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FBX Internet User Terms of Service
Last Updated April 24,
2003
PURPOSE
The Purpose of the FBX Internet User Terms of Service
is to provide a public framework and disclosure of policies in effect and
enforced by FBX Internet.
CONTENTS
1. ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
2.
STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY
3. NEW ACCOUNTS
4. ACCESS TO NETWORK
5.
BILLING FOR SERVICES
6. TRANSFERS, CANCELLATIONS, AND REFUNDS
7. SETUP
FEES
8. TRIAL PROGRAMS
9. PRICE GUARANTEES
10. LATE PAYMENTS / RETURNED
CHECKS / CHARGE FAILURE
11. CUSTOMER SUPPORT
12. INTERNET ACCESS
13.
E-MAIL AND UNSOLICITED BULK E-MAILS (SPAM)
14. WEB HOSTING
15. FTP
ACCESS
16. DOMAIN NAMES
17. USENET
18. DIALER/CONFIGURATION
SOFTWARE
19. THIRD-PARTY CONTENT
20. CONNECTION ENHANCEMENT
SOFTWARE
21. REFERRAL PROGRAMS
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1. ACCEPTABLE USE
POLICY
FBX Internet sets forth an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) with our
Terms and Conditions of Service with the intent of protecting our service, our
customers, and other users of the Internet from potentially abusive actions
taken by FBX Internet users. The following policy is non-exclusive; any action
about which there is doubt should be referred to FBX Internet for evaluation.
FBX Internet reserves the right to alter this document from time to time, as
need dictates.
Any user found violating the terms of service might be
terminated or suspended at any time without prior notification.
2.
STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY
Each FBX Internet account has a password that
is the key to gain access to the network and e-mail accounts. The customer who
registered the account is solely responsible for all access and actions taken
with regard to the account. It is the account owner's responsibility to
safeguard the account password(s) and to ensure that the FBX Internet Terms and
Conditions of Service are honored. FBX Internet will hold the account owner
responsible for any violations of the Acceptable Use Policy.
Sites
directly attached to the FBX Internet server are expected to adhere to the FBX
Internet Acceptable Use Policies. The individual who signed up for service is
responsible for educating site users on Acceptable Use Policies. Violations of
the AUP and Terms of Service by directly attached sites will be referred to the
party responsible for the account for resolution.
FBX Internet enforces
these policies with respect to FBX Internet customers only. FBX Internet is not
responsible for abusive actions that originate from others sites or networks on
the Internet.
3. NEW ACCOUNTS
New accounts are billed as active
from the date of signup, regardless of usage, except for in the event of a free
trial period promotion, in which case the account is billed as active as set in
the FBX Internet Free Trial Policy. FBX Internet takes no responsibility for
delays caused by the postal service for mailing of software and setup
information.
Billing is set using the monthly anniversary date from when
the account was activated. In the event of a sign-up on the 31st of the month,
the last day of the month will be treated as the anniversary date.
All
new accounts are subject to this Terms and Conditions of Service and Acceptable
Use Policy from the time of account creation. It is the sole responsibility of
the account owner to read and follow this policy.
New Accounts may be
subject to a one-time setup fee as outlined in the Setup Fees section of this
document unless otherwise stated.
4. ACCESS TO NETWORK
Acceptable
use of the FBX Internet network facilities does NOT include: attempting to
circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network, or account on
FBX Internet systems or the Internet at large ("cracking"); use of FBX Internet
systems or networks (willfully or negligently) in a manner that encumbers disk
space, processors, bandwidth, or other system resources so as to interfere with
others' normal use of services on FBX Internet or other systems and networks
("denial of service" attack); activities which violate local, state, or federal
statutes.
5. BILLING FOR SERVICES
All FBX Internet accounts are
self-renewing. If cancellation procedure has not been followed by the start of
the next billing cycle, the account will be charged for that billing
cycle.
All FBX Internet accounts are billed periodically for a term
determined at signup. Preferred billing is credit card or automated withdrawal
(ACH). Postal mail billing is available for a monthly fee.
