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BTES has designed this Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") in order to encourage the responsible use of BTES’s networks, systems, services, web sites and products (collectively, “the service”) by our customers and other users of the BTES Internet Service (collectively, "Users"), and to enable us to provide Users with secure, reliable and productive services. By using BTES, Users consent to be bound by the terms of this AUP.
This AUP is considered non-exclusive. BTES reserves the right to modify this AUP in its discretion at any time. Such modifications will be effective when posted. Any use of the service after such modification shall constitute acceptance of such modification.
General Conduct.
The BTES Internet service must be used in a manner that is consistent with the intended purpose of the Service and may be used only for lawful purposes. Users shall not use the service in order to transmit, distribute or store material: (a) in violation of any applicable law or regulation, including export or encryption laws or regulations; or (b) that may expose BTES to criminal or civil liability. Users are further prohibited from assisting any other person in violating any part of this AUP.
BTES reserves the right to disconnect service for failure to comply with any portion of this policy. Any violation of this policy may result in prosecution under state and/or federal law and/or termination of service.
Resale of Services
The resale of BTES products and services is not permitted unless specifically permitted and documented in a written agreement. Customers are not permitted to distribute BTES services outside of their household.
Commercial Services
BTES provides residential service (including email addresses and web space) for non-commercial use only. Customers with residential accounts who wish to run mail or web servers may be required to upgrade to a commercial account.
Responsibility for Content.
BTES takes no responsibility for any material created or accessible on or through the service. BTES is not obligated to monitor or exercise any editorial control over such material, but reserves the right to do so. In the event that BTES becomes aware that any such material may violate this AUP and/or expose BTES to civil or criminal liability, BTES reserves the right to block access to such material and suspend or terminate any User creating, storing or disseminating such material. BTES further reserves the right to cooperate with legal authorities and third parties in the investigation of alleged wrongdoing, including disclosing the identity of the User that BTES deems responsible for the wrongdoing.
Inappropriate Content.
Users shall not use the service to transmit, distribute or store material that is inappropriate, as reasonably determined by BTES, or material that is indecent, obscene, pornographic (including child pornography), defamatory, libelous, threatening, abusive, hateful, or excessively violent.
Users shall not use the service to harm or attempt to harm minors in any way.
Intellectual Property.
Material accessible through the service may be subject to protection under privacy, publicity, or other personal rights and Intellectual Property rights, including but not limited to, copyrights and laws protecting patents, trademarks, trade secrets or other proprietary information. Users shall not use the service in any manner that would infringe, dilute, misappropriate, or otherwise violate any such rights. If you use a domain name in connection with any of the services offered by BTES, you must not use that domain name in violation of the trademark, service mark, or other rights of any third party.
Harmful Content
Users shall not use the service to transmit, distribute or store material that contains a virus, worm, Trojan horse, or other component harmful to the BTES service, any other network or equipment, or other Users.
Users shall not use the BTES service to transmit or distribute material containing fraudulent offers for goods or services, or any advertising or promotional materials that contain false, deceptive, or misleading statements, claims, or representations. In addition, Users are prohibited from submitting any false or inaccurate data on any order form, contract or online application, including the fraudulent use of credit cards.
Email and Unsolicited Messages
Users shall not use the service to send unsolicited e-mail messages, including, without limitation, bulk commercial advertising or informational announcements ("spam"). Further, Users are prohibited from using the service of another provider to send spam or to promote a site hosted on or connected to the BTES service. In addition, Users shall not use the service in order to (a) send e-mail messages which are excessive and/or intended to harass or annoy others, (b) continue to send e-mail messages to a recipient that has indicated that he/she does not wish to receive them, (c) send e-mail with forged TCP/IP packet header information, (d) send malicious e-mail, including, without limitation, "mailbombing", (e) send or receive e-mail messages in a manner that violates the use policies of any other internet service provider, or (f) use an e-mail box exclusively as a storage space for data.
Third Party Rules; Usenet.
Users may have access through the service to search engines, subscription Web services, chat areas, bulletin boards, Web pages, USENET, or other services that promulgate rules, guidelines or agreements to govern their use. Users must adhere to any such rules, guidelines, or agreements. Users who post messages to Usenet newsgroups are responsible for becoming familiar with any written charter or FAQ governing use of such newsgroups and complying therewith. Regardless of such policies, Users may not (a) post the same message, or a series of similar messages, to one or more newsgroups (excessive cross-posting or multiple-posting, also known as "Usenet spam"), (b) cancel or supersede posts not originally posted by such User, unless such User does so in the course of his/her duties as an official newsgroup moderator, (c) post any message with forged packet header information, or (d) post messages that are excessive and/or intended to annoy or harass others, including, without limitation, chain letters.
System and Network Security.
Users are prohibited from violating or attempting to violate the security of the service network, including, without limitation, (a) accessing data not intended for such User or logging into a server or account which such User is not authorized to access, (b) impersonating BTES personnel, (c) attempting to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without proper authorization, (d) attempting to interfere with, disrupt or disable service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, via means of overloading, "flooding", "mailbombing", "denial of service" attacks or "crashing", (e) forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any e-mail or newsgroup posting, (f) taking any action in order to obtain services to which such User is not entitled, or (g) attempting to utilize another User's account name or persona without authorization from that User, (h) using packet sniffers, network probing tools, or any type of program/script/command designed to interfere with or capture data.
