Please read this AUP carefully before you start to use the service. By using the service, you accept and agree to be bound and abide by this Acceptable Use Policy and our other applicable terms of service, all of which have been provided to you and may be accessed at https://www.ogdentelephone.com. If you do not agree to this Acceptable Use Policy or our other applicable terms of service, you should not access or use the service.
1. Services Covered. This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) governs wireline and/or wireless highspeed Internet, IP/Ethernet, IP video and/or other data, video, or voice communications service (“Service”) provided to you by OTC and includes the following terms and provisions as the same may be amended or modified from time to time as provided herein. The terms and provisions of this AUP are without limitation of any rights to suspend or terminate Service that OTC otherwise possesses under your Service Contract, our Standard Terms and Conditions of Service, or applicable law, and do not create any rights for you as a customer of OTC and/or a User of any Service provided by OTC.
2. Applicability. This AUP applies to you as a customer and to any other person, authorized or abusive, using your Service (each such person, a “User”). For purposes of this AUP, your use includes, and you are responsible for, the use of all Users who access Service through your account. It is your responsibility to take precautions to limit access to Service to approved Users. If you are a contract customer, this AUP is incorporated into your Service Contract. For non-contract customers, by establishing a Service account and using Service, you agree to be bound by this AUP.
3. Compliance Required. Pursuant to your Service Contract as a contract customer or by establishing a Service account and using Service as a non-contract customer, all customers have agreed to and must comply with this AUP. OTC reserves the right to terminate or suspend Service immediately or to otherwise disconnect, remove, block, filter or restrict your use of Service if OTC determines, in its sole discretion, that such use is illegal or violates this AUP. OTC will cooperate with legal authorities and/or third parties in the investigation of any suspected or alleged crime or civil wrong. If OTC believes that you or a User of any Service have used Service for an unlawful or abusive purpose, OTC may forward the relevant communication and other information, including your identity, to the appropriate authorities for investigation and prosecution. You hereby consent to OTC forwarding of any such communications and information to these authorities. In addition, OTC may provide information in response to law enforcement requests, lawful government requests, subpoenas, court orders, to protect its rights and property and in the case where failure to disclose the information may lead to imminent harm to you or others. OTC also reserves the right to take action on abuse which is not specifically named in this AUP at the sole discretion of OTC. Use of the OTC’s systems and network constitutes understanding of an agreement to this policy.
4. Prohibited Uses and Activities. This AUP identifies certain uses and activities that OTC considers to be unlawful or abusive and therefore strictly prohibited. The examples listed herein are non-exclusive and are provided solely for guidance to customers and Users. OTC, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to discontinue Service for any unlawful use. In the event of uncertainty as to whether any contemplated use or activity is permitted, please contact a customer service representative for assistance. In addition to any other illegal or abusive uses or activities, the following constitute violations of this AUP:
a. Unlawful Use: Using Service in any manner that violates local, state or federal law, including without limitation using Service to transmit any material (by email, facsimile, or otherwise) whose transmission is unlawful under any local, state or federal law applicable to such transmission.
b. Copyright or Trademark Infringement: Using Service to receive, transmit or use any material (by email, file sharing software, direct download, FTP sites or otherwise) that infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret, or other proprietary rights of OTC or 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, the digitization and distribution of copyrighted video or music, and the unauthorized transmittal of copyrighted software. You may not rebroadcast, transmit, or perform video programming service, charge admission for its viewing, or transmit or distribute running accounts of any unauthorized copyrighted material.
c. Violation of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA): Using Service to circumvent any technological measures used by copyright owners to protect their works or using Service to produce or disseminate technology primarily designed or produced to circumvent DMCA protections, that have only limited commercially significant purpose or use other than to circumvent; or that are marketed for use in circumventing DMCA protections. (For additional information concerning your rights and responsibilities in connection with reporting or responding to claims of copyright infringement, see Reporting Claims of Copyright Infringement, below.)
d. Harm to Minors: Using Service to harm, or attempt to harm, minors in any way; including but not limited to activities involving child pornography or the sexual exploitation of children.
e. Threats: Using Service to transmit any material (by email or otherwise) that illegally threatens or encourages bodily harm or destruction of property.