Accounts are
billed on or around the anniversary day of the billing cycle for the account,
which includes charging any automatic payment method. If payment is not
collected within 21 days, the account is considered past due.
Past due
notices are sent out on the 10th and 20th past due date, with the account
deactivated on the 30th day past due. An account deactivated for being past-due
may be reactivated if payment is made.
On usage-based accounts, any usage
charges for usage beyond the amount included in the monthly rate will be charged
on the following month's bill.
6. TRANSFERS, CANCELLATIONS, AND
REFUNDS
Any FBX Internet customer has the right to cancel their service.
All cancellation requests must be made in writing and submitted via postal mail,
fax, or may be done through an Account Manager. All cancellation requests must
include the current date, the date as of which cancellation is effective, and
must be signed by the account owner. While not required, we would appreciate the
reason for cancellation, so that we might have the opportunity to improve
service for continuing and future customers.
Cancellations must be made
no sooner than 5 business days before the next bill date to insure not being
charged for the next month of service.
When a cancellation has been
confirmed by one of the methods stated above, the cancellation may take effect
any time within 5 business days of the cancellation. Should a user decide to
defer cancellation to a later date, they will need to call back at that later
date to cancel the account.
Should an account owner cancel service, there
are no refunds given for credits on the account or time remaining in the current
paid for billing cycle.
In the case of an account that is charged by
usage, any charges for time beyond that included in the monthly rate will be
charged on a final bill for the cancelled account.
An account owner may
choose to transfer their service to a third-party. In this case, the transfer
must be done through an FBX Internet Account Manager. Any usernames, e-mail
addresses, credits on the account, etc., would then be transferred to the new
party. Prior to transfer, payment arrangements for future use of the account
must then be made with the new account owner. The new account owner would then
be subject to the regular Terms and Conditions of Service.
Accounts that
are terminated may have all e-mail deleted and any usernames and e-mail account
names may then be made available for public use.
Any accounts that are
terminated for breaking the FBX Internet Terms and Conditions of Service and
Acceptable Use Policy will not be eligible for a refund or transfer of remaining
time or credits. FBX Internet retains the right to cancel any account at any
time for any reason.
7. SETUP FEES
New accounts may be charged a
one-time setup fee at the start of regularly billed service.
Existing
accounts switching from one rate plan or service to another rate plan or service
may be charged a one-time setup fee.
Setup fees are typically waived when
changing from one rate plan to a higher rate plan within a certain service class
(for example: switching from a less-featured dial-up plan to a more-featured
dial-up plan would typically not have a setup fee charged, while switching from
a specific dial-up plan to the equivalent DSL plan would have a setup fee
charged.)
Setup fees for initial signups may be waived from time to time
during time-specific or ongoing promotions.
8. TRIAL PROGRAMS
FBX
Internet may from time-to-time and solely at their singular discretion offer a
trial period for certain new signups. For the terms and conditions of the trial
programs, the following free trial policy applies:
THE NUMBER OF FREE
TRIAL DAYS BEGINS AT TIME OF SIGNUP AND ENDS THAT MANY DAYS AFTER, REGARDLESS OF
USAGE BETWEEN THE DATE OF SIGNUP AND THE END OF THE TRIAL PERIOD. TO AVOID BEING
CHARGED A MONTHLY FEE, SIMPLY CANCEL SERVICE BEFORE THE TRIAL PERIOD
ENDS.
Premium or additional services that carry surcharges and
communication surcharges may apply in AK, even during trial time. Additional
telephone and/or long distance toll charges may apply. It is the customer's
responsibility to check with their phone company to determine if additional
phone charges may apply. Available to users in the US, age 18 or older; a
payment method accepted by FBX Internet (such as a major credit card) is
required at time of signup. Trial is available to new users of FBX Internet
only. Trial is not applicable to users brought into FBX Internet through the
acquisition of another Internet provider. Trial may not be transferred to
another party after or during use. Trial may not be used in conjunction with
another free service giveaway from FBX Internet.
