1. Introduction
This Acceptable Use Policy (the “Policy”) defines the scope of prohibited activities relating to the use of Crosstown Fiber LLC’s (together with its affiliates, “Crosstown”) products and services (the “Services”) by Crosstown customers (“you” or “Customer”) and by any persons that gain access to the Services through Customer’s account (“Users”). By using the Services, you acknowledge and agree that you and your Users consent to be bound by the terms of the Policy and are responsible for compliance with the Policy. Customer is responsible for violations of the Policy by any User that accesses the Services through its account. Although Crosstown does not intend to control or monitor any User’s online experience or the content of their online communications, Crosstown reserves the right to edit or remove content that: (i) violates (or may violate) the Policy, (ii) exposes Crosstown to civil or criminal liability, or (iii) that otherwise appears to be unlawful, obscene, harmful or offensive. The Policy applies to all aspects of the Services.
For purposes of the Policy, “Crosstown Network” means all equipment, systems, facilities, services and products incorporated or used in Crosstown’s transmission network. In the event that data communications are carried across networks of other Internet service providers (“ISPs”), you and your Users must also conform to the applicable acceptable use policies of such other ISPs.
2. Customer Obligations and Prohibited Uses
2.1. Unlawful Activities
Crosstown’s Services must always be used in accordance with all applicable laws and regulations. Customer and its Users shall not use the Services for the transmission, distribution, retrieval, or storage of any information, data or other materials in violation of any applicable law or regulation (including, where applicable, any tariff or treaty). Without limiting the foregoing, Customer and its Users shall not use the services for the transmission or distribution of any data or material protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, patent or any other intellectual property right without proper authorization or for the transmission or distribution of: (i) any material that constitutes a death threat, terroristic threats, threats of harm to another individual; (ii) multi-level marketing schemes, Ponzi schemes, invasion of privacy, credit card fraud, racketeering, defamation, slander, or (iii) material that is obscene, child pornography, or that violates the Child Protection Act of 1984, or any other applicable law.
2.2. Unauthorized Access and Disruption
Customer and its Users shall not attempt to gain unauthorized access to, interfere with, or compromise the security, functionality, or normal operation of, any part of the Crosstown Network. Customer and its Users shall not use the Services to engage in any activities that may interfere with the ability of others to access or use the Services or the Internet. Customer and its Users are not permitted to use the Services to monitor any data, information or communications on any network or system without appropriate authorization. Unauthorized attempts to access another Customer’s or User’s account or credentials are strictly prohibited.
2.3. Unsolicited Messages, Emails and Spamming
Customer and its users shall not use Crosstown’s Services to transmit unsolicited commercial e-mail messages or deliberately send excessively large attachments to one recipient. Crosstown prohibits the use of the Services for any “spamming” or “mailbombing” activities and use of the service of another provider to send unsolicited commercial email, spam or mailbombs to promote a site hosted on or connected to the Crosstown Network. Customer and its Users also may not use the Services to collect responses from mass unsolicited e-mail messages. Crosstown may in its sole discretion rely upon information obtained from recognized anti-spamming organizations (including spamhaus.org, spamcop.net, sorbs.net, and abuse.net) as evidence that a User is operating a spam campaign for purposes of taking remedial action under this Policy.
2.4. Spoofing/Fraud
Crosstown prohibits Users from intentionally or negligently injecting false data into the Internet, for instance in the form of bad routing information (including the announcing of networks owned by someone else or reserved by the Internet Assigned Numbers Authority) or incorrect DNS information. Customer and its Users shall not attempt to send e-mail messages or transmit any electronic communications using the name or address of someone other than the User for purposes of deception. Any attempt to impersonate someone else by altering the source IP address information or by using forged headers or other identifying information is prohibited. Any attempt to fraudulently conceal, forge or otherwise falsify a User’s identity in connection with use of the Services is also prohibited.
2.5. Online Postings
All contributions and postings to online forums, discussion groups, message boards, file-sharing services, or similar platforms must comply with the rules and guidelines of such platforms. Disrupting online forums, discussion groups, message boards, file-sharing services, or similar platforms with materials, postings or activities that are (as determined by Crosstown in its sole discretion) frivolous, unlawful, obscene, threatening, abusive, libelous, hateful, excessive, or repetitious, is prohibited unless such materials or activities are expressly allowed or encouraged by the platform’s policies.
2.6. Miscellaneous Prohibited Activities
Customer and its Users shall not, and Customer shall cause its Users not to, use the Services or the Crosstown Network for any of the following activities:
2.6.1. Using any Crosstown equipment for anything other than its intended purpose;
2.6.2. Deliberately transmitting files containing viruses or corrupted data;
2.6.3. Repeatedly exceeding the bandwidth limitations on the Customer’s account;
2.6.4. Attempting to bypass or alter systems or methods used to track and document time and bandwidth utilization of Crosstown’s Services;
2.6.5. Advertising, transmitting, distributing or otherwise making available any software, program, product, or service that is designed to violate this Policy, including tools for sending unsolicited emails;
2.6.6. Engaging, promoting or encouraging illegal activity;
2.6.7. Engaging in any activity that disrupts, degrades, harms or threatens to harm the Crosstown Network or the Services;
2.6.8. Using any third party’s electronic mail server to relay email without express permission from such third party;
2.6.9. Engaging in any activity that violates or encourages the violation of the intellectual property rights or other legal rights of others; and
2.6.10. Engaging in any other unlawful, invasive, infringing, defamatory, fraudulent, inappropriate or abusive use of the Services (as determined by Crosstown in its sole discretion), whether or not specifically listed in this Policy.