f. Harassment and Cyberbullying: Using Service to transmit any material (by email or otherwise) that unlawfully harasses another.
g. Fraudulent Activity: Using 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,” “Ponzi schemes”, unregistered sales of securities, securities fraud and “chain letters.”
h. Forgery or Impersonation: Adding, removing or modifying identifying network, message or article header information in an effort to deceive or mislead is prohibited while using Service. Attempting to impersonate any person by using forged headers or other identifying information is prohibited.
i. Unsolicited Commercial/Unsolicited Bulk Communications: Using Service to transmit any unsolicited commercial or bulk email, faxes or other communications in violation of applicable federal or state law. Activities that have the effect of facilitating illegal, unsolicited commercial or bulk email, faxes or other communications are prohibited. Using deliberately misleading headers in emails sent to multiple parties is prohibited.
j. Intentional Network Disruptions and Abusive Activity: Using Service for any activity that adversely affects the ability of other people or systems to use Service. This specifically but without limitation includes excessive consumption of network or system resources whether intentional or unintentional. This also includes “denial of service” (DoS) attacks against another network host or individual user. Interference with or disruption of other network users, network services or network equipment is prohibited. The transmission of viruses, malware, or engaging in” mail bombing,” “chat flooding,” cybersquatting, and similar unlawful behavior is also prohibited. Attempting to circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network, or account on OTC’s systems or the Internet at large (“cracking”). This includes scanning or probing ports without the consent of the owner of the machine being scanned.
k. Unauthorized Access: Using Service to access, or to attempt to access without authority, the accounts of others, or to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate, security measures of OTC’s or a third party’s computer software or hardware, electronic communications system, or telecommunications system, whether or not the intrusion results in disruption of Service or the corruption or loss of data.
l. Collection of Personal Data: Using Service to collect, or attempt to collect, personal information about third parties without their knowledge or consent in violation of applicable state or federal law.
5. Network Management Practices. Service is available for individual customer use only and not for resale. Reselling Service without OTC’s written authorization will be considered a violation of your Service Contract and will result in termination of Service. Pricing is based on contemplated usage not exceeding commercially reasonable limitations. Unless otherwise provided in your Service package and/or Service Contract, unlimited plans and features offered as part of any Service may ONLY be used for normal residential or business enterprise use, as applicable to your account. During certain peak usage times, OTC may limit data transfer speeds in a non-discriminatory fashion, which may slow the rate of streaming video or download speeds. OTC will not unreasonably discriminate in the transmission of lawful network traffic, and will provide a reasonable description of network performance characteristics on our website. OTC will not block access to lawful content or websites, applications, services, or non-harmful devices. For any account subject to usage-based billing, OTC will keep accurate records of your Service location(s), quantities, and usage under your Service package and/or Service Contract. OTC reserves the right to immediately disconnect or modify your Service if OTC determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that your use of Service is, or at any time was, inconsistent with normal residential or business enterprise usage patterns or is otherwise in violation of this AUP. In the event your usage exceeds applicable usage limitations and as an alternative to disconnection of Service, OTC may offer you a revised Service Contract including higher rates for usage of Service that is deemed to be inconsistent with normal residential or business use. OTC reserves the right to protect its network from harm, which may impact legitimate data flows. OTC reserves the right to limit throughput or amount of data transferred, and to deny or discontinue Service, without notice, to anyone it believes is using an unlimited data plan or feature in any unauthorized or abusive manner or whose usage adversely impacts OTC network or Service levels. Specific management practices and Service descriptions and disclosure of Service pricing can be obtained by contacting us. You can access our website at: www.ogdentelephone.com. Current specific management practices can be found at: http://www.ogdentelepone.com.
6. Content. You will be liable for any and all liability that may arise out of the content transmitted by you or any User accessing or using Services through your account. You shall assure that your and any User’s use of Service and content comply at all times with all applicable laws, regulations and written and electronic instructions for use. OTC reserves the right to disconnect or suspend your Service and remove your content from Service if OTC determines, in its sole and absolute discretion, that such use or content does not conform with any applicable law, the requirements set forth in this AUP or interferes with OTC’s ability to provide Service to you or others. OTC’s action or inaction under this Section will not constitute any review, waiver or approval of your usage or content.
