BAIS Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

This document explains the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for use of services provided by Bay Area Internet Solutions (hereinafter known as BAIS) by the client/user (hereinafter known as Customer). This document supersedes all forms of this document previously published by BAIS. This document is maintained and published on-line on the BAIS web site at www.bayarea.net/service-and-legal/aup

All Customers of BAIS are required to be familiar and comply with this policy. Use of BAIS services in any form constitutes acceptance of this Acceptable Use Policy and agreement to adhere to it. This Acceptable Use Policy may be known hereinafter as policy, AUP or Acceptable Use Policy.

The effective date of this Acceptable Use Policy is the date of acceptance by the Customer of services from BAIS, and they shall remain in effect until Customer terminates his/her account or BAIS cancels Customer's account.

Continued use of BAIS services constitute agreement to this Policy and any modifications to this AUP thereof. If you do not agree to these terms and conditions, please notify our Accounting department at 800.495.0092, so we may initiate closure of your account and refund your initial set-up fees if notification is within 7 days of sign up.

Provision of Services

1. BAIS will provide services on its host computing systems to individual account holders in exchange for payment of fees and compliance with the terms and conditions of this document.
2. BAIS services are defined as the use by the account holder of computing, telecommunications, software, and information services provided by BAIS. These services also include the provision of access to computing, telecommunications, software, and information services provided by others using the Internet.
3. BAIS services include access to the entire Internet community. Some of the Internet based material and discussions contain language or pictures about subjects intended for adult audiences. Account holders less than 18 years old must have a parent or legal guardian agree in writing on the registration form to these conditions to indicate acceptance, and the parent or legal guardian agrees to be responsible for payment of the account.
4. BAIS exercises no control whatsoever over the content of the information passing through. BAIS makes no warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied, for the service it is providing. BAIS also disclaims any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. BAIS is not responsible for any damage you suffer. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by its own negligence or your errors or omissions. Use of any information obtained using BAIS services is at your own risk. BAIS specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its services.
5. BAIS will publish a notice of fee increases 30 days before such increases take effect.
6. The service starting date is the day on which BAIS activates the account. The set-up fees and first month fee, as outlined in the BAIS Registration Form, are refundable if the account holder cancels within 7 calendar days of the service starting date.
7. Account holder understands that the service period extends for 1 month and is automatically renewed unless terminated by the account holder or by BAIS. BAIS reserves the right to change its fees at any time, but must inform the account holder in writing at least 30 days prior to the new rate. Fee changes take effect at the time of renewal. BAIS reserves the right to terminate any account in violation of any term of this policy.

Use of Material

1. Public Domain materials (for example, images, text, and programs) may be downloaded or uploaded using BAIS services. Account holders may also redistribute materials in the public domain. The account holder assumes all risks regarding the determination of whether the material is in the public domain.
2. As provided by United States federal law and by international treaties, copyrighted materials (for example, images, text, and programs) cannot be uploaded using BAIS services without the permission of the copyright holder. Copyrighted materials may be downloaded for personal use. Except as expressly permitted, materials under copyright cannot be distributed to others. Copyrighted material cannot be changed nor can the author attribution notices nor the copyright notices be modified.

Use of Services

1. The account holder agrees to maintain a secure password to the account. Secure passwords are those that are between 6 and 8 characters long, contain upper and lower case letters and numbers or other characters, and cannot be found in direct or reverse order in a dictionary, without regard to the language of the dictionary.
2. The account holder agrees to use the services provided by BAIS as permitted by applicable local, state, and federal laws. The account holder agrees, therefore, not to use these services to conduct any business or activity or solicit the performance of any activity that is prohibited by law.
3. The account holder agrees not to use any process, program, or tool using  BAIS services for guessing the passwords of account holders on this or other systems. The account holder agrees not to use the services to make unauthorized attempts to access the systems and networks of others.
4. BAIS and connecting networks can be used by account holders to conduct legal businesses. These businesses should, however, not impinge upon the use of BAIS services by other account holders.
5. Sending unsolicited bulk email is considered SPAM and is unlawful. The sending of any form of unsolicited bulk email through BAIS’ services is prohibited. Likewise, the sending of SPAM from another service provider advertising a web site, email address or utilizing any resource hosted by BAIS, is prohibited. BAIS accounts or 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.
6. Subscribing email addresses to any mailing list without the express and verifiable permission of the email address owner is prohibited. All mailing lists run by BAIS customers must be Closed-loop ("Confirmed Opt-in"). The subscription confirmation message received from each address owner must be kept on file for the duration of the existence of the mailing list. Purchasing lists of email addresses from 3rd parties for mailing to from any BAIS hosted domain, or referencing any BAIS account, is prohibited.
7. Advertising, transmitting, or otherwise making available any software, program, 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 send SPAM, initiation of pinging, flooding, mail-bombing, denial of service attacks is strictly prohibited.
8. Operating an account on behalf of, or in connection with, or reselling any service to, persons or firms listed in the Spamhaus Register of Known Spam Operations (ROKSO) database at www.spamhaus.org is prohibited.
9. Customer may not attempt to gain access to any account or computer resource not belonging to that user (e.g., "cracking").
10. Customer may not obtain or attempt to obtain service by any means or device with intent to avoid payment.
11. Customer cannot initiate unauthorized access, alteration, destruction, or any attempt thereof, of any information of any BAIS customers or end-users by any means or device.
12. Customer is prohibited to knowingly engage in any activities designed to harass, or that will cause a denial-of-service (e.g., synchronized number sequence attacks) to any other user whether on the BAIS network or on another provider's network.
13. Account holder cannot use their Internet account to harass or abuse other members of the Internet community or for any unlawful purpose.

