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localconnect policies

Helpdesk (http://www.nb.net/Helpdesk)(helpdesk@nb.net)
NBN Usage Policies (http://www.nb.net/Helpdesk/policies.shtml)
Hoaxes and Viruses (http://www.nb.net/Helpdesk/virusinfo.shtml)
FAQ (http://www.nb.net/Helpdesk/FAQ)
Webmail Instructions (http://www.nb.net/Helpdesk/wm2.html)
Computer Protections (http://www.nb.net/Helpdesk/protectyourpc.html)
Troubleshooting (http://www.nb.net/Helpdesk/ts2.html)
Services (http://www.nb.net/Services/services.shtml)
Virtual Housecall (http://www.nb.net/vhc)

INDEX:

TERMS AND CONDITIONS

The following document describes The National Business Network, Inc.'s (NBN) Internet Access policies.

To request a copy of these NBN policies, customers can email Helpdesk. Questions regarding these policies can also be directed to Helpdesk.

The use of NBN's Internet Access Services must confirm to NBN Usage Policies. Transmission of any material in violation of any federal, state or local regulation is prohibited and will result in termination of services. NBN does not own or control many of the various facilities, telecommunication lines, or computing resources to which it may provide access. Use of other organizations' networks and computing resources must comply with the policies of those organizations. Reliance on or use of any information obtained via NBN is at your own risk and NBN specifically denies any responsibility for accuracy or quality or information obtained through its network.

NBN MAKES NO WARRANTIES EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, including warranties of fitness for a particular purpose or merchantability. Internet Access Services may be revoked at NBN's discretion. Should this occur, you will be informed in writing. National Business Network reserves the right to, without limitation, take action to recover the cost and expense of identifying offenders and removing them from NBN's service and levying cancellation charges to cover NBN's costs.

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BILLING PROCEDURES

You agree to the rates and billing procedures as set forth in these terms and conditions.

The initial billing of all new accounts will be processed within three (3) business days. Your billing period will begin on either the 1st or the 15th of each month, whichever is closer to your activation date. If the billing date falls on a weekend or holiday, the invoice or credit charge will occur on the nearest business day after the billing date.

The standard method of billing is to automatically debit your credit or debit account on a monthly basis in advance of services received. The customer must notify NBN if there is any change to the credit card or expiration date to be used for billing. Failure to do so may result in the credit card being declined which may lead to account suspension.

If for any reason, your credit card is declined you will be notified by e-mail. The account balance must then immediately be paid or risk suspension.

If paying by check or money order, payment is due, in full, within five (5) days from the due date of your invoice. Failure to do so risks account suspension.

The standard method of invoiced billing is to e-mail invoices on a quarterly basis, in advance of services received. If for any reason, a check is returned to us by our bank, you will be assessed a $25.00 "Returned Check Fee."

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CANCELING YOUR ACCOUNT:

Customer Cancellation: Cancellation of your account must be received by NBN five (5) working days prior to the start of each billing period for which the cancellation is to be effective. Cancellations must be submitted in writing and either mailed or faxed to NBN. Cancellations may also be emailed to accounts@nb.net or helpdesk@nb.net. All cancellations must be submitted by an authorized user of the account. The user is responsible for all charges accumulated through the end of the cancellation billing period.

No Refund Policy: All requests for account cancellations will be finalized on the 1st and 15th of each month. Customers will have full access to e-mail and the Internet until termination at the end of the billing cycle. There is no pro-rating of accounts and no partial-month refunds. Those accounts paid quarterly will be refunded any full unused months minus a $5.00 cancellation fee.

NBN Account Cancellation: If your account is cancelled for non-payment, it will not be reinstated until the account is paid in full.

NBN reserves the right to cancel any delinquent account without notice. The user is responsible for all charges accumulated through the end of the cancellation billing period. Cancelled accounts may be reactivated at the discretion of NBN, with outstanding balances paid in full.

Customers who have a past due balance when they cancel their account, are responsible for any past debt along with current fees. If they wish to re-establish services with NBN, any outstanding balances must be paid in full. If for any reason, a check is returned to us by our bank, there will be assessed a $25.00 "Returned Check Fee".

