Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) (Revised August 18th, 2013)
This "Acceptable Use Policy" or "AUP" of Branzone, Inc., a Texas corporation, applies to Branzone, and all other divisions and identities used by Branzone, Inc. and references hereinafter to Branzone, Inc. includes reference to the foregoing terms. This AUP is designed to provide a clear understanding of the rules, regulations, and restrictions on the use of the Services, Servers, and IP Addresses of Branzone, Inc. Branzone may, from time to time at the sole discretion of Branzone, Inc., impose rules, regulations, or restrictions not expressly stated in this AUP on the use of the Services, Servers, and IP Addresses of Branzone, Inc. Branzone may, from time to time at the sole discretion of Branzone, Inc., modify this AUP and such modification shall become immediately effective upon posting of the modified AUP to www.branzone.com or by notification to you of the modified AUP. This AUP is not exhaustive.
Hereinafter, "Services" is defined as any offering of Branzone, Inc. including, without limitation, those managed, in whole or in part, for you by Branzone, Inc., "Servers" is defined as any CPU based hardware platform of Branzone, Inc. including, without limitation, those managed, in whole or in part, for you by Branzone, Inc., and "IP Addresses" is defined as any publicly routable IPv4 32-bit or IPv6 128-bit Internet Protocol address assigned by Branzone, Inc. to you as part of the Services or Servers provided to you by Branzone, Inc.
By registering for or using the Services, Servers, or IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc., you accept and agree to abide by the terms and conditions of the "Terms of Service" or "TOS" of Branzone, Inc., the rules, regulations, and restrictions of the "Acceptable Use Policy" or "AUP" of Branzone, Inc., and the laws of the cities, states, and countries wherein the Services, Servers, or IP Addresses of Branzone, Inc. are located which are hereby incorporated into this AUP. Solicitation of any illegal act on, to, from, or through the Services, Servers, or IP addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc., whether performed or not, is a violation of this AUP.
SUSPENSION AND CANCELLATION
NONPAYMENT IN WHOLE OR IN PART FOR ANY OF THE SERVICES, SERVERS, OR IP ADDRESSES PROVIDED TO YOU BY BRANZONE, INC. OR VIOLATION OF THE ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY OF BRANZONE, INC., THE ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY OF ANY UPSTREAM PROVIDER OF BRANZONE, INC., OR THE ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY OF ANY NETWORK CONNECTED ON, TO, FROM, OR THROUGH THE SERVICES, SERVERS, OR IP ADDRESSES PROVIDED TO YOU BY BRANZONE, INC. MAY, AT THE SOLE DISCRETION OF BRANZONE, INC., RESULT IN THE IMMEDIATE SUSPENSION OR CANCELLATION OF ANY OR ALL SERVICES, SERVERS, OR IP ADDRESSES PROVIDED TO YOU BY BRANZONE, INC. OR OTHER ACTION DEEMED APPROPRIATE BY BRANZONE, INC. WITHOUT REMUNERATION FOR SUCH SUSPENSION, CANCELLATION, OR OTHER ACTION OR ASSURANCE OF PRIOR NOTIFICATION TO YOU FOR SUCH SUSPENSION, CANCELLATION, OR OTHER ACTION AND ANY FEES PAID IN ADVANCE OF SUCH SUSPENSION, CANCELLATION, OR OTHER ACTION ARE NON-REFUNDABLE.
INDEMNIFICATION
YOU ACKNOWLEDGE YOUR INDEMNIFICATION OBLIGATIONS UNDER THE TERMS OF SERVICE OF BRANZONE, INC. AND AGREE THAT YOU ARE SOLELY LIABLE AND RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY AND ALL MONETARY DAMAGES RESULTING DIRECTLY OR INDIRECTLY FROM VIOLATIONS OF THIS AUP TO INCLUDE, WITHOUT LIMITATION, THE SERVICES, SERVERS, AND IP ADDRESSES PROVIDED TO YOU BY BRANZONE, INC., THE NETWORK AND BUSINESS OPERATIONS OF BRANZONE, INC., RELATED COSTS INCURRED BY BRANZONE, INC., AND ANY THIRD PERSON OR PARTY AND THAT SUCH MONETARY DAMAGES WILL BE CHARGED TO YOUR ACCOUNT. VIOLATIONS OF THIS AUP MAY RESULT IN SIGNIFICANT CIVIL AND CRIMINAL LIABILITY TO YOU.
