Acceptable Use Policy

Acceptable Use Policy
Last Modified: 06/23/2006


Introduction

This AUP sets forth provisions of acceptable use of Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro™ (collectively referred to herein as "Ecompro") products and services. All Ecompro users are required to comply with this policy, along with any and all applicable laws and regulations in full. This is in addition to any terms and conditions of applicable agreements. Ecompro works to provide its customers with the highest quality services available, while respecting the standards that have been created both by the Internet community, and through legislation. To that end, inappropriate or abusive activities and conduct will not be tolerated by Ecompro. Ecompro reserves the right to modify this AUP from time to time, without notice. Users are encouraged to review this AUP often for changes or new information. Please send questions, comments, or complaints regarding this AUP to abuse@ecompro.com.

As an Internet Service Provider, it is not practical for Ecompro to monitor the content of information passing through its network. Ecompro exercises no control whatsoever over the content of any information passing through its network and is not responsible for damages customers may suffer for any reason. Any persons or organizations, including Ecompro customers, who publish material or information made accessible through Ecompro networks are solely responsible for the content of such material and information, and are solely responsible to know and comply with the laws applicable to the publication of such materials and information. Ecompro will cooperate with legal authorities in the investigation of any suspected criminal or civil infringements.


Responsibilities

GENERAL

In addition to being responsible for their own actions, each Ecompro customer is responsible for the activities of its customer base or end-users and, by accepting service from Ecompro, agrees to inform its customers and/or end-users of this AUP or its own AUP, which must not be inconsistent with the terms herein.

Ecompro customers may not misrepresent themselves to be someone they are not. Use of an identity other than one's own (i.e. an alias or identity theft), or use of a stolen or fraudulent credit card, is grounds for immediate termination.

CONFIGURATION

All systems which are connected to Ecompro's network shall be configured in accordance with industry standards, applicable laws, and regulations; and, in particular, must conform with approved RFC standards documents, which are published periodically by the IETF: http://www.ietf.org/rfc.html.
  • Systems on Ecompro's network may not be configured in any way which obscures system identification information.

  • Proxy servers of any kind must be configured to prevent unauthorized use.

REPORTING

Customers of Ecompro are responsible for immediately reporting any issue which could compromise the stability, service or security of any user or system connected to Ecompro's network.


Prohibited Use

These lists are intended to illustrate some, but not all, inappropriate and improper conduct, which are prohibited by Ecompro.

ILLEGAL USE

Ecompro's services are only to be used for lawful purposes. Customers may not transmit, retransmit or store material in violation of any federal or state laws or regulations, including, but not limited to, obscenity, indecency, defamation or material infringing trademarks or copyrights. Ecompro customers may not abuse or fraudulently use Ecompro products and services, nor allow nor permit such use by others.

CHILD PORNOGRAPHY

It is illegal under Federal child exploitation statutes to possess, produce, receive, transport or distribute by any means, including computer, sexually explicit visual depiction of children.

ABUSE

The following general actions are considered "abuse" and are prohibited:
  • General: Any conduct which is inconsistent with generally accepted norms and expectations of the Internet community (whether or not detailed in this AUP). Ecompro reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to make a determination whether any particular conduct violates such norms and expectations.
  • Distribution of Viruses: Intentional or unintentional distribution of software that attempts to cause damage or annoyance to persons, data, or computer systems.
  • Fraudulent Activities: Intentional misrepresentation or misleading statement or activity made with the intent that the person receiving it will act upon it; or attempting to obtain service by any means with intent to avoid payment (E.g. "phishing").
  • Cracking: Attempting to circumvent authentication or security of any host, network, or account.
  • Unauthorized Access to Other Computers, Accounts, or Networks: Attempting to access any computer resource belonging to another party, or attempting to penetrate security measures of other systems, including unauthorized monitoring or scanning of the networks of others.
  • Network Sabotage: Any use of Ecompro products and services to interfere with the use of Internet resources or Ecompro's network by other customers.
  • Pyramid Schemes: A fraudulent system of achieving financial gain which requires an endless stream of recruits for success.
  • Unlawful Acts: Any use of Ecompro products and services to violate the law or in aid of any unlawful act.
SECURITY
  • Ecompro users are expected configure their systems in a secure manner. Should a user's system be exploited by unauthorized persons, the user is responsible for both reporting the violation (where applicable), as well as fixing the exploited system.
  • Customers may not interfere with services (e.g. a DoS Attack), whether intentionally or through neglect, of any other host, or network.
  • The prevention of "unintentional attacks", such as infection by and propagation of computer viruses, are the responsibility of every user.
  • Users are prohibited from injecting, intentionally or negligently, false or unauthorized network control data into Ecompro's network (i.e. in the form of incorrect routing or DNS information).

