ClwWeb Use Policy

GENERAL USE POLICIES

Pend Oreille Valley Networks provides a gateway to the Internet for individuals, businesses, and organizations and is committed to providing a reliable "host" environment and the highest quality Internet access possible.

This user's Agreement is designed to define and explain the agreement between Clearwater Web Solutions (to be known in the rest of this document as "CWS") with Pend Oreille Valley Networks (to be known as “POVN”) and its subscribers.
All clients of CWS/POVN and its affiliates are bound by the terms of the Systems Use Policy and, where applicable, its addendums that address specific services.

1. A CWS/POVN account is an arrangement between CWS/POVN and its subscriber's that allows its subscribers access to the Internet and use of other CWS/POVN services via POVN's systems. CWS/POVN accounts and the provisions of this agreement are nontransferable.

2. The subscriber agrees to pay in advance, the fee being charged by CWS at the time of service for a minimum of one month, due at the start of service. Charges commence on the date of activation and continue until such time as the subscriber notifies CWS to discontinue service, and are nonrefundable. Non use of the system shall not be considered grounds for refund.

3. Partial month’s services will not be refunded regardless of reason.

4. CWS/POVN has committed to its sub-contractors for semiannual and annual prepaid accounts. Thus, early cancellation of a semiannual or annual account is not subject to refund. An exception would be if the client provides verification of moving to an area where CWS/POVN cannot provide equal service. Such refund is calculated by reverting the prior months used to the applicable monthly charge and issuing credit for the balance of the amount originally paid.

5. Subscriber agrees to be responsible for all charges rising from the use of the account, including, but not limited to, enhanced service charges, charges incurred by an account holder on another Internet host, and all additional phone charges, including long-distance. In addition to unlimited usage dial-up plans, CWS/POVN offers limited use dial-up plans. The fee for going over the limited numbers of hours per month is $1 per hour. These fees are assessed at the end of the billing cycle for the previous month's usage and are due when billed. Customers can monitor their usage from the POVN website, under the heading "my account".

6. CWS/POVN reserves the right to suspend or cancel any delinquent account that is over 15 days past the due date or for rejection of any credit card charges or for checks returned for insufficient funds. A $30.00 fee will be assessed on all returned checks and denied credit card transactions.. Collection of past due balance is handled by an outside agency. Additional charges and interest assessed by the outside agency will be the responsibility of the subscriber. An account holder wishing to reopen and access services after termination must pay any balance due and is subject to reinstatement fees.

7. CWS/POVN reserves the right to close an account for suspected or actual breaches of its System Use Policy, and use of the host system in a manner which is harmful to CWS/POVN or its subscribers. All costs incurred because of system down time resulting, directly or indirectly, from willful abuse of the system by the account holder will be the responsibility of the account holder, and the time required to restore the system will be billed at the rate of three hundred dollars an hour to the account holder.

8. If, at any time, it becomes necessary for CWS or POVN, Inc., or the account holder, to use legal recourse for a dispute between CWS/POVN and the account holder both parties agree to mediation through a recognized mediation service, and will not pursue recourse through legal action regardless of outcome.

9. CWS/POVN may terminate any account for any reason at its sole discretion including, but not limited to malicious or illegal use of its host system or the Internet, including e-mail messages which are perceived, in any manner, directly or indirectly, as threatening, offensive, harassing, or contradictory to the standards of Internet convention, and including port scanning or other attempted invasion of other people's networks or systems. CWS/POVN will review all complaints regarding malicious or illegal use of the system and/or harassing e-mail, and render judgment based on the System Use Policy and what is in the best interest of CWS/POVN’s subscribers.

10. Multiple, identical news group postings, bulk email, and unsolicited e-mail messages are a violation of CWS/POVN's System Use Policy and widely held standards of Internet etiquette. Anyone using CWS/POVN's mailservers to send unsolicited bulk email, will have their account(s) terminated immediately. This includes the use of a mail server with open relays on CWS/POVN's system. Open relay mail servers are strictly prohibited.

11. The account holder or subscriber is responsible for all use of his/her CWS/POVN account, including security, online storage space, usage time, all e-mail postings that originate from their account, and protection of their account password. CWS/POVN is not responsible for any account holder’s data or personal files on its host system, and account holders are responsible for the backup of significant data and files.

12. Use of any CWS/POVN account is expressly limited to the individual, business, or organization named on the account application form.

13. The account holder or subscriber agrees to use his/her CWS/POVN account in accordance with all applicable state and federal laws.

14. CWS/POVN reserves the right, but is not obligated in any way, to view or edit publicly viewable data, including e-mail messages on its host system, and to delete any information on its host system at CWS/POVN’s sole discretion.

15. All e-mail, World Wide Web pages, and any file located in a publicly accessible directory are considered publicly viewable, and CWS/POVN is not liable for the protection, confidentiality or content of them or any information transferred to or from another Internet host.

