Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

For continued use of 281 Communications Inc. services, acceptance of these policies is required. Your continued use of 281 Communications Inc. services constitutes your agreement to comply with this Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP").  281 Communications Inc. may terminate your Internet account if you fail to comply with the AUP. If you do not agree to be bound by the AUP and its supplements, you should immediately end your use of 281 Communications Inc. services, remove all 281 Communications Inc. software from your system and notify the Billing department so that we may close your account.  Please contact us if you have any questions.

In this AUP, "you," "your," "yours," "User," and "account holder" refer to you, our customer. "We," "ours," "our," "us," "its," "281.COM," and "Light-Speed.org" refers to doing business with 281 Communications Inc.

To contact 281 Communications Inc. , please refer to this web page:

Contact us.

Questions about this AUP? Specific questions about this AUP should be directed to: 

Backbone providers and other members of the Internet's community's policies must also be followed.  You are bound to the backbone provider's policies in addition to our policies.
 

Use of 281 Communications Inc.  services limited by applicable laws and regulations

These statements represent a guide to the acceptable use of 281.COM facilities and services. 281.COM recognizes as acceptable all forms of data communications across its network, except where Federally subsidized facilities of transport (such as national backbones like NSFNET) may require limitations, or where State/Federal/International Law prohibits. In those cases, use of the network should adhere to the general principle of advancing science and education through interchange of information among research and educational institutions except where specific policy statement exist. 

In cases where data communications are addressed to recipients outside of the 281 Communications Inc. supplied Network and are carried over the regional networks or the Internet, 281 Communications Inc. users are advised that acceptable use polices of those other networks apply and may, in fact, limit use. If 281.COM is informed by Federal/State/International authorities of inappropriate or illegal use of 281.COM facilities and/or other networks these determinations will be binding on the Customer. 
 