DATA LIABILITY AND RESPONSIBILITY
YOU ARE SOLELY LIABLE AND RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY AND ALL DATA STORED OR TRANSMITTED ON, TO, FROM, OR THROUGH THE SERVICES, SERVERS, AND IP ADDRESSES PROVIDED TO YOU BY BRANZONE, INC. TO INCLUDE, WITHOUT LIMITATION, BLOCK SPECIAL FILES, CHARACTER SPECIAL FILES, DIRECTORIES, SYMBOLIC LINKS, SOCKET LINKS, FIFOS, REGULAR FILES, PROGRAMS, DATABASES, TEXT, GRAPHICS, PICTURES, MOVIES, AUDIO, STREAMING MEDIA, WEB PAGES, HYPERLINKS, EMAIL, INSTANT MESSAGES, CHAT MESSAGES, FILE TRANSFERS, HOST NAMES, AND DOMAIN NAMES
DISCLAIMER OF RESPONSIBILITY
BRANZONE, INC. ASSUMES NO LIABILITY OR RESPONSIBILITY TO ANY PERSON OR PARTY FOR ANY VIOLATION OF THIS AUP BY ANY OTHER PERSON OR PARTY. IT IS THE POLICY OF BRANZONE, INC., BUT NOT ITS OBLIGATION, TO MONITOR ITS NETWORK FOR POTENTIAL, ALLEGED, OR ACTUAL VIOLATIONS OF THIS AUP AND TO CANCEL EGREGIOUS OR REPEAT OFFENDERS OF THIS AUP WITHOUT PRIOR NOTICE.
SUBJUGATION
ALL RESELLERS, CLIENTS, USERS, AND SUB NETWORKS OF THE SERVICES, SERVERS, AND IP ADDRESSES PROVIDED BY BRANZONE, INC. ARE SUBJECT TO THIS AUP AND ANY ATTEMPTED OR ACTUAL VIOLATION OF THIS AUP BY ANY PERSON OR PARTY ON YOUR BEHALF SHALL BE A VIOLATION OF THIS AUP BY YOU.
PROSECUTION AND FINES
BRANZONE, INC. COOPERATES FULLY WITH LAW ENFORCEMENT AGENCIES IN THE INVESTIGATION AND PROSECUTION OF CRIMINAL ACTIVITY AND HAS ZERO TOLERANCE FOR VIOLATIONS OF THIS AUP. WE RESERVE THE RIGHT TO LEVY FINES OF $500 TO $5000 USD PER INCIDENT FOR ANY VIOLATION OF THIS AUP.
RIGHT OF REFUSAL
BRANZONE, INC. RESERVES THE RIGHT TO REFUSE SERVICE TO ANYONE AT ANY TIME.
Policy Enforcement and Resolution
Violations of this AUP are, at the sole discretion of Branzone, Inc., enforced by issuance of a Policy Enforcement notice to the registered contact email addresses of the Services, Servers, or IP Addresses and, additionally, may be issued to the registered abuse contact email addresses of the Services, Servers, or IP Addresses. It is your responsibility to request from abuse@branzone.com abuse contact email addresses. Failure to receive a Policy Enforcement notice does not limit the right of enforcement by Branzone, Inc. of this AUP or your responsibility to resolve violations of this AUP in a manner acceptable to Branzone, Inc.
All domains, sites, users, or exploits causing a violation of this AUP must be removed from the Services, Servers, and IP Addresses of Branzone, Inc. Any improperly configured or insecure software causing a violation of this AUP must be properly configured, hardened, or removed. You must reply to the Policy Enforcement notice within the time frame given in the notice with appropriate comments, questions, or actions to resolve the violations cited in the notice. Depending on the violation type, severity, history, quantity of complaints, upstream provider requirements, and other factors, your Services, Servers, or IP Addresses may be:
- Monitored for Additional Violations
- Accessed for Investigation, Cleaning, Hardening, or Securing
- Disconnected in 24-Hours, 12-Hours, 6-Hours, 3-Hours, 1-Hour, or 0-Hours
- Required to Reload possibly with No Data Recovery
- Hard Drives Seized
- Null-Routed
- Port Shutdown
- On 30-Day Probation
- Reviewed for Cancellation
- Cancelled
Specific Violations of This AUP Without Limitation
Advance Fee Fraud - Spam to solicit an advance fee in return for monetary gain.