EMAIL
Users are prohibited from engaging in improper use or distribution of email. Users are strictly prohibited from engaging in any of the following activities:
  • Sending UBE ("spam") for any purpose whatsoever.
  • Having third parties send out UBE on any user's behalf ("spamvertizing").
  • Using Ecompro facilities to receive replies from unsolicited emails ("drop-box" accounts).
  • Configuring any email server in such a way that it will accept third party emails for forwarding ("open mail relay"). If a site has roaming users who wish to use a common mail server, the mail server must be configured to require some form of user identification and authorization. (E.g. SMTP AUTH)

Mass or commercial email may be sent only to recipients who have expressly requested receipt of such emails, by the sending of an email request to the person performing the mass or commercial mailings. This exchanging of requests, acknowledgments, and final confirmations ("confirmed opt-in") must be adhered to in their entirety for any mass or commercial email to be considered permitted by Ecompro.

Note: Ecompro discourages the sending of bulk mail, and only permits such mailings in rare cases, and then only after Confirmed Opt-In has been verified.

In the absence of positive, verifiable proof to the contrary, which must be provided before the mail campaign is initiated, Ecompro considers complaints by recipients of emails to be de-facto proof that the recipient did not subscribe or otherwise request the email(s) about which a complaint was generated.

DMCA POLICY

It is the policy of Ecompro to respond expeditiously to claims of intellectual property infringement. Ecompro will promptly process and investigate notices of alleged infringement and will take appropriate actions under 17 USC ยง512 ("DMCA") and other applicable intellectual property laws. Upon receipt of notices complying with the DMCA, when it is under its control, Ecompro will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any material claimed to be infringing or claimed to be the subject of infringing activity and will act expeditiously to remove or disable access to any reference or link to material or activity that is claimed to be infringing. Ecompro will terminate access for customers who are repeat infringers. Webhosting customers must adopt and implement a DMCA policy that reserves the necessary rights to remove or disable infringing material. If you believe that a copyrighted work has been copied and is accessible on our network in a way that constitutes copyright infringement, you may notify us by providing our registered copyright agent with the following information:
Elements of Notification

To be effective under this subsection, a notification of claimed infringement must be a written communication provided to the designated agent of a service provider that includes substantially the following:
  • A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. [As an electronic signature, Ecompro's agent accepts facsimile/fax and digitized image of your signature attached to electronic mail.]
  • Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.
  • Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material. [Please include a URL such as http://... or ftp://... identifying the material or representative material. If possible specify any IDs, passwords, or other authorization required to access the material. Please specify date, time, and timezone from which the material was observed. Technicians may require time information in order to identify dynamically assigned internet locations.]
  • Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.
  • A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
  • A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.
Notices of claimed infringement should be directed to abuse@ecompro.com.

Note: It is assumed that complainants have explicitly requested communication from the Ecompro abuse department (abuse@ecompro.com), and that such communication will be pre-authorized by the complainant. If email replies to the complainant are blocked, challenged, or otherwise frustrated, then Ecompro will interpret this as a desire by the complainant to cease communication and to withdraw the claim.


