Use of US
Data Vault Services constitutes acceptance and agreement
to this AUP and USDV’s TOS (Terms of Service).
We support the uncensored
flow of information and ideas over the Internet and do not actively monitor
Client activity under normal circumstances.
Similarly, we do not exercise editorial control over the data content,
eMail transmissions, or other material created or accessible over or through
the networks, except for certain proprietary Web sites. However, in accordance with our TOS (Terms of
Service) and as required by the Copyright Act of 1976, as amended, we may remove
any materials that, in our discretion, may be illegal, may subject us to
liability, or which may violate this AUP.
USDV may cooperate with legal authorities and/or
third parties in the investigation of any suspected or alleged crime or civil
wrongdoing. Furthermore, your violation
of this AUP may result in the suspension or immediate termination of your USDV account or other actions as detailed in Section
3 WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE.
The following are
guidelines for the establishment and enforcement of USDV's AUP:
1.
Ensure
fast, reliable service to our Clients
2.
Ensure
security, reliability and privacy of our systems and network, as well as the
networks and systems of others
3.
Comply
with existing Federal laws and Industry Regulations
4.
Maintain
our reputation as a responsible, secure service provider
5.
Encourage
responsible use of the Internet and discourage activities which reduce the
usability and value of Internet services
6.
Preserve
the value of Internet resources as a conduit for free expression and exchange
of information
7.
Preserve
the privacy and security of individual users
USDV works to
provide its Clients access to highly reliable, secure Data Storage and
Retrieval services. While USDV is firmly committed to the principles of free speech,
certain activities that may be damaging to the resources of USDV or the Internet, and cannot be permitted under the guise of
free speech. The resources of USDV and the
Internet are limited, and abuse of these resources by one user has a negative
impact on the entire community.
We do not routinely
monitor the activity of accounts except for measurements of system utilization
and the preparation of billing records.
However, in our efforts to promote good citizenship within the Internet
community, we will respond appropriately if we become aware of ANY
inappropriate use of our network.
You may not use the USDV network
to send, transmit or publish material which USDV determines, in
its sole discretion, to be unlawful, indecent or objectionable. For purposes of this policy, "material"
refers to all forms of communications including but not limited to narrative
descriptions, graphics (including photographs, illustrations, images, drawings
and logos), malicious executable programs, video recordings, and audio recordings.
If a USDV account is used to violate our AUP or our TOS, we reserve
the right to terminate your service
without notice and to delete or block access to offending content. We will endeavor to advise Clients of
inappropriate behavior and any pending necessary corrective action; however, USDV reserves the right and will
consider its legal obligations when it becomes aware of flagrant or multiple
violations of the AUP or of violations of rights of third parties, to take
appropriate action, including but not limited to termination of service without
prior notice. A Client of USDV acknowledges USDV’s right to take such action and
agrees by accepting our services that USDV SHALL NOT BE RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY
CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OR LIABILITIES WHICH MAY RSULT FROM OUR ACTIONS AS MORE
EXPLICITLY SET FORTH IN OUR TOS, PARAGRAPH 7 BELOW. Any
decision on our part to not enforce this policy, for whatever reason, shall not
be construed as a waiver of our right to do so at any time.
As a member of our
network community, you are expected to use our network access responsibly. If you have any questions regarding this
policy, please contact our Customer Service Department (customerservice@usdatavault.com).
VIOLATIONS OF
The following constitute a
list of actionable violations of this AUP when USDV determines, in its sole discretion that actions which violate
this AUP have occurred. Among other
remedies, USDV may terminate
offenders and they shall be responsible for damages caused by their violation. This list is not deemed exhaustive but
identifies many of the common, flagrant potential misuses of network accounts.
USDV
is committed to ensuring good practices on the Internet and when violations of
the AUP come to its attention, it will take whatever actions it deems
appropriate, including but not limited to restricting account access and
terminating offenders for cause. Anyone
terminated for cause will not be entitled to a refund of any sums paid or advanced. Be aware that many of these items are
industry standard disclaimers.
1.