7. Service Monitoring. OTC is under no obligation to monitor a customer’s usage, bandwidth, transmissions and/or content of Service. However, OTC may monitor the usage, bandwidth, transmissions and content of Service periodically to (I) comply with any necessary laws, regulations or other governmental requests; or (ii) operate Service properly; or (iii) to protect itself, its network and its customers and subscribers. OTC reserves the right to modify, reject or eliminate any information residing on or transmitted to its server that it, in its sole discretion, believes is unacceptable or in violation of this AUP or any other terms and provisions applicable to Service.
8. Domain Name Service. Keeping registry information updated and accurate is the responsibility of the domain holder and not OTC. Acceptable use of the domain name service does NOT include falsifying or omitting valid domain contact information, including the administrative, technical, zone, and billing contacts. Such usage will result in termination of Service.
9. Web/FTP Sites. Acceptable use of OTC’s web/FTP space does NOT include: Distribution of illegal pornographic or otherwise indecent or offending materials, distribution of restricted software or materials in violation of copyrights or distribution licenses, or any other illegal activity prohibited under Paragraph 4, above.
10. Theft of Service. You must notify OTC immediately if you become aware at any time that your Service is being stolen, fraudulently used, used without your consent and authorization, or otherwise being used in an unauthorized manner. When you provide such notification, you must provide your account number and a detailed description of the circumstances of the theft, fraudulent, unauthorized use, or abusive use of Service. Failure to do so in a timely manner may result in the disconnection of your Service, additional charges to you, and civil or criminal liability. Until such time as OTC receives notice of the theft, fraudulent use, unauthorized use, or abusive use, you will be liable for all stolen, fraudulent, unauthorized, or abusive use of Service. OTC reserves all of its rights at law and otherwise to proceed against anyone who uses Service illegally or improperly.
11. Indemnification. By signing your Service Contract (for contract customers) and/or by activating or using Service (for noncontract customers), you agree to use Service only for authorized, lawful purposes in accordance with this AUP. In addition to being subject to other remedies, liabilities and obligations under law or applicable agreements, you shall defend, indemnify, and hold OTC harmless from any claims, damages, losses, or expenses (including without limitation attorneys’ fees and legal costs) incurred in connection with all claims, suits, judgments and causes of action for damages arising from the breach by you or your Users of any provision of this AUP. OTC shall not be liable to customers or third parties for any loss, costs, or damage to customer’s personal computer or the contents thereof caused by or resulting from OTC’s performance of Remote PC Support Services for customer, and customer shall defend, indemnify and hold OTC harmless therefor.
12. Termination of Service. Access to and use of Service is subject to strict compliance with this AUP and all applicable law and contractual provisions. OTC has the right to terminate access to or use of Service as provided in this this AUP, your Service Contract, and our Terms and Conditions of Service, as applicable. If Service is suspended or disconnected for violation of this AUP, you will be responsible for all fees and/or recovery charges associated with termination of Service, as set forth in our Terms and Conditions of Service.
13. Modifications. OTC may modify the terms and conditions of this AUP in a commercially reasonable manner from time to time and shall provide you notice of such changes by publication on our website, bill message or other commercially reasonable notice. If you continue to use Service after receiving notice of such changes, you agree that your continued use of Service will be in accordance with this AUP, as amended.
14. Survival. The provisions of this AUP that by their sense and context are intended to survive the discontinuance or disconnection of your use of Service shall survive such discontinuance or disconnection.
15. Governing Law. This AUP and the relationship between you and OTC shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the substantive laws of the State of Iowa, without regard to the principles of conflict of law.
16. No Waiver of Rights. OTC’s failure to exercise or enforce any right under or provision of this AUP shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.
17. Severability. If any part or provision of this AUP is legally declared invalid or unenforceable, that part or provision will be construed consistent with applicable law as nearly as possible, and the remaining parts and provisions will remain in full force and effect. Such invalidity or non-enforceability will not invalidate or render unenforceable any other part or provision of this AUP.