Enforcement

Suspension and Termination

Ecompro may immediately suspend or terminate the service of a customer as a result of the violation of any part of this policy through verbal or written notice, which may be provided through email or voicemail. Generally, Ecompro will work to resolve violations of this AUP and ensure there are no future violations; however, Ecompro reserves the right to suspend or terminate service based on the first violation.

Remuneration

Customers who violate any of the provisions of this policy may incur "clean-up" fees to cover the costs of handling AUP violations, complaints, and technician expenses. The amount of the fees may vary, but will be commensurate with the violations.

Disclaimer of Liability

Ecompro has no practical ability to restrict conduct, communications or content which might violate this AUP prior to its transmission on Ecompro's network. In addition, Ecompro cannot guarantee removal of any such communications or content after transmission. Therefore, Ecompro does not assume liability to customers or others for any failure to enforce the terms of this AUP. Further, Ecompro's failure to enforce this policy in any instance in which it might have application does not constitute a waiver of Ecompro's rights.

Terms of Service (TOS)

IMPORTANT NOTICE: *All Payments To Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro™ Are Non-Refundable*

Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro™ (collectively referred to herein as "The Company") agrees to furnish services to the Customer, subject to the following TOS (Terms of Service).

Use of Ecompro Service constitutes acceptance and agreement to Ecompro's AUP as well as Ecompro's TOS (Terms of Service).

All provisions of this contract are subject to the TOS (Terms of Service) of Ecompro and AUP (Acceptable Use Policy). The AUP may be changed from time to time at the discretion of the Company. Customer understands that change to the AUP by the Company shall not be grounds for early contract termination or non-payment.

