Our Acceptable Use Policy

ACCEPTABLEUSE POLICY
PRIS provides local Internet services for the enjoyment of PRIS members and their friends. PRIS members strongly support the concept of freedom of expression on the Internet. They also believe that they have the right to exercise personal control over the acceptability of their Internet environment.

We must all take responsibility for the quality of our experience. In this spirit, The PRIS Board of Directors ("the Board") has drawn up some rules to help everyone understand what is acceptable and what is not. As in all PRIS matters, policy is determined by the Board, which is elected by PRIS members.

In an effort to safeguard the Internet environment, PRIS maintains a zero-tolerance policy on network abuse and will take action against member who violates our Acceptable Use Policy. The final decision of what constitutes network abuse rests with the Board

If you have a complaint about someone you believe is in violation of the PRIS Acceptable Use Policy, please send an e-mail to sysop@pris.bc.ca stating the exact time stamp of the offending material.

MEMBERS WHO VIOLATE THE TERMS OF OUR ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY MAY BE PERMANENTLY BANNED FROM USING PRIS. USING PRIS SERVICES WILL CONSTITUTE ACCEPTANCE OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS POLICY.

PRIS Acceptable Use Policy

GENERAL
E-MAIL & USENET NEWS
CHAT ROOM
WEB PAGES
VIRTUAL DOMAINS
EXCESSIVE CONNECT TIMES, (Equitable Access Policy)
EXCESSIVE DATA TRANSFER RATES, (Data Transfer Limit Policy)

GENERAL

POLICY 1) Your use of PRIS Services is subject to the Acceptable Use Policy ("Policy") described herewith. You should read and interpret this Policy in conjunction with the PRIS Agreement for Use of Internet Services.
SOLE
RESPONSIBILITY		 2) You, as the holder of the account, are solely responsible for all access and activities conducted through your account. In cases where you have allowed any other individual to use your account or have negligently made your password publicly available, you recognize that you are fully responsible for:
  • (i) the online conduct of such user;
  • (ii) controlling the user's access to and use of PRIS, and
  • (iii) the consequences of any misuse.
LOGS
KEPT		 3) PRIS may elect to keep logs of all activities, including a log of the originators of all materials posted through PRIS. This information will be used solely to enable PRIS staff to take appropriate action when there are complaints that the Policy has been violated, or as outlined in (4) (below). The use of a 'handle' does NOT provide you anonymity from the System Administrator.
PRIVACY
RESPECTED		 4) It is PRIS policy to respect the privacy of its members. PRIS will not disclose the contents of the logs to outside parties unless required to do so by law or in PRIS's good faith belief that such action is reasonably necessary to:
  • (i) conform to the edicts of the law or comply with legal process;
  • (ii) protect and defend the rights or property of PRIS; or
  • (iii) act under exigent circumstances to protect the personal safety of PRIS members or the public.
NO ILLEGAL
ACTIVITY		 5) While using PRIS, you may not post, transmit, or otherwise distribute information constituting or encouraging conduct that would constitute a criminal offense or give rise to civil liability, or otherwise use PRIS in a manner which is contrary to law, or would serve to restrict or inhibit any other user from using or enjoying PRIS, or the Internet.
RESPECT
INTELLECTUAL
PROPERTY		 6) You may upload software files, text, sounds, graphics or other files or data, or otherwise transmit on or through PRIS only such files or data:
  • that are not subject to any patent, trademark, copyright or other proprietary rights held by any person (including any society or other corporation) other than you, or
  • in which any other holder of such rights has given you express authorization for distribution of such files or data on PRiS, in which case you warrant that you have such rights and you accept responsibility for the use and transmission of such files or data.

    • By using the facilities of PRiS for the transmission or storage of any such files or data, you automatically grant -- or warrant that the owner of such content has expressly granted -- PRIS a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, worldwide, non-exclusive right and license to adapt, publish, translate, distribute, transmit and display such content (in whole or part).