18. Applicability to Attached Sites. Sites directly attached to our Internet backbone are expected to adhere to this AUP. The account owner is responsible for educating site users on acceptable use policies. Violations of the AUP by directly attached sites will be referred to the account owner for resolution. The account owner will be held responsible for any violations of the AUP.
19. Applicability to Wi-Fi Hotspots. If your agreed terms of Service permit establishing one or more Wi-Fi Hotspots, this AUP applies to the use of such Service. Without limiting the preceding, (a) you may not resell Service and (b) you are responsible for compliance with this AUP, including compliance of all Users.
20. Reporting Claims of Copyright Infringement. We take claims of copyright infringement seriously. We will respond to notices of alleged copyright infringement that comply with applicable law. If you believe a User of this service has infringed upon your copyright or your copyrighted material, you may report the alleged violation by submitting notification to our Copyright Agent that satisfies the requirements of the DMCA (designated below). In accordance with the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act (17 U.S.C. § 512) (” DMCA), the written notice (the “DMCA Notice”) must include substantially the following:
Our designated copyright agent to receive DMCA Notices is: Jim Heckman Ogden Telephone Company 202 W. Walnut St. P.O. Box 457 Ogden, IA 50212. If you fail to comply with all of the requirements of Section 512(c)(3) of the DMCA, your DMCA Notice may not be effective. Copyright owners may use their own notification of claimed infringement form that satisfies the requirements of Section 512(c)(3) of the U.S. Copyright Act. Under the DMCA, anyone who knowingly makes misrepresentations regarding alleged copyright infringement may be liable to Company, the alleged infringer, and the affected copyright owner for any damages (including costs and fees) incurred in connection with the removal, blocking, or replacement of allegedly infringing material under Section 512(f) of the DMCA.
Counter-Notification Procedures. If you believe that material you posted on the Website was removed or access to it was disabled by mistake or misidentification, you may file a counter-notification with us (a “Counter-Notice”) by submitting written notification to our copyright agent designated above. Pursuant to the DMCA, the Counter-Notice must include substantially the following: • Your physical or electronic signature. An identification of the material that has been removed or to which access has been disabled and the location at which the material appeared before it was removed or access disabled. • Adequate information by which we can contact you (including your name, postal address, telephone number, and, if available, email address). • A statement under penalty of perjury by you that you have a good faith belief that the material identified above was removed or disabled as a result of a mistake or misidentification of the material to be removed or disabled. • A statement that you will consent to the jurisdiction of the Federal District Court for the judicial district in which your address is located (or if you reside outside the United States for any judicial district in which the Website may be found) and that you will accept service from the person (or an agent of that person) who provided the Website with the complaint at issue. Upon receipt of a Counter Notice, Company shall promptly provide the complaining party with a copy of the Counter-Notice and inform the party we will replace the removed material or cease disabling access to it within 10 business days. The DMCA allows us to restore the removed content no less than 10, but not more than 14 business days after receipt of the Counter-Notice, if the party filing the original DMCA Notice does not file a court action against you. Please be aware that if you knowingly materially misrepresent that material or activity on the Website was removed or disabled by mistake or misidentification, you may be held liable for damages (including costs and attorneys’ fees) under Section 512(f) of the DMCA. Repeat Infringers It is our policy in appropriate circumstances to disable and/or terminate the accounts of users who are repeat infringers. For additional information concerning termination of accounts due to DMCA violations, see DMCA Termination, below.
21. DMCA Termination. It is OTC’s policy to comply with the “safe harbor” provisions for Internet Service Providers set forth in the DMCA. Without limiting any other rights or remedies available to any copyright owner or of OTC under this AUP or applicable law, OTC may terminate Service for repeated and willful violations of the DMCA.
21A. Termination of Service (Residential Accounts). OTC will suspend or disconnect Service if four (4) DMCA offenses are recorded on a residential account in any twelve (12) month period. Service will be suspended or disconnected for a minimum period of 12 months. If Service is suspended or disconnected under this Section, you will be responsible for all fees and/or recovery charges associated with termination of Service, as set forth in our Terms and Conditions of Service.
