MZIMA Legal

Acceptable Use Policy

Mzima Networks Inc. on behalf of Mzima Corp, NA.
Adopted and Made Effective January 1, 2002
Revised December 13, 2004

Agreement

This Acceptable Use Policy (hereafter referred to as "AUP") sets forth the principles and guidelines that govern the use of Mzima Network's (hereafter referred to as "Mzima") Internet Backbone, Equipment, Servers, Bandwidth, Disk Space or any other form of Mzima property by any person, Internet User, client of Mzima, whether licensed and authorized to use said Services or not.

By using any Equipment, Servers, Bandwidth, Disk Space or any other property of Mzima, including the Mzima IP backbone network, the entity (hereafter referred to as "User") using said property agrees to all of the terms and conditions of this AUP.

Compliance With Law

Users shall not post, transmit, retransmit or store material on or through any of Mzima's system, services or products that: (i) is in violation of any local, state, federal or non-United States law or regulation; (ii) threatening, obscene, indecent , defamatory or that otherwise could adversely affect any individual, group or entity (collectively, "Persons"); or (iii) violates the rights of any person, including rights protected by copyright, trade secret, patent or other intellectual property or similar laws or regulations including, but not limited to, the installation or distribution of "pirated" or other software products that are not appropriately licenses for use by User.

Principles and Guidelines

This AUP identifies the actions that the Mzima considers to be abusive, and thus, strictly prohibited. In addition to the other requirements of this AUP, User may only use the Mzima's systems, services and products in a manner that, in the Mzima's sole judgement, is consistent with the purposes of such systems, services and products. If a User is unsure whether a contemplated use or action is permitted under the AUP, the User should e-mail Mzima with a description of the proposed use at policy@mzima.net for a determination as to whether the use is permissible under this AUP. The examples identified in the subsections below are non-exclusive and are provided, in part, for guidance purposes.

The following uses of Mzima's systems, services and products as described in subsections A through E are expressly prohibited:

A. Prohibited Actions: General Conduct

1. Transmitting on or through any of Mzima's systems, services, or products any material that is, in Mzima's sole discretion, unlawful, obscene, threatening, abusive, libelous, or hateful, or encourages conduct that may constitute a criminal offense, may give rise to civil liability, or otherwise may violate any local, state, national or international law.
2. Transmission, distribution, or storage of any information, data or material in violation of United States or state regulations or law, or by the common law.
3. Violations of the rights of any Person protected by copyright, trade secret, patent or other intellectual property or similar laws or regulations.
4. Actions that restrict or inhibit any Person, whether a User of the Mzima or otherwise, in its use or enjoyment of any of Mzima's systems, services or products.
5. Deceptive on-line marketing practices.
6. Furnishing false data on the signup form, contract, or online application, including fraudulent use of credit card numbers (such conduct is ground for immediate termination and may subject the offender to civil or criminal liability).

B. Prohibited Actions: System and Network Security

1. 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 User, logging into a server or account the User is not expressly authorized to access, or probing the security of other networks (such as running a SATAN scan or similar tool).
2. Effecting security breaches or disruptions of Internet communications. Security breaches include, but are not limited to, accessing data of which User is not an intended recipient or logging onto a server or account that User is not expressly authorized to access. For purposes of this section, "disruption" includes, but is not limited to, port scans, ping floods, packet spoofing, forged routing information, deliberate attempts to overload a service, and attempts to "crash" a host.
3. Using any program/script/command, or sending messages of any kind, designed to interfere with a user's terminal session, by any means, locally or by the Internet.
4. Executing any form of network monitoring which will intercept data not intended for User.

C. Prohibited Actions: E-Mail

1. Harassment, whether through language, frequency, or size of messages, is prohibited.
2. Sending unsolicited mail messages, including the sending of "junk mail" or other advertising material to individuals who did not specifically request such material ("e-mail spam"). Users are explicitly prohibited from sending unsolicited bulk mail messages. This includes, but is not limited to, bulk-mailing of commercial advertising, informational announcements, and political tracts. Such material may only be sent to those who have explicitly requested it. If a recipient asks to stop receiving e-mail, the User must not send that person any further e-mail. Mail sent to persons that have explicitly requested said mail must be in compliance with all applicable state and Federal laws.
3. Creating or forwarding "chain letters" or other "pyramid schemes" of any type, whether or not the recipient wishes to receive such mailings.
4. Malicious e-mail, including, but not limited to, "mailbombing" (flooding a user or site with very large or numerous pieces of e-mail).
5. Unauthorized use of or modifying/forging mail header information.
6. Using a Mzima or a User account to collect replies to messages sent from another provider.
7. Use of unsolicited e-mail originating from the Mzima network or networks of other Internet Service Providers on behalf of, or to advertise any service hosted by Mzima, or connected via the Mzima network.
8. Willful failure to secure open SMTP ports so as to prevent the unauthorized use of User resources for the purposes of sending unsolicited e-mail by a third party.

