SBnet User Agreement

SBnet TERMS AND CONDITIONS - INTERNET ACCESS


GENERAL

Customer's use of SBnet network services constitutes Customer's acceptance of all Terms and Conditions of SBnet. Customer is hereby defined as any person or entity utilizing any service on the SBnet network. It is the sole responsibility of the customer to determine if the provided SBnet access telephone number will be a local telephone call. Customer is responsible for all phone charges incurred in connecting to SBnet. These include local messages units that may be applied to certain measured residential and business telephone lines. Conferred rights and benefits thereof are non-transferable. Use of SBnet network is expressly limited to Customer. SBnet and the customer may make service agreements in writing that will supercede and preside over this section.

SBNET INTERNET DIALUP ACCESS ACCOUNTS

Non-Dedicated Dial-up Connection (Standard SBnet Dial-up Account) Defined as a client based single-user attended access account. Attended access is defined as interactive use of an established Internet connection by the account holder. Interactive use requires the physical presence of the account holder; in other words, attended access. Pings, bots, and auto-checkers used to keep connections running for unattended use are prohibited. Single-user is defined as one concurrent login per access account holder. Multiple concurrent logins for a single-user account will be considered a request for an additional Internet access account and will be billed accordingly. Use of a non-dedicated dial-up connection for the purpose of running any type of Internet server (Web, Chat, FTP, IRC, etc.) or connection of a multi-user local area network (LAN) to the Internet is expressly prohibited. SBnet and the customer may make service agreements in writing that will supercede and preside over this section.

SBNET INTERNET DEDICATED CONNECTION ACCOUNTS

Defined as client and/or server-based multi-user attended or unattended access account. SOHO and Corporate dedicated Internet access account connections may be utilized for the purpose of running Internet servers, such as Web, Chat, FTP, etc. Account holder will be charged at the posted rate for transfer bandwidth rounded up to the nearest GB for transfer bandwidth past the package limit. A full or partial waiver for fee in any period does not preclude future charges. SOLO Internet access accounts are for the attended use of the purchaser and are specifically disallowed from using any hardware or software based routing device. Use of a SOLO Internet access account for the purpose of running any type of Internet server (Web, Chat, FTP, etc.) or connection of a multi-user local area network (LAN) to the Internet is expressly prohibited. Unless expressly stated in package description, account sharing by non purchasers, for any type of account offered by SBnet is strictly prohibited and shall be cause for immediate termination of service or package upgrade at sole discretion of SBnet. For purposes of this section, "purchaser" includes staff, members and employees of the purchasing business, corporation or organization when use of account is for activities related to needs of the purchasing organization. Discounts may be available for multiple accounts. No connection is sold for the purpose of resale. SBnet and the customer may make service agreements in writing that will supercede and preside over this section.

LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, WARRANTY, AND SUITABILITY

SBnet ("SBnet") exercises no control whatsoever over the content of the information passing through SBnet. SBnet makes no warranties of any kind, whether expressed or implied, for the service it is providing. SBnet also disclaims any warranty of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. SBnet will not be responsible for any damage you suffer from use of SBnet. This includes loss of data resulting from delays, nondeliveries, misdeliveries, or service interruptions caused by its own negligence or by negligence of its upstream providers or communications suppliers, your errors or omissions, or due to inadvertent release or disclosure of information sent by you. Use of any information obtained via SBnet is at your own risk. SBnet specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its services. SBnet makes no warranty for bandwidth availability or bandwidth beyond its control. SBnet will maintain and manage its network, hardware and backbone link in a reasonable and best effort manner. SBnet is not responsible for the quality of any connection, direct or indirect, to SBnet that is provided over other networks, including but not limited to GTE. SBnet and the customer may make service agreements in writing that will supercede and preside over this section.

It is SBnet's policy to make reasonable efforts to maintain customer confidentiality, and as such, will not to provide, sell, or in any way disclose customer information to any organization, advertiser, or third party, except when legally ordered to by an officer of the court or as a function of business. Notwithstanding, SBnet disclaims any obligation or warranty to maintain the confidentiality of customer information or identity, and shall not be liable for any accidental disclosure by other services located on the internet, the customer, or any other individual or user of the internet. 