When an account is cancelled, all files associated with that account including email and web page files, will be removed from the system. NBN maintains back up copies of email and web page files for a few days. Requests to recover lost files after this time cannot be fulfilled. Requests to recover lost or deleted files are billed at $25.00 per incident.

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SUSPENDING YOUR ACCOUNT:

An Account Suspension is a temporary stoppage to Internet access and/or email access to an account. Although access is temporarily stopped, the account information remains on our system.

Type of Suspensions:

1. Non payment: Internet and Email Access is disabled until payment is received or the account is deleted due to non-payment.
2. Customer Requested Suspension: Internet and Email Account(s) are temporarily disabled at the customer's request. Monthly charge $3.00.
3. Customer Requested Suspension w/Email: Internet Access is temporarily disabled. Email Accounts remain functional. Monthly charge $5.00.

The National Business Network reserves the right to suspend any deliquent account without notice.

Customer Requested Account Suspension

From time to time a customer requests to have an account suspended for a period of time (vacation, equipment problems, etc). NBN can suspend Internet Access Service for a maximum of three months.

Suspending your Internet Access and maintaining Email Access will reduce the monthly charge to $5.00/mo. The account will no longer provide Internet Access while in suspension however, any Email accounts associated with the suspended account will remain active and will be accessible via NBN's webpage (www.nb.net)

If email access is also suspended the monthly suspension charge will be $3.00/mo.

Minimum suspension period is four weeks. Suspensions must be paid in advance. If the suspended period is exceeded for more than two weeks without hearing from the customer, the account will be deleted.

If you do not wish to use or maintain your email account, you can cancel your account and call to reactivate the account when you return from your trip. When choosing cancellation and reactivation of your account, we cannot guarantee that you will receive the same login and email address.

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CONFIDENTIAL INFORMATION:

Some information about NBN users will be kept on-line for administrative use. This information may include, but is not limited to, the following:
  1. UserID
  2. Customer Name
  3. Customer Address
  4. Customer Phone Number
  5. Method of access
This information will be considered confidential and will not be made available to marketing firms or to any government agencies without NBN being served with appropriate legal documentation. However, some information such as the UserID and Customer Name may be available to other users through normal system operations.

User information may also be used to evaluate system performance and usage (i.e. to determine which boards are read most frequently, which games are played most frequently, and the gathering of normal operating system usage information). While some of this information may identify individual users, any records concerning user activities will be kept confidential. In most cases, individual UserIDs will not be stored beyond the required time necessary to compile general usage statistics.

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PRIVACY:

Users may expect their electronic mail to be private. This means that other NBN users will not have access to read other users' electronic mail unless given explicit permission by the owner of the account. Users should be made aware that no computer security system, no matter how elaborate, can absolutely guarantee that other users will not be able to find a way to access data or electronic mail which they are not authorized to access. Thus, while NBN will try to provide our users with a reasonably secure electronic environment, we cannot guarantee the absolute privacy or confidentiality of any specific files on the system. Although NBN does not regulate the content of electronic mail or other files, NBN system administrators, in order to preserve the integrity and normal operation of the system, may find it necessary to look at any data or files which reside on NBN systems without the user's prior consent.

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SYSTEM SECURITY AND PASSWORDS:

Each individual account has been assigned a login ID and initial password. localconnect(sm) has the right to refuse ANY user name, e-mail address pr password we feel is inappropriate. Users who have forgotten their account passwords will be required to phone NBN's offices and to identify themselves adequately to the customer support representative on duty. Information used in the identification process is found from the users application for an account. If the customer support representative is not satisfied that the caller is the actual owner of the account, the password will not be changed for the caller. In the case of such an event, the caller will be requested to make alternate arrangements to verify their identity.

Changing your password:

Any changes in the password must be done from our office. Your password must contain a minimum of seven (7) and a maximum of eight (8) characters and must be a combination of both upper and lower case letters as well as numeric characters (excluding the "&" symbol and other special characters) The use of "vanity" passwords is encouraged. (example: Ibr8k4U, "I brake for you.") For security reasons, we do recommend that you change your password on a regular basis.

