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ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY
It is important to Marlin that its customers use Marlin's services and the Internet in general, responsibly and courteously. Most of our customers do so and seldom need to refer to this AUP. Nonetheless, the following constitute examples of unacceptable uses Marlin's services, which will result in suspension, or termination of the customer's account. This AUP applies to anyone who accesses Marlin's Web Site (http://marlinesolutions.com/) or uses any of Marlin's services and to each Marlin customer and its employees, agents, contractors or other users of such Marlin customer who obtain any services from Marlin (each such person being referred to hereinafter in this AUP as “You" or “Your”). Parents and guardians should remain aware at all times of what is on the Internet and how the minors under their care are using the Services and the Internet. Marlin reserves the right to suspend, discontinue, or deactivate service at any time in its sole discretion. Marlin will be the sole arbiter of what is and is not a violation of the AUP. Marlin reserves the right to terminate an account at any time and for any reason that causes harm to any Marlin websites or servers. Non-enforcement of any part of the AUP does not constitute consent. Marlin reserves the right to cooperate with appropriate legal authorities in investigations of claims of illegal activity involving Marlin's Services, customers and users. Marlin reserves all other rights to respond to violations of this AUP to the extent of applicable law and in accordance with any applicable contractual obligations.
1. ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY AMENDMENTS AND CHANGES.
Marlin reserves the right to revise, amend, or modify this AUP and any of our other policies and agreements at any time and in any manner. Marlin reserves the right to change the Acceptable Use Policy without prior notice or warning. Revisions, amendments, or modifications will be posted on Marlin's Web Site. It is Your responsibility to check back regularly for updates to ensure Your compliance with the AUP. Changes to this AUP do not constitute grounds for early contract termination or non-payment.
2. The following activities are prohibited by this AUP.
- Harassment: Use of the Marlin service to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting or otherwise) that harasses another.
- Threats: Use of Marlin's services to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting or otherwise) that threatens or encourages bodily harm or destruction of property.
- Illegal use: Marlin's services may not be used for illegal purposes, or in support of illegal activities. Marlin reserves the right to cooperate with legal authorities and/or injured third parties in the investigation of any suspected crime or civil wrongdoing.
- Forgery or impersonation: Adding, removing or modifying identifying network header information in an effort to deceive or mislead is prohibited. Attempting to impersonate any person by using forged headers or other identifying information is prohibited. The use of anonymous remailers or nicknames does not constitute impersonation.
- Fraudulent activity: Use of Marlin service to make fraudulent offers to sell or buy products, items, or services, or to advance any type of financial scam such as "pyramid schemes" and "chain letters."
- E-mail/Message Forging: Forging any message header, in part or whole, of any electronic transmission, originating or passing through the Marlin service is in violation of this AUP.
- Usenet SPAMing: Marlin has a zero tolerance policy for the use of its network for the posting of messages or commercial advertisements, which violate the rules, regulations, FAQ or charter of any newsgroups or mailing list. Commercial messages that are appropriate under the rules of a newsgroup or mailing list or that are solicited by the recipients are permitted.
- E-mail/News Bombing: Malicious intent to impede another person's use of electronic mail services or news will result in the immediate termination of the offending Marlin account.
- Unauthorized access: Use of the Marlin service to access, or to attempt to access, the accounts of others, or to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate, security measures of Marlin or another entity's computer software or hardware, electronic communications system, or telecommunications system, whether or not the intrusion results in the corruption or loss of data, is expressly prohibited and the offending Marlin account is subject to immediate termination.
- Collection of personal data: Use of the Marlin service to collect, or attempt to collect, personal information about third parties without their knowledge or consent.
- Network disruptions and unfriendly activity: Use of the Marlin service for any activity which affects the ability of other people or systems to use Marlin Services or the Internet. This includes "denial of service" (DOS) attacks against another network host or individual user. Interference with or disruption of other network users, services or equipment is prohibited. It is the Member's responsibility to ensure that their network is configured in a secure manner. A Subscriber may not, through action or inaction, allow others to use their network for illegal or inappropriate actions. A Subscriber may not permit their network, through action or inaction, to be configured in such a way that gives a third party the capability to use their network in an illegal or inappropriate manner. Unauthorized entry and/or use of another company and/or individual's computer system will result in immediate account termination. Marlin will not tolerate any subscriber attempting to access the accounts of others, or penetrate security measures of other systems, whether or not the intrusion results in corruption or loss of data.
- Use of the Marlin service to commit fraud which involves a knowing misrepresentation or misleading statement, writing or activity made with the intent that the person receiving it will act upon it.
- Use of the Marlin service to access, or to attempt to access the accounts of others, or to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate security measures of Marlin's or another entity's computer software or hardware, electronic communications system, or telecommunications system, whether or not the intrusion results in the corruption or loss of data, is expressly prohibited and the offending Marlin account is subject to immediate termination.
- Copyright or trademark infringement: Use of the Marlin service to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting or otherwise) that infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or other proprietary rights of any third party, including, but not limited to, the unauthorized copying of copyrighted material, the digitization and distribution of photographs from magazines, books, or other copyrighted sources, and the unauthorized transmittal of copyrighted software.
