Acceptable Use Policy

As an Internet service provider ("ISP"), we offer our customers the means to acquire and disseminate a wealth of public, private, commercial and non-commercial information. We also want our customers to be fully informed of their rights and obligations -- and ours -- in connection with their use of the Internet. This Network Access Policy, which supplements and explains certain terms of each customer's respective services agreement (the "Services Agreement"), is intended as a plain English guide to those rights and obligations.

The fundamental fact about the Internet is that no one --neither us, nor anyone else -- owns or controls it. This fact accounts for much of the Internet's openness and value, but it also places a high premium on the judgment and responsibility of those who use the Internet, both in the information they acquire and in the information they disseminate to others. When customers obtain information through the Internet, they must keep in mind that we cannot monitor, verify, warrant or vouch for the accuracy and quality of the information that customers may acquire. For this reason, the customer must exercise his or her best judgment in relying on information obtained from the Internet, and also should be aware that some material posted to the Internet is sexually explicit or otherwise offensive. Because we cannot monitor and censor the Internet, and will not attempt to do so, we cannot accept any responsibility for injury to our customers that results from inaccurate, unsuitable or offensive Internet communications.

When customers disseminate information through the Internet, they also must keep in mind that we do not review, edit, censor or take responsibility for any information our customers may create. This places on customers what will be, for most, an unfamiliar responsibility. When users place information on the Internet, they have the same liability as other authors for copyright infringement, defamation and other harmful speech. Also, because the information they create is carried over our facilities and may reach a large number of people, including both customers and non-customers of ours, customers' postings to the Internet may affect other customers and may harm our goodwill, business reputation and operations. For these reasons, customers violate our policy and the Services Agreement when they, their affiliates or subsidiaries engage in the following activities:

Spamming -- E-Mail / Spam / UCE

Vision Interactive Systems maintains a "zero tolerence" for spam and UCE. Spamming or "UCE" (Unsolicited Commercial E-Mail (does not necessarily need to be commercial in nature, however)) is the sending of unsolicited e-mail to any person or persons the sender does not know or have prior explicit consent to send the message(s) to. Using fictitious e-mail addresses of any domain housed on our network is forbidden. Unsolicited e-mail of any type (to e-mail addresses or newsgroup postings) is classified as UCE.

UCE referencing sites on our servers in any manner (as originator, intermediary, destination or reply-to address) is STRICTLY PROHIBITED and your account may be terminated without notice or refund if you send UCE through our network or your site on our network is referenced in UCE. In addition, we reserve the right to impose a minimum $100 fee for each reported unsolicited e-mail. Additional charges may apply for administrative work or any penalties incurred by Vision Interactive Systems or it's up line providers for abusing our services.

Opt-Out mailing lists are strictly prohibited. This includes any lists or databases purchased or otherwise obtained from third parties, as the persons on such lists did not specifically solicit mail from you. Any mailing lists you maintain must be true opt-in in nature. This requires a user to specifically request to be added to your mailing list. Having to unsubscribe from mailing lists during product registration and similar sign up forms is not classified as opt-in, but rather opt-out, which is in violation of this UCE policy. In addition, any opt-in mailing lists must include an automated unsubscribe facility where clicking on a link within the e-mail will automatically and immediately unsubcribe users from lists. Reply-to e-mail addresses to unsubscribe are known to be ignored and are unreliable, therefore not permitted within our UCE policy.

Any violation of this policy may result in the immediate termination of your e-mail service and/or your entire account without notice at our sole discretion. No refunds will be issued for accounts canceled for sending or being referenced in UCE. We reserve the right to refuse or cancel service of known spammers. We may also notify any confirmed UCE to other service providers used or referenced in the transmission of UCE, as well as law enforcement agencies when appropriate.

Bottom-line -- UCE will not be tolerated!

UCE violations can be sent to abuse@visionis.com
Copyright Violation -- Violation of copyrights held by individuals and corporations or other entities can result in civil and criminal liability for the infringer, and can involve the ISP in litigation and possible loss of reputation.
Distribution and/or Transmission of Obscene or Indecent Speech or Materials -- Violation of indecency and obscenity laws can result in criminal penalties.
Defamation -- Defamatory speech distributed over the Internet can result in civil liability for the defamer and litigation against the ISP whose facilities were used to distribute the defamatory material.
Illegal/Unauthorized Access to Other Computers or Networks -- The illegal or unauthorized accessing (often known as "hacking") of computers or networks carries potential civil and criminal penalties under both federal laws and the laws of most states.
Distribution of Internet Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses and Other Destructive Activities -- Distribution of Internet viruses, worms, Trojan horses and other destructive activities, such as hacking, can result in serious civil and or criminal liability under federal and state law.
Export Control Violations -- The law limits the ability of persons to export encryption software, over the Internet or otherwise, to points outside the United States.
Other Activities, whether lawful or unlawful, that we determine to be harmful to our customers, operations or reputation, including any activities that restrict or inhibit any other user from using and enjoying the service or the Internet.

As we have pointed out, the responsibility for avoiding the harmful activities just described rests primarily with the customer. We will not, as an ordinary practice, monitor the communications of our customers to ensure that they comply with our policy or applicable law. When we become aware of harmful communications, however, we may take any of a variety of actions. We may remove information that violates our policies, implement screening software designed to block offending transmissions, or take any other action we deem appropriate, including termination of a customer's contract with us.

We also are aware that many of our customers are, themselves, providers of Internet services, and that information reaching our facilities from those customers may have been originated by customers of those customers or other third parties. We do not require our customers who offer Internet services to monitor or censor transmissions created by customers of its customers. At the same time, customers who knowingly transmit materials that violate law or our policy are, themselves, in violation of our policy. Similarly, we anticipate that customers who offer Internet services will cooperate with us in any corrective action that we deem necessary, in order to correct and prevent the transmission of material that is harmful to us or our customers. Failure to cooperate with such corrective and preventive measures is a violation of our policy.

We also are concerned with the privacy of on-line communications. In general, the Internet is neither more nor less secure than other common communications media, including mail, facsimile and voice telephone service, all of which can be intercepted and otherwise compromised. As a matter of prudence, however, we urge our customers to assume that all of their on-line communications are insecure.

We can not take any responsibility for the security of communications transmitted over our facilities. We will comply fully, however, with all applicable laws concerning the privacy of our customers' on-line communications. In particular, we will not intentionally monitor or disclose any private electronic mail messages sent or received by our customers unless required to do so by law. We may, however, monitor our service electronically to determine that our facilities are operating satisfactorily. Also, we may be required to disclose information transmitted through our facilities in order to comply with court orders, statutes, regulations or governmental requests. Finally, we may disclose information transmitted over our facilities where necessary to protect us and our customers from harm, or where such disclosure is necessary to the proper operation of the system.

We expect that our customers who provide Internet services to others will comply fully with all applicable laws concerning the privacy of on-line communications. A customer's failure to comply with those laws will violate our policy. Finally, we wish to emphasize that in signing the Services Agreement, customers indemnify us for any violation of the customer of the Services Agreement, or of law or corporate policies, that results in loss to us or the bringing of any claim against us. This means that if we are sued because of activities of the customer that violate any law, the Services Agreement or this policy (which is part of the Services Agreement), the customer will pay any damages awarded against us, plus costs and reasonable attorneys' fees.

We hope this Policy Statement is helpful in clarifying the obligations of Internet users, including us and our customers, as responsible members of the Internet.

Complaints about violators of our policies should be referred to abuse@visionis.com. Each complaint will be investigated.