9. PRICE
GUARANTEES
FBX Internet may from time-to-time and solely at their
singular discretion offer a price guarantee for new signups. For the terms and
conditions of the price guarantee programs, the following Price Guarantee policy
applies:
Price guarantee is available to new FBX Internet customers only
within the 50 United States. After any applicable trial period and until you
cancel your account or select an alternative plan, you will be charged the
monthly rate specified at the time of signup until the number of years included
in the price guarantee after signup has passed, and thereafter you will be
charged the current rate for the plan you are using.
10. LATE PAYMENTS /
RETURNED CHECKS / CHARGE FAILURE
Any FBX Internet account that is past
due may be considered with the intent of cancellation at the sole discretion of
FBX Internet. The account may be terminated as of that date, and the account
owner will be billed a prorated final bill covering the period up to that
date.
Should the account owner wish to re-activate the account, they will
need to have their account paid up as current, go through the sign-up process
again, and will be required to pay for their account through an automatic
payment process - either via credit card or ACH (where
available).
Returned checks will be subject to a $35.00 returned check
fee on the account, and other payment arrangements will need to be made on the
returned check, otherwise the account will be treated as past due from the
original invoice due date.
In the event that an automatic payment, such
as charged via credit card or ACH, fails to process, the account may be
re-processed until such time the due charge is accepted, including beyond
account deactivation. In the event that the charge is not accepted, the account
holder will be notified to arrange an alternative for payment. If the account
holder cannot be reached, FBX Internet may, at their sole discretion, cancel the
account until payment arrangements can be arranged, treat the account as past
due from the date of the uncharged invoice, or transfer the account to a billed
option, with any billing charges due on the account.
FBX Internet
reserves the right to add a service charge of 1 1/2% per month, 18% APR, to all
overdue accounts.
Should FBX Internet be required to use a legal or
collection service to collect on a past due account, the account holder will be
liable for all applicable legal and/or collection fees.
11. CUSTOMER
SUPPORT
FBX Internet provides technical support via e-mail, web site,
and/or telephone. Support is limited strictly to support of Internet access and
connections, along with related services such as e-mail and web browsing. No
warranties and guarantees, either expressly stated or implied, are offered in
conjunction with support. Support is not guaranteed in cases where a problem is
due to user-error, computer malfunction, software conflicts, or problems with
the connecting unit (such as the phone or DSL line). Support is not guaranteed
on all operating systems or platforms.
Support may be denied in the case
where a problem is not covered under the standard realm of our support offered,
when a caller becomes irrationally irate or profane, or in a case where support
is not included with a particular service.
12. INTERNET ACCESS
FBX
Internet does not restrict access to any web sites, and as such claims no
responsibility for content, either desirable or undesirable, which may be
viewed.
Revealing your account password to others or allowing use of your
account by others (other than authorized users) is prohibited.
12.1
DIAL-UP INTERNET ACCESS
There is an automatic disconnect set for users
that are idle for a period of time decided solely at the discretion of FBX
Internet. Idle time is defined as a period during which no input or output is
sent or received across the modem connection. FBX Internet claims no
responsibility for auto-disconnect settings set individually on the users'
computers, or for disconnections due to external factors, such as user modem
problems or line noise.
Access to the FBX Internet dial-in servers is
limited to access primarily from a single location and/or from a single dwelling
unit of users. Multiple simultaneous logins to a single FBX Internet dial-up
account are prohibited, except in the case where an account is specified for
MPPP [bonded analog lines] access. Allowing third-party access to one's FBX
Internet account is grounds for immediate termination of access.
Use of
FBX Internet dial-up service as a dedicated modem connection through use of
redialers and idle-time traffic generators is prohibited.
