STARBAND SATELLITE INTERNET ACCESS SERVICE
ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
(Last Revised December 18, 2001)
In order to provide all members with
fair and equal use of the StarBand service and to
enhance the Internet access experience by preventing
unacceptable use, this Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) has
been created. This AUP governs use of the StarBand
satellite-provided Internet access service (the
“Service”) for residential consumer use.
The Service is designed and
engineered for periodic use of e-mail, newsgroups, file
transfers, Internet chat, instant messaging, non
real-time interactive games and browsing the World Wide
Web. It is your responsibility to ensure that your
activity does not impose an unusually large burden on
the StarBand network or otherwise negatively affect the
integrity of the system. Your activity also must be
respectful of, and must not have a negative impact on,
the online experience of the rest of the StarBand member
community.
The Service currently is designed for
efficient use in residential applications. It is
intended for use with, bandwidth consumption by and
support of a single personal computer connected directly
to the StarBand satellite modem or with integrated modem
cards (Rx/Tx) via the StarBand SkyBlaster product.
StarBand call center support is limited to this single
PC and will not be extended to other computers should
they be networked in such a way as to utilize the
Internet access provided by StarBand. If other software
or applications residing on a member’s computer restrict
or inhibit the ability of the StarBand software to
function properly, the offending software must be
removed prior to the member’s seeking call center
support.
To help ensure that all members have
fair and equal use of the benefits of the Service and to
protect the integrity of the Service, StarBand reserves
the right, and will take necessary steps, to prevent
improper or excessive consumption of bandwidth used to
provide the Service. You should be aware that the
networking of additional computers to access the Service
may result in such excessive bandwidth consumption. The
action that StarBand may take includes, but is not
limited to, limiting any excessive throughput,
discontinuing service via specific ports or
communication protocols, and a complete discontinuation
of service to the member with improper or excessive
bandwidth consumption. This policy is effective and will
be enforced for intended and unintended (e.g., viruses,
worms, malicious code, or otherwise unknown causes)
bandwidth consumption. Your on-line activity will be
subject to the then-current bandwidth, data storage and
other limitations of the Service, which StarBand may,
from time to time, revise in its discretion and without
providing advance written notice.
In choosing to use the Service, you
agree that you will not initiate or participate in any
of the following activities through or in connection
with the Service, which constitute examples of improper
use of the Service and therefore are prohibited.
Engaging in one or more of these practices may result in
suspension or termination of your access to and use of
the Service. You may not:
- Use the Service for illegal
purposes or for the transmission of material that is
known to be false, unlawful, harassing, libelous,
defamatory, profane, invasive of another’s privacy,
abusive, threatening, harmful, vulgar, obscene,
sexually explicit, hateful or otherwise
objectionable; to post material, non-public
information about companies, without the
authorization to do so; to post or transmit
third-party copyrighted information or in any way
infringe on the intellectual property, contractual,
or fiduciary rights of others; for the transmission
of junk mail or chain letters, or to distribute
bugs, viruses or such other harmful elements; to
post improper messages; or to violate the letter or
spirit of the Member Agreement, which is available
at
www.starband.net/useragreement.htm;
- Post messages substantially
similar in content to ten (10) or more news groups,
forums, automated e-mail lists or other similar
groups or lists (each a “List”) or intentionally
post to any List any content or information that
violates or is otherwise in consistent with the
terms of use or other owner-published description of
the group or List;
- Send any spam, unsolicited mass
distribution of e-mail or other solicitations, or
otherwise unsolicited e-mail. Except as otherwise
defined under applicable law, “unsolicited e-mail”
does not include any message (i) addressed to an
individual with whom the sender has a preexisting
and ongoing business or personal relationship, (ii)
received from a non-commercial organization or
entity of which the individual is a pre-existing
member or (iii) posted to a List that does not
otherwise violate this policy;
- Falsify member information
provided to StarBand or to users of the Service in
connection with use of the Service or impersonate
someone else, including but not limited to either a
StarBand employee or non-employee serving with
StarBand’s authorization as a chat moderator;
- Engage in any of the foregoing
activities by using the service of another provider,
but channeling such activities through a StarBand
account or using a StarBand account as a mail drop
for responses or otherwise using the services of
another provider for the purpose of facilitating the
foregoing activities if such use of another party’s
service could reasonably be expected to adversely
affect the Service;
- Use the Service for commercial
purposes; resell, share, or otherwise distribute the
Service or any portion thereof to any third party;
or provide network services to others via the
Service;
- Connect the satellite modem
directly to a hardware router or networking device
other than a StarBand supported Windows PC-based
software gateway, or otherwise invalidate the
ability of the StarBand software to function
properly. All traffic transmitted over the StarBand
network must make use of the StarBand provided
acceleration software;
- Improperly restrict, inhibit, or
degrade any other member’s use of the Service, or
restrict, inhibit, disrupt, degrade or impede
StarBand’s ability to deliver the Service and
monitor its delivery of the Service;
- Install automated search and
retrieve programs or similar automated and manual
routines which generate excessive amounts of net
traffic;
- Engage in any activity that
compromises or threatens StarBand’s ability to
provide the Service in a reasonable and efficient
manner. Examples of prohibited use include, but are
not limited to, running servers for mail, http, ftp,
irc, and multi-user interactive forums, and
providing Internet access to others through a
dial-up connection, multi-user interactive forums,
or similar means;
- Engage in any other activity
which is in violation of law, or threatens the
integrity of any computer system, or violates
generally accepted standards of Internet conduct and
usage, including but not limited to denial of
service attacks, web page defacement, port and
network scanning and unauthorized system
penetrations.
StarBand reserves the right to
implement technical mechanisms which block postings and
messages which, in StarBand’s sole discretion, violate
this AUP before they are forwarded or otherwise sent to
their intended recipients. StarBand also reserves the
right to take such action as may be necessary to protect
the integrity of the system, including, but not limited
to, regular system monitoring, as well as port scanning
and shutting down of ports affected by viruses, worms or
other malicious code.
Nothing contained in this policy
shall be construed to limit StarBand’s rights or
remedies in any way with respect to any of the foregoing
activities, and StarBand reserves the right to take any
and all additional actions that it may deem appropriate
with respect to such activities, including without
limitation, investigating suspected violations of this
AUP, taking action to recover the costs and expenses of
identifying offenders and terminating their access to
and use of the Service, and levying cancellation charges
to cover StarBand’s costs in the event of termination of
access to the Service. In addition, StarBand reserves at
all times all available rights and remedies with respect
to such activities at law or in equity.
This AUP may be clarified or modified
periodically. Any member who does not agree to abide by
all of the terms of this AUP should not continue to use
the Service.
If you would like to report any
activity you believe to be a violation of this AUP,
please direct such information to StarBand’s Abuse
Department, at
abuse@starband.com.
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