• View
• History
• Source
• Backlinks

• login

1.  Preamble

1.1  Why Does this Policy Exist?

This document was created to outline sensible rules of acceptable use to guide Your use of the System and its services. Many of these provisions are merely canonizations of clear etiquette, everyday law and common sense but some are created to address specific or unusual needs and concerns. All are important and you should familiarize yourself with them.

1.2  Scope

This document, applies to all the services currently offered by the System, and it applies to You even if you are not using all of the services or any services which are restricted from public access.

2.  General Rules

2.1  Rules Regarding Accounts & Credentials

This section applies to UNIX or other operating system accounts, and vistua.com Groupware accounts and websites.

1. Do not use any account(s) other than the one(s) designated for your use.
2. Do not permit anyone other than yourself to use your account(s). Do not reveal your passwords to any other person.
   1. No user-supplied device connected to the network or to non-user-supplied equipment may allow any type of remote login or access.

(Nothing in this section should be construed as restricting you from publicizing your email address or any publicly accessible web-site URL.)

2.2  Rules Regarding Account Restrictions

1. Most accounts are limited by technological means to prevent You from accessing administrative functions or other user accounts. You must not endeavor to circumvent or disable this or any other restriction placed on your account.
2. You must be respectful of the multi-user nature of the systems and use them only in a reasonable manner and not in a way which strains their capacity or impairs their availability to others.
   1. You must not gain access via automated software techniques except where explicitly authorized (This exception does not abrogate any other reason why that access might be prohibited under another portion of this policy.)

3.  Respect the privacy of other users.

1. You must not intercept any confidential communication that was not intended for you.
2. You must not attempt to access other's files or monitor their activities.
3. You must comply with the spirit as well as the letter of this policy. Do not access, log into or use any function in an unexpected or perverse manner. Exercise common sense.
4. Do not add or remove or alter in any way: data, code, information or computer records stored in any portions of the systems which are not provided for your access.
5. Do not alter configuration parameters which are not provided for your alteration such as administrative configuration.

4.  Rules regarding specific system services

4.1  E-Mail

1. Do not send nuisance email.
   1. Nuisance email refers to any email which causes distress to the recipient, which is harmful to our systems, the receiving system or to the Internet in general (including technical capacity) as well as the following:
      1. Unsolicited bulk email, commercial or not (commonly called spam or UCBE). See section 5
      2. Chain emails, or any other kind of email who's sole purpose is to be retransmitted. These emails are potentially illegal.
      3. Emails with attachments that are of very large size, unless you have pre-arranged with the recipient.
2. Do not send the following kinds of email:
   1. Emails which contain executable files in any way unless specifically requested to do so by the recipient.
   2. Emails which do not have subject lines. These are harmful to the Internet environment.
   3. Obscene, harassing or illegal emails.
   4. Emails with active or "scripted" elements.
   5. Emails with Microsoft RTF formatting codes. These are harmful to the Internet environment.
3. Do not block emails from your administrator.

4.2  The Hub

The Hub is governed by its own policy.

5.  Spam

It is against the policies of The Vistua Network System to-

1. Send
2. Allow its users to send

-so-called "spam" or unsolicited bulk email. Furthermore many such messages are ILLEGAL in the United States and other countries and may be restricted by international agreements and treaties. Any email account through The Vistua Network System which sends "spam" will be terminated upon verification that the spam did indeed originate from that account.

However: due to serious flaws in the SMTP protocol by which email is exchanged, it is possible for mail headers to be forged, including the "From:" header. If you receive a spam message from a Vistua-related email account, you should not assume automatically that that message's "From" address is correct.

Furthermore, it is against the policies of The Vistua Network System to receive spam. The act of sending spam to Vistua related email accounts constitutes theft of service and is illegal. Due to technical restrictions and because universal adherence of mail servers to the traditional IETF recommendation of accepting all validly addressed email is essential to the continued functioning of the public Internet, our systems may not necessarily reject spam outright. In most cases our servers will deliver a spam message to the account requested if it is a valid account. This does not imply consent to receive that message, nor does it imply that the user has received the message.

6.  Postlegomena

All use is subject to the General Disclaimer and Terms. The copyright status of The Hub varies, please see appropriate page. Questions about this document should be addressed as indicated by the contact page

Categories: Policy