Appropriate Use Policy
 This page contains the terms of our Internet Service provision, as well as the limits to its use.



Appropriate Use Policy



Version 1.1 | Last Modified:06/06/96

Purpose: To determine and implement policies regulating and administrating customer services as provided by Digital World Communications, Inc.

This document covers the following areas:

This document and related policies may change without notice and will be updated on a regular basis.

Acceptable Usage of PPP accounts.

    PPP accounts are the most basic service Digital World Communications Inc. offers to customers. It is also the most heavily used account in terms of number of customers accessing this service and therefore is subject to the most abuse. PPP dialup accounts are used on a "dialup" basis, meaning they are used only as needed and in no way are intended to be operating 24 hours a day on an ongoing connection. Nor does this type of account support a static IP address. The account may be accessed as little or as much as a customer needs, however Digital World Communications Inc has strict definitions of how that service is determined.

    • the account may be used for reading or posting to Usenet newsgroups, sending or receiving and reading of electronic e-mail, transfering of files via the FTP protocol or telnetting to remote sites

    • PPP accounts cannot be used as a commercial avenue or connection for a dedicated server site to the Internet

    • PPP accounts cannot be accessed simultaneously by multiple users using the same username and has only one mailbox for incoming e-mail

    • PPP account holders cannot use automated processes such as checking e-mail or pinging our host to maintain a constant connection.

Inactivity and disconnect inactivity policy.

    The account will be disconnected automatically within 20 minutes of inactivity. This time is general and subject to change as mandated by the System Administrator of Digital World Communications Inc. Inactivity is defined as periods when no activity is detected by Digital World Communications Inc. through electronic means and the account is not being actively used by a dialup user. Electronic or mechanical means to avoid an inactivity disconnect are strictly prohibited. Electronic or mechanical means include: pinging the mail server; electronic or software autodialer features to maintain an active connection; repetitive checks for e-mail by autologin to the mail server. Abuse of these conditions and others not identified can result in a customer having their account disabled until these processes are halted in agreement with Digital World Communications Inc. Appropriate Use Policy. Electronic means of auditing a suspected abused connection will be done by Digital World Communications Inc. with the above guidelines in mind and with respect for the customer's privacy. Continued abuse or violations of the above conditions my result in a customers account being permanently disabled and all previous agreements rendered null and void.

 Usenet policy and acceptable posting procedures.

    Usenet access is provided to all dialup customers of Digital World Communoications Inc. Customers are free to subscribe to as many or as few newsgroups as they wish. In conjunction with established Usenet protocols, Digital World Communications Inc. advises customers not to post to newsgroups until the customer has familiarized themselves with the subjects and established guidelines of the newsgroup. Some restrictions of newsgroup postings have been established by Usenet and are respected by Digital World Communications Inc. Customers unconditionally agree to these protocols and policies with their account. These include:

    • Post articles to groups pertaining to the posting. Inappropriate postings are not appreciated by participants of newsgroups nor are they allowed under Usenet protocols.

    • Some newsgroups do not allow commercial postings. Users are encouraged to verify this before making any such posting.

    • Irresponsible blanket postings to all or large numbers of newsgroups simultaneously with disregard to the newsgroups subject is forbidden.

    • Chain letters are not allowed to be posted

    • Irresponsible newsgroup postings which result in large numbers of complaints to Digital World Communications Administrator may result in a customers account being disabled

    • Only the OnRamp Technologies News Administrator may create new Usenet groups. Any abuse of this policy will result in a customers account being disabled and all other previous agreements rendered null and void.

    Any disregard for the above conditions may result in an account being disabled.

 Customer responsibility and cooperation.

    All customers and subscribers of Digital World Communications Inc. agree unconditionally to not in any way intentionally or maliciously cause harm to the equipment, software, or processes operating Digital World Communications Inc. Any violations of this agreement will result in civil and/or criminal peralties as prescribed by local, state and federal laws applicable in this area.

    The Internet hosts some material deemed unfit for viewing and reading by minors under the age of 18. Some sites contain information both in text and graphical formats that may be considered obscene or harmful. Customers and subscribers of Digital World Communications Inc. services will not hold Digital World Communications Inc. responsible for sites and postings which could be considered obscene, lewd, offensive and/or harmful. It is Digital World Communications Inc. policy that individuals are responsible for their own monitoring and viewing habits and those minors in their care. We currently do not filter or screen postings or sites on the Internet as a whole nor do we plan to in the foreseeable future. Customers and subscribers possibly offended by such material are encouraged to explore software options that block or filter sites that may be deemed unsuitable.

    In addition to this, customers and subscribers are encouraged to use common sense and courtesy when creating sites on our WWW commercial server that may be considered offensive to others.

Acceptable Use of Digital World Communications Inc. Web Servers and restrictions.

    Users of Digital World Communications Inc. Services, Business Web sites, Domain Name Alias and The Virtual Domain Server will be subject to additional charges if their site is receiving excessive use. Excessive use per machine is defined as:

    Server NameMaximum Weekly Bytes TransferredCost Per 5 Megs
    Web pages100 megabytes$25
    Business Web & Domain Alias250 megabytes$50
    Virtual Web Server500 megabytes$100

    Web sites generating sustained traffic in excess of these rates will be subject to additional charges. These charges will be a factor of the violation. (e.g. If a Web customer (who has not purchased additional space) has an average transmission of 200 megs per week, they will be charged an additional $25 for the month. (The cost of an additional 5 megabytes of webspace) A Virtual Domain server that transmits an average 1.5 Gigabytes per week would be charged $300 for that month.

    ***Important Note***

    The above pricing policy is tentatively scheduled to take effect Augest 1, 1996. (We intend to begin generating Access Statistics on a daily basis, as opposed to a weekly one.) Until such time we expressly reserve the right to disable web sites generating significantly excessive traffic (significantly excessive traffic is defined as any amount of activity that noticeably detriments performance on the server in question) We also expressly reserve the right to disable logging on sites generating significant excessively traffic.

Digital World Communications Inc 170 Washington Ave Albany, NY 12210 v.518.449.3208 f. 518.449.4678