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The Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) below has the purpose to ensure a responsible use of the net and its resources, and to avoid practices that degrade the usability of the network. It concerns the image and reputation of Madison River Communications as a responsible service provider by taking care of security, reliability and privacy of Madison River Communications' systems and network.

Madison River Communications ("MRC") reserves the right to modify this policy at any time and any such modification shall be automatically effective as to all customers when adopted by Madison River Communications and posted on its website http://www.madisonriver.net. By continuing to use Madison River Communications' services, you will be deemed to have agreed to these Terms and Conditions of Use.

1. Overall Guidelines
   1. The Customer accessing the Madison River Communications service network may only use the network for lawful purposes. The use of the network or systems in violation of any applicable laws or regulations is prohibited. This includes but is not limited to, material protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, or any other statute and material that is obscene, defamatory, constitutes an illegal threat, or violates export control laws.
   2. The Customer will indemnify and hold MRC harmless from any claim brought by third parties alleging that use of the network by the Customer has infringed any applicable laws or regulations. The Customer shall defend and pay all costs, damages, awards, fees (including reasonable legal fees) and judgments finally awarded against MRC arising from such claims. The customer shall give MRC notice of any claim the Customer is involved with or aware of.
   3. MRC will not communicate its customers e-mail addresses or other personal identification to any third party without prior written approval. Exceptions are made within the scope of judicial and lawful investigations to which MRC will fully co-operate.
   4. The Customer may not resell Madison River Communications services without the express written consent of Madison River Communications
   
   
   
2. Services
   All of MRC's network and system services are provided according to scheduled fees for each type of service. You agree to use such services in accordance with the terms set forth below.
   
   Email and Web-Hosting Services
   
   1. Unsolicited Email Prohibited - You may not use MRC-hosted email addresses for the purpose of sending unsolicited email. You may not use or cause to be used MRC's equipment, network connectivity, or other resources to originate, deliver, relay or otherwise transmit unsolicited email messages. You may not engage in any of the foregoing prohibited activities by using the service of any other provider, third-party agent, remailing service or address forwarding service, in such a way that MRC's network addresses or MRC-hosted web or email services are in any way identified as being associated with the sending of unsolicited email.
   2. Unauthorized use, or forging, of mail header information (e.g. "spoofing") is prohibited
   3. Madison River Communications reserves the right to suspend or delay delivery of email to Customer utilizing the Email Services and/or the Virtual Domain Email Services if the volume of email being redirected, stored, or delivered on the Customer's behalf is deemed excessive. Excessive traffic is defined as any amount of email that consumes more than 10MB of disk storage space per individual mailbox or any volume of email traffic that noticeably degrades performance on the server in question, in the sole discretion of MRC. This should be more than sufficient for most email needs. Email was not designed to transfer large attachments. It was originally designed as a tool to send short text messages. Email adds about 20 percent to the size of a file because of the way it is handled and written. As a result, it is unreliable for the purpose of transferring large files and has a high failure rate on messages over 2MB in size. Large files should be sent using FTP (File Transfer Protocol).
      
      Stored mail exceeding these limits may be transferred to a compressed file at Madison River Communications' discretion. MRC will attempt to notify the account holder via the account contact information on record, however MRC reserves the right to delete the contents of such email boxes upon thirty (30) days after attempted notification. A Customer who wishes to store mail longer should download it to a personal computer.
   
   
   
3. System and Network Security
   Violations of system or network security are prohibited, and may result in criminal and civil liability. MRC will investigate incidents involving such violations and may involve and will cooperate with law enforcement if a criminal violation is suspected. Examples of system or network security violations include but are not limited to the following:
   
   
   1. Unauthorized access to or use of data, systems or networks, including any attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without express authorization of the owner of the system or network.
   2. Unauthorized monitoring of data or traffic on any network or system without express authorization of the owner of the system or network.
   3. Interference with service to any user, host or network including, without limitation,
   4. Forging of any TCP-IP packet header or any part of the header information in an email or a newsgroup posting.
   
   
   
4. Filtering of Incoming Email
   1. As owner of the equipment and other resources utilized to provide services, Madison River Communications reserves the right to block electronic communications from other entities on the Internet, including but not limited to those entities listed through MAPS (Mail Abuse Prevention System). Customers should be aware that such blocking or filtering may take place if deemed necessary by the designated members of the MRC operations staff.
   
   
   
5. Open Resources - those at risk for abuse
   1. Upon notification of the existence of an abusable resource, including but not limited to, an open news server, an unsecured mail relay or a smurf amplifier, Customer shall immediately take all necessary steps to avoid any further abuse of such resource. Any abuse of an open resource that occurs after Customer has received such notification shall be considered a violation of this Acceptable Use Policy and enforced as such.