Other Security Concerns:

Because of security concerns, shell access to our system is restricted. Shell access is considered on a case-by-case basis. If you wish to be allowed shell access, please e-mail helpdesk@nb.net with your request. The request must include the reason you would like to have shell access and a daytime phone number where we may reach you at if we have any questions regarding your request. Once shell access is granted to a specific user, NBN will review and reconsider such access on a periodic basis.

Shell access may only be accomplished using an SSH client. Telnet access is blocked.

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ACCEPTABLE USAGE POLICIES:

This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") is a guide to the acceptable use of Customer Accounts and the Services provided by NBN. It is an integral part of the Service Agreement entered into between NBN and a Customer; any violation of this AUP is subject to sanction, including, without limitation, a warning E-mail, suspension of the Customer Account, or termination of the Customer Account, in NBN's sole discretion. In the event that a Customer Account is suspended or terminated as a result of violations, reconnecting charges may apply if NBN elects to re-enable the Account. All capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning set forth in the Service Agreement.

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GENERAL GUIDELINES

NBN user accounts are intended to provide Internet access to private individuals and corporate entities. Because the NBN systems are a finite shared resource, some behavior is strictly prohibited as outlined below.

NBN provides its clients with access to people throughout the world using connections to networks outside NBN. In general, it is the responsibility of those networks to enforce their own acceptable use policies. NBN will inform its clients of any restrictions in the use of networks to which it is directly connected that are out of the ordinary.

NBN accepts no responsibility for traffic originating on its own network from any customer account. NBN will use reasonable efforts to notify each Customer if the Customer's use of the Services violates the Acceptable Use Policy of any directly or indirectly connected networks.

Users will have access to the NBN system 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, barring unavoidable system or network problems which might prevent such access. When possible, users will be notified electronically of any scheduled downtime which might affect their ability to access the NBN systems. NBN retains the right to limit system access during scheduled and unscheduled systems maintenance. NBN will attempt to schedule any maintenance that may interfere with user access for periods that will cause the least interference. It may be necessary, from time to time, to limit access when the maintenance cannot be scheduled for off-peak periods.

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SPECIFIC GUIDELINES.

All Customers agree to conform to the following guidelines. Failure to comply with these guidelines as set forth above, any violation of this AUP is subject to sanction, including, without limitation, a warning E-mail, suspension of the Customer Account, or termination of the Customer Account, in NBN's sole discretion. In the event that a Customer Account is suspended or terminated as a result of violations, reconnecting charges may apply if NBN elects to re-enable the Account. All capitalized terms not defined herein shall have the meaning set forth in the Service Agreement. When activities do involve criminal activity, NBN system administrators will cooperate fully with Local, State, or Federal authorities. Specific acceptable use guidelines are:
  1. It is not acceptable to use the Services for ANY purposes which violate United States federal, state or local law. Please Note: Any materials which are protected under US copyright laws cannot be freely distributed over the internet. Doing so, without express written consent of the copyright holder, violates US Federal laws. Movies, music and other digital media are protected under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act.
  2. It is not acceptable to use the Services to transmit threatening, obscene, pornographic, illegal, or harassing or legally protected materials.
  3. NBN strives to provide a family-safe environment on the Web. We do respect the right to free speech, but ask that you also consider the rights of those that may see your page. The guideline above requests that you do not post obscene or pornographic images. We also request that if you wish to post text or images which may be considered inappropriate for children, or offensive to others, your main page be a "splash" page. The splash page should include a warning of the content, and should be a "click to enter" page. The warning page should not automatically redirect to your main page.
  4. Use should be consistent with guiding ethical statements and accepted community standards. For example, unsolicited advertising or "spamming" is not acceptable. Please refer to Fighting Spam. Advertising is permitted on some mailing lists and news groups if the mailing list or news group explicitly allows advertising.
  5. It is not acceptable to use the Services so as to interfere with or disrupt network users, services, or equipment, or any actions which are intended to use unreasonable system resources or otherwise interfere with another user's ability to utilize the NBN systems. Such interference or disruptions include, but are not limited to, distribution of unsolicited advertising, propagation of computer worms or viruses, and using the network to make unauthorized entry to any other computational, information, or communications devices or resources, including but not limited to, any machines accessible via the Internet. For example, Customer shall not intentionally develop programs that harass other users or infiltrate a computer or computing system and/or damage or alter the software components of a computer or computing system. Likewise, Customer shall not waste system resources by spawning multiple processes, consuming excessive amounts of memory or CPU for long periods of time, or staying attached to modems while not really "active" on the line.
  6. It is assumed that information and resources available via the Services are private to those individuals and organizations which own or hold rights to those resources and information, unless specifically stated otherwise by the owners or holders of the rights. It is therefore not acceptable for an individual to use the Services to access information or resources unless permission to do so has been granted by the owners or holders of those rights.
    Any attempt to break into and/or access an account or system which you have no legitimate right to use (either on NBN systems, or on other sites and systems on the Internet), or any attempt to access and/or modify files not belonging to you and for which you do not have explicit permission to do so, will result in immediate account termination. No prior notice of cancellation will be given in such circumstances. Should such activity also involve criminal activity, NBN system administrators will cooperate fully with Local, State, or Federal authorities.
  7. Web space for both Business and Individual Accounts can ONLY be used for the owner of the account. Web space may not be resold to other entities and may not be used by other entities. Any reselling of NBN resources can only be done with the EXPRESS WRITTEN CONSENT OF NBN. Web space allocated to Individual Accounts may not be used for any commercial transactions. Business Accounts may be used for this purpose.
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ACCOUNT LIMITATIONS