D. Prohibited Actions: Usenet Newsgroups

1. Positing the same or similar messages to large numbers of Usenet newsgroup (Newsgroup spams or USENET spam).
2. Posting chain letters of any type.
3. Posting encoded binary files to newsgroups not specifically named for that purpose.
4. Cancellation or superseding of posts other than your own, with the exception of official newsgroup moderators performing their duties.
5. Forging of header information. This includes attempting to circumvent the approval process for posting to a moderated newsgroup.
6. Solicitations of mail for any other e-mail address other than that of the poster's account or service, with intent to harass or to collect replies.
7. Postings that are in violation of the written charters or FAQs for those newsgroups.
8. Posting of Usenet articles from the Mzima network or networks of other Internet Service Providers on behalf of, or to advertise any service hosted by Mzima, or connected via the Mzima network.
9. Failure to secure a news server so as to prevent the unauthorized use of User resources by a third party which may result in Usenet posts which violate this policy.
10. Advertisements posted in newsgroups whose chargers/FAQs explicitly prohibit them. The poster of an advertisement or other information is responsible for determining the etiquette of a given newsgroup, prior to posting to it.

Infractions/Breach of Contract

By not complying with the above terms and conditions of this AUP, User agrees to the following:

1. Prosecution under California and United States Law (as applicable);
2. User will financially compensate Mzima for use (whether authorized or not) of said Backbone, Servers, Equipment, Bandwidth and Disk space according to the current Mzima list prices;
3. User will pay Mzima $200.00 US Dollars per confirmed report of unsolicited email being sent to Mzima registered and licensed users;
4. User will pay Mzima $200.00 US Dollars per independantly-confirmed unsolicited email complaint found in violation of any state or Federal law requiring handling by Mzima's abuse and/or NOC personnel;
5. Other actions, not limited, as applicable.

Note: unauthorized usage of the Mzima.NET network, servers, and related services, INCLUDING without exception all prohibited acts above, including the sending of unsolicited email messages to Mzima users, WILL incur a mandatory $200.00 US Dollar hourly consulting fee, to repair and delete unauthorized files residing on the Mzima servers, handle unsolicited email complaints, and/or any other action required. This is IN ADDITION to the $200.00/email unsolicited email message fee and bandwidth and diskspace utilization fee as detailed above, as applicable.

Complaints

Complaints regarding abusive conduct may be reported by FAX to +1-213-947-1048, ATTN: Policy Review Board, or by mail to:

Mzima Networks, Inc. NA
Policy Review Board
600 Wilshire Blvd., Suite 1200
Los Angeles, CA 90017
USA

Complaints will also be accepted via e-mail, so long as a valid return address is included. Mzima must be able to independently verify each instance of abuse, and so each complaint must include the COMPLETE TEXT OF THE OBJECTIONAL MESSAGE, INCLUDING ALL HEADERS. Please do NOT send excerpted parts of a message; sending a copy of the entire message, including headers, helps to prevent misunderstandings based on incomplete information, or information used out of context. Full headers demonstrate which path the message has taken, and enable us to determine whether any part of the message has been forged. This information is vital to our investigation.

Mzima's abuse team is reachable via email at abuse@mzima.net.

Enforcement

Mzima may, in its sole discretion, suspend or terminate a User's service for violation of this AUP at any time and without warning. As a general matter, Mzima attempts to work with Users to cure violations and to ensure that there is no reoccurrence of the violation prior to terminating service.

Liability

In no event will Mzima be liable to any User or third party for any direct, indirect, special or other consequential damages for actions taken pursuant to this AUP, including, but not limited to, any lost profits, business interruption, loss of programs or other data, or otherwise, even if Mzima was advised of the possibility of such damages.

Miscellaneous

Modification of AUP: Mzima retains the right to modify the AUP at any time and any such modification shall be automatically effective as to all Users when adopted by Mzima.

Applicability of AUP: The actions listed herein are also not permitted from other Internet Service Providers. Deceptive marketing, as defined by the Federal Trade commission Deception Policy Statement, is not permitted through the Mzima services or network. These rules apply to other types of Internet-based distribution mediums as well, such as RLG's Ariel system (a system for sending FAX-like documents over the Internet).

Mzima Is Not Responsible For Content

Mzima is not responsible for the content of any USENET posting, whether or not the posting was made by a User of the Mzima.

Removal of Materials

At its sole discretion, Mzima reserves the right to remove materials from its servers and to terminate internet access to Users that Mzima determines have violated this AUP.