This Agreement shall be construed in all respects in accordance with the laws of the state of Florida, county of Pasco applicable to contracts enforceable in that state. Venue will be Pasco County, Florida.
1. Disclosure to Governmental Agencies and Law Enforcement: The AUP specifically prohibits the use of Ecompro service for illegal activities. Therefore, Customer agrees that the Company may disclose any and all Customer information including assigned IP numbers, account history, account use, etc. to any law enforcement agent who makes a written request without further consent or notification to the Customer. In addition Ecompro shall have the right to terminate all service set forth in this Agreement.
2. Service Rates: Customer acknowledges that the nature of the service furnished and the initial rates and charges have been communicated to Customer. Customer is aware that the Company may prospectively change the specified rates and charges from time to time. The promotional offer is contingent upon Company achieving and maintaining its cost of service goals including but not limited to rates charged to company by its suppliers.
3. Payment: Establishment of this service is dependent upon receipt by the Company of payment of stated charges. Subsequent payments are due on the anniversary date of the month for that month's service. All accounts and services provided by Ecompro are subject to the current tax rate as imposed by the County of Pasco, State of Florida which is currently 7.00%.
4. Payments and Fees: Credit cards that are declined for any reason are subject to a $10.00 declination fee. Service will be interrupted on accounts that reach 10 days past due. Service interrupted for nonpayment is subject to a $200 reconnect charge and reconnection is at Ecompro's sole discretion. Accounts not paid by due date are subject to a $7.95 late fee. Accounts that are not collectable by Ecompro may be turned over to an outside collection agency for collection. If your Ecompro account is turned over for collection, you agree to pay the company a "Processing and Collection" Fee of not less than $50 nor more than $150. If you desire to cancel your Ecompro account, please follow the proper procedure to do this as outlined in this TOS.
5. Refund and Disputes: All payments to Basic Innovations, Inc. are nonrefundable. This includes the one time setup fee and subsequent charges regardless of usage. All overcharges or billing disputes must be reported within 10 days of the time the dispute charge occurred. If you dispute a charge to your credit card issuer that, in Ecompro's sole discretion is a valid charge under the provisions of the TOS and/or AUP, you agree to pay Basic Innovations, Inc. an "Administrative Fee" of not less than $50 and not more than $150.
6. Failure to Pay: Ecompro may temporarily deny service or terminate this Agreement upon the failure of Customer to pay charges when due. Such termination or denial will not relieve Customer of responsibility for the payment of all accrued charges, plus reasonable interest and any collection fees.
7. Account Cancellation: All requests for canceling accounts must be made in writing with at least 30 days notice but not more than 60 days prior written notice and sent to Basic Innovations, Inc. Attn: Cancellations, P.O. Box 3123, Holiday, FL  34692 or you may email accounts@ecompro.com or fax the cancellation request to 727-945-9506. You must have all account information to cancel.
8. Company makes no warranties or representations of any kind for the services being offered. The service is provided on an "as is" and "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, either express or implied, including but not limited to warranties of title, noninfringement, or implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. No advice or information given by Company or its agents or employees shall create a warranty. Company provides no warranty that the service will be uninterrupted or error free or that any information, software or other material accessible on the service is free from viruses or other harmful components. Under no circumstances shall Company be liable for any direct, indirect, special, punitive, or consequential damages that result in any way from your use of or inability to use the service, or for third parties' use of the service to access your Web space, or to access the Internet or any part thereof, or your or any third parties' reliance on or use of information, services, or merchandise provided on or through the service, or that result from mistakes, omissions, interruptions, deletion of files, errors, defects, delays in operation or transmission, or any failure of performance. If you are dissatisfied with the Ecompro service or any of its terms, conditions, rules, policies, guidelines, or practices, your sole and exclusive remedy is to discontinue using the service.
9. New Domain Accounts: All new webhosting accounts involving new domains will be set up and entered into Ecompro DNS servers within 3 to 5 business days. Due to unforeseen complications, however, this process may sometimes require up to 7 business days. If the new domain is registered by the account holder, there will be no handling fee. If the domain is registered by Basic Innovations, Inc. on behalf of the account holder a handling fee will be incurred.
10. Transfer of Domains: New webhosting accounts which involve the transfer of a domain from another provider to Basic Innovations, Inc. will require a minimum of seven (7) days to be set up and entered into Ecompro DNS servers. In some cases, such transfers may take up to sixty (60) days. Due to the unpredictable nature of the transfer process, no guarantees are made regarding the amount of time a specific transfer may take. If the transfer of the domain is done by Basic Innovations, Inc. on behalf of the account holder a handling fee will be incurred. If the customer cancels service during the transfer period for any reason, all charges are considered earned.
11. We limit Ecompro technical support to Ecompro's area of expertise. The following is Ecompro guidelines when providing support: Ecompro provides support related to your server, internet access connection or virtual site physical functioning. Ecompro does not offer tech support for application specific issues such as cgi programming, html or any other such issue. Ecompro does not provide technical support for YOUR customers.
