Churches.net Acceptable Use Policy described below defines the actions that we consider to be abused and 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 Churches.net to advertise any service hosted by Churches.net or connected via the Churches.net Network. As defined by the Federal Trade Commission Deception Policy Statement, such services are not to be advertised by way of deceptive marketing policies. For abbreviation purposes, Churches.net will be referred as Churches.net and companies or individual account owners using our services as CUSTOMERS.

Churches.net Acceptable Use Policy has been formulated with the following goals in mind:

Ensure security, reliability and privacy of Churches.net systems and network, and the networks and systems of others. Avoid situations that may cause Churches.net to incur civil liability. Maintain the image and reputation of Churches.net 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 that degrade the usability of network resources and thus the value of Internet services. Preserve the privacy and security of individual users.

The Acceptable Use Policy below defines the actions which Churches.net considers to be abusive, and thus, strictly prohibited.

Customers may not use the Churches.net 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, 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. Mail bombing, or other deliberate attempts to overload or crash a host or network.

If your site is the initiator or target of a denial of service attack that adversely affects our or somebody else’s network, we will terminate your account without warning and you will be held responsible for any charges that may result from this action.

Churches.net 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. Churches.net reserves the right to charge up to $500 per complaint to investigate.

Customer Spamming Policy

Churches.net has 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 Policy

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 suspend or terminate the account involved in the spam complaint. Churches.net is concerned with spam that not only originates from your network, but also that advertises sites hosted on our network. If so, we will contact you as soon as is feasible.

Why this Policy?

Churches.net feels 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.

General Conduct

Customers are prohibited from transmitting on or through any of the Churches.net services, any material that is, in Churches.net’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.

The Churches.net 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. Churches.net reserves the right to remove such illegal material from its servers. This also includes sites that offer mp3’s hacking, cracking, phreaking information or material, password trading sites, adult or mature content sites, sites which distribute software without the explicit and expressed permission of the publisher, or manufacturer, warez sites, or sites that promote hate, bigotry, gender, age, sex, race bias, or any other site that Churches.net feels is objectionable.

General Violations

Impersonation/Forgery: Adding, removing, or modifying identifying network header information (aka "spoofing") in an effort to deceive or mislead is prohibited. Attempting to impersonate any person by using forged headers or other identifying information is especially frowned upon. Please note, the use of anonymous remailers and nicknames does not constitute impersonation.

Network unfriendly activity: Any activities that adversely affect the ability of other people or systems to use Churches.net services are prohibited. This includes "denial of service" (DoS) attacks against another network host or individual user.

Threats: Threats of bodily harm or destruction of property are always prohibited.

Mail bombing: Sending large volumes of unsolicited e-mail, or spam is prohibited.

Harassment: Sending threatening or harassing e-mail is prohibited. If after being requested to stop, a Churches.net user persists in e-mailing another Internet user, Churches.net may intervene. Extremely threatening or harassing e-mail is always prohibited.

Excessive bandwidth or disk utilization: Churches.net account descriptions specify limits on bandwidth and disk utilization, and use in excess of those limits is not permitted. Bandwidth utilization is determined by the total bytes transferred from an account's web and ftp space. If excessive bandwidth or disk space utilization is determined to adversely affect Churches.net's ability to provide service, immediate action will be taken. The account owner will be notified by e-mail as soon as practicable.

The resale of Churches.net products and services is not permitted, unless specifically permitted and documented in a written agreement.

Disclaimer:

Churches.net is not responsible for any damages your business may suffer. Churches.net does not make implied or written warranties for any of our services. Churches.net denies any warranty or merchantability for a specific purpose. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, non-deliveries, wrong delivery, and any and all service interruptions caused by Churches.net. The Customer will not use its network or space provided by Churches.net to violate any law. In the event Customer violates existing law, Churches.net shall have the right to terminate all service set forth in this Agreement. In the event that Churches.net is informed by government authorities of inappropriate or illegal use of Churches.net facilities or other networks accessed through Churches.net, we may terminate customer's service. Churches.net will cooperate fully with investigations of violation of systems or network security at other sites. Churches.net will cooperate with law enforcement authorities in the investigation of possible criminal violations. Customers that violate systems and/or network security may incur in criminal or civil liability. Churches.net reserves the right to amend its policies at any time.