21B. Termination of Service (Business Accounts). OTC will suspend or disconnect Service if any DMCA offenses are recorded on a business account. Service will be suspended or disconnected for a minimum period of 12 months. If Service is suspended or disconnected under this Section, you will be responsible for all fees and/or recovery charges associated with termination of Service, as set forth in our Terms and Conditions of Service. Ogden Telephone Company 202 W. Walnut Street P.O. Box 457 Ogden, IA 50212 (515)275-2050
The following Ogden Telephone Company disclosures are in reference to the FCC Open Internet Rules and the Restoring Internet Freedom Order.
Service Offerings
Ogden Telephone Company via the Ogden Telephone Company brand directly offers broadband ISP services through Aureon in its markets. Please visit the Ogden Telephone Company website to check availability, speed options and pricing at www.ogdentelephone.com. Performance INS is the internet upstream provider for Ogden Telephone Company. INS offers a speed test site to any user or customer. It can be accessed here: Aureon Speed Test or http://www.netins.net/speedtest. These tests are heavily dependent on a customer’s home network configuration, router, and computers, and therefore do not always accurately reflect the performance of the Ogden Telephone Company network only.
Your Internet Service Speeds
Ogden Telephone Company provides residential and commercial customers with a variety of high-speed Internet plans from which to choose. Ogden Telephone Company does not guarantee that a customer will actually achieve those speeds at all times. Without purchasing an expensive, dedicated Internet connection, no Internet Service Provider (“ISP”) can guarantee a particular speed at all times to a customer. Ogden Telephone Company advertises its speeds as “up to” a specific level based on the tier of service to which a customer subscribes. The “actual” speed that a customer will experience while using the Internet depends upon a variety of conditions, many of which are beyond the control of an ISP such as Ogden Telephone Company. These conditions include, but are not limited to: 1. Performance of a customer’s computer, including its age, processing capability, its operating system, the number of applications running simultaneously, and the presence of any adware and viruses. 2. Type of connection between a customer’s computer and router. For example, wireless connections may be slower than direct connections into a router. Wireless connections also may be subject to greater fluctuations, interference and congestion. Ogden Telephone Company does not recommend wireless modem connections for use with its higher speed tiers as many wireless connections do not perform at the speeds delivered by these tiers. 3. The distance packets travel (round trip time of packets) between a customer’s computer and its final destination on the Internet, including the number and quality of the networks of various operators in the transmission path. The Internet is a “network of networks.” A customer’s connection may traverse the networks of multiple providers before reaching its destination, and the limitations of those networks will most likely affect the overall speed of that Internet connection. 4. Congestion or high usage levels at the website or destination. If a large number of visitors are accessing a site or particular destination at the same time, your connection will be affected if the site or destination does not have sufficient capacity to serve all of the visitors efficiently. 5. Gating of speeds or access by the website or destination. In order to control traffic or performance, many websites limit the speeds at which a visitor can download from their site. Those limitations will carry through to a customer’s connection. 6. The performance of the router you have installed. Router performance may degrade over time, and certain routers are not capable of handling higher speeds. These are some of the reasons that Ogden Telephone Company, like all other ISPs, advertises speeds as “up to” a particular level, and does not guarantee them. There are other speed tests that measure Internet performance. We have provided links to a few of these sites below for your reference. Please note, however, that all speed tests have biases and flaws. Each of these tests measures limited aspects of an ISP’s speed and therefore must be seen as a guide rather than definitive measurements of performance. • http://www.netins.net/speedtest • www.speedtest.net • To test mobile broadband performance on iPhone and Android devices, use the FCC’s Mobile Broadband Speed Test App. Learn more: http://www.fcc.gov/measuring-broadbandamerica/mobile Transparency
Ogden Telephone Company shall make available public information on its website www.ogdentelephone.com regarding its network management practices, performance and commercial terms of its service sufficient for consumers to make an informed choice regarding their use of such services. Ogden Telephone Company does not block, throttle, discriminate in any way, or create any type of fast or slow lanes through prioritization, paid or unpaid.