Use of Services, Wireless and Dial up Policy

1. Users must obey the law. You agree to use 281.COM services only for lawful purposes, in compliance with all applicable laws.
2. 281.COM may investigate suspected violations and cancel the accounts of violators. 281.COM reserves the right to conduct investigations of suspected violations of the AUP. Such investigations may involve gathering information from the account holder(s) involved (including information from their email account or any other means used by the account holder for Internet communication), information from the complaining party, as well as examination of material on 281 Communications Inc. and its suppliers servers and will turn this information over to the local, national, or International authorities. If 281.COM believes, in its sole and absolute discretion, that a violation of these guidelines has occurred, it may take actions which may include without limitation temporary or permanent removal of material uploaded by the account holder to 281.COM servers, the cancellation of newsgroup posts, warnings to the account holder or holders responsible, and the suspension or termination of Internet-related services, including but not limited to access and e-mail, to the account holder(s) responsible. 281.COM, in its sole and absolute discretion, will determine what action or actions will be taken. Violations of these guidelines could also subject the account holder(s) to criminal or civil liability, and 281.COM reserves the right to initiate, prosecute or file such legal actions where it deems appropriate.
3. You are responsible for how your account is used - by you or by others. The account holder of record is responsible for any and all use of the account, with or without the knowledge or consent of the account holder. You are therefore advised to guard and protect passwords and other confidential means of authentication to protect your account from use by unauthorized persons, or by persons who may violate the law or abuse 281.COM systems or services.
4. 281.COM Dialup does NOT mean unlimited time. You may manually dial into our access numbers as many times as you wish.. You man not however leave your computer connected while you are away. 281.COM does not support automated services such as an email program that checks email before you idle out. If you wish to maintain a connection 24hrs a day, or while you are not at your computer for long periods of time you may upgrade to a Dedicated account. This account is more expensive, but compensates us for the future unavailability of what was once a shared resource. 281.COM recommends that you do not set Windows to "Always dial my default connection".
5. Broadband accounts ("Wireless" and all non-dialup accounts) have limits concerning bandwidth and/or speeds associated with them.  Most 281.COM Broadband accounts such as Mach I and Mach II are "shared resource" accounts.  This means you are sharing a tower antenna or other resource with other customers.  281.COM reserves the right to place restrictions and/or block your account if your account disrupts service for others sharing the same resource.  Problems occur most often when using file sharing (P2P) programs or contracting a virus.  Please contact 281.COM Support for help maintaining a clean system through virus protection and keeping your system updated.  Please limit sharing to LEGAL files.  Do not allow more than 1 upload from your system at a time and limit your downloads to 3 simultaneous streams on these shared network resources.  Other restrictions or enhanced capabilities may apply with different services.  Work with the 281.COM Support team to achieve what you need from the Internet and be a good Network neighbor with other 281.COM customers.
6. Defeating system timers to stay online is prohibited. Persons who use ISDN or DIALUP routers as their means of connection to the Internet are advised to not have their router automatically reconnect, as this can lead to many hours of wasted on-line usage (e.g., during your closed hours or during times you are not actually using the Internet) Using software programs (such as email or autodial programs) or hardware (such as routers) to defeat system timers and idle timeouts is strictly prohibited. 281.COM may, at the company's sole discretion and without notice, deactivate the account or cancel the account if the abuse occurs a second time after the initial warning. 
7. System abuse (as defined here, by law, within the AUP's of 281.COM's Internet partners, or within the policies of the sites and services accessed on the Internet through your 281.COM service) will not be tolerated. System abuse is defined as any use of 281.COM resources which disrupts the normal use of the system or the Internet services of others. Examples of abuse include, but are not limited to: 
• Restricting or inhibiting any other user from accessing the Internet.
• Posting or transmitting any unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, obscene, offensive, indecent, pornographic, profane, or otherwise objectionable information of any kind, including without limitation any transmissions constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any, local, state, federal or international law, including without limitation the U.S. export control laws and regulations, and laws protecting intellectual property including copyright, trademark, trade secret, misappropriation and anti-dilution laws. 
• Storing, distributing or transmitting any unlawful material including but not limited to direct threats of personal harm, child pornography, and copyrighted, trademarked, trade secret and other proprietary material used without proper authorization. Account holder(s) may not post, upload or otherwise distribute copyrighted material on 281.COM servers without the consent of the copyright holder. Failure to abide by these guidelines may subject the account holder to criminal as well as civil liability in addition to actions outlined in Use of Services Guidelines above.
• Using 281 Communications Inc. services and servers to store or distribute programs containing viruses, trojans and tools to damage or compromise the security of other sites.
• Providing network services from dial-up or wireless accounts including, but not limited to, mail, http, IRC servers and multi-user interactive forums. Dedicated T1, Warp 5, or Light Speed connections are the only exceptions.  These accounts have additional charges for higher bandwidth usage to accommodate resale of 281 Communications Inc. services.
• Hosting of Adult-Oriented sites, designed for entertainment or commercial purposes, are not allowed on 281 Communications Inc. servers. Forbidden sites include those that provide access to pornographic materials, whether for free or for payment, regardless of whether adult verification is used or not. Banners or links to adult oriented sites are not allowed on 281 Communications Inc. servers. IF ANY of the above mentioned are found on your website, you agree to pay 281 Communications Inc. a fine up to $500.00.
• Interfering with the proper operation of 281.COM systems, including but not limited to, defeating identification/authentication procedures, obtaining access beyond that for which you are authorized, and impairing the availability, reliability, or quality of service of other customers.