Illegal use: USDV's network may not be used for illegal or unlawful purposes, or in
support of illegal activities. USDV reserves the right to cooperate with legal
authorities and/or injured third parties in the investigation of any suspected
crime or civil wrongdoing.
2.
Harm to minors: Use of the USDV network to harm, or attempt to harm, minors in
any way, including, but not limited to dissemination of child pornography. Such instances will be reported to the proper
authorities.
3.
Threats: Use of the USDV
network to transmit any material (by eMail, uploading, posting or otherwise)
that threatens or encourages bodily harm or destruction of property. Such instances will be reported to the proper
authorities.
4.
Harassment: Use of the USDV
network to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting or otherwise)
that harasses another. Such instances
will be reported to the proper authorities.
5.
Fraudulent activity: Use of USDV network to make fraudulent offers to sell or
buy products, items, or services, or to advance any type of financial scam such
as "pyramid schemes," "Ponzi schemes," and "chain
letters". Such instances will be
reported to the proper authorities.
6.
Forgery or impersonation: Adding, removing or modifying identifying
network header information in an effort to deceive or mislead is
prohibited. Attempting to impersonate
any person by using forged headers or other identifying information is
prohibited. The use of anonymous
re-mailers or nicknames does not constitute impersonation.
7.
Unsolicited commercial eMail / Unsolicited bulk
eMail
(SPAM): Use of the USDV network to transmit any unsolicited commercial
or unsolicited bulk e-mail is expressly prohibited, as well as any practice
deemed unfair by the Federal Trade Commission.
Violations of this type will result in the immediate termination of the
offending USDV account.
8.
Attempts to use the USDV network as a stepping
stone to hack into, block, set a Denial of Service (DOS) attacks or in any
other form, interfere with, do damage to, or enter any other third party
networks or systems.
9.
E-mail / News Bombing: Impeding another person's use of electronic
mail services or news may result in the immediate termination of the offending USDV account.
10.
E-mail / Message Forging: Forging any message header, in part or whole,
of any electronic transmission, originating or passing through the USDV network is in violation of this AUP.
11.
Usenet SPAMing:
USDV has a zero tolerance
policy for the use of its network for the posting of messages or commercial
advertisements, which violate the rules, regulations, FAQ or charter of any blog,
newsgroup or mailing list.
12.
Unauthorized access: Use of the USDV
network to access, or to attempt to access, without authorization the accounts
of others, or to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate, security measures of USDV’s or any other entity's computer
software or hardware, electronic communications system, or telecommunications
system, whether or not the intrusion results in the corruption or loss of data,
is expressly prohibited and the offending USDV
account is subject to immediate termination.
13.
Copyright or trademark infringement:
Use of the USDV network to
transmit any material (by eMail, uploading, posting or otherwise) that
infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or other proprietary
rights of any third party, including, but not limited to, the unauthorized
copying of copyrighted material, the digitization and distribution of
photographs from magazines, books, or other copyrighted sources, and the
unauthorized transmittal of copyrighted video, music or software, that may be
unlawful and subject to the material being blocked, the user’s access to the
network denied and account terminated.
14.
Collection of personal data: Use of the
USDV network to collect, or attempt to collect,
personal information about third parties without their knowledge or consent,
including any attempt to Phish for information are prohibited.
15.
Network
disruptions and unfriendly activity: Use of the USDV network for any activity that
affects the ability of other people or systems to use USDV Networks or the Internet. Interference with or disruption of other
network users, services or equipment is prohibited. It is the Member's responsibility to ensure
that their network use is configured in a secure manner. A Client may not, through action or inaction,
allow others to use their network for illegal or inappropriate actions. A Client may not permit their network,
through action or inaction, to be configured in such a way that gives a third
party the capability to use their USDV
network access in an illegal or inappropriate manner. Unauthorized entry and/or use of the USDV
network or systems, or via said network to that of another company and/or
individual's network or computer systems will result in immediate account
termination. USDV will not tolerate any Client attempting to access the accounts
of others, or penetrate security measures of USDV or any other systems, whether
or not the intrusion results in corruption or loss of data.