Use of software
or any device that would allow your account to stay logged on while not actively
using FBX Internet services is prohibited. Using a dial-up account for high
volume use is prohibited. Dial-up services are intended for periodic, active use
of email, newsgroups, file transfers, Internet chat, games, and browsing the
World Wide Web. Members may stay connected so long as they are actively using
that connection for the above purposes. Members may not use the Services on a
standby or inactive basis in order to maintain a connection. Accordingly, FBX
Internet maintains the right to terminate any member's connection following any
extended period of inactivity as determined by FBX Internet. Accounts found in
continued violation of this section will be charged a higher rate for service or
may have their account terminated.
The use of “dedicated” dial-up
accounts is specifically to allow for connection during non-use time periods. No
warranties or guarantees are given for line or access availability on a
dedicated account beyond that of a standard dial-up account.
Selection
and use of a local (non-toll) access number is the sole responsibility of the
end-user. FBX Internet accepts no responsibility for any toll charges that might
occur on a phone bill. If the end-user is unsure whether or not they are
accessing a local call number, they should check the number they are dialing
with their telephone company.
Dialing into a non-published access number
without the express permission of FBX Internet may result in action taken under
violation of these Terms of Service.
FBX Internet reserves the right to
temporarily or permanently disable access to an account that shows activity
indicative of a security issue or Terms of Service violation.
13. E-MAIL
AND UNSOLICITED BULK E-MAILS (SPAM)
All FBX Internet dial-in accounts
include a certain number of e-mail accounts, which may be separate from the
dial-in user name. It is the responsibility of the account owner to insure that
the AUP and Terms and Conditions of Service are upheld for all e-mail account
users within the main access account.
Acceptable use of e-mail does NOT
include: sending unsolicited mass mailings of any nature, including those with a
"negative option" for continuation (the negative option is inviting those who do
not wish to receive more email to reply to you); sending a large number of email
messages, or singularly large email messages, to a single address in order to
flood someone's mailbox; forging email headers to obscure the true originator of
the message; creating or participating in pyramid schemes or chain letters;
sending harassing email, either by language, size, or frequency (this includes
sending email or real time messages to a person who has asked explicitly that
you do not); activities which violate local, state, or federal
statutes.
FBX Internet has a strict policy against spamming (unsolicited
mass mailings). Any user who is found to be spamming, either directly using the
FBX Internet e-mail servers and accounts, or indirectly by relaying to an
off-network e-mail server, will have their account terminated immediately, and
without warning.
13.1 E-MAIL VIRUS SCANNING
The contents of
incoming and outgoing FBX Internet e-mail accounts are processed through an
e-mail virus scanning server before delivery. Any messages found to contain
known virus code will not be allowed to send or be delivered but will have a
notification sent to the sender and recipient.
E-mail virus scanning is
offered as a benefit but carries no warranties or guarantees of
service.
13.2 E-MAIL SPAM FILTERING
The contents of incoming FBX
Internet e-mail accounts are processed through an e-mail content scanning server
before delivery with the purpose of determining whether the message is likely to
be considered spam (bulk/junk e-mail). This determination is done on a weighted
content point system. Messages that indicate as potential spam are flagged in
the message header and may be re-routed into a web mail folder to prevent direct
delivery into the e-mail inbox.
E-mail spam filtering is offered as a
benefit but carries no warranties or guarantees of service.
14. WEB
HOSTING
Under no circumstance may a site hosted on FBX Internet, either
personal or commercial, host illegal or explicit content. FBX Internet reserves
the right to remove ANY content hosted on the FBX Internet web
server.
Should any site, whether a personal web site, commercially-hosted
site, or other, create an excessive load on the FBX Internet server or data
bandwidth, FBX Internet may, at their own discretion, make arrangements with the
site creator to raise the cost of hosting the site or remove the content that is
creating the excessive load.
FBX Internet reserves the right to request a
Web Service by FBX Internet logo at the bottom of the main index page for any
site hosted on the FBX Internet servers. This logo will not exceed 350 x 100
pixels in size.
Acceptable use of FBX Internet web/FTP space does NOT
include: distribution of pornographic or otherwise indecent or offending
materials; distribution of restricted software or materials in violation of
copyrights or distribution licenses; distribution of materials which violates
local, state, or federal statutes.
