Acceptable Usage Policy

This Acceptable Usage Policy described below defines the actions which The La Crosse PC Users Group (herein referred to as The LCPC) considers to be abuse and are strictly prohibited. There are no exclusions in this listing. Please be aware that the actions listed below are also prohibited from other Internet Presence Providers (IPP's) and their users on behalf of The LCPC to advertise any service hosted by The LCPC or connected via the The LCPC Network. As defined by the Federal Trade Commission Deception Policy Statement, such services are not to be advertised by way of deceptive marketing policies.

The The LCPC Acceptable Usage Policy has been formulated with the following goals in mind:

• Ensure security, reliability and privacy of The LCPC systems and network, and the networks and systems of others.
• Avoid situations that may cause The LCPC to incur civil liability.
• Maintain the image and reputation of The LCPC as a responsible organization.
• Preserve the value of Internet resources as a conduit for free expression.
• Encourage the responsible use of net resources, discouraging practices which degrade the usability of network resources and thus the value of Internet services.
• Preserve the privacy and security of individual users.

The Acceptable Usage Policy below defines the actions which The LCPC considers to be abusive, and thus, strictly prohibited. The examples named in this list are non-exclusive, and are provided solely for guidance to The LCPC customers. If you are unsure whether any contemplated use or action is permitted, please contact us and we will assist you. Please note that the actions listed below are also not permitted from other Internet Service Providers on behalf of, or to advertise, any service hosted by The Site, or connected via the The LCPC network. Furthermore, such services may not be advertised via deceptive marketing policies, as defined by the Federal Trade Commission Deception Policy Statement.

Network Security

Customers may not use The Site's network as to attempt to circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network, or account. This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for the Customer, logging into a server or account the Customer is not expressly authorized to access, password cracking, probing the security of other networks in search of weakness, sending large quantities of e-mails, or violation of any other organization's security policy. Customers may not attempt to interfere or deny service to any user, host, or network. This includes, but is not limited to, flooding, mailbombing, or other deliberate attempts to overload or crash a host or network.

If your server is the initiator or target of a denial of service attack that adversely affects any network, we will terminate your account without warning and you will be held responsible for any charges that may result from this action. Activities that attract denial of service attacks are expressly prohibited. Customers involved in these activities will be terminated as soon as we are aware of them. These activities include, but are not limited to: selling shell accounts and involvement with IRC of any kind. This prohibition is for the protection of our customer base as a whole; these kinds of services tend to attract attacks that have the potential to degrade service for all of our customers.

The LCPC will cooperate fully with investigations of violations of systems or network security at other sites, including cooperating with law enforcement authorities in the investigation of suspected criminal violations. Users who violate systems or network security may incur criminal or civil liability. The LCPC reserves the right to charge up to $500 per complaint to investigate.

Customer Spamming Policy

The LCPC has a zero tolerance for spam originating from our customers, or from our customers' customers, or for spam advertising web sites of our customers or our customers' customers.

• The LCPC has the right to charge $500 per complaint to investigate.
• The LCPC does not deal with your customers or their customers etc.; We hold our customers responsible for dealing with spam from or about their section of the network.
• If we get a first complaint, we will forward it to you. If we don't receive a response indicating the complete resolution of the complaint within 24 hours, we may drop the section of IP space involved in the spam complaint until we are convinced that the problem is resolved. In particular, we are concerned with spam that not only originates from your network, but also that advertises sites hosted on your network.
• If we get repeat complaints and it is clear that the problem has not been resolved, we may blackhole the section of IP space involved in the spam complaint until we are convinced that the problem is resolved. If so, we will contact you as soon as is feasible.
• We reserve the right to drop the section of IP space involved in spam or Denial-of-Service complaints if it is clear that the offending activity is causing great harm to parties on the Internet. In particular, if open relays are on your network or a customer's network, or if denial of service attacks are originating from your network. In certain rare cases, we may have to do this before attempting to contact you. If we do this, we will contact you as soon as is feasible.

What does this mean to me?

• You must provide us with, and keep current, good contact information for you. E-mail, fax, and telephone contacts are used, in that order of preference.
• You must educate your customers about spam so that it does not become a problem for you, or for us. If you resell accounts, you must provide an Acceptable Usage Policy (AUP) at least as restrictive as our own.
• You must promptly investigate and deal with any spam or other abuse complaints forwarded to you.

Why this Policy?