16. Account holder agrees that material available through his/her account does not violate or infringe on any copyright, patent, applicable law, or contain information of an obscene nature.

17. The use of any CWS/POVN account for housing World Wide Web pages that advertise, sell, or promote any commercial business, service, or product without the consent of CWS/POVN is prohibited.

18. CWS/POVN owns and maintains all I.P. addresses and reserves the right to change them with appropriate written notification.

19. CWS/POVN is not responsible for any costs, loss of income, or damages relating to the use of its host system, products, software, and services. Services are provided as available, without any expressed warranties, and are subject to change without notice.

20. CWS/POVN will delete any email boxes where payment is past due.. CWS/POVN will not be responsible for the loss of any files or documents associated with the account.

21. CWS/POVN will not release account holders personal information to other parties unless required by the appropriate authority.

22. Non enforcement on any portion of this Agreement does not constitute consent, and CWS/POVN, Inc. reserves the right to enforce our System Use Policy, this Agreement, at its sole discretion. If one or more sections of this Agreement are found to be unenforceable or invalid, the remaining sections will still be considered valid.

23. If the account holder is under 18 years of age, either a parent or legal guardian who is responsible for the terms of this Agreement must sign and assume responsibility for this Agreement and all charges owed by the account holder.

24. CWS/POVN reserves the right to modify the terms of this agreement, and account prices without notice. Continued use of the system after such time will constitute account holders acceptance of the changes.

ANTI-SPAM POLICY

CWS/POVN is proactive against spam. Since filtering it on our own has proven to be impossible, we have hired Postini, the company that sets the standard in spam and virus control, to do our filtering for us. Every CWS/POVN customer is entitled to a free spam control center. For details on how Postini works, please go to http://www.povn.net/postini.html. If you are using Postini and are still getting spam, please call us. Some spammers are going around Postini and connecting directly to the mailserver. We have a special set of filters we will be happy to apply to your box at your request.
CWS/POVN does not allow customers to send unsolicited bulk email (SPAM) from its servers, or from foreign servers to advertise a website hosted at POVN. Any customer doing so will be terminated immediately per our System Use Policy.

What can you do to fight spam?

First, never, NEVER respond to an unwanted piece of bulk mail. Many will give you a box to check to unsubscribe to something you never subscribed to in the first place. A few of these are legitimate, but most will just land your email address on a list that will be sold to still more spammers.

Second, if you are using Postini and have the advanced filters on your mailbox and spam is still getting though, forward a copy to spam@postini.com. There are many legitimate vendors on the internet. A simple search for the product you want will find hundreds of vendors. Replying to spammers just encourages them and causes you to receive more and more spam.

CWS/POVN’s Internet Service is pleased to provide junk email and virus protection from Postini.

POVN has partnered with Postini to provide you the latest tools to prevent viruses and junk email from reaching your computer. We provide this service free to dialup and DSL clients as part of our commitment to bring you the best Internet service available. The service is available to Domain clients at an extra charge. Please call for details.

All of your email is filtered by the same professional filtering firm that does the filtering for many of the Fortune 500 companies. While Postini filters your email for both spam and viruses, please keep in mind that a worm can “crawl” into you computer anytime you are online so additional virus protection is strongly advised. Please consider the free anti-virus software from Avast (http://www.avast.com/eng/free_software.html) or AVG (http://www.avg.com/us.product-avg-anti-virus-free-edition).

Each customer has one Postini Spam Center. Multiple email addresses for one customer filter through the same Spam Center so it is necessary to check only one Postini box for mail that may be quarantined as spam but is really wanted.
When the service begins you will receive an activation notification from Postini.

The Postini services are private and secure. The junk email and virus protection is an automated process. Nobody has access to your email except you. Nobody will read your email. Your email is not censored, YOU control the filter settings.

Here is a brief overview of the Postini service:

Your email passes through Postini's automated filters that detect suspected junk email and viruses.
Suspicious email is directed to your personal, web-based, password-protected Message Center (it does not arrive at your computer's in box). Think of this as a quarantine area. In your Message Center you can read the quarantined email online, delete it, or deliver (forward) it to your inbox.
Initially you should visit your Message Center often because Postini "remembers and learns" from your interaction. As time goes on you will be able to rely on Postini's periodic notifications of your Message Center activity.
Postini lets you "block" senders; meaning email from them will always be filtered. Or you can "approve" senders; meaning their email will always be delivered.
This service is completely controlled by you.

When your service is activated you will be sent explicit instructions on how to access your Message Center and how to get the most out of your junk email and virus protection.
As always, if you have a question or problem, please call our technical support and we will be happy to assist you.

For information mail CWS
Updated 8-10-08

What does it mean to be an iCop(TM) Member?
It means that I uphold the strictest business practices
and require the same of my clients and the companies
of whom I am a client. It means I stand accountable
for everything I do in my business.

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