12. SPAM and Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE): Ecompro takes a zero tolerance approach to the sending of Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) or SPAM over Ecompro network. Very simply this means that customers of Ecompro may not use or permit others to use Ecompro network to transact in UCE. Customers of Ecompro may not host, or permit hosting of, sites or information that is advertised by UCE from other networks. Violations of this policy carry severe penalties, including termination of service.
a. Violation of Ecompro's SPAM policy will result in severe penalties. Upon notification of an alleged violation of Ecompro SPAM policy, Ecompro will initiate an immediate investigation (within 48 hours of notification). During the investigation, Ecompro may restrict customer access to the network to prevent further violations. If a customer is found to be in violation of Ecompro SPAM policy, Ecompro may, at its sole discretion, restrict, suspend or terminate customer's account. Further, Basic Innovations, Inc. reserves the right to pursue civil remedies for any costs associated with the investigation of a substantiated policy violation. Ecompro will notify law enforcement officials if the violation is believed to be a criminal offense.
b. First violations of this policy will result in an "Administrative Fee" of $250 and your account will be reviewed for possible immediate termination. A second violation will result in an "Administrative Fee" of $500 and immediate termination of your account. Users who violate this policy agree that in addition to these "Administrative" penalties, they will pay "Research Fees" not to exceed $175 per hour that Ecompro personnel must spend to investigate the matter. PLEASE, DO NOT SPAM from your account.
c. As Ecompro Customers are ultimately responsible for the actions of their clients over the Ecompro network, it is advisable that Customers develop a similar, or stricter, policy for their clients.
IMPORTANT NOTICE: BEGINNING IMMEDIATELY, anyone hosting websites or services on their server that support spammers or cause any of Ecompro IP space to be listed in any of the various Spam Databases will have their server immediately removed from Ecompro network. The server will not be reconnected until such time that you agree to remove ANY and ALL traces of the offending material immediately upon reconnection and agree to allow us access to the server to confirm that all material has been COMPLETELY removed. Severe violations may result in immediate and permanent removal of the server from Ecompro network without notice to the customer. Any server guilty of a second violation WILL be immediately and permanently removed from Ecompro network without notice.
13. Network
a. IP Address Ownership: If Ecompro assigns Customer an Internet Protocol address for Customer's use, the right to use that Internet Protocol address shall belong only to Ecompro, and Customer shall have no right to use that Internet Protocol address except as permitted by Ecompro in its sole discretion in connection with the Services, during the term of this Agreement. Ecompro shall maintain and control ownership of all Internet Protocol numbers and addresses that may be assigned to Customer by Ecompro, and Ecompro reserves the right to change or remove any and all such Internet Protocol numbers and addresses, in its sole and absolute discretion. Ecompro allocation of IP addresses is limited by ARIN's new policies. These new policies state that use of IP addresses for IP based virtual hosts will not be accepted as justification for new IP addresses. What this means to you is that you MUST use name-based hosting where possible. We will periodically review IP address usage, and if we find that clients are using IP addresses where name-based hosting could be used, we will revoke authorization to use those IP addresses that could be used with name-based hosting.
b. Bandwidth and Disk Usage: Customer agrees that bandwidth and disk usage shall not exceed the number of megabytes per month for the Services ordered by Customer (the "Agreed Usage"). Ecompro will monitor Customer's bandwidth and disk usage. Ecompro shall have the right to take corrective action if Customer's bandwidth or disk usage exceeds the Agreed Usage. Such corrective action may include the assessment of additional charges or disconnection or suspension of Customer's account.
c. System and Network Security: Users are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the Ecompro Network. Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. Ecompro will investigate occurrences, which may involve such violations and may involve, and cooperate with, law enforcement authorities in prosecuting Users who are involved in such violations. These violations include, without limitation:
i. Accessing data not intended for such User or logging into a server or account, which such User is not authorized to access.
ii. Attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization.
iii. Attempting to interfere with service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of overloading, "flooding", "mail bombing" or "crashing".
iv. Forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or newsgroup posting.
v. Taking any action in order to obtain services to which such User is not entitled.
14. Notification of Violation:
a. Ecompro is under no duty to look at each customer's or user's activities to determine if a violation of the AUP has occurred, nor do we assume any responsibility through Ecompro AUP to monitor or police Internet-related activities.
b. First violation: Any User, which Ecompro determines to have violated any element of this Acceptable Use Policy shall receive an email, warning them of the violation. The service may be subject at Ecompro's discretion to a temporary suspension pending a User's agreement in writing, to refrain from any further violations.
c. Second Violation: Users that Ecompro determines to have committed a second violation of any element of this Acceptable Use Policy shall be subject to immediate suspension or termination of service without further notice.