We at The LCPC feel strongly that the usability of the Internet is dependent on the elimination of UCE (Unsolicited Commercial E-mail) from the mailboxes and newsgroups of both casual and heavy Internet users. If you host web sites, you must be particularly vigilant, as you and your other customers could be disconnected from the Internet due to one customer's spamming.

General Conduct

Customers are prohibited from transmitting on or through any of The Site's services, any material that is, in The Site's sole discretion, unlawful, obscene, threatening, abusive, libelous, or encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any local, state, national or international law. This includes, but is not limited to, obscene words, gestures, images including male and female nudity of any kind, or links to any such material.

The Site's services may only be used for lawful purposes. Transmission, distribution, or storage of any information, data or material in violation of United States or state regulation or law, or by the common law, is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, material protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, or any other statute. The LCPC reserves the right to remove such illegal material from its servers. The customer is responsible for keeping his billing data with The LCPC up-to-date and accurate. Furnishing false data on any contract or application, including fraudulent use of credit card numbers, is grounds for immediate termination, and may subject the offender to civil or criminal liability.

Facilitating a violation of this AUP

Software, services, programs, activities, and advertisements that promote, enable, or facilitate any activity that is prohibited within this document, including spam, denial of service attacks, compromise of other systems or attempts to compromise other systems are ALL considered to be violations of this AUP. Violations of this AUP will result in immediate cancellation of an account without prior notice to customer.

Payment

• Customers agree that all setup fees are non refundable once setup is completed.
• Customer is aware that if you are paying by credit card, prepayments will be billed and charged automatically, and that The LCPC may apply the amount due to the provided card at any time.
• All invoice notices are sent to customers via electronic mail while the invoice will be available online.
• If payment is received by Wire transfer, there is an administrative fee of $20 US per instance.
• Customer understands and agrees that The LCPC shall not be responsible for any charges or expenses that customer may incur resulting from overdrawing customer's bank account or exceeding customer's credit card limit as a result of an automatic or manual charge generated by The LCPC pursuant to this authority.
• Returned checks will incur an administrative fee of $25 US.
• Timely payment is crucial. All accounts that are past due by more than 5 calendar days are subject to a 10% late Fee and interruption of service(s) without further notice. With all disconnection's, a $15.00 reinstatement fee will apply to reactivate the service(s) again.
• If customer's account is in default and their account is sent to collections, customer will be responsible for any collections fees that may apply.

Contract Length

There is no minimum contract length for any of our Web Hosting services. Customer can change programs or services as many times as needed without additional upgrade/downgrade fees aside form the difference in monthly fees.

Cancellation

The LCPC reserves the right to cancel service(s) at any time. All fees paid in advance of cancellation will be prorated and refunded by The LCPC to customer if The LCPC initiates its right of cancellation and customer is NOT in violation of these Terms and Conditions. If cancellation is caused by a breach of this Acceptable Usage Policy, then customer agrees that no refund is due. Customer understands that service(s) can be canceled at any time effective the end of the contract.

Due to protection concerns, all account cancellations must originate from the customers account or the e-mail used when requesting the service. Notifications of cancellation must include the account name, domain name, last four digits of credit card number on file and reason for cancellation. Third party cancellations are not accepted. Upon termination, either by The LCPC or Customer, for any reason, Customer is responsible for deleting his/her host registrations from domain registrar(s) within 10 business days. Customer further agrees to pay The LCPC all reasonable administrative costs if The LCPC must intervene in deregistering the hosts.

Disclaimer

• The LCPC is not responsible for any damages your business may suffer.
• The Customer will not use its network nor space provided by The LCPC to violate any law. In the event Customer violates existing law, The LCPC shall have the right to terminate all service set forth in this Agreement. In the event The LCPC is informed by government authorities of inappropriate or illegal use of The LCPC facilities or other networks accessed through The Site, The LCPC may terminate customer's service.
• The LCPC will cooperate fully with investigations of violation of systems or network security at other sites.
• The LCPC will cooperate with law enforcement authorities in the investigation of possible criminal violations.
• Customers who violate systems and/or network security, may incur criminal or civil liability.
• The LCPC reserves the right to amend its policies at any time. You will be held responsible for the actions of your clients in the matter described on these Terms and Conditions. Therefore, it is in your best interest to implement a similar or stricter Terms and Conditions or otherwise called Acceptable Terms of Use policy.

If you have any questions concerning the above stated terms and conditions then please contact us.