Child Porn Site - Hosting, distributing, or linking from a site to pornography involving a person under legal age. ( See Title 18 USC Chapter 110 SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND OTHER ABUSE OF CHILDREN § 2256 Definitions and § 2257 Record keeping requirements http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C110.txt )
Child Porn Email - Sending email containing or linking to pornography involving a person under legal age. ( See Title 18 USC Chapter 110 SEXUAL EXPLOITATION AND OTHER ABUSE OF CHILDREN § 2256 Definitions and § 2257 Record keeping requirements http://uscode.house.gov/download/pls/18C110.txt )
Copyright - Hosting, distributing, or linking to copyright infringed materials.
( See http://www.copyright.gov/title17/92chap5.html )
Cracking - Brute force access of secured network devices.
DoS - Denial of service attack of network devices.
Embargo - Hosting or Linking to a Site Prohibited by Embargo.
Forgery - Faking an IP address, hostname, e-mail address, or header.
Fraud Site - Hosting or linking to a website intended to deceive the public.
Hacking - Circumventing security systems of network devices.
HYIP Site - Hosting or linking to a website of high yield investment program, Ponzi Scheme, or Pyramid Scheme.
ID Theft - Hosting, Distributing, or Linking to Stolen Account Identification Information.
Infection - Hosting, Distributing, or Linking to Exploits, Trojans, Viruses, or Worms.
Invalid Hostname - A vain, obscene, or malicious host name or domain name.
IRC Malicious - Malicious Use of Internet Relay Chat.
IRC Unregistered - Internet Relay Chat Server not Registered and Approved by Branzone, Inc. abuse department through a ticket request.
Open Proxy - Hosting an Open Proxy of Any Type.
Open Relay - Hosting an Open Relay of Any Type.
Pharmaceuticals - Hosting, Distributing, or Linking to Pharmaceutical/Drug Sites.
Phishing - Identity Theft by Email Under False Pretense.
Proxy Hijack - Use of a Third Party Proxy Vulnerability or Trojan.
ROKSO - ROKSO Blacklisting at www.spamhaus.org of an IP.
( See http://www.spamhaus.org/rokso/index.lasso )
Scanning - Probing for Vulnerabilities of Network Devices.
Shells - Hosting Accounts Primarily for Shell Access.
SORBS - SORBS Blacklisting at www.sorbs.net of an IP.
Spam Cannon - Sending High Volume Spam (UBE).
Spam Email - Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE).
Spam List - Hosting, Distributing, or Linking to Email Address Lists for Spam.
Spam News - Posting the same message repeatedly in any newsgroup or to multiple newsgroups or posting an off-topic message to a newsgroup.
Spam Site - Hosting a Site Advertised by Spam Email or Spam Web.
Spam Ware - Hosting, Distributing, or Linking to Software Designed for Spamming.
Spam Web - Unsolicited, Bulk, or Forged Site Advertisement in Web Logs, Forums, or Guest books.
Spamhaus - Spamhaus Blacklisting at www.spamhaus.org of an IP.
Terrorist Site - Hosting or Linking to a Site Advocating Terrorism.
( See http://www.treas.gov/offices/enforcement/ofac/programs/terror/terror.pdf )
Tools - Hosting, Distributing, or Linking to Cracking, DoS, Forgery, Infection, or Scanning Software or Instruction.
Trademark - Hosting, Distributing, or Linking to Trade Mark Infringed Materials.
Upstream AUP - Violation of AUP of the Upstream Provider of Branzone, Inc.
Wares - Hosting, Distributing, or Linking to Cracks, Hacks, Key Generators, Serials, or Pirated Software.
Web Spider - Use of a Web Spider, Crawler, or Bot for Unauthorized Connection to 3rd Party Web Servers.
