do not make copyrighted software available on the Internet. When quoting from copyrighted material, include a reference so others can locate the complete work.

Excerpts of private E-mail messages you may receive should not be posted to a public forum without the author's permission. CrossLink Internet will take action against copyright infringement activities. Be aware that local and federal laws prohibit the dissemination of certain information in electronic form. Since the Internet is a global system, some available materials may not be in compliance with United States laws. CrossLink Internet expects its users to operate in compliance with all applicable laws and will take action against violations.

CrossLink Internet does not censor or otherwise review materials available to Internet users; since CrossLink Internet cannot control the information made available on the Internet, each individual user must determine what information he or she wishes to utilize. In addition, use of the Internet by minors should be under the supervision of an adult.

CrossLink Internet is not responsible for information obtained by users through their accounts.


Hacking

Denial of Service attacks are prohibited, and will incur severe penalties. This may include suspension or termination of the account found responsible; a flat rate Clean up Fee of $200; and any additional charges as determined by CrossLink Internet.

CrossLink Internet forbids attempts to breach security in our system or in other systems. If you suspect a problem with our services (or others), we would appreciate a friendly E-mail message to abuse@crosslink.net from your own account.

Please include as much information as possible to help us track it down. For example:

1. The IP address used to commit the infraction.
2. The date on which the infraction was committed.
3. The time at which the infraction was committed.
4. The time zone relevant to (b) and (c) above.
5. Some evidence of the infraction

The more information you can send us, the better chance we have of finding the culprit.


Fraudulent or abusive behavior

Fraudulent behavior such as, but not limited to, the forging of newsgroup postings or electronic mail is forbidden. Forging is the unauthorized use of an account or User ID other than your own. Harassing or abusing others through E-mail or news is also prohibited. This includes abusive behavior (threatening phone calls, E-mail, etc) towards CrossLink Personnel. If you are at the receiving end of this behavior, please contact CrossLink Internet immediately.


Illegal use of the Internet

Use of the Internet in violation of Federal, State or Local law is illegal and cause for termination of service. Illegal activities, including solicitation of minors, will be reported to your local law enforcement agency.