15. FTP ACCESS
FBX Internet
does not provide public FTP access. It is the responsibility of the account
owner to restrict usage of FTP to adding, changing, or deleting web site
content. Any account found to allow public use of their FTP account for any
purpose will be terminated without warning.
16. DOMAIN NAMES
FBX
Internet provides domain name service for some site hosting customers. Keeping
registry information updated and accurate is the responsibility of the domain
holder and not FBX Internet. Acceptable use of the FBX Internet domain name
service does NOT include falsifying or omitting valid domain contact
information, including the administrative, technical, zone, and billing
contacts.
FBX Internet customers requiring changes to their domain
service and/or records may contract directly with FBX Internet to make changes
with the proper authorities.
17. USENET
Acceptable use of FBX
Internet Usenet News service does NOT include: posting unsolicited messages to a
large number of Usenet newsgroups either by cross-posting or posting to
individual groups ("spamming"); attempting to cancel, supersede, or otherwise
interfere with Usenet posts other than one's own; blatant posting of articles
which violate the named charter for specific newsgroups; publishing someone's
real-world data (such as phone number, address, social security number, etc.) in
such a way as to cause the person trouble or to incite others to do so; forging
Usenet header information to obscure the true originator of the message;
activities that violate local, state, or federal statutes.
FBX Internet
makes no claims that a specific news server or group shall be accessible from
the FBX Internet network nor to length of time specific messages may be
available from the news server.
18. DIALER/CONFIGURATION
SOFTWARE
All software provided by FBX Internet for use in account
configuration, general or specific use of the Internet is governed by individual
license agreements. FBX Internet neither makes claims to functionality of any
software piece, nor does FBX Internet offer any warranties for use,
availability, or compatibility of software with a given computer.
19.
THIRD-PARTY CONTENT
Some content provided on the FBX Internet web site,
along with affiliate web sites, software content and the like, may be provided
by third-parties not directly associated with FBX Internet. FBX Internet makes
no claim to ownership of third-party content, nor responsibility for contents,
links, views or opinions therein.
20. CONNECTION ENHANCEMENT
SOFTWARE
FBX Internet may offer software that enhances connectivity,
allows for additional features, and/or data logging and blocking features. The
use of any such software is guided by the license and policies for the given
feature as well as by these Terms of Service as a whole. FBX Internet neither
makes claims to functionality of any software or feature piece, nor does FBX
Internet offer any warranties for use, availability, or compatibility of
software with a given computer. Use of any data logged by such software will
fall under the FBX Internet Privacy Policy.
21. REFERRAL
PROGRAMS
FBX Internet may from time-to-time and solely at their singular
discretion offer a referral program for certain new signups. For the terms and
conditions of the referral programs, the following general referral policy
applies:
A referral is considered to take place when a new customer
account signup has indicated the FBX Internet e-mail address of another valid
FBX Internet member when prompted in the sign-up process and when said customer
has paid their first Internet bill. Customers in their free trial period (if
applicable) or who have not otherwise paid on their account are not considered a
valid referral until such a time that any such trial has ended and/or their
first payment has been processed.
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FBX Internet RESERVES THE
RIGHT TO RESTRICT OR TERMINATE SERVICE WITHOUT REFUND IN THE EVENT OF A TERMS OF
SERVICE/ACCEPTABLE USE VIOLATION. FBX Internet ALSO RESERVES THE RIGHT TO TAKE
ACTION ON ABUSE THAT IS NOT SPECIFICALLY NAMED IN THIS AUP AT OUR SOLE
DISCRETION. USE OF THE FBX Internet SYSTEMS AND NETWORK CONSTITUTES
UNDERSTANDING AND AGREEMENT OF THESE POLICIES. THE POLICIES ARE SUBJECT TO
CHANGE AT ANY TIME WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE, WITH THE MOST RECENT VERSION OF THIS
POLICY POSTED TO OUR WEB SITE.
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