- Infringement of Copyright, Patent, Trademark, Trade Secret, or Intellectual Property Right: Distribution and/or posting of copyrighted or the aforementioned infringements will not be tolerated.
- Attempts to circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network or account. This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for You, logging into or making use of a server or account You are not expressly authorized to access, or probing the security of other networks. Use or distribution of tools designed for compromising security is also prohibited.
- Inappropriate Use of Software: Use of software or any device that would facilitate a continued connection, i.e. pinging, while using Marlin services could result in suspension service.
- Distribution of Viruses: Intentional distributions of software that attempts to and/or causes damage, harassment, or annoyance to persons, data, and/or computer systems are prohibited. Such an offense will result in the immediate termination of the offending account.
- Third Party Accountability: Marlin subscribers will be held responsible and accountable for any activity by third parties, using their account, that violates guidelines created within the Acceptable Use Policy.
- IRC networks: IRC is allowed only on our separate IRC network that was designated by Marlin for such a use. Customers found running IRC on our standard network will have their servers disconnected until they agree to be moved to IRC network.
- Unsolicited commercial e-mail/Unsolicited bulk e-mail (SPAM) Use of the Marlin service to transmit any unsolicited commercial or unsolicited bulk e-mail is expressly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, bulk-mailing of commercial advertising, information announcements, and political tracts. Such material may only be sent to those who have specifically requested it. Malicious or threatening email is also prohibited. Marlin reserves the right to immediately deactivate Your use of the Services if Marlin suspects such activity.
3. SPAM RESOLUTION PROCESS
If the email activity associated with your Marlin account poses an immediate threat to Marlin’s servers or network, Marlin reserves the right to immediately disable the account. If such email activity is not determined by Marlin to be an immediate threat, Marlin will follow the steps to process the complaint of SPAM activity:
Upon notification of an alleged violation of Marlin’s SPAM policy on your Marlin account, Marlin will initiate an investigation and notify You of the complaint via your contact email address on file with Marlin (“SPAM Notice”).
If Marlin does not receive a response from You regarding the SPAM complaint within 24 hours of Marlin’s SPAM Notice, Marlin will disable port 25 (SMTP) on Your VLAN with or without further notice.
If Marlin receives a response from you within 24 hours of Marlin’s SPAM Notice, You will have 24 hours from the time of your response to completely resolve the SPAM complaint. If You fail to resolve the SPAM complaint to Marlin’s satisfaction within the allotted time, Marlin reserves the right to shut down port 25 (SMTP) on Your VLAN with or without further notice.
If Marlin determines you have violated Marlin’s anti-SPAM policies, You agree to pay an administrative fee of $50.00 for a first violation and an administrative fee of $100.00 for second violations. You agree that in addition to these administrative fees, You will pay to Marlin a research fee not to exceed $75 per hour that Marlin personnel must spend to investigate any SPAM complaints against You. Customers guilty of a second violation WILL be immediately and permanently removed from our network without notice.
To reinstate Your account after a termination for SPAM violations, a new set-up fee will be incurred at the then current rates, subject to approval of credit. If Marlin terminates this Agreement because of a violation of our SPAM prohibitions, You will be charged in full for the entire month in which such violation occurred.
Note that repeated or severe violations of the SPAM prohibitions may result in immediate termination or suspension of Your account and services and/or removal from our network without notice. Marlin reserves the right to immediately remove the servers of anyone hosting websites or services on their server that support spammers or cause any of our IP space to be listed in any of the various SPAM, DNS, and IP “blacklist” databases. The server may not be reconnected until such time that You agree to remove ANY and ALL traces of the offending material immediately upon reconnection and agree to allow us access to the server to confirm that all material has been COMPLETELY removed. Marlin will cooperate fully with any investigation conducted by the various entities who compile such “blacklist” databases and You agree that Marlin may share Your contact, IP and domain name information with such "blacklisting" entities if your use of the Marlin services causes or threatens to cause any of Marlin’s IP Space to be “blacklisted.” DO NOT SPAM from Your Marlin account.
4. VIOLATIONS.
Disclaimer and Limitation of Liability. Marlin expressly disclaims any obligation to monitor its customers and other users with respect to violations of this Policy. Marlin has no liability or responsibility for the actions of any of You, its customers, or other users or any content any user may post on any web site.
- Reporting Non-Copyright Violations. Marlin encourages You to report violations of this policy by e-mail to: DMCAnotices@marliness.net, including in any such report the name of the offending domain (for example, xyz.com) and the type of abuse (for example, spam, illegal acts, harassment, etc.) in the "subject" field of the e-mail.
- Remedies. If Marlin learns of a violation of this Policy (other than SPAM violations which are processed as per Section 3 above), Marlin will respond to the applicable customer and may, in Marlin's sole discretion, take any of the following actions, in accordance with the severity and duration of the violation:
- Warning the customer;
- Suspending the offending customer from the Services;
- Terminating the offending customer from the Services;
- Imposing fees or fees on the offending customer's account in accordance with the applicable service contract;
- Removing the offending content; and
- Taking other action in accordance with this Policy, the applicable service contract or applicable law.
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