The foregoing list of prohibited activities is not exhaustive and Crosstown reserves the right to investigate and to take appropriate action against any conduct which it deems to violate this Policy or otherwise may be harmful to the Crosstown Network, or any Crosstown customers or other third parties.
3. Crosstown’s Rights
3.1. Suspension or Termination of Services
If Crosstown determines, in its discretion, that Customer or any User has violated this Policy, Crosstown may suspend and/or terminate Customer’s Services or Customer’s or any User’s access to the Services. Crosstown generally will attempt to notify you of any activity which it deems to be in violation of the Policy and will request that you take whatever steps necessary to get the User to cease such activity; however, in cases where the operation of the Crosstown Network is threatened or cases involving unsolicited commercial email/SPAM, a pattern of violations, mail relaying, alteration of your source IP address information, denial of service attacks, illegal activities, suspected fraud in connection with the use of Services, harassment or copyright infringement, Crosstown reserves the right to suspend or terminate your Services or Customer’s or any User’s access to the Services without notice. In addition, Crosstown may take any other appropriate action against you or a User for any violation of the Policy. Crosstown also reserves the right to avail itself of the safe harbor provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Crosstown is not liable to the Customer, any User or any third party for any violations of this Policy or any consequences resulting from the enforcement of, or the exercise of Crosstown’s rights under, this Policy.
3.2. Cooperation with Investigations
Crosstown will cooperate with appropriate law enforcement agencies and other parties involved in investigating claims of illegal or inappropriate activity on the Crosstown Network. Crosstown reserves the right to disclose customer information to the extent authorized or required by federal or state law. In cases involving child pornography, Crosstown shall comply with all applicable federal and state laws including notifying the National Center for the Missing and Exploited Children or other designated agencies.
3.3. Filters and Service Information
Crosstown reserves the right to install and use, or to have you install and use, any appropriate devices to prevent Policy violations, including devices designed to filter or terminate access to the Services. By accepting and using the Services, you consent to allowing us to collect service information and routing information in the normal course of our business, and to use such information for general business purposes (including for the purposes of improving the Services).
3.4. Policy Changes
Crosstown reserves the right to update or modify this Policy at any time with or without notice. We will attempt to notify Customers of any such modifications either via e-mail or by posting a revised version of the Policy on our Web site. Any such updates or modifications shall be effective and applied prospectively from the date of posting.
4. Customer Responsibilities
4.1. Notice of Network Security Issues
Customer and its Users are solely responsible for the security and safety of account credentials (including user names and passwords) and their network. You agree immediately to notify Crosstown of any unauthorized use of your account or any other breach of security known to you. If you become aware of any violation of this Policy by any person, including Users that have accessed the Services or Crosstown Network through your account, you are required to notify us. In addition, Customer and its Users are responsible for notifying Crosstown immediately if they become aware of any other event that may negatively affect the Crosstown Network, including any threatened “denial of service” attack, unauthorized access, or other security events.
4.2. Configuration
All Users of the Crosstown Network are responsible for configuring their own systems to provide the maximum possible accountability. Crosstown shall not be liable for any damage caused by such system configurations, regardless of whether such configurations have been authorized or requested by Crosstown. For example, Users should ensure that there are clear “path” lines in news headers so that the originator of a post may be identified. Users should also configure their Mail Transport Agents (MTA) to authenticate (by look-up on the name or similar procedures) any system that connects to perform a mail exchange, and should generally present header data as clearly possible. As another example, Users should maintain logs of dynamically assigned IP addresses. Users of the Crosstown Network are responsible for educating themselves and configuring their systems with at least basic security. Should systems at a User’s site be violated, the User is responsible for reporting the violation and then fixing the exploited system. For instance, should a site be abused to distribute unlicensed software due to a poorly configured FTP (File Transfer Protocol) Server, the User is responsible for re-configuring the system to stop the abuse.
4.3. Complaints
In most cases, we will notify our Customer(s) of complaints we receive regarding an alleged violation of this Policy. Customer agrees to promptly investigate all such complaints and take all necessary actions to remedy any violations of this Policy. We may inform the complainant that the Customer is investigating the complaint and may provide the complainant with the necessary information to contact the Customer directly to resolve the complaint. Customers must designate a representative to receive such communications.
5. Privacy
Because the Internet is an inherently open and insecure means of communication, any data or information a User transmits over the Internet may be susceptible to interception and alteration. We make no guarantee regarding, and assume no liability for, the security and integrity of any data or information a User transmits via the Services or over the Internet, including any data or information transmitted via any server designated as “secure.”
6. Additional Terms and Conditions
The use of the Crosstown Network by a Customer of Crosstown is subject to the terms and conditions of any agreements entered into by such Customer and Crosstown. This Policy is incorporated into such agreements by reference.
7. Complaints and Contact Information
Any complaints, questions, or comments regarding this Policy, or reports of prohibited use or other abuse of the Crosstown Network, should be sent to [email protected]. Please include all applicable information that will assist Crosstown in investigating the complaint, including all applicable headers of forwarded messages. For urgent matters, such as live attacks, Customer(s) should call (888) 222-9730 and indicate the urgency of the situation by requesting immediate attention.