Passwords and Identification

1. Only one login at a time - no simultaneous usage, no sharing of passwords.  281 Communications Inc. dial-up and wireless accounts are for individual use only. The account holders(s) may not share passwords or accounts with other individuals. Account holder(s) of Business accounts, or of accounts that expressly permit multiple users, and pay the enhanced rates for these services, may share passwords and access with individuals associated with the account. Please note that sharing an account password and username (login ID) does not allow for concurrent connections to our servers. Users may not login using the same account for more than one online session at a time. Multiple login accounts will be provided with multiple usernames for such purpose.
2. Protect your password. Each 281 Communications Inc. Internet account holder is responsible for the security of his or her password. It is suggested that passwords be at least 6 characters long and contain letters of mixed case and numbers and can not be found in whole or in part, in normal or reverse order, in any dictionary of words in any language. 
3. We may change your password if security appears compromised to us. 281 Communications Inc. staff may monitor the security of your password at any time and may opt to change your password at our discretion if we deem such actions are necessary to maintain the integrity of our network.
4. Password compromised? Contact us ASAP! You agree that if you feel that your password has been compromised in any way, you will notify 281 Communications Inc. immediately by contacting us.
5. Accounts suspended for apparent security violations. If any security violations are believed to have occurred in connection with your account, 281.COM has the right to suspend your Internet access pending an investigation and resolution.
6. We cooperate with legal investigations.  281.COM will fully cooperate with any government or legal investigation regarding any aspect of your account.
7. You agree to provide us with valid ID and address information when you sign up with us. You agree that you are the person legally responsible for the use of the account, are at least 18 years of age, to supply us with your current and truthful name, postal address and telephone number for our records, and you agree that you have a continued obligation to keep this information current. You also agree that you are an authorized user of any credit card that you supply to us and agree that we have the right and obligation to fully investigate any possible fraudulent credit card use by you or anyone using your credit card to pay for our services.

. Systems Resources

1. System access and resources will be allocated to provide the best service. 281.COM will allocate resources to provide all account holders with the best service possible. 281.COM may limit, restrict or prioritize access to system resources, including CPU time, memory, disk space, session length, and number of sessions. In addition, 281.COM may charge additional fees for account holders who are interested in accessing system resources beyond the time limitations previously described in this AUP.
2. System abuse is logged. 281.COM may log instances of abuse of system resources and take appropriate actions as outlined in Use of Service guidelines.

Backup of Data

1. BACK UP your web pages and other data on your own media. Use 281.COM services at your own risk. 281.COM is not responsible for the files residing on your account, or for files you have uploaded to 281.COM servers. You agree to take full responsibility for files and data transferred and to maintain all appropriate backup files and data stored on 281.COM servers.  Check your E-mail regularly and download to your own backup media!
2. 281.COM does not back up your data for you. Although 281.COM does make backups of files on our servers, such backups do not constitute the acceptance of any duty on our part to protect or back up any data uploaded to our servers by you or delivered to our servers for you. You should always have and maintain backups of your data, whether it be E-mail, web pages, picture files, program files or other data, on your own local PC or by any other means of media backup available to you. 

Dialup Time & Login Restrictions

1. We disconnect if idle for 15 minutes. If a dial-up line connection is idle for more than 15 minutes, we will disconnect that line without notice. You can reconnect as many times as you like.
2. We disconnect after 7 hours' continuous use. If a dial-up line connection is active for more than 7 hours, we will disconnect that line without notice. If there is a need to connect for more than 7 hours, we recommend taking a break before resuming connection. Otherwise, a dedicated line account may be required. You can reconnect as many times as you like.
3. We deactivate your non-dedicated dialup account if it accumulates over 200 hours in any 30 day period.  This is a rolling 30 day period.  Everyday, the total hours accumulated is subtracted by amount used on the day 30 days ago, and the amount used over the last 24 hours is added.
4. Only one login per account at any given time. As mentioned earlier, each login account entitles the account holder to only one connection to our network at any given time unless your account is one that allows multiple connections, then you will be provided multiple login usernames for that purpose.  2nd usernames purchased for a single user to accumulate over 200 hours may not be used for multiple concurrent connections.

281 Communications Inc. reserves the right to change these timeout values to insure optimum use of the network for all users.