Customer shall assume all responsibility for taking precautions to avoid being placed on mailing lists or receiving unsolicited email ("SPAM".) SBnet does not control or filter incoming email, and shall not be held liable or be expected to provide remedy for any incoming unsolicited bulk mail ("SPAM") originating outside SBnet's network. Sole remedy shall be a no-charge onetime change in customers' email address, and customer agrees to pay reasonable setup fees for subsequent changes.

ACCEPTABLE USE AND RESPONSIBILITY OF CUSTOMER

SBnet may only be used for lawful purposes and with reasonable compliance to the Acceptable Use Policy. Transmission of any material in violation any U.S. or state regulation is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to: copyrighted material, material legally judged to be threatening or obscene, or material protected by trade secret. You agree to indemnify and hold harmless SBnet from any claims resulting from your use of the service, which damages you or another party. Notwithstanding the above, you agree that should we be found liable in a court of law for any action related to the use of SBnet service that our liability shall be limited to the unused balance of your monthly payment, pro-rated to reflect your current month. You will further agree that we reserve the right to terminate further service to your organization upon notice that you have, or intend to, initiate legal proceedings against SBnet of any kind. 

All SBnet subscribers agree to use and use only the email address as confirmed at time of signup for their "Return" and/or "Reply-To" Internet email address for all communication with SBnet such as customer support requests and billing inquiries. The use of a "fake" email address, email address belonging to another Internet user, or no email address as a "Return" and/or ";Reply-To" Internet email address is prohibited and such use shall be cause for immediate account termination. Use of SBnet Network for bulk and/or unsolicited email, commercial or otherwise, is prohibited and shall be cause for immediate account termination. 

Use of SBnet's NNTP news server for cross-posting messages to more than 10 news groups, the posting of off-topic messages to newsgroups, and/or as an advertising medium is prohibited and shall be cause for immediate account termination. The use of forged headers is prohibited. The use of the SBnet network to gain access and transmit unsolicited bulk email through a non-SBnet server is prohibited. Termination of service and a minimum of $150 cleanup fee shall be imposed whenever the SBnet network is utilized, in whole or in part, for transmission of unsolicited bulk email. 

Customer shall be held liable for any and all costs incurred by SBnet as a result of customer violation of these terms and conditions; including but not limited to attorney fees and costs resulting from Postmaster responses to complaints, and cleanup of unsolicited commercial mailings and/or unauthorized bulk mailings and/or news server violations. SBnet's current hourly rate for Postmaster responses to complaints and cleanup of unsolicited commercial mailings and/or unauthorized bulk mailings and/or news server violations is US $150 per hour, with a minimum one (1) hour charge. 

Newsgroup or email abuses originating from a non SBnet account will be treated as if they originated from the customer's SBnet account when the article or email message in question contains any references whatsoever to a SBnet hosted web site, FTP site, email address, etc. 

The use of SBnet to transmit certain kinds of information (including without limitation, computer software and other technical data) may violate export control laws and regulations of the United States, whether that information is received abroad or by foreign nationals within the United States. Since SBnet exercises no control whatsoever over the content of information passing through SBnet, the entire burden of complying with such laws and regulations rests with its customers. You agree to comply with such laws and regulations and to indemnify and hold SBnet harmless from any damages it may suffer resulting from any violation of the export control laws of the United States. Any access to other networks connected to SBnet must comply with the rules appropriate for that other network. Use of SBnet itself may be for any lawful purpose. Use of SBnet for commercial purposes is permitted, with the exception of sending unsolicited commercial bulk email ("SPAM") which is expressly prohibited. 

Any condition or action brought about by an account holders connection to SBnet that in any manner causes malfunction, disruption or degradation of SBnet service will be grounds for immediate disconnection and possible account termination at the sole discretion of SBnet. Any diagnostic or repair work required to return SBnet networking status to the condition prior to the event will be charged to the account holder of the responsible connection. Charges will be at the current labor rate in effect at the time of the event. Charges will be immediately due and payable.

Business Dialup Web Page space is offered at no additional monthly charge for Business Dialup Internet Access Account Subscribers. Business Dialup Web Page traffic is limited to 100 MB per month, total of all protocols. Accounts exceeding this traffic level are considered to be "other than Business Dialup use" and will be required to obtain a Web Hosting account to continue Web Hosting service. Support for Business Dialup web pages are limited to email, and will be answered by the Webmaster during business hours only. Free live technical support via telephone is not available for free Business Dialup Web Pages.

