Our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) is meant to help protect you, our customer, and the Internet community, from irresponsible and/or illegal activities and to provide a safe and enjoyable environment for exploring the Internet. As good net citizens, we prohibit the impersonation of others, unsolicited commercial appeals, and any disruption of Internet services. Examples of such activities are given below. These examples are in no way the only prohibited activities, and Darientel.Net will be the sole judge of whether any activity is acceptable. Darientel.Net reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend or terminate Service to any subscriber at any time, for any reason whatsoever. By using the Service you, the customer, agree to indemnify and hold Darientel.Net harmless from any claims and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees, related to your violation of the Service Agreement, including these rules and the Acceptable Use Policy, or any information, software or other content placed on the Service by you.

Personal/Commercial Dial-up Accounts

When a personal or commercial dial-up account is established, the person who opened the account is responsible for who accesses Darientel.Net's services with that account. That account is a single use account meaning only one connection can be made to Darientel.Net's services at a time. The account owner may, at his/her discretion, use Darientel.Net's services from more than one personal computer. However, it is the account owner's responsibility to insure that only one personal computer is connected to Darientel.Net's services at a time. Should an account be found to be logged into our services more than once that account will be disconnected and services suspended pending contact with the account owner. A warning will be issued on the first offense. If repeated violations occur, Darientel.Net may take whatever actions deemed necessary including billing the account owner for an additional dial-up account and/or suspending or terminating the account.

Sharing account logins & passwords with anyone other than immediate family members residing within the same household is prohibited. Personal Dial-up accounts are intended for use solely by the person who purchased the account, their spouse, and any minor children living in their household. Allowing other relatives, including adult children who live outside your home or any other individuals to use your account login & password to access the Service is a serious violation of this policy. That, in effect, constitutes theft of services and the account owner could be subject to prosecution. It is the account owner’s sole responsibility to insure that all family members who have access to the account login & password understand and abide by this policy.

Unlimited Usage

Unlimited Usage Internet access accounts should not be confused with Dedicated Internet Access services. Unlimited Usage Accounts are considered to be interactive accounts. This means you may not leave your personal computer connected to Darientel.Net's services when no one is actively engaged in using the Service. Our system monitors our pool of modems and will disconnect modems that remain idle for extended periods of time. We DO NOT allow the use of software and/or other methods of creating activity for the sole purpose of maintaining a connection when the computer is not in use otherwise. We feel that each customer of Darientel.Net should have an equal opportunity to use the Service and "Parking" on-line serves no useful purpose. Sessions that Darientel.Net determines are excessive in length will be disconnected and notice given to the account owner via e-mail. Subsequent violations will result in either the account being suspended for a period of at least 24 hours or permanent termination of the account. Re-selling of service is prohibited. Offering any public information service, such as running a Web or FTP server will require the purchase of a Dedicated Account.

Payment of Services

All accounts are billed based on a flat rate for each month. The billing period for all accounts begins on the first day of each month regardless of the day of the month you initially began your service. Partial months will be pro-rated. Services are billed and paid for in advance. Accounts unpaid on the tenth day of the month are considered Past Due. There is no grace period. Past Due accounts are subject to having services suspended without warning. Should services be suspended, a $15 reconnect fee plus the full past due balance must be paid before service is restored. Returned checks or bank drafts and declined credit card charges will result in immediate suspension of services. A $25 service fee will be added to the amount of the returned or declined item. Payment in cash or certified funds of the amount returned/refused plus the service fee must be received before services are restored.

Darientel.Net offers customers the option of billing on open account for services. We will make every effort to deliver to you an accurate and timely statement of your account. However, it is the customers responsibility to pay the account in a timely manner even if he/she did not receive a monthly statement.

Should an account be suspended or terminated for any reason, the customer is still responsible for the full payment of services for the current calendar month. Under no circumstances will accounts be pro-rated to allow for the time an account was suspended or terminated.

Darientel.Net's service is month to month arrangement with the customer. All accounts are automatically renewed on the first day of each calendar month. Should the customer wish to discontinue the service, he/she must notify Darientel.Net to cancel the service. Simply ceasing to use the account does not relieve the account owner of his/her liability for monthly service fees. If an account is active (even if it is suspended) on the first day of any month, the owner of the account is responsible for payment of services for the full month.

Email

Commercial E-mail - Sending unsolicited commercial e-mail is prohibited. Using any Darientel.Net e-mail address to collect responses from unsolicited commercial e-mail is prohibited.

Mail bombing - Sending large volumes of unsolicited e-mail is a form of harassment and is strictly prohibited.

Harassment - Sending threatening or harassing e-mail after being requested to stop is prohibited. Extremely threatening or harassing e-mail is always prohibited. Sending e-mail of any kind to someone who has requested you stop is prohibited.