16.
Fraud: Involves a knowing misrepresentation or misleading statement,
writing or activity made with the intent that the person receiving it will act
upon it. It is a violation of our policy
to engage in fraudulent transmissions.
17.
Distribution of Viruses:
Distributions of software that attempts to and/or causes damage,
harassment, or annoyance to persons, data, and/or computer systems are
prohibited. Such an offense will result in the immediate termination of the offending
account.
18.
Inappropriate Use of Software: Use of any software (except US DataVault Backup
Pro) or device that would facilitate a continued connection while using the USDV network or services could result
in the suspension of service.
19.
Third Party Accountability: USDV Clients will be held responsible
and accountable for any activity by third parties, using their account; that
violates guidelines created within this Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).
20.
Violation of US DataVault
Virtual Accounts: It is absolutely forbidden to host or promote
pornographic content or IRC servers on Virtual Server Accounts. Virtual Server Accounts found hosting this
material will be subject to immediate cancellation.
21. IMPORTANT NOTICE:
Anyone proven to cause any of our IP space to be listed in any of
the various Spam Databases will have their account server immediately removed from
our network, and will not be reconnected until such time that a) you agree to
remove ANY and ALL traces of the offending material prior to reconnection and b)
you allow us access to confirm that all material has been COMPLETELY removed.
Violations may result in removal from our network without notice to the
Client. Anyone we determine to be
responsible for a second violation WILL
be immediately and permanently removed from our network without notice, and
shall be responsible for payment of all expenses related to such removal.
Security
You are responsible for any
misuse of your account, even if an employee, friend, family member or guest
committed the inappropriate activity. Therefore,
you must take steps to ensure that others do not gain unauthorized access to
your account. In addition, you may not
use your account to breach security of another account or attempt to gain
unauthorized access to another network or server.
Your password provides access to your
account. It is your responsibility to
keep your password secure.
Sharing your password and account access with
unauthorized users is prohibited. You
should take care to prevent others from using your account since you will be
held responsible for such use.
Attempting to obtain another user's account
password is strictly prohibited, and may result in termination of service.
You must adopt adequate security measures to prevent
unauthorized use of your account.
You may not 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
you, logging into or making use of a server or account you are not expressly
authorized to access, or probing the security of other networks. Use or distribution of tools designed for
compromising security is prohibited.
Examples of these tools include, but are not limited to, password
guessing programs, cracking tools or network probing or Phishing tools. In addition to violation of the AUP, such
actions may be a violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (“DMCA”) and
other provisions of law.
You may not attempt to interfere with service to any user,
host or network ("denial of service attacks"). This includes, but is not limited to
"flooding" of networks, deliberate attempts to overload a service,
and attempts to "crash" a host.
Users who violate systems or network security may incur
criminal or civil liability.
H&S/USDV 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.
REPORTING VIOLATIONS OF US DataVault AUP
USDV requests that anyone who believes there is a violation of
this AUP, please direct the information to our Abuse Department by eMailing our
Customer Service (customerservice@usdatavault.com)
If
available, please provide the following information:
The IP address used
to commit the alleged violation
The date and time of the alleged violation, including the
time zone or offset from GMT
Evidence
of the alleged violation
eMail with full header information provides all of the
above, as do system log files.
Other situations will require different methods of providing
the above information.
USDV may take any one or more of the
following actions in response to complaints:
a. Issue written or
verbal warnings
b. Suspend the Client
or Users privileges
c.
Suspend the Client’s account
d. Terminate
the User’s account
e. Bill
the Client for administrative costs and/or reactivation charges
f. Retain
any sums in the account for pre-paid services
g. Bring
legal action to enjoin violations and/or to collect damages, if any, caused by
violations
h. Notify
and cooperate with proper Authorities
REVISIONS TO
THIS ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
USDV
reserves the right to revise, amend, or modify this AUP, our TOS and our other
policies, prices and agreements at any time and in any manner. Notice of any revision, amendment, or
modification will be posted in accordance with our TOS.