Acceptable Use Policy

The EtherTech Acceptable Usage Policy (“AUP”) applies to all EtherTech Internet clients (“you”). It is a condition of your use of our service(s) that you abide by this AUP.

From time to time this document is changed. When this happens you will be given notice of the change, then you will need to comply with the new AUP.

Your account

• You must be over 18 to have an account.
• Your EtherTech username/password is how we know who you are.
• Anybody identifying themselves correctly with your username/password IS you.
• Any charges that accrue from use of your account are payable by you.
• You must pay your account by the due date.
• Any network traffic to/from your account is attributable to you.
• It’s not a good idea to share your account information with anybody.
• If you let other people access your account then you are responsible for what they do.

AUPs

• You must comply with this AUP when using our networks.
• If you access other networks or services, you must comply with their AUPs.
• If you let others use your account, you are responsible for showing them this AUP and getting their agreement to be bound by it.
• Just because an AUP does not specifically prohibit a particular instance of illegal behaviour, does not mean that it is therefore allowed.
• Relevant laws may supersede or invalidate specific sections of this AUP. Where this occurs only the relevant section is superseded or invalidated, the AUP as a whole is not taken to be superseded or invalidated.

Content

• We originate content on various services for which we are responsible. An example of this might be this AUP which we have authored.
• We do not assume any responsibility for any other content.
• We exercise no direct supervision or control over any other content.
• The responsibility for any content that you transfer lies with you.
• If you store content on our server(s), it will NOT be backed-up.
• If an account is closed any content associated with that account may be deleted.

Call Charges

• You are responsible for any call charges when you dial our servers.
• These charges are billed to you by your phone provider.
• It is suggested that you check with your phone provider what the actual charge for calling our equipment will be before you do so.
• Any information provided by us about call charges is to be used as a guideline only – your phone provider has the definitive answer about what charges will be levied for calling a particular number.

You must use our service(s):

• legally.
• ethically.
• considerately of other people’s rights.

You may NOT:

• Spam (see ‘SPAM’ Section below)
• Break any local, State, Federal or International laws.
• Disrupt networks, users, or services (see ‘Examples of Disruptive acts’ section below)
• Gain unauthorised access to other networks, users, or services.
• Violate copyright or other intellectual property rights(see ‘Examples of Copyright Violations’ section below)
• Illegally store, use, or distribute software.
• Harass, misrepresent or defame others.
• Engage in fraud, deceptive, or misleading business practices.
• Transmit or receive illegal, offensive, or threatening content.

Spam

Definition: Spam = “Unsolicited Commercial Email”.  For more information, see Australian Commonwealth Legislation.  Spam is about consent.  If the recipient has not consented to receive mail from you, it’s spam.

There are a few conditions under which it’s generally permissible to initiate contact with another person:

• If the other person’s email address invites you to contact them. Usually this is about a specific subject (e.g. contact-me-about-my-webpage, so contacting-them-about-your product is usually out).
• If the person has added themselves to a mailing list you maintain (again, generally the mailing list will have a charter and off-topic emails).
• If the person has specifically asked you to contact them at that email address.

If your email doesn’t fall under one of these constraints, don’t send it.

The spam rules at EtherTech Internet are pretty simple:

• You may not send spam using our services.
• You may not use our servers as a maildrop for spam.

Examples of Disruptive acts

Examples of prohibited Disruptive actions include (but are not limited to):

• Denial-Of-Service
• Distributed-Denial-Of-Service
• Known security weakness exploits
• Virus/Worm propagation
• Overloading networks
• Fragged packet attacks

Examples of Copyright Violations

In Australia, examples of copyright violation include (but are not limited to):

• Copying from content from one medium to another without permission(e.g. copying a CD to MP3s, or a DVD to a VCD).
• Transmission of content to others without permission(e.g. ‘sharing’ MP3s or emailing JPGs that you don’t have copyright on)
• Making content available for download without permission(e.g. using a picture that someone else created on your website)

In general, unless the copyright owner has given express permission, you cannot upload/download/re-encode any type of content in Australia.  Most MP3s and/or videos that are “available” on the Internet are available without permission of the copyright owner, and thus the transmission of same is a violation of our AUP.

Please remember that ALL illegal behaviour (not just that expressly forbidden above) is NOT PERMITTED.

Violations

• If your account is used in violation of this AUP it may be suspended and/or terminated at our discretion.
• If the violation is a criminal act we may notify the relevant authorities.
• If the violation is resolved to our satisfaction then we will re-enable your account.

Warranties

• Our service(s) are provided on an “as is, as available” basis.
• No warranties (including, but not limited to those of merchant-ability or fitness for a particular purpose) are offered.
• We expressly disclaim any liability for losses of income due to disruption of service by us or our providers.
• Neither us nor our providers are responsible for any damages due to your use of (or inability to use) the service we provide.