Management, Administration, and Security Responsibilities
You are solely responsible, without limitation, for the management, administration, and security of the Services, Servers, and IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc., for any and all data stored or transmitted on, to, from, or through the Services, Servers, and IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc., and for all passwords provided to you by Branzone, Inc. Should it become necessary for Branzone, Inc. to perform, at your request, any management, administration, or security work on the Services, Servers, or IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc. to resolve a violation of this AUP in a manner acceptable to Branzone, Inc., you agree to pay Branzone, Inc. $150.00 USD per hour one-hour minimum.
Contact Information
You are responsible for maintaining your contact information in the ticket system such that your registered contact email address is always reachable even in the event of disconnection of the Services, Servers, or IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc.
IP Address Overlap
Use of a publicly routable IP address not provided to you by Branzone, Inc. on the Services or Servers provided to you by Branzone, Inc. is a violation of this AUP.
Network Performance
Branzone, Inc. provides shared network resources and, therefore, excessive use or abuse of these shared network resources by one client of Branzone, Inc. may adversely affect other clients of Branzone, Inc. or the network of Branzone, Inc. Any misuse of network resources in a manner which may adversely affect other clients of Branzone, Inc. or the network of Branzone, Inc. is a violation of this AUP.
Internet Etiquette
You and all users of the Services, Servers, and IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc. are expected to practice good Internet etiquette (Netiquette). Any activity or data stored or transmitted on, to, from, or through the Services, Servers, or IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc. which may adversely affect other clients of Branzone, Inc. or the network of Branzone, Inc. as a result of an offended third person or party is a violation of this AUP.
Definition of SPAM
All Unsolicited Bulk Email or "UBE", email which is both unsolicited and bulk, is hereby defined in this AUP as spam. Unsolicited means the recipient did not give verifiable, deliberate, explicit, and revocable permission for the message to be sent. Bulk means the message was sent to multiple recipients with substantively identical content and, therefore, the recipient's personal identity and context are irrelevant because the email is equally applicable to multiple recipients. Spam is an issue of consent, not content. No other definition of spam including, without limitation, Title 15 USC Chapter 103 Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing § 7702 et. al or "CAN-SPAM Act" applies to the definition of spam as used in this AUP.
Opt-In Mailing Lists
Mailing lists must be true opt-in which requires you to provide to the recipient either a confirmation email or a confirmation web page whereby the recipient must have replied with a confirmation email having a unique tracking number or must have clicked a hyperlink in the confirmation email having a unique tracking number maintained in your web server log file or must have clicked the hyperlink in the confirmation web page having a unique tracking number maintained in your web server log file thereby granting verifiable, deliberate, explicit, and revocable permission to be added to the specific opt-in email list at the specific site both of which must be hosted on the network of Branzone, Inc. and under your administrative control. You are required to provide the confirmation email reply with unique tracking number or the web server log file line having the unique tracking number as evidence that the recipient did, indeed, opt-in to the email list. You are also required to provide at least one simple method to opt out of the email list which must be honored immediately.
Free Hosting Services
You are liable and responsible for violations of this AUP by all third persons or parties for whom you provide free web, mail, ftp, or other hosting. Branzone, Inc. strongly advises you not to provide free hosting to unknown third persons or parties. If a pattern of violations of this AUP from the Services, Servers, or IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc. occurs resulting from such free hosting, Branzone, Inc. may, at the sole discretion of Branzone, Inc., suspend or cancel any or all Services, Servers, and IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc. or require you to remove such free hosting from the Services, Servers, and IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc.
TOR and Anonymous Routers or Routing Protocols
If an alleged or actual violation of this AUP is believed, in the sole discretion of Branzone, Inc., to have occurred on, to, from, or through the Services, Servers, or IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc. on which TOR or an anonymous router or routing protocol exists, the alleged or actual violation of this AUP shall be deemed to have occurred whether verifiable evidence exists or not and Branzone, Inc. shall enforce this AUP at the sole discretion of Branzone, Inc.
Billing
You are responsible for paying for any network resources used to connect the Services, Servers, and IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc. to the Internet. Pursuant to the Terms of Service of Branzone, Inc., you may request that the Services, Servers, and IP Addresses provided to you by Branzone, Inc. be disconnected from the Internet. However, you remain responsible for paying for any network resources used up to the time of disconnection.
Violations of this AUP should be reported to abuse@branzone.com