    RESPECT
    COMMUNITY
    STANDARDS    		 7) In the case of publicly accessible postings such as in Chat Groups, IRC, Discussion Groups, Newsgroups or Web pages, or in the case of any unsolicited e-mail communications:
    • (i) Pornographic and obscene images and language are not permitted. Language which is derogatory to, or which is intended to instill the hatred of any group based on race, colour, creed, or gender is not permitted.
    • (ii) Offensive and indecent handles are not allowed.
    • (iii) Harassment of another Internet User or the use of obscene, threatining, or abusive language is not permitted.
    • (iv) Impersonation of others, including PRIS staff, or another PRIS member is not permitted
    • (v) Distribution or posting of electronic viruses, trojan horses, cancalbots, destructive packets, worms, or other harmful or disruptive components is not permitted.
    For the purposes of this provision, merely making one's address accessible to the public shall not constitute a request or invitation to receive messages.
    NO
    HACKING    		 8) You are not permitted to attempt to access the accounts of others, or to attempt to penetrate security measures of PRIS or other entities' systems (hacking), whether or not the intrusion results in corruption or loss of data.
    NO DUPLICATE
    LOGIN    		 9) At no time may there be more than one simultaneous login of the same username.
    NO
    PARKING    		 10) You are not permitted to stay logged on while you are not actively using your connection. You are not permitted to use any software or device that would allow your account to log on or to stay logged on while you are not actively using PRIS Services.

    NO
    SERVERS    		 11) You are not permitted to use your account for the purpose of operating a server, unless specifically authorized by PRIS, except that a local (LAN) server used to connect a small network of machines to the Internet is permitted, provided that that server does not serve data to the Internet beyond the local network.

    E-MAIL and USENET NEWS

    UNTAMPERED
    HEADERS    		 1) You may not forge any message header, in whole or in part, of an electronic transmission originating or passing through the PRIS system, or in any way misrepresent the originator of the message.

    NO SPAM 2) You are not permitted to undertake any activity which is generally known as "spamming". Specifically:
    • (i).You acknowledge that you are expressly prohibited from using the PRIS System for sending the same, or substantially similar, unsolicited messages, whether commercial or not, to a large number of recipients. This prohibition extends to the sending of unsolicited mass mailings from another service which in any way implicates the use of PRIS services.
    • (ii). A message is unsolicited if it is posted in violation of a USENET or newsgroup charter, or if it is off-topic for a mailing list or similar forum. Posting the same message to more than 15 newsgroups is considered to be excessive.
    • (iii). Sending unsolicited e-mail messages where the recipient objects to the content of the message or to the receipt of the message in general is prohibited.
    • (iv). Sending chain letters, or pyramid scheme letters is prohibited.
    DESTRUCTIVE
    ATTACHMENTS    		 3) A message, or message attachement which is identified to contain a virus, or other harmful or disruptive component that could compromise the integrity of a computer system may be intercepted and deleted by PRiS.
    MAIL SIZE 4) The maximun size of any inbound or outbound mail message is limited to 6 Megabytes.
    MAILBOX SIZE 5) Any mailbox exceeding 10 Megabytes may, at PRIS' discretion be transfered to a compressed temporary file. Members will be notified at that time. Sixty days after notification, PRIS reserves the right to delete the file from the server.

    CHAT ROOM

    PRIS provides a number of local chat areas for the enjoyment of PRIS members and their friends. Please note that all of the policies in "General" (above) apply. In addition:
    DISRUPTIVE
    ACTIVITIES    		 1) Disruption of the flow of discussion by repeatedly posting the same message or image or posting excessively large images is not permitted.
    HANDLES 2) Offensive or indecent handles are not allowed.
    NO
    IMPERSONATION    		 3) Impersonation of other users is not permitted.
    The policies for the Chat Room also apply to guests to the Chat Area. Guests not conforming to local chat policies may be barred from the PRIS Chat Room, and their ISP's may be contacted for assistance when necessary.

    WEB PAGES

    When you use web space on the PRiS web servers, the content of the web pages must conform to the PRIS Acceptable Use Policy. If it does not, PRIS reserves the right to restrict world access to those pages, without compensation, until the author corrects the problem.