Usenet or Newsgroups

Newsgroup spamming - Excessive cross posting, or posting the same article to several newsgroups, is prohibited. Generally accepted standards allow no more than 15 newsgroups, or cross-postings, for a single article or substantially similar articles. Such articles may be canceled. Excessive cross posting will result in account termination.

Off-topic or inappropriate posting - There is no restriction on content, except as defined by each newsgroup. Continued posting of off-topic articles in any newsgroup is prohibited. Please note that most newsgroups consider any kind of commercial advertisement off-topic.

Internet Relay Chat (IRC)

The violation of any accepted policies on IRC servers is prohibited. If Darientel.Net is banned from any server, the offending account will be terminated.

General Rules and Netiquette

Impersonation - Attempting to impersonate any person, using forged headers or other identifying information, is prohibited. The use of anonymous remailers and nicknames does not constitute impersonation, except as provided by Georgia law.

Hacking, Nuking and /or other Network unfriendly activity - Activities which adversely affect the ability of other people or systems to use Darientel.Net services or the Internet is strictly prohibited. Darientel.Net will fully cooperate with any and all law enforcement agencies to identify any parties involved in these type activities while using Darientel.Net services.

Privacy violations - Attempts, whether successful or not, to gain access to any computer system, or person's or business’s data, without consent is prohibited.

Privacy

It may be necessary, from time to time, for Darientel.Net employees or agents to examine system accounting logs and other records to resolve system problems. Darientel.Net reserves the right to access an account's mailbox and other data to resolve system problems. In addition, Darientel.Net will cooperate with appropriate legal authorities in investigating claims of illegal activity, including, but not limited to, illegal transfer or use of copyrighted material, postings or e-mail containing threats of violence, or other illegal activity. Darientel.Net makes no guarantee and assumes no liability for the security of any data on any server, including "secure servers." Our customers are reminded that no computer system should be considered invulnerable to attack. E-mail may pass through many computers on the way to its destination, and should not be considered a secure means of communication unless encrypted. Even then, information is only as secure as the encryption method.

Additional Information

The document provides a general understanding of Darientel.Net's policy of the acceptable uses of Darientel.Net's systems and services. Common sense and judgment are a necessary part of any system of rules, and this document is no exception. Of course, flagrant or repeated violations of this policy are viewed in a very different light than minor infractions.

Protection of our customers and our resources, the ability to provide quality service to our subscribers, conformance with existing law and the protection of our reputation as a service provider are all contributing factors to decisions on violations of this policy.

It is our intention to offer our customers access to everything the Internet has to offer, with minimal or no interference. Our belief in Freedom of Speech is a firm commitment to our customers. By the same token, certain activities are considered inappropriate by the Internet community at large and cannot be permitted under the guise of "Free Speech." As stated above, common sense and judgement are a vital part of any system. When in doubt, allow the rule of common sense to guide you.

Darientel.Net does not censor the content of any newsgroups. We believe such choices should be left to the individual. We do advise our users that tools, such as Net Nanny, CyberPatrol, etc are available to screen an account's access to newsgroups and other material you might consider offensive. It is the account owner's responsibility to make use of such tools if desired.

Darientel.Net does not in the normal course of business monitor the activity of accounts. However, if we become aware of inappropriate use of Darientel.Net services, we reserve the right to take whatever actions are necessary to curb the inappropriate use of the service.

If a Darientel.Net account is used to violate any portion of this policy, we reserve the right to suspend or terminate the account without notice. Our normal course of action would be to advise the account owner of the problem and how to correct it. However, flagrant violations of this policy or any local, state, and/or federal laws, will result in immediate termination of the account.

Copyrighted Material

Copyrighted material must not be placed or distributed using any Darientel.Net Service without the express permission of the owner(s) or person(s) they specifically authorize. Under new federal regulations, should Darientel.Net receive written notice identifying copyrighted material being illegally displayed or distributed on our service; we must either remove or restrict access to the material in question immediately.

Content and Uses of the Service

You agree not to publish on or over the Service any information, software or other content which violates or infringes upon the rights of any others or which would be abusive, profane, or sexually offensive to an average person, or which, without the approval of Darientel.Net, contains any advertising or any solicitation of other subscribers to use goods or service. This paragraph, however, shall not be interpreted to restrict you from utilizing Darientel.Net e-mail in the conduct of a legitimate business except that you may not send unsolicited advertising or promotional material.

You agree not to use the facilities and capabilities of the Service to conduct any business or other activity or solicit the performance of any activity which is prohibited by law or to solicit subscribers to become subscribers of other information services.

Editing and Deleting Content

Darientel.Net reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to edit or delete any information, software or other content appearing on the Service, regardless of whether it violates the standards for content.

Service Termination & Indemnification

Darientel.Net reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to suspend or terminate Service to any subscriber at any time. You agree to indemnify and hold Darientel.Net harmless from any claims and expenses, including reasonable attorney's fees, related to your violation of the Service Agreement, including these rules and the Acceptable Use Policy, or any information, software or other content placed on the Service by you.