d. We reserve the right, to drop the section of IP space involved in Spam or Denial-of-Service complaints if it is clear that the offending activity is causing great harm to parties on the Internet. In particular, if open relays are on your network or a customer's network, or if denial of service attacks are originating from your network. In certain rare cases, we may have to do this before attempting to contact you. If we do this, we will contact you as soon as is feasible.
15. Suspension of Service or Cancellation: Ecompro reserves the right to suspend network access to any customer if in the judgment of the Ecompro network administrators the customer's server is the source or target of the violation of any of the other terms of the AUP or for any other reason which Ecompro chooses. If inappropriate activity is detected, all accounts of the Customer in question will be deactivated until an investigation is complete. Prior notification to the Customer is not assured. In extreme cases, law enforcement will be contacted regarding the activity. The customer will not be credited for the time the customer's machines were suspended.
16. Ecompro reserves the right to amend its policies at any time. All Sub-Networks, resellers and managed servers of Ecompro must adhere to the above policies. Failure to follow any term or condition will be grounds for immediate Cancellation. You will be held responsible for the actions of your clients in the matter described on these Terms and conditions. Therefore, it is in your best interest to implement a similar or stricter Terms and conditions or otherwise called Acceptable Terms of use policy.
17. Indemnification: Ecompro wishes to emphasize that in agreeing to the Ecompro Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)and Terms of Service (ToS), customer indemnifies Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro for any violation of the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and Terms of Service (ToS) that results in loss to Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro, or the bringing of any claim against Basic Innovations, Inc. or Ecompro, by any third-party. This means that if Basic Innovations, Inc. or Ecompro is sued because of a customer's or a customer of a customer's activity, the customer will pay any damages awarded against Basic Innovations, Inc. or Ecompro, plus all costs and attorney's fees.
18. Miscellaneous Provisions: You must provide us with, and keep current, good contact information for you. E-mail, fax, and telephone contacts are used, in that order of preference.
a. A waiver by the Company of any breach of any provision of this Agreement by Customer shall not operate as or be construed as a continuing or subsequent waiver thereof or as a waiver of any breach of any other provision thereof.
b. Customer shall not transfer or assign this Agreement without the prior written consent of the Company. Company may assign Agreement at anytime without consent from or notice to Customer. Company reserves right to cancel customers rights under this contract at anytime without further obligation.
c. Ecompro takes no responsibility for any material input by others and not posted to the Ecompro Network by Basic Innovations, Inc. or Ecompro. Ecompro is not responsible for the content of any other websites linked to the Ecompro Network; links are provided as Internet navigation tools only. Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro disclaim any responsibility for any such inappropriate use and any liability to any person or party for any other person or party's violation of this policy.
d. Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro are not responsible for any damages your business may suffer. Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro do not make implied or written warranties for any of Ecompro services. Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro deny any warranty or merchantability for a specific purpose. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, wrong delivery, and any and all service interruptions caused by Basic Innovations, Inc. or Ecompro.
e. It is absolutely forbidden to host IRC servers on any type of Ecompro account. Accounts found hosting this material will be subject to immediate cancellation without refund.
19. Responsibility for Content: You, as Ecompro's customer, are solely responsible for the content stored on and served by your Ecompro server.
20. Privacy Policy: Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro, do not collect any personal or identifiable information about you when you visit our website, unless you choose to contact us directly. We then only have the information available to us which you provide. Ecompro does not share this information with any third party companies outside of our internal employees solely for the purpose of communicating with you for the intent and purposes that you have contacted Ecompro. Ecompro does not share any confidential information of our customer base to any company or third party individuals under any circumstance. Ecompro will take every reasonable precaution to ensure the safety and integrity of customers personal information by requiring authorization before providing any login, password or customer information by anyone, including said client. All personal information is stored in secure locations in our building and databases with every reasonable precaution taken to ensure its safety from outside intruders. Ecompro will only disclose personal information upon direct written order by federal, state, or local governmental agencies, which we are required to provide by court order. Any disputes, questions or concerns over the use of any information obtained or used by any individual within Basic Innovations, Inc. or Ecompro, or third party individuals, may contact us by e-mailing accounts@ecompro.com. No personal information will be released by Ecompro without the express written consent of the client or potential client for any reason outside of mandated via court order requirements. Clients -- current, potential, or former -- who violate these terms of service or our acceptable use policy are no longer protected by this privacy policy, and Basic Innovations, Inc. and Ecompro may, at our discretion, publish certain identifying information for our own use or the use of others.