1. Personal use is the interactive use by the customer of services provided by NBN. The Customer must use resources efficiently and accept limitations or restrictions on computing resources such as storage space, bandwidth, CPU, and dial-in access. Specifically, you may not run "bots" or automatic programs that maintain an unattended dial-in connection, nor may the customer run an HTTP, FTP, IRC or other server. Dial-in access and bandwidth are finite shared resoures among our entire customer base. "Camping (remaining on-line for unreasonably long periods of time) abuses these shared resoucres and is not allowed. Dial-in access is defined as "unlimited, interactive and reasonable use". Customers are responsible for terminating dial-in connections they are not actively using.

2. Dial-in access numbers provided by NBN are, according to our records, local for calls from your telephone exchange. Please note that because calling plans can vary so widely, it is your responsibility to check with your telephone service provider to ensure that the number we provide is local for your calling plan. NBN is not responsible for any local toll or long distance charges incurred for dialing into our network.

3. Internet service accounts are for particular users and customers therefore agree not to share passwords or use of accounts with others. You may not resell any part of this service to anyone else. Any liability associated with any actions taken using an NBN account are the responsibility of the owner of the account used.

4. A personal account (and other account types which only allow a single access at any time) may be used either by a single person on multiple computers (for instance at home and at work) OR by multiple users of the same machine if those users are the members of the same household or office (e.g. - you and your immediate family at home or you and your co-workers at a small office). If you use your account at work then you must insure that no one at home can use the account while you are at work.

5. Backup Files. NBN does not guarantee backup copies of any files (e-mail or other files) stored in the user's home directories. It is the user's responsibility to keep a backup copy of his/her own files. If files are lost due to an error on the NBN system, a recovery from backup tape will be attempted. Files recovered from backup tapes may be up to seven (7) days old. Files lost when an account is cancelled (and a file purge is completed,) cannot be recovered.

6. System Upgrades. To keep up with changing technologies and network growth, NBN may occasionally perform system upgrades to hardware or software. Upgrades will be completed by NBN in such a manner as to cause the least amount of disruption in service. Occasional outages may result from such upgrades, and NBN cannot be held responsible for unforeseen problems related to system issues, or the role of outside vendors during these times.

Dial up customers should always configure their computer to use "server assigned" IP addresses and DNS numbers. Direct Connect customers (T1, Ethernet, Wireless, etc) should use the IP and DNS settings assigned with their account. It is preferable to refer to DNS entries by DNS name. DNS numbers and IP addresses may change without notice, however NBN will make the appropriate changes to ensure that DNS names will resolve. If you have hard-coded your IP address or DNS numbers, NBN cannot be held responsible for resulting problems or business loss.

7. Outages. Internet outages can occur without warning. NBN cannot be held responsible for such outages, or for any losses which may incur during such outages. When system or equipment failures occur within our private network, traffic will be rerouted, or equipment replaced, as soon as possible. NBN cannot be responsible for system traffic halted by problems with outside vendors.