    In Addition:

    1. You may not re-sell, sub-lease or in any way transfer use of your PRiS web space services to any other person.
    2. The content of the web pages must pertain to or benefit a PRiS member or their direct employer.
    3. The sharing of web space between several distinct entities is not permitted.
    4. PRiS will not be responsible for loss of data, information in any form or other matters whatsoever which result from the use of this service. You will be responsible for retaining copies of your own data, PRiS will not keep backups of your web pages.
    5. PRiS is not obliged to provide support for HTML authoring or page design.
    6. You may not use your PRiS web space (or directory) as storage for remote loading from another web site. You may not use your PRiS web space (or directory) as a doorway or re-direct to another web site.
    7. PRiS reserves the right to terminate any process which places excessive strain on the PRiS network.
    8. PRiS reserves the right to review process and/or traffic loads created by your web site to ensure that such loads do not interfere with other network traffic. If they do, PRiS may direct that an alternative solution be found.
    VIRTUAL DOMAINS
    The rental of a Virtual Domain from PRIS means that, for all intents and purposes, you have your own Internet site, and your own address in the Internet world. However, you are still physically located on the PRIS Server, and for legal, logistical, and ethical reasons, we require that you, and your site, conform to all facets of the PRIS Acceptable Use Policy.


    EQUITABLE ACCESS POLICY

    In order to ensure that all members of PRIS have fair and equitable access to the Internet, PRIS may temporarily log certain members off if, and only if, all available lines are in use for more than a continuous five-minute period.
    CONDITIONS MET
    		 1) Members will only be logged off if all of the conditions below are met:
    • All Dial-up lines have been in use for at least 5 minutes.
    • The member has exceeded his/her protected time for the day by a greater amount than any other member online at the time. (The Protected Time is calculated for each member based on the length of time the member has been online in the past 30 days. The Protected Time is between 4 hours and 24 hours with 24 hours being granted to members who are online less than an hour a day. Members with "Limited PPP Access" or with the "Casual Surfer Card" have a Protected Time of 24 hours)
    • The member is provided with a warning on screen that logoff is imminent.
    TIME LOG AVAILABLE
    		 2) Time logs are provided for all users, on the PRIS Home Page.
    FOLLOW-UP
    		 3) Members who have been disconnected will receive an e-mail message explaining the reason for the disconnection and referring the member to PRIS policy reqarding equitable access, and offering to recommend procedures to reduce the probability of further disconnects.
    A member who has been logged off under the provisions of this policy will be permitted to reconnect after 15 minutes have elapsed, subject to line availability.

    DATA TRANSFER LIMIT POLICY

    The intention of the Data Transfer Limit Policy is to provide a process through which PRIS can protect itself and its members from abusive Data Transfer Activities by any subscriber. The process will be based on the principle that PRIS is entitled to recover excess and/or abnormal costs incurred by PRIS as a result of a subscriber's activities.
    POLICY
    STATEMENTS
    1. PRIS may, at its discretion, bill members for a Data Transfer Fee over and above the normal monthly fee for services when the member's Data Transfer activity for any one calendar month exceeds 2,000 megabytes. (The current rate is $10.00 per 1,000 Megabytes in excess of 6,000 Megabytes per month for broadband accounts, and $10.00 per 1,000 Megabytes in excess of 2,000 Megabytes per month for Dial-up and ISDN accounts.)
    2. PRIS will provide all users with data transfer statistics relating to their account. This information will be included on the PRIS Home Page (http://www.pris.bc.ca) or related documents readily available to all members.
    3. Prior to this policy being applied to a member, PRIS staff will notify the member by e-mail that data transfer charges will apply on all data transferred in excess of the allowable amount in any and all succeeding calendar months. The member will be informed that he/she must accept these data transfer charges for unrestricted access to continue. The member will be advised how to monitor and control his/her data transfer practices to avoid charges for excessive data transfer.
    4. A member not accepting to pay the prescribed data transfer charges may have such access restrictions placed upon his account as are deemed necessary to preclude further excessive data transfer for the rest of the calendar month. Regular monthly membership fees will not be reduced by any such restrictions.
    5. Notwithstanding that a member has agreed to pay data transfer charges, PRiS may impose pre-payment conditions, or additional limitations on data transfer rates, as deemed necessary to maintain the balance on the member's account payable to a fiscally responsible level.
    6. The provisions of this policy do not apply to either "Casual Surfer" or Limited Use Option" memberships.
    PRIS thanks you for observing these policies, and hopes that you will enjoy your use of the PRIS Internet connection.

    This page is maintained by the Peace Region Internet Society

    Questions, comments, and suggestions can be directed to the sysop@sun.pris.bc.ca

    Last Modified: August 3rd, 2002