Latency
Latency is another measurement of Internet performance. Latency is the time delay in transmitting or receiving packets on a network. Latency is primarily a function of the distance between two points of transmission, but also can be affected by the quality of the network or networks used in transmission. Latency is typically measured in milliseconds, and generally has no significant impact on typical everyday Internet usage. As latency varies based on any number of factors, most importantly the distance between a customer’s computer and the ultimate Internet destination (as well as the number and variety of networks your packets cross), it is not possible to provide customers with a single figure that will define latency as part of a user experience.
Congestion Management
Ogden Telephone Company does not implement any congestion management techniques. Ogden Telephone Company operates our network to accommodate reasonably necessary traffic requirements. In the event of congestion, all traffic is classified as best effort. Our congestion management approach may change over time, as we continue to study and enhance our practices and as new technologies emerge. In the meantime, we will continue to invest in our network in accordance with our normal course of business operations, which includes installing technology that may increase the speed and capacity of our services.
Content, Applications, Service and Device Providers
As a full-service Internet Service Provider, Ogden Telephone Company delivers a variety of Internet based applications. These include: • Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) • Email Ogden Telephone Company does not discriminate the service of any customer traffic. Ogden Telephone Company utilizes the network management techniques that are equal and standard across all user applications. We do not modify our network to make our directly-served applications perform better than applications a user would access over the general Internet. For example, Ogden Telephone Company does not manipulate our network to perform better for customers accessing Ogden Telephone Company email servers versus Ogden Telephone Company customers accessing Google’s Gmail. The network management practices employed by Ogden Telephone Company do not differ between our directly-offered applications to those general applications offered over the Internet.
Security Measures
In the event of Denial of Service (DoS), Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack, spoofing or other malicious traffic, Ogden Telephone Company may implement inbound and outbound filtering on specific hosts. These actions may be performed to ensure reliability and availability of the Ogden Telephone Company Network. These actions will not be utilized for normal Internet applications and traffic. NOTE: INS may perform this action on behalf of Ogden Telephone Company equipment that is managed by Aureon. Ogden Telephone Company cannot and does not guarantee that DoS, DoS, spoofing or other malicious traffic will not take place or occur, or will not impact our customers. Ogden Telephone Company likewise cannot and does not guarantee that any inbound or outbound filtering efforts employed to Ogden Telephone Company can or will prevent any such activity.
Privacy Policy
Ogden Telephone Company has provided this privacy statement in order to demonstrate our firm commitment to your privacy. The following policy discloses our information gathering and dissemination practices for Ogden Telephone Company.
Information
Ogden Telephone Company is the sole owner of the information collected on its website.
Viewer Privacy
Ogden Telephone Company does not collect personal information such as names, e-mail addresses, postal addresses, or telephone numbers. Since we do not collect any personal information on this Web site, we do not share any personal information with any third parties nor do we use any personal information for any purposes.
IP Addresses
As noted above, we do not collect any personal information on this Web site. We do, however, collect and store information about your Internet connection when you visit our Web site to read or download information, such as reports, news, etc. We use this information to track Web site use, measure site traffic, and improve site navigation and information. We collect information that identifies: • The name of the domain you access the Internet with. • The type of web browsing software you use to view our site. • The date and time of your access. • The platform you are using (i.e., Windows, Macintosh or Unix). This information is never sold, given or disclosed to third parties. This information is used internally to administer our web site, provide better services to the public, and provide aggregate traffic statistics to Ogden Telephone Company staff.
Hyperlinks
Additionally, this site contains links to other sites. Ogden Telephone Company is not responsible for the privacy practices or the content of such Web sites unless operated directly by Ogden Telephone Company. We encourage you to note when you leave our website and read the privacy statements of each website that collects personally identifiable information.
Pricing
Please click on the following website link for Internet pricing information: http://www.ogdentelephone.com/.
Acceptance and Jurisdiction
By using this service, you agree that you have read, understand and will abide, and be bound, by the terms of this Web Site Privacy and Policies (“Terms”). If you do not agree to these Terms, please do not use the Ogden Telephone Company web site. These Terms shall be governed in all respects in accordance with the laws of the State of Iowa without regard to the conflict or choice of law rules thereof. Courts sitting in the State of Iowa, federal and state, shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute arising hereunder.