8. Enforcement. NBN will review violations of our Acceptable Use Policy on a case-by-case basis. Clear violations, which are not promptly remedied by Customer, may result in termination of any or all Services. NBN reserves the right to monitor Customer's actions when necessary to determine whether or not Customer is violating the conditions of use.

9. Indemnity. Customer agrees to indemnify and defend NBN for claims or charges resulting from (1) Customer's use of the Services in violation of this AUP; (2) material posted on the Internet by Customer; or (3) any obligations to third parties incurred by Customer through Customer's use of the Services.

10. Amendment. NBN may amend this AUP from time to time in accordance with the terms of the Service Agreement. It is the Customer's responsibility to review this document from time to time.

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INTERNET E-MAIL POLICIES:

1. Users will be subject to all applicable Federal and State laws regarding the transfer of electronic communications. This includes but is not limited to: threatening mail, attacks against other Internet sites, and mail bombing.

2. Stored electronic mail messages will affect user account disk space quotas. Users will not be held responsible for receiving messages which are large enough to exceed their disk quota provided that the message is removed from the system in a reasonable period of time (within 7 days).

3. The propagation of chain letters and e-mail or virus hoaxes is strictly prohibited. For more information on this topic, please visit our page regarding hoaxes and viruses.

4. Commercial solicitations should never be sent to random users on NBN or other systems (including newsgroups).

5. Forged or anonymous electronic mail is strictly forbidden.

6. Recovery of deleted email messages, when possible, will incur a cost of $25.00 per incident.

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USENET NEWSGROUPS:

Newsgroups are not provided at this time by NBN.

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TIPS AND GUIDELINES

Keep in mind that when you are sending messages or responding to messages sent by other users that your readers may be from other states or even other countries. Many will come from different backgrounds and cultures as well. Be aware that without vocal inflection and body language, sarcasm, fractiousness and otherwise innocent "fun" can easily be misinterpreted as being rude or abusive. Once a message has been sent out, you can no longer change it. Therefore users should carefully consider the content and language used in electronic messages. The following brief guidelines may be helpful in allowing you to communicate effectively with other Internet users.

- Always use a brief but descriptive subject line in your messages.

- When replying to a specific message, remind the sender or readers briefly of the point of the message to which you are responding.

- Refrain from being rude or abusive.

- Avoid making sarcastic or facetious remarks as they are often misinterpreted by other readers.

- Proofread your messages before you send them. Many readers assume that a lack of proper grammar, spelling or usage reflects a lack of understanding or attention to general ideas. A few minutes spent proofreading to correct errors can prevent others from having to spend additional time attempting to decipher a poorly phrased message.

- Avoid "flame wars". Flame wars occur when users disagree on the content of a given discussion and react in anger or frustration, rather than attempting to see the other users' points of view.

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COMPUTING RESOURCES:

The NBN system is designed to provide Internet connection services. In order to offer the finest services available, the compiling of computer programs is discouraged. As compiling source code is necessary in the provision of a full-service account, NBN systems offer access to compilers as a no-charge, add-on option. Users needing the option to run compilers should send an E-mail request to the Helpdesk. The E-mail message should provide a demonstrated need to run compilers as well as an understanding of how to do so without hindering other users' access to system resources. Compilation should not be done without the express permission of the NBN system administrators.

As an Internet provider, NBN does not support application development. Questions which are related to compiler performance, application development or programming in general will not be answered.

These Terms and conditions reflect the entire agreement of parties and supercedes all prior oral or written agreements and understandings of the parties. These Terms and Conditions shall be governed and interpreted in accordance with the laws of the State of Pennsylvania.

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CUSTOMER TECHNICAL SUPPORT:

NBN Customer Technical Support is available at:
1-888-594-8324
Monday: 9 am - 7 pm
Tuesday - Friday: 9 am - 6 pm

Technical support is also available through our Helpdesk by email. More commonly asked specific questions are answered in the FAQ section of our Helpdesk page including Webmail Instructions, Computer Protections, and Troubleshooting.

Additional Technical Support

NBN also provides technical support outside of connectivity issues. Please visit Services for more information. Technical support can be offered on site in some PA areas and also by Virtual Housecall anywhere in the United States.

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