Virtual Domain use is limited only to amount of storage space and bandwidth purchased. Business hours tech support is available for common troubleshooting and development questions. Virtual Domain customers are welcome to request 1 hour of free maintenance and consultation each month. There is no carryover or banking of time allowed. SBnet shall be the sole timekeeper for time spent on any project, free maintenance and consultation inclusive. A 15 minute minimum will be considered to count towards the monthly hour for each issue or need presented to SBnet. 

LIMITED CONNECTION GUARANTEE

SBnet provides a limited connection guarantee to new customers. Due to millions of combinations of software and hardware that exist, a small percentage of computer systems are unable to run TCP/IP networking software, or have incompatible hardware, and can not connect to the internet. Customer must contact customer support during SBnet business hours within five days of signing up, or receiving SBnet software, whichever occurs later. If after following all instructions, customer can not connect to the Internet, the account will be cancelled and a full refund including setup fee will be made. Customer must cooperate fully with SBnet technical Support including following all instructions. SBnet reserves the right to inspect or observe the problem prior to granting a refund. Guarantee is void if customer uses software other than that provided or approved by SBnet. Connection shall be considered valid if customer can connect to the SBnet mail server and send and receive messages, and connect and "surf" on the World Wide Web. In the event of dedicated connection trouble, SBnet is responsible for the point of demarcation where the link connects the "modem" to the Ethernet cable that connects to your machine or network. In the troubleshooting of the link, if SBnet confirms to the satisfaction of SBnet and the Telco provider that the Permanent Virtual Circuit is functional and capable of allowing TCP/IP to run over the link, the link will be considered functional and usable. The customer is responsible for a functional computer, network card and cabling, and peripheral devices. The customer is responsible for all security precautions required over any Internet link connecting through SBnet. SBnet makes absolutely no warranty of security of any Internet connection. SBnet and the customer may make service agreements in writing that will supercede and preside over this section. 

PAYMENT TERMS AND CONDITIONS

Customer agrees to pay all charges incurred through access of customer account. The right to use the service is not transferable. Payment for all services is to be prepaid in advance. Payment is due upon receipt of invoice. Accounts are in default if payment is not received within 15 days after date of invoice. If your payment is returned to us unpaid you are immediately in default and subject to a returned check charge of $25 from SBnet in addition to any fees charged by your bank. Accounts in default may have their service interrupted. Such interruption does not relieve you from the obligation to pay the monthly charge. Only a written request to terminate your service relieves you of your obligation to pay the monthly account charge. 

In order to reduce administrative costs passed onto customers, SBnet is not obligated to mail paper invoices to customers. Customers may receive invoices via internet email. Customer agrees to pay for service when they sign up for access either by phone, in person, or the world wide web, and furthermore agrees to pay the amount with or without an invoice. Customer is responsible for accessing their SBnet email account to obtain their invoice in a timely fashion. Customer is responsible for notification to SBnet of any address changes, email or USPS, necessary to continue receiving SBnet invoices. SBnet shall not be responsible for delivery to non-SBnet email accounts or lost USPS mail. Customer shall retain cancelled check or credit card statement as their receipt. In the event of a cash payment, an cash receipt will be issued. 

Accounts in default are subject to an interest charge of 1.5% per month on the outstanding balance, as allowed per California State Law. If you default, you agree to pay SBnet reasonable expenses, including attorney and collection agency fees incurred in enforcing its rights under these Terms and Conditions. Service is invoiced monthly on the anniversary date (usually the same day of the month that you signed up on). SBnet reserves the rights to "normalize" your account's anniversary date to the first of each month by charging a one time pro-rated monthly amount plus one full month. 

Cancellations become effective at the end of the current billing period for monthly subscribers or the end of the current billing month for quarterly subscribers. There are no refunds issued for a partial period of service. Customers who sign up and commit for a minimum of six months or more and receive a waiver of setup fee agree to pay a full setup fee and full monthly rate difference if cancellation is made prior to the end of the commitment term. Any refunded amount will be limited to the original amount paid, less the pro rated amount of used full months service and the standard setup fee. Any leased or loaned equipment remains the property of SBnet and is to immediately returned upon cancellation of service. Any equipment not immediately returned to SBnet will be billed for at the full replacement value for "new" equipment.

