| INTRODUCTION:
In a multi-subscriber environment such as Cyberhotline, the actions
of a single subscriber may have a severe impact on other customers'
abilities to access the Internet. It is not uncommon for an Internet
Service Provider (ISP) to be blocked from use of another organization's
systems due to repeated misuses of that ISP's resources. As we feel
that this would be grossly unfair to our many subscribers, Cyberhotline
has adopted these Acceptable Use Policies. They are intended to
provide guidelines on what Cyberhotline constitutes inappropriate
use of the access to the Internet and alert our subscribers to whatever
actions we may be forced to take, with or without notice, should
we become aware of the inappropriate use of this service.
Cyberhotline recognizes that many of the individual components of
the Internet have other specific guidelines for use. The preservation
of Cyberhotline's technical resources, the continuation of its high
quality service to its customers, the compliance with existing laws
and regulations, and the protection of Cyberhotline's reputation
as a service provider compel us to enact the Acceptable Use Policies
detailed below. These guidelines will be enforced when dealing with
complaints from the Internet community to determine when action
should be taken. All Cyberhotline subscribers and advertisers are
expected to follow these policies.
ACCESS TO CYBERHOTLINE'S
INTERNET SERVICE IS PROVIDED SUBJECT TO THE FOLLOWING TERMS AND
CONDITIONS:
I. Warranties
/ Disclaimers:
The Cyberhotline
Internet service is provided on an "as is, as available"
basis. While our intention is to provide more than adequate bandwith
to support our subscriber base, no warranties, express or implied,
including, but not limited to, those of merchantability or fitness
for a particular purpose, are made with respect to Cyberhotline
or any information or software therein. Cyberhotline shall have
no liability or responsibility for any direct, indirect, incidental,
or consequential damages suffered by you in connection with your
use of or inability to use the Cyberhotline services including,
but not limited to, damages from loss of data resulting from delays,
non-deliveries, misdeliveries, service interruptions, or the inadvertent
release or disclosure of information sent by you even if the same
is caused by Cyberhotline's own negligence. Cyberhotline further
specifically disclaims to the full extent permitted by applicable
law any responsibility for, and under no circumstances shall be
liable for any conduct, content, goods, and services available on
or through the Internet or through Cyberhotline services. In no
event shall Cyberhotline's aggregate liability exceed the amount
paid by you to Cyberhotline for Cyberhotline services. Use of any
information obtained via Cyberhotline's Internet service is at the
user's own risk. Cyberhotline specifically disclaims any responsibility
for the accuracy, safety, or quality of information obtained through
its services.
II. Security:
The subscriber
is responsible for all use of subscriber's account(s), confidentiality,
safety of password(s), and ensuring file protections are set correctly.
Cyberhotline retains the right to suspend access or change access
to subscriber's account(s) immediately upon notification by subscriber
that subscriber's password has been lost, stolen, or otherwise compromised.
Cyberhotline is not liable for the consequences of any usage of
compromised accounts prior to Cyberhotline making the necessary
account alteration. No computer system should be considered safe
from intrusion, although electronic mail (e-mail) on this system
is as private as we can make it. E-mail should not be considered
a secure means of communication even if encrypted (which is only
as secure as the encryption method utilized).
III. Personal
Files:
Cyberhotline
is not responsible for subscriber's personal files residing on Cyberhotline.
Cyberhotline reserves the right to delete subscriber's personal
files after one or both parties terminates the service agreement
between Cyberhotline and subscriber.
IV. Non-Transferability
of Account:
The right to
use Cyberhotline's Internet service is not transferable, being expressly
limited to the individual or business whose name appears on the
account.
V. Network Address
Ownership:
Any network address
assignments issued by Cyberhotline (i.e., IP address) are the property
of Cyberhotline and are assigned dynamically. In the event service
with Cyberhotline is discontinued for any reason, such addresses
will revert to Cyberhotline. The network addresses are assigned
on a per session basis and are designed to allow for Web Surfing.
This design/assignment of network addresses could effect (not allow)
some games/services (IRC, CU-SeeMe, web page hosting) which require
a fully qualified address.
VI. Compliance
with all Laws:
Subscriber agrees:
A) to use the
service in a manner consistent with any and all applicable laws
and regulations. Reproduction or transmission of any material in
violation of any local, state, U.S., or international law or regulation
is prohibited;
B) that any material
to be reproduced or transmitted on Cyberhotline's service through
subscriber's account(s) does not violate or infringe any patent,
trademark, copyright, statutory, common law, or proprietary rights
of others;
C) that such
material as might be reproduced or transmitted on Cyberhotline's
service through his/her account does not contain anything obscene,
libelous, or threatening. Subscriber agrees software intended to
facilitate any such violations or infringements may not be stored
on Cyberhotline;
D) at Cyberhotline's
discretion, not to use Cyberhotline services or accounts for inappropriate
usage; and
E) subscriber
shall defend, indemnify and hold harmless Cyberhotline from and
against any claims, liabilities and expenses, including reasonable
attorneys' fees, resulting from subscriber's use of the Cyberhotline
service or subscriber's account(s) in an unlawful manner or otherwise
in violation of or contrary to subscriber's Agreement with Cyberhotline
or Cyberhotline's Acceptable Use Policies.