For Billing and Invoicing

1. We bill according to anniversary or "start" date. We will start billing our customers on their registration date, also known as the Anniversary date. However, under some circumstances, we may adjust the billing date. 
2. We deactivate unpaid accounts. For check-paying customers, we will e-mail the invoice 10 days before the due date. If the bill is 3 days past the due date, you will receive a late charge and another email. If the account is 10 days over due, another attempt will be made via E-mail, phone, and/or mail to notify you of your disconnection. If you do decide to re-activate your account past the due date after it has been disconnected, monthly charges still apply to your account after the due date and before termination. If the subscriber calls us and requests for his account to be reactivated, we can reactivate at 281.com discretion but will require payment to be received within 15 days of the anniversary date. We will not, under any circumstances, reactivate the account if it is 15 days past due unless we receive payment in full.  Unpaid accounts will be turned over for collection.  You are responsible for payment of invoices by their due date EVEN IF YOU DO NOT RECEIVE an E-mail or other notice from 281 Communications Inc.  Invoices are mailed or E-mailed for your records only, usage of services from 281.com constitute your obligation for payment by the date it is due.  Please contact accounts @ 281.com (do not type the spaces) or call (830) 798-9041 during office hours or leave a message for "Billing" to request a statement.  You may also visit our offices to have one printed.
3. To reactivate a suspended account, use credit card or sign up for multiple months.  
4. Credit cards charged on anniversary date. For credit card paying customers, we will charge on the Anniversary date. 
5. Refunds for full unused months only after non-discounted used months are deducted. Refunds or prorations are applicable only to unused full months. A deduction for the non-discounted price of used or partially used months will be deducted from your total payment to 281.com prior to making your refund.  Partial months will not be refunded. Setup fees, if any were charged, will not be refunded. 
6. You must check your primary 281.com email account or other E-mail account you provided 281.com for billing contact purposes. We will communicate with our customers through email. We therefore require our users to expect all important correspondence with 281 Communications Inc. to be through your 281.com e-mail account or an address you have provided to us.  Please look for 281.COM staff names and company name in all correspondence from 281.com.  We will not send requests to verify information (except to call us) or click links in E-mail.  These are viruses masquerading as 281.com E-mail and should be deleted.  Please call if you are ever unsure about an E-mail you believe to be from 281.com.
7. Invoicing by mail is an additional $5.00 per invoice. Invoicing by email is free. 
8. There is a $40.00 charge for insufficient funds on returned checks.
   

Warranty for Data, Equipment, Repair, and Installation

281.COM warranties labor on computer repair in our offices for 90 days.  Onsite labor repair and installation is warranted for 30 days.  This includes labor on installation of Broadband and other network access equipment.  All subsequent onsite labor is subject to hourly labor and onsite charge.  Most hardware purchased from 281.COM for repairs and Broadband installation comes with a one year limited warranty.  Contact your 281.COM representative for further information.

281.COM is not responsible for data on customer computers or other networking equipment.  While every effort will be made to insure the integrity of customer data, it is the customer's responsibility to insure adequate backups are made and restore processes are documented.

281.COM Warp 5 customers receive onsite service and repair of all 281.COM Internet connection equipment, including cost of labor, with their Warp 5 Service agreement!

Contact your 281.COM representative for warranty information on all equipment purchased from 281.COM.  Most equipment sold by 281.COM carries a 1 year warranty from the manufacturer.  Some damage caused by lightning or other power surge may not be covered by 281.COM or Manufacturers warranties!

. Canceling the Account

Subscribers must notify us by one of the below methods to cancel you account. We do not assume cancellation based on non-payment of your account. Your account may still be subjected to monthly fees even if you lapse in your payment to us. Unpaid dues will be sent for collection.  Your account is not cancelled without a written notice.

There are currently 2 ways to cancel your account. 

E-mail us at Accounts@281.com or mail to:

In any communication to 281.COM (by mail, email or otherwise) please give us your username, password, and personal information you gave us when you originally signed up for the account as well as current contact information if different from when you signed up. Also, please note whether you prefer that the account be terminated immediately, at the end of your billing period, or at a specific date.  For billing purposes, your account will be billed through 30 days after written notice, or through date specified in your notice if more than 30 days. Please provide the reason for your cancellation of service.  281.COM can provide local service throughout the United States if you are moving.

.. By Tim Moczygemba, Moxie Services Inc.
Copyright © 2008  281 Communications Inc. All rights reserved.
Revised: December 13, 2009 .