Safeguarding your members personal privacy is one our most important goals. This document is updated from time to time as our programs and services change. However, the principles supporting this document will not change, nor will our firm commitment to protecting the privacy of your members. Please give us your feedback at privacy@550Access.com.

We do not read your members private online communications. 550Access respects the confidentiality of your members private communications in private chat rooms, e-mail (including downloads), instant message conversations, telephone calls and messages, as well as any profile data that they may create, such as stock portfolio, About Me and My Bank information. 550Access does not read or disclose private communications except to comply with valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order, to protect the company’s rights and property, or during emergencies when we believe physical safety is at risk. Of course, what they write or post in public or member chat rooms and message boards is available not only to 550Access, but to all members.

We collect personal information only through fair and lawful means and only with the knowledge and consent of the member. We do not use any information about where your members personally go on 550Access, or the Web, and we do not give that information out to others.

The 550Access system automatically gathers information about the areas that your members visit on the service. We do not use any of this navigational data about where they - as individual members - go on the service. Nor do we share any of this data with outside companies.

550Access does use navigational information in the aggregate to understand how your members as a group use the service so that we can make the service better. We may also share this statistical information with our partners or other outside companies, but in doing so, we do not disclose individual names or personal navigational information.

550Access does not keep track of where members go on the World Wide Web.

We do not give out our member’s telephone number, credit card information or screen names, unless a member authorizes us to do so. And we give members the opportunity to correct their personal contact and billing information at any time.

Exceptions: 550Access will release specific information on member’s accounts only to comply with valid legal process such as a search warrant, subpoena or court order, or in special cases such as physical threat to them or others. We take extra steps to protect the safety and privacy of children. We use secure technology, privacy protection controls and restrictions on employee access in order to safeguard your members personal information. We will keep your members informed, clearly and prominently, about what we do with your personal information, and we advise all parties if we change policy.

(ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY)

Introduction

550Access's (550Access) Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") is provided to give our customers and users a clear understanding of what 550Access expects of them while using the service. All users of 550Access's Internet services: those who access some of our Services but do not have accounts, as well as those who pay a service fee to subscribe to the Services, must comply with this AUP. Use of 550Access Service constitutes acceptance and agreement to 550Access's AUP as well as 550Access's Terms and Conditions.

We support the uncensored flow of information and ideas over the Internet and do not actively monitor subscriber activity under normal circumstances. Similarly, we do not exercise editorial control over the content of any web site, e-mail transmission, newsgroups, or other material created or accessible over or through the services, except for certain proprietary Web sites. However, in accordance with our Terms & Conditions, we may remove any materials that, in our sole discretion, may be illegal, may subject us to liability, or which may violate this AUP.  550Access may cooperate with legal authorities and/or third parties in the investigation of any suspected or alleged crime or civil wrongdoing. Your violation of this AUP may result in the suspension or immediate termination of either your 550Access account or other actions as detailed in Section 3. This AUP should be read in conjunction with our Terms & Conditions and other policies.

This document is intended to provide a basic understand of 550Access's Acceptable Use Policy. The following are guidelines for the establishment and enforcement of 550Access's AUP:

Ensure reliable service to our customers

Ensure security and privacy of our systems and network, as well as the networks and systems of others

Comply with existing laws

Maintain our reputation as a responsible service provider

Encourage responsible use of the Internet and discourage activities which reduce the usability and value of Internet services

Preserve the value of Internet resources as a conduit for free expression and exchange of information

Preserve the privacy and security of individual users

550Access intends to provide its customers access to everything the Internet has to offer. While 550Access is firmly committed to the principles of free speech, certain activities are damaging to the resources of both 550Access and the Internet and cannot be permitted under the guise of free speech. The resources of 550Access and the Internet are limited, and abuse of these resources by one user has a negative impact on the entire community.

We do not routinely monitor the activity of accounts except for measurements of system utilization and the preparation of billing records. However, in our efforts to promote good citizenship within the Internet community, we will respond appropriately if we become aware of inappropriate use of our service.

If a 550Access account is used to violate the Acceptable Use Policy, we reserve the right to terminate your service without notice. We prefer to advise customers of inappropriate behavior and any necessary corrective action. However, flagrant violations of the Acceptable Use Policy will result in immediate termination of service. Our failure to enforce this policy, for whatever reason, shall not be construed as a waiver of our right to do so at any time.

As a member of our network community, you must use your Internet access responsibly. If you have any questions regarding this policy, please contact us at abuse@550Access.com.

VIOLATIONS OF 550Access ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

The following constitute violations of this AUP:

550Access limits usage to 150 hrs per month. 
It is the user’s responsibility to contact and resolve all billing issue with 550Access,  before disputing any charges.
All cancellations must be made before the billing date.  It is the user’s responsibility to cancel by logging in.

Important: ‘Unlimited Access’ means unlimited number of times a user can connect. It does not mean a user can stay on for 24 hours a day seven days a week. This account is intended for normal use only. 550Access uses automated software to monitor usage patterns, number of times user has been disconnected due to inactivity, number of times user reconnects and the number of hours the user has used. Based on this the software may determine that the usage is excessive and abnormal, which will then deactivate your account. By using this policy the company is able to limit busy signals and limit abuse.

Illegal use. Use of the 550Access service to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting or otherwise) that, intentionally or unintentionally, violates any applicable local, state, national, or international law