Indemnification

1. The account holder acknowledges that BAIS makes an honest effort to keep the information available on BAIS' systems accurate. However, BAIS can make no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, regarding the quality, accuracy, or validity for the data and/or information available. Use of information obtained from or through BAIS is at the risk of the account holder.
2. The account holder also acknowledges that the information available through the interconnecting networks may not be accurate. BAIS has no ability or authority over the material. BAIS can make no warranty of any kind, either expressed or implied, regarding the quality, accuracy, or validity of the data and/or information residing on or passing through these networks. Use of information obtained from or through BAIS services is at the risk of the account holder.
3. The account holder agrees to indemnify and hold BAIS harmless from any claims, including attorney's fees, resulting from the account holder receiving BAIS services which cause direct or indirect damage to another party.
4. BAIS is not responsible for any materials stored on their hosts systems.

Abuse of Services

1. Any use of BAIS system resources that disrupts the normal use of the system for other BAIS customers is considered to be abuse of system resources and is grounds for administrative intervention. Some examples of system abuse include, but are not limited to such things as spawning dozens of processes and consuming excessive amounts of memory or CPU for long periods of time.
2. Depending on the nature and the severity of the abuse, the user may receive an email warning or the user's account may be suspended by BAIS Technical Support. If the misuse is unintentional, the suspension may be rescinded following discussion with BAIS Technical Support. If the misuse is intentional, the suspension may be rescinded at the discretion of the Operations Manager, and may require the payment of a service reconnection charge. Occasionally, unintentional misuse is misclassified as intentional misuse. Customers who believe their activity has been misclassified can appeal to the Operations Manager.
3. Violations of any of this AUP are unethical and can be criminal offenses. You are expected to report to BAIS any information you may have concerning instances in which the AUP has been or are being violated. When BAIS becomes aware of possible violations, we will initiate an investigation. At the same time, in order to prevent further possible unauthorized activity, BAIS can suspend access to services to the individual account in question. Confirmation of violations can result in cancellation of the individual account and/or criminal prosecution. The account suspension may be rescinded at the discretion of the Operations Manager, following payment of a reconnection charge.

General:

1. Copyright. All images, text, programs, and other materials found in the www.bayarea.net web site are protected by United States copyright laws. Any commercial use of images, text, programs or other materials found within the www.bayarea.net web site is strictly prohibited without the express written consent of BAIS.
2. Trademarks. The names, logos, and taglines identifying BAIS’ products and services are proprietary marks of BAIS, Inc. or its subsidiaries. All other trademarks and service marks are the property of their respective owners.
3. Content Submission. Certain areas of the BAIS Web Site allow for the exchange of information between the customer and BAIS. Any submission by the customer becomes the property of BAIS, and the customer implicitly grants BAIS the authority and right to use that content in accordance with BAIS corporate privacy policies.
4. Customer Responsibility. The customer assumes all responsibility for use of the BAIS Web Site. The customer waives all claims against BAIS, Inc., its officers, directors, employees, suppliers and programmers that may arise from the utilization of the BAIS Web Site. Each BAIS customer is responsible for the activities of its users and, by accepting service from BAIS, is agreeing to ensure that its customers/representatives or end-users abide by this Policy. Complaints about customers/representatives or end-users of a BAIS customer will be forwarded to the BAIS customer's primary contact for action
5. Accuracy of Information. While all reasonable attempts are made to ensure the accuracy of information, neither BAIS, nor its information contributors can be held responsible by customer for the accuracy of the information found in the BAIS Web Site. BAIS makes no expressed or implied warranty as to the accuracy or merchantability of content or programming.

Applicability
The AUP cannot be superseded by any verbal agreements of BAIS employees or customers. Any agreement modification or special changes to this AUP must be in writing and signed by an officer of the Company.