VII. Acceptable
Conduct:
The following
usage of Cyberhotline resources is deemed acceptable under the terms
of service:
1) usage for
private personal or business communications;
2) usage for
public communications as suggested by the charters of USENET newsgroups,
and the well-known guidelines generally accepted by the users and
news administrators of same;
3) usage for
research or educational purposes; and
4) usage for
data communications in accordance with applicable laws.
VIII. Unacceptable
Conduct:
The following
types of conduct are grounds for immediate suspension of service
pending investigation by Cyberhotline and may result in termination
of the account(s) determined to have originated this conduct. In
addition, Cyberhotline reserves the right, where feasible, to implement
technical blocks to multiple postings by a Cyberhotline subscriber
as described in (A), (B), (C), and (F) below before such postings
are forwarded:
A) violation
of any applicable local, state, federal, or international laws;
B) posting identical
or substantially similar articles to an excessive (more than 10)
number of newsgroups or continued posting of articles which are
off topic for a newsgroup (according to the newsgroup charter or
which provoke complaints from the regular readers of the newsgroup
for being off topic). Cyberhotline will apply a charge of $0.05
per copy for misposted USENET articles;
C) sending unsolicited
mass (to more than 15 users) e-mailings which provoke complaints
from the recipients. Any subscriber who perpetrates such unsolicited
non-commercial mass e-mailings shall be subject to a $1,000 service
charge, payable to Cyberhotline. Unsolicited commercial advertisements
are not allowed in e-mail. Cyberhotline will apply a charge of $150
per user for unsolicited commercial e-mail;
D) engaging in
either (a) or (b) from a provider other than Cyberhotline while
using an account on Cyberhotline as a mail drop for responses, or
to draw attention to a web site housed within Cyberhotline's networks;
E) continued
harassment of other individuals on the Internet after being asked
to stop by those individuals and by Cyberhotline;
F) mail bombing
(the transmission of large volumes of unsolicited e-mail to individuals
or to individual business accounts);
G) impersonating
another user or otherwise falsifying one's user name in e-mail,
USENET postings, on Internet Relay Chat (IRC), or with any other
Internet service;
H) privacy violations:
Any attempt to gain access to any other system or users' private
data without express consent of the user. Such attempts include,
but are not limited to, tricking other people into releasing their
passwords, password cracking, and security hole scanning;
I) use of IRC
'bots or clonebots on Cyberhotline. An IRC 'bot is a program which
runs and is connected to an IRC server 24 hours a day, automatically
performing certain actions;
J) use of programs
or methods that trick our systems from disconnecting an inactive
user after a pre-determined amount of time and/or a program that
connects or re-connects the user's session automatically and without
his/her manual intervention;
K) network unfriendly
activity. Any attempt to interfere with the regular workings of
Cyberhotline's systems or network connections or which adversely
affect the ability of other people or systems to use Cyberhotline
services or the Internet, including, but not limited to:
1) any unauthorized
attempts by a user to gain root access or access to any account
not belonging to that user on this or any other Cyberhotline system;
2) any use of
this or any other Cyberhotline system as a staging ground to disable
other systems.
IX. Right to
Disconnect Nondedicated Accounts:
Cyberhotline
unlimited interactive usage dial-up connections are not intended
to be full-time dedicated connections. Subscriber agrees to keep
the connection active only when the subscriber is actively using
it, and not to provide public information services over the connection.
Cyberhotline reserves the right to impose a restriction on accounts
deemed by it to be in violation of these conditions.
X. Excess Utilization
of System or Network Resources:
Cyberhotline
account descriptions specify limits on bandwidth, CPU, and disk
utilization for subscribers. Upon determination by Cyberhotline
that a subscriber is in excess of those limits, the subscriber will
be notified by e-mail. The subscriber may be requested to upgrade
to a web hosting service agreement or to modify the activity creating
the excess use 48 hours after transmission of that notice. A determination
by Cyberhotline that any excess utilization adversely affects Cyberhotline's
ability to provide service for all subscribers may result in immediate
action to relieve the problem. In that event, the subscriber will
be notified as soon as is practicable.
XI. Compliance
with Rules of Other Networks:
Any access to
other networks connected to Cyberhotline's Internet service must
comply with the rules for that other network as well as with Cyberhotline's
rules.
XII. Monitoring
/ Privacy:
Cyberhotline
reserves the right to monitor any and all communications through
or with CAIS facilities. Subscriber agrees that Cyberhotline is
not considered a secure communications medium for the purposes of
the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, and that no expectation
of privacy is afforded. It may become necessary for Cyberhotline
employees to examine system accounting logs and other records to
determine if privacy violations or other network unfriendly activities
have occurred. Cyberhotline also reserves the right to access a
subscriber's mailbox or other files stored on Cyberhotline systems
to resolve system problems or mail system errors.
XIII. Cooperation
with Authorities:
Cyberhotline
reserves the right to cooperate with law enforcement and other authorities
in investigating claims of illegal activity including, but not limited
to, illegal transfer or availability of copyrighted material, postings,
or e-mail containing threats of violence or other illegal activity.
XIV. Confidentiality
of Personal Subscriber Information:
Cyberhotline
will not release a subscriber's personal subscriber information,
nor a subscriber's billing information to any third party except
upon presentation of a valid court order of a government or entity
within our jurisdiction. Subscriber agrees that Cyberhotline's judgment
as to the validity of any court order of subpoena shall be considered
proper and final.
XV. Right to
Suspend or Cancel Account:
Cyberhotline
reserves the right to suspend or cancel service to a subscriber
at any time and without notice for any reason including, but not
limited to, refusal or failure to pay for services provided or by
sole judgment of Cyberhotline that the subscriber may be performing
activities harmful to Cyberhotline or its subscribers, employees,
vendors, business relationships, or any other users of the Internet.
XVI. Right to
Damages:
Cyberhotline
reserves the right to collect damages (software, hardware, and man
hours) if any harm is done to Cyberhotline which requires repair
or reconfiguration of any kind.
XVII. Other Remedies
/ Non-Waiver:
Nothing contained
in these policies shall be construed to limit action Cyberhotline
may take or remedies available to Cyberhotline in any way with respect
to any of the described conduct. Cyberhotline reserves the right
to take any additional actions Cyberhotline may consider appropriate
with respect to such conduct, including, without limitation, taking
action to recover the costs and expenses of identifying offenders
and removing them from the Cyberhotline service, and levying cancellation
charges to cover Cyberhotline's costs in the event of disconnection
of dedicated access for the causes outlined above. In addition,
Cyberhotline reserves at all times all rights and remedies available
to Cyberhotline with respect to such conduct at law or in equity.
Non-enforcement of any policy or rule herein does not constitute
consent or waiver, and Cyberhotline reserves the right to enforce
such policy or rule at its sole discretion.
XVIII. Right
to Change Service:
Cyberhotline
reserves the right to change without notice the Cyberhotline service,
including, but not limited to, access procedures, hours of operation,
pricing structure, menu structures, commands, documentation, implementation
of surcharges, vendors, and services offered.
XIX. Right to
Modify Acceptable Use Policies:
Cyberhotline
may modify its Acceptable Use Policies upon notice published on
line via Cyberhotline's web page. Subscriber's use of Cyberhotline
services after such notice shall constitute subscriber's acceptance
of the modifications to these policies.
XX. Cancellation
Policy:
DIAL-UP ACCOUNTS:
Cyberhotline offers a 15-day unconditional money back guarantee
to dial-up internet accounts only. Cancellation requests will be
processed and a full refund issued to the user within 15 days under
the following guidelines: 1.there is a written request for refund
stating the reason for cancellation, user name, address, and phone
number; 2.the request for refund does not exceed the 15-day money
back guarantee period. No refund will be processed after 15 days;
3.if payment was made by check, a copy of the front and back must
be sent in with the refund request. If original payment was made
by credit card, the credit will be issued to that credit card. If
payment was made by check, a refund check will be sent to the user.
There are no exceptions to this policy. Failure to meet our cancellation
policy will result in no refund being issued. After the first 15
days have lapsed, annual accounts may not be cancelled and monthly
accounts can only be cancelled as of the next month for which payment
is due.
All
cancellations must be done in writing, prior to the anniversary date
of Customer's service (be it monthly, quarterly, semi-annually or
annually). The cancellation can be faxed to 310-470-9127,
emailed to
accounts@cyberhotline.com or
mailed via USPS to:
Cyberhotline,
Inc.
Post Office Box 24920
Los Angeles, CA 90024
Customer's copy
of the email is customer's proof of cancellation. For
verification of receipt of Customer's cancellation, cancellation
must be done via email to
accounts@cyberhotline.com.
Cyberhotline Inc. does not give pro-rated refunds.
Service will remain active until completion of the paid billing
period. If customer has not cancelled in writing and cancels
the service through Customer's bank card company and said action
results in a chargeback, Customer is liable to Cyberhotline, Inc. in
the amount of $20 per chargeback, to cover the bank fees associated with the
improper chargeback. If customer cancels in writing and
subsequently requests a refund (chargeback) through his/her bank
card company for charges made prior to the cancellation, Customer is
liable to Cyberhotline, Inc. in the amount of $20 per chargeback to
cover the bank fees associated with the improper chargeback.
If customer requests a refund through his/her bank card company and
the chargeback is denied by the credit card company, Customer is
liable to Cyberhotline, Inc. in the amount of $20 per chargeback to
cover the bank fees associated with the improper and/or denied
chargeback.
XXI. Toll Charges
(POP) Local Dial-in Errors Policy
It is the responsibility
of the subscriber to verify with their local telephone company their
correct access number to insure a toll-free connection Cyberhotline
assumes no liability for toll charges incurred by users for incorrectly
entering a local access number in their computer. In addition, Cyberhotline
will not reimburse customers for toll charges under any conditions,
including but not limited to the following
A) failure to adequately install our software product;
B) improperly entering the local access number;
C) improperly obtaining a local access number from Cyberhotline;
from Customer Service or any other Cyberhotline employee; Cyberhotline
assumes no liability, and user obtains no recourse, against Cyberhotline,
for improperly entering a local access number which results in toll
charges. The maximum liability on Cyberhotline would be under our
cancellation policy, provided all conditions are met under said
policy. Cyberhotline will not make exceptions to this policy. The
user is ultimately responsible to insure proper local access numbers
are used.
XXII. Pricing and Billing
Dial-Up Accounts: Monthly Billings - $10.95 per month Monthly customers will be charged a monthly fee of $10.95 for your use of Cyberhotline's Internet Service plus a one time set up fee of $25.00 (unless waived). You will be charged for the first month and set up fee on the date that your service beings. For each month after that, a fee of $10.95 will be charged to your credit card on file, on the 1st or 15th of each month, depending on the monthly anniversary of your service, until the service is cancelled in writing.
Semi-Annual Billings - $55.00 for 6 months (an average of $9.17 per month) Semi-annual customers will be charged a semi-annual fee of $55.00 for your use of Cyberhotline's Internet Service plus a one time set up fee of $25.00 (unless waived). For each 6 month period after that, a fee of $55.00 will be charged to your credit card on file, on the 1st or 15th of the month of the anniversary of your service (depending on the anniversary date of your service), until the service is cancelled in writing. If the service is cancelled, prior to the completion of the semi-annual billing period, the account is subject to a cancellation fee of $50.00.
Annual Billings - $99.00 for 12 months ($8.25 per month) Annual customers will be charged an annual fee of $99.00 for your use of Cyberhotline's Internet Service plus a one time set up fee of $25.00 (unless waived.) For each 12 month period after that, a fee of $99.00 will be charged to your credit card on file, on the annual anniversary of your service (on either the 1st or the 15th of the month - depending on the anniversary date) until the service is cancelled in writing. If the service is cancelled, prior to the completion of the annual billing period, the account is subject to a cancellation fee of $99.00.
Reactivation
Fee - Dial-Up Accounts $25.00 If
your account is disabled due to non-payment (e.g.
non-payment by credit card or check, invalid or declined
credit card, or NSF check), your account is subject
to a $25.00 reactivation fee. Your account
will not be reactivated until payment of the past
due balance and re-activation fee is paid.
Regulatory Recovery Fee - This is a fee that Cyberhotline charges its customers to recover the Federal and State Universal Funds (USF) and other similar country specific funds, as well as other domestic fees and surcharges. This fee is charged on an annual basis and will never exceed $15.00 per year. The Regulatory Recovery Fee is not a tax or a government required charge. Cyberhotline imposes this charge to help defray its costs incurred when its vendors comply with obligations and charges imposed by State and Federal telecom regulations.
Credit Card Charges - All charges are considered valid unless disputed in writing within sixty (60) days of the billing date. Adjustments will not be made for charges that are more than sixty (60) days old.
Failure to cancel in writing will result in no credit adjustment. Cyberhotline is not responsible for any charges or expenses (e.g. for overdrawn accounts, exceeding credit card limits, etc.) resulting from charges billed by Cyberhotline. XXIII.
Technical Support After your set
up has been completed and we have verified that
your internet service and e-mail account are "up
and running", you are entitled to one free
technical support call. Technical
Support is available 24 hours a day, on-line, at no cost. Technical Support via email is also available at no charge. |
