Acceptable Use Policy. (AUP)

1. Introduction

    This Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) sets forth the principles that govern your use of the systems, services and equipment provided by Business 1st.
    This AUP has been created to promote the integrity, security, reliability and privacy of Business 1st's systems and networks and form part of the legally binding Terms and Conditions which govern the use of Business 1st's systems, services and equipment by you. This AUP also identifies the actions that Business 1st considers to be intrinsically abusive, and thus, strictly prohibited.
    For the complex network of networks which we call 'the Internet' to function correctly it is essential that all of those who connect to it do so in accordance with generally accepted standards.
    Most customers of Business 1st will be using commercial software which implements the technical aspects of connection for them, but there are some configuration issues, and some matters of simple politeness and common sense which everyone must take note of.
    Business 1st's relationship with other networks, and ultimately its connectivity to the rest of the Internet depends largely upon proper behaviour by its customers. Business 1st cannot tolerate any behaviour by customers which negatively impacts upon its own equipment or network, or upon the use by other customers of the Internet, or which damages Business 1st's standing in the wider community.
    Business 1st will therefore enforce appropriate sanctions against any of its customers who are responsible for serious abuse of the Internet. Such sanctions include, but are not limited to, a formal warning, suspension of one or more of the customer's services, suspension of all Internet access through Business 1st or termination of the customer's account(s).

2. Modification of Acceptable Use Policy.

    Business 1st retains the right to amend, modify or substitute the AUP at any time and any such modification, amendment or substitution shall be posted on the website and automatically effective as to all customers when adopted by Business 1st.
    Business 1st recommends that you visit our website regularly to check for any updates or amendments to this AUP.

3. Legal Compliance

    Business 1st's services may be used for lawful purposes only and in compliance with all current and future statutes in force from time to time. You shall not post, publish transmit, re-transmit or store material on or through any of the Business 1st 's systems services or products which is in violation of any law or regulation which is enforceable in the United Kingdom; or is threatening, obscene, indecent, defamatory, or blasphemous; or is calculated to incite hatred against any ethnic, religious or other minority or is otherwise calculated to adversely affect any individual, group or entity (collectively, "Persons"); or violates the rights of any Person, including rights of privacy, rights of personality; infringes or breaches any third party intellectual property rights (which shall include but not be limited to copyrights, trade marks, design rights, trade secrets patents, moral rights and performance rights).
    For the avoidance of doubt, the installation or distribution of "pirated" software or other software products that are not appropriately licensed to the customer will constitute a violation of intellectual property rights. In the event of any disagreement as to whether materials posted, transmitted, re-transmitted or stored by a customer are in contravention of this section, the decision of Business 1st shall be final
    You are prohibited from storing, distributing or transmitting any unlawful material through our services. Examples of unlawful material include: direct threats of physical harm; hardcore and child pornography; and copyrighted, trademarked and other proprietary material used without proper authorisation. You may not post, upload or otherwise distribute copyrighted material on our servers without the consent of the copyright holder. The storage, distribution, or transmission of unlawful materials could lead to UK authorities alleging criminal liability.
    You should be aware that as the Internet is a global network, some activities/material which may be legal in the UK, may be illegal elsewhere in the world and vice versa, and you could risk being prosecuted in another country if you publish what is illegal in that country. If you are in doubt, don't do it and take independent legal advice before proceeding.

4. Service Specifics.

Dial Up Services - Internet Access.

    The Internet contains material that is inappropriate for minors and may cause offence to others. We do not censor or restrict access to any material or information on the Internet unless required to do so by the Police or other competent authority. We will however refer any complaints regarding censorship to the Police for further investigation.
    You must not use your Internet connection for any illegal purpose.
    Your traffic over the Internet may traverse other networks, or use other services, which are not owned or operated by Business 1st. You must abide by the AUPs and other terms and conditions imposed by the operators of those networks and services.
    Any violations of systems or network security are prohibited, and may result in the User facing criminal and civil liability. Business 1st will investigate incidents involving such violations and will inform and co-operate with the relevant law enforcement organisations if a criminal violation is suspected. Violations may include, but are not limited to, the following:
    Unauthorised access to or use of data, systems or networks, including any attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network;
    Unauthorised monitoring of data or traffic on any network or system without express authorisation of the owner of the system or network; or
    Interfering with any user, host or network including mailbombing, flooding, deliberate attempts to overload a system and broadcast attacks.
    Attempting to circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network, or account ("cracking"). This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for the customer, logging into a server or account the customer is not expressly authorised to access, or probing the security of other networks (such as running a SATAN scan or similar tool).
    You may not store or distribute certain other types of prohibited material on our servers. Examples of prohibited material include, but are not limited to, programs containing viruses or Trojan horses and tools to compromise the security of other sites.
    You must not run an "open mail relay", viz a machine which accepts mail from unauthorised or unknown senders and forwards it onward to a destination outside of your machine or network. If your machine does relay mail, on an authorized basis, then it must record its passing through your system by means of an appropriate "received" line.
    You must not send packets onto the Internet which have forged addresses or which are deliberately constructed so as to adversely affect remote machines.
    Your machine or network must not be configured in such a way that others can exploit it to disrupt the Internet.