Customer shall be responsible to determine if cancellation was processed via phone, email, or in writing, SBnet assumes no responsibility for lost cancellation notices. Cancellation will be accepted only from the person named on the account. Customer agrees that upon cancellation, customer will cease using the SBnet network. Use of the SBnet network after effective date of cancellation shall automatically void customers cancellation notice, and payment for the full period shall become due. 

SBnet may provide IP (Internet Protocol) addresses for certain types of service. These addresses are not transferable if you go to another Internet Service Provider. SBnet reserves the right to renumber its servers or clients at any time without prior notice. This is essential to the efficient operation of the Internet, and is in no way a business function of SBnet. All IP numbers remain under the full domain and control of SBnet at all times.

REFERRAL POLICY

SBnet offers its customers one free month of service for each paid subscription for referring peer customers, with the following limitations and exclusions. Referrals may not be applied to special or discount offers such as those offered to the public at trade shows. Referred customer must pay initial setup fee and one-month service, or six months or more with no setup fee, at full price, before credit will be applied to referring customer accounts. Upon receipt of payment, credit will be applied to referring customers account thirty days after customer's next anniversary date. Credit is for future month's service, and has no cash value. Referrals may not be used to reduce existing balance or cure past due accounts, and can not be used to restore service turned off for non-payment. Referral credit is non-transferable. Only one credit for each paying customer shall be issued. Pyramiding, "spiking" or other practices are prohibited. In the event a referral is disputed among one or more customers, SBnet shall make sole determination of the disposition of the referral, and reserves the right to withdraw referral credit for any account without notice. Customer is responsible to notify SBnet billing of referral for proper credit, and while customers are asked if they were referred by an existing customer, customer acknowledges SBnet is not responsible for omissions or wrong information provided at time of new signup. Request or notification for referral must be made within 45 days of signup. This section does not disallow or limit any reseller agreements.

SBnet PROVIDED SOFTWARE

SBnet may provide certain end-user software to facilitate your use of SBnet. Such software and any related documentation ("Licensed Program") are owned and copyrighted by SBnet and/or third party such as Microsoft and Netscape. You may not use, copy, modify, reverse engineer, sell, lease, sublease, or otherwise transfer the Licensed Program, or any copy or modification, in whole or in part, except as expressly provided hereunder. Under the terms of this license, you are given a personal, non-exclusive license to use the Licensed Program only in connection with your authorized use of SBnet pursuant to a valid agreement for services from SBnet ("Service Agreement") which has not been terminated. You may transfer copies of the Licensed Program to any potential user of SBnet, provided that such user agrees to be bound by the provisions hereof and only utilizes the Licensed Program while such user has in effect a valid Service Agreement with SBnet. SBnet shall provide you with free updates of the Licensed Program, if any, as are generally provided by SBnet to SBnet customers for so long as your Service Agreement remains in effect. Such updates shall be provided via modem. You agree to allow SBnet to provide such updates to the Licensed Program via modem and at all times to use the most current version of the licensed program as supplied to you by SBnet.

THE LICENSED PROGRAM IS PROVIDED "AS IS" WITHOUT WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, INCLUDING THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. SBnet SHALL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OF PROFITS, LOSS OF USE, INTERRUPTION OF BUSINESS, NOR FOR INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES OF ANY KIND WHETHER UNDER THIS AGREEMENT OR OTHERWISE, EVEN IF SBnet HAS BEEN ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES.

This license will automatically terminate if you fail to comply with any term or condition of this agreement, or in the event of termination of your service agreement with SBnet. You agree upon such termination to return the Licensed program or destroy it, along with any backup or other copies in your possession. These Terms and Conditions supersede all previous representations, understandings, or agreements and shall prevail notwithstanding any variance with terms and conditions of any order submitted. Connection to and/or use of SBnet constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions. These Terms and Conditions may be modified by SBnet upon 30 days prior written notice to you. Continued use of SBnet following such modifications constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions, as modified. All individuals accessing SBnet represent to SBnet that they are 18 years of age or older. If under 18 years of age, such individual is not permitted to access SBnet unless the express written agreement of such individual's parent or legal guardian has been furnished to SBnet. Certain material available through SBnet may not be suitable for individuals under the age of 18.


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In addition to the SBnet User Agreement above, SBnet customers must also follow GTE.NET Acceptable Use Policy.