Kootenay Wireless High-Speed Internet Acceptable Usage Policy ------------------------------------------------------------- Thank you for using the Kootenay Wireless High-Speed Internet service. Kootenay Wireless provides its service to you subject to the following Acceptable Usage Policy, which may be updated periodically. You can always review the most current version by clicking the "Acceptable Usage Policy" link at the bottom of the Kootenay Wireless web page. ======================= It is Kootenay Wireless's intent to provide our customers with the best High-Speed Internet service possible. In order to accomplish this task, we have adopted this Acceptable Use Policy (the "AUP" or "Policy"). This Policy outlines acceptable use of the Kootenay Wireless High-Speed Internet service (the "Service"), as well as permissible and prohibited conduct for using the Service to access the Internet. It is the responsibility of all Kootenay Wireless High-Speed Internet customers and all others who have access to Kootenay Wireless's network ("customer," "you," or "your"), to comply with this AUP and all Kootenay Wireless policies. As a Service customer, it is your responsibility to secure your computer equipment so that it is not subject to external threats such as viruses, spam, and other methods of intrusion. Failure to comply with these or any other Kootenay Wireless policies could result in the suspension or termination of your Service. If you do not agree to comply with all of these policies including the AUP, you must immediately stop use of the Service and notify Kootenay Wireless so that your account may be closed. Note: Kootenay Wireless reserves the right to immediately terminate the Service if you engage in any of the prohibited activities listed in this AUP or if you use the Kootenay Wireless Equipment or Service in a way which is contrary to any Kootenay Wireless policies or any of Kootenay Wireless's suppliers' policies. PROHIBITED USES AND ACTIVITIES Prohibited uses include, but are not limited to, using the Service, Customer Equipment, or the Kootenay Wireless Equipment to: 1. undertake or accomplish any unlawful purpose. This includes, but is not limited to, posting, storing, transmitting or disseminating information, data or material which is libelous, obscene, unlawful, threatening, defamatory, or which infringes the intellectual property rights of any person or entity, or which in any way constitutes or encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any local, provincial, federal or international law, order or regulation; 2. post, store, send, transmit, or disseminate any information or material which a reasonable person could deem to be objectionable, offensive, indecent, pornographic, harassing, threatening, embarrassing, distressing, vulgar, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or otherwise inappropriate, regardless of whether this material or its dissemination is unlawful; 3. access any other person's computer or computer system, software, or data without their knowledge and consent; breach the security of another user; or attempt to circumvent the user authentication or security of any host, network, or account. This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for you, logging into or making use of a server or account you are not expressly authorized to access, or probing the security of other hosts, networks, or accounts; 4. use or distribute tools designed or used for compromising security, such as password guessing programs, decoders, password gatherers, unauthorized keystroke loggers, analyzers, cracking tools, packet sniffers, encryption circumvention devices, or Trojan Horse programs. Network probing or port scanning tools are only permitted when used in conjunction with a residential home network, or if explicitly authorized by the destination host and/or network. Unauthorized port scanning, for any reason, is strictly prohibited; 5. upload, post, publish, transmit, reproduce, create derivative works of, or distribute in any way information, software or other material obtained through the Service or otherwise that is protected by copyright or other proprietary right, without obtaining permission of the owner; 6. copy, distribute, or sublicense any software provided in connection with the Service by Kootenay Wireless or any third party, except that you may make one copy of each software program for back-up purposes only; 7. restrict, inhibit, or otherwise interfere with the ability of any other person, regardless of intent, purpose or knowledge, to use or enjoy the Service, including, without limitation, posting or transmitting any information or software which contains a worm, virus, or other harmful feature, or generating levels of traffic sufficient to impede others' ability to send or retrieve information; 8. restrict, inhibit, interfere with, or otherwise disrupt or cause a performance degradation, regardless of intent, purpose or knowledge, to the Service or any Kootenay Wireless (or Kootenay Wireless supplier) host, server, backbone network, node or service, or otherwise cause a performance degradation to any Kootenay Wireless (or Kootenay Wireless supplier) facilities used to deliver the Service; 9. make available to anyone outside the Premises the ability to use the Service (i.e. wi-fi, or other methods of networking), in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, or on a bundled or unbundled basis, without Kootenay Wireless' knowledge and agreement; 10. transmit unsolicited bulk or commercial messages or "spam." This includes, but is not limited to, unsolicited advertising, promotional materials or other solicitation material, bulk mailing of commercial advertising, chain mail, informational announcements, charity requests, and petitions for signatures; 11. send numerous copies of the same or substantially similar messages, empty messages, or messages which contain no substantive content, or send very large messages or files to a recipient that disrupts a server, account, newsgroup, or chat service; 12. distribute programs that remove locks or time-outs built into software (cracks); 13. run programs, equipment, or servers from the Premises that provide network content or any other services to anyone outside of your Premises LAN (Local Area Network), also commonly referred to as public services or servers. Examples of prohibited services and servers include, but are not limited to, e-mail, Web hosting, file sharing, and proxy services and servers; 14. initiate, perpetuate, or in any way participate in any pyramid or other illegal soliciting scheme; 15. participate in the collection of e-mail addresses, screen names, or other identifiers of others (without their prior consent), a practice sometimes known as spidering or harvesting, or participate in the use of software (including "spyware") designed to facilitate this activity; 16. collect responses from unsolicited messages; 17. impersonate any person or entity, engage in sender address falsification, forge anyone else's digital or manual signature, or perform any other similar fraudulent activity; 18. service, alter, modify, or tamper with the Kootenay Wireless Equipment or Service or permit any other person to do the same who is not authorized by Kootenay Wireless; 19. connect the Kootenay Wireless Equipment to any computer outside of your Premises; 20. collect, or attempt to collect, personal information about third parties without their consent; 21. interfere with computer networking or telecommunications service to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, denial of service attacks, flooding of a network, overloading a service, improper seizing and abuse of operator privileges and attempts to "crash" a host; and 22. violate the rules, regulations, or policies applicable to any network, server, computer database, or Web site that you access. SECURITY You are responsible for any misuse of the Service, even if the misuse was committed by a friend, family member, or guest with access to your Service account. Therefore, you must take steps to ensure that others do not use your account to gain unauthorized access to the Service. In all cases, you are solely responsible for the security of any device you choose to connect to the Service, including any data stored or shared on that device. Kootenay Wireless recommends against enabling file or printer sharing unless you do so in strict compliance with all security recommendations and features provided by Kootenay Wireless and the manufacturer of the applicable file or printer sharing devices. Any files or devices you choose to make available for shared access on a home LAN, for example, should be protected with a strong password or as otherwise appropriate.