Email Services

    Exchanging emails with others generally involves using common sense regarding the content material and being polite and courteous. The vast majority of Business 1st's customers understand what is appropriate when sending or receiving emails. Regrettably, there are occasions when individuals or groups of people exchange emails or involve in online activities, which are considered to be unacceptable by the Internet community. This is described by the generic term of "abuse".
    It is not always obvious whether an activity is innocent, inadvertent, or intentional but as a general rule, email users should be aware that what is unacceptable (and possibly illegal) offline (oral or written), applies equally online. As with telephone calls, you must not send any emails which cause annoyance, inconvenience or needless anxiety. You should not send false messages likely to cause distress (e.g. advising the recipient that a relative has been in an accident when they have not), or any other material which is distressing, grossly offensive, indecent, obscene, menacing or in any other way unlawful. Particular care should be taken to avoid any material which is offensive to people on grounds of gender, race, colour, religion or other similar categorisation. Always be sensitive to the fact that children might have access.
    You may not send e-mail to any user who does not wish to receive it, either at Business 1st or elsewhere. We recognise that e-mail is an informal medium, however, users must refrain from sending further e-mail to a user after receiving a request to stop.
    Unsolicited advertising mailings, whether commercial or informational, are strictly prohibited. You may send advertising material only to addresses that have specifically requested it. We will not forward mail for accounts terminated as a result of bulk mailing or unsolicited advertising. Chain letters are unsolicited by definition and may not be propagated using our services.
    You may not send, distribute, or reply to mailbombs. Mailbombing is defined as either e-mailing copies of a single message to many users, or sending large or multiple files or messages to a single user with malicious intent.
    You may not use false email headers or alter the headers of e-mail messages to conceal their e-mail address or to prevent Internet users from responding to messages. You must not use any email address that you are not authorised to use.
    Various Acts of Parliament make it illegal to possess or transmit certain material on a public telecommunications network, such as the telephone system. It is not acceptable to send such material by email.
    If you send copyright material or other intellectual property via email you must have permission to do so from the owner of that intellectual property.
    Violations of the AUP outlined in this document can sometimes result in massive numbers of e-mail responses. If our users receive so much e-mail that our resources are affected, we may shut down a user's account.

Hosting Services

    You are responsible in all respects for the content of your web site and must ensure that no applicable law is violated.
    We reserve the right to remove any material from a web site at our sole discretion, without prior notice and without explanation.
    You must obtain any necessary legal permission for any works that your web site may include.
    We will investigate complaints regarding inappropriate material on Web pages within our domain and may, in our sole discretion, require that the material be removed.
    You will be held responsible for and accept responsibility for any defamatory, confidential, secret or other proprietary material available via your web site.
    A web site may not be used to offer, advertise or distribute any of the following types of material: software for sending 'spam' (bulk emails, excessive news postings, etc.);

Illegal material

    Lists of email addresses, except where all the owners of the addresses have given you explicit permission; any collection of personal data other than in accordance with the Data Protection Acts 1984 and 1998.
    You must comply with the Data Protection Acts 1984 and 1998 (and any amendments or re-enactments of them) regarding all information received, stored or communicated through the use of your web site.
    If your web site contains material that may cause general offence, a clearly readable warning page must be shown before any such offensive material is displayed.
    To avoid doubt, this means that your top-level web page (usually index.htm or index.html) must not contain any adult material or other material that may generally offend. Where part of a web site forms an independent area that is not linked to by a topmost page, it will be considered as a site in its own right when considering whether appropriate warnings are present. Warnings are also required where the material is referenced directly from a web site, with no intervening pages, or where the use of frames makes the material appear to be part of a web site.
    All of the web pages on a web site are considered to be publicly visible and may be downloaded by any person, whether or not they are linked from any central contents or home page. However, specific mechanisms are available as part of some services to prevent unauthorised access. Pages protected in such a manner will not be considered to be public.
    Web sites may not be advertised by you, or by another person, using techniques that would be classified as "abuse" if they were carried out from a Business 1st account including, but not limited to, bulk emailing and excessive news posting. Such action will be treated under the Business 1st AUP as if it had been done from the Business 1st account.
    Web sites must display a valid, up-to-date email contact address for the person responsible for the site. The use of the generic address of "webmaster" is acceptable for this purpose. This address must appear on the top-level page or be easily locatable from the top-level page.
    You may not use World Wide Web pages within or outside our domain to violate any part of the AUP, or to attempt to disrupt the pages or Internet experiences of other users.
    By uploading to a Business 1st server, you will be deemed to have agreed to and accepted the Acceptable Use Policy.
    Support is only available for uploading, downloading and viewing pages. No support will be given for HTML authoring or page design.
    You will be responsible for retaining copies of your own data. Business 1st will not keep backups of your pages.
    Business 1st accepts no responsibility for loss of data, information in any form or other matters whatsoever that result from the use of this service.
    Business 1st shall not be held liable for any loss however occasioned as a result of the suspension, removal or unavailability of a Homepages site or material stored within it.