Users are also prohibited from attempting any action designed to circumvent or alter any method of measuring or billing for the BTES services. Violations of system or network security may result in civil or criminal liability. BTES 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.
Although not required, it is the responsibility of the User to provide antivirus and firewall protection for their end system. BTES may provide limited antivirus scanning of email through its email servers but does not guarantee virus-free email and will not be held liable for viruses, trojan horse programs, or any other malicious programs or scripts received by users.
Monitoring the Services
BTES has no obligation to monitor the Services, but may do so and disclose information regarding use of the Services for any reason if BTES, in its sole discretion, determines that it is reasonable to do so, including but not limited to: satisfy laws, regulations, or governmental or legal requests; operate the Services properly; or protect itself and its customers.
BTES reserves the right to monitor the network and services by means including but not limited to: (a) port scans, (b) server transaction logs, (c) bandwidth utilization, (c) server resource utilization, (d) access and firewall violations.
BTES reserves the right to block ports, addresses, subnets, or networks of any offending services or entities in the interest of maintaining network stability. Such blocks will be on an as needed basis and will be removed when appropriate action has been taken by those controlling the offending network(s).
Users have the responsibility to monitor their accounts for access to newsgroups and Web sites that may contain improper material.
Users may notify BTES of the continual receipt of e-mail that users view as illegal or that is unsolicited.
Users must not design or provide systems used for the collection of information about others without their explicit knowledge and consent
Suspension; Termination.
Any User which BTES determines to have violated any element of this AUP may be subject to a suspension or termination of service, and if BTES deems it necessary, immediate suspension or termination of such User's service without notice. BTES may take such further action as BTES determines to be appropriate under the circumstances to eliminate or preclude repeat violations, and BTES shall not be liable for any damages of any nature suffered by any Customer, User, or any third party resulting in whole or in part from BTES's exercise of its rights under this AUP. Violations of this AUP may be reported at the following link: abuse@btes.tv. Among other things, the AUP prohibits sending unsolicited e-mail messages including bulk commercial advertising or informational announcements ("Spam") and BTES will immediately terminate any account which it believes, in its sole discretion, is transmitting or is otherwise connected with any Spam. In addition, because damages are often difficult to quantify, if actual damages cannot be reasonably calculated then you agree to pay BTES liquidated damages of five dollars ($5.00) for each piece of spam or unsolicited bulk e-mail transmitted from or otherwise connected with your account, otherwise you agree to pay BTES's actual damages, to the extent such actual damages can be reasonably calculated. BTES may elect to send notice of any violations to the User before termination, but is not required to do so. When an account has been terminated or suspended, the reactivation of the old account or the acquiring of a new account will only be allowed by express approval of BTES. The account may be held responsible for any charges associated with installation or activation, whether it is for a new account or an existing suspended or terminated account.
Account Usage and Password
You agree that you will be the only user of your email address and password and that you will not transfer or disclose either your email address or password to any other person, except that you may at your own risk and responsibility permit other members of your family or business associates to access the BTES service using your email address and password. You shall ensure that any other such users comply with this Agreement and the AUP and you will be responsible for all usage of the Services and any other services accessed through the Services on your account whether or not authorized by you. You acknowledge that you are aware that certain content that may be accessible through the Services may contain material that is unsuitable for minors. You agree to supervise usage of the Services through your account by any minors.
Password security is the responsibility of the individual user.
Storage Space, Bandwidth and Other Limitations
Using a personal account for commercial, high volume, or any excessive use is prohibited. If your use impacts BTES's ability to provide Services or network resources, your use of the Services can be terminated immediately. Customers consistently using excessive bandwidth may be required to upgrade to a higher service level and pay additional fees in accordance with BTES’s current applicable published rates for such service level.
The amount of mailbox storage space per User is limited to 20 megabytes. When a mailbox reaches the limit the User will not be able to receive e-mail. E-mail that exceeds the limits will not be delivered.
Personal Web Page
If you use the personal Web page feature of the Services, this section shall apply to you in addition to the other provisions of this Agreement. You acknowledge and agree (i) that the use of your personal Web page and any content, information, and all other aspects of your personal Web page will not violate the AUP, any applicable law, or any rights of another, (ii) that you are solely responsible for the content, quality, performance, and all other aspects of the information or other content contained in or provided through your personal Web site and (iii) that BTES has no proprietary, financial, or other interest in any of the content or information that may be described in or made available through your personal Web site. BTES may, without prior notice, terminate or suspend your personal Web page if BTES, in its sole discretion, believes that you have violated this Section. If BTES provides you with a domain name that has the names or marks of BTES embedded therein ("btes.tv Domain Name"), you may use the btes.tv Domain Name only for the duration of this Agreement. BTES shall own the btes.tv Domain Name and the btes.tv Domain Name may be subject to change by BTES or applicable domain name registry. Other than for identifying the location of your personal Web site, you may not use the name or any marks of BTES or any of its affiliates in any press release, promotional materials, or other manner without the express written approval of BTES. You shall own all graphics, text or other information or content supplied by you for incorporation into or delivery through your personal Web site. BTES shall own any software developed or modified by BTES and all graphics, text or other information or content materials supplied by BTES for incorporation into your personal Web site ("BTES Materials"). You may only use the BTES Material in association with your personal Web page and only for the duration of this Agreement.
Dialup Service
BTES provides a local dialup number for customer use. It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure the number they use to access the BTES service is local to their calling area. BTES will not be responsible for any local toll or long distance charges incurred by a customer through the use of a toll number.
Dialup services are not intended to be used for dedicated access. Excessive use of dialup resources is discouraged. BTES reserves the right to manage dialup resources for the benefit of all customers. Dialup services are subject to idle time-outs. An idle time-out is the disconnection of a session when a dial-up account is idle for a specified period of time and no interactive, human generated data appears to be received from the remote user's computer system. Automated data is not considered interactive or human generated and is also subject to idle time-out. Examples of automated data include, but are not limited to data generated by an automatic re-dialer, script or other program that runs on the user's computer system for the purpose of avoiding inactivity disconnects.
In using dialup services from BTES, you will not resell any services or offer public information services over dial-up accounts (unlimited usage or otherwise), nor permit more than one log-on session to be active at one time on analog dial-up accounts.
Disclaimer of Warranties and Limitation of Liability
LIMITATION OF LIABILITY. YOU ASSUME TOTAL RESPONSIBILITY FOR USE OF THE SERVICES AND THE INTERNET AND ACCESS THE SAME AT YOUR OWN RISK. BTES EXERCISES NO CONTROL OVER AND HAS NO RESPONSIBILITY WHATSOEVER FOR THE CONTENT ACCESSIBLEOR ACTIONS TAKEN ON THE INTERNET AND BTES EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY RESPONSIBILITY FOR SUCH CONTENT OR ACTIONS. BTES SHALL NOT BE LIABLE TO YOU FOR ANY DIRECT, INCIDENTAL, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY LOSS OF USE, LOSS OF BUSINESS, LOSS OF PROFIT, LOSS OF INFORMATION OR DATA, OR INTERRUPTED COMMUNICATIONS, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS TERMS OF SERVICE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES WILL BTES BE LIABLE TO YOU OR ANY THIRD PARTIES FOR AN AMOUNT GREATER THAT THAN THE TOTAL AMOUNT OF SERVICE FEES PAID BY YOU DURING A SIX MONTH PERIOD.
DISCLAIMER OF WARRANTIES. THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS. BTES MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, WRITTEN OR ORAL, STATUTORY, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING ANY WARRANTY OF MERCHANTABILITY, INFRINGEMENT, OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. BTES DOES NOT WARRANT THAT THE SERVICES WILL BE UNINTERRUPTED, ERROR-FREE, OR FREE OF VIRUSES OR OTHER HARMFULCOMPONENTS.
Indemnification
You agree to indemnify, defend, and hold harmless BTES and its subsidiaries, affiliates, officers, employees, agents, suppliers, or other partners from any and all third party claims, liabilities, costs, and expenses, including reasonable attorneys fees, arising from your use of the Services, your violation of this Agreement, or your violation of any rights of another.
Miscellaneous
This Agreement and the AUP constitute the entire agreement between you and BTES with respect to your use of the Services. BTES may assign this Agreement and your rights and obligations under this Agreement, in whole or in part, at any time without notice to you. You may not assign this Agreement without BTES's prior written consent. BTES's failure to insist upon or enforce strict performance of any provision of this Agreement shall not be construed as a waiver of any provision or rights. If any provision of this Agreement is held to be unenforceable, the unenforceable provision shall be construed as nearly as possible to reflect the original intent of the parties and the remaining provisions shall remain in full force and effect.
BTES COMPLAINT RESPONSE PROCEDURES.
BTES’s dedication to customer service means that BTES takes seriously and responds to all complaints about its subscribers' use of the Internet. This means complaints by both BTES service subscribers and complaints by other Internet users. BTES believes that its customers should be able to enjoy full use of the Internet without interference by persons who use the Internet in an improper or unlawful manner. BTES will respond to any complaint that involves online activities that are Prohibited Activities under the BTES’s Policies. BTES will follow the Complaint Response Procedures described below to respond to complaints from Users and others about BTES service Users. Under these procedures, Internet users -- including BTES service Users -- are responsible for monitoring use of the Internet by others. BTES will issue warnings to its Users, suspend subscribers' accounts and even cancel accounts when it learns of continuing improper activities.
Complaints may be submitted in any of the following forms:
P.O. Box 549
Bristol, TN 37621.
If you register a complaint with the BTES Customer Service department, you should submit the following information:
If possible, the specific category or categories of Prohibited Activity you believe is involved in the activities; 4. The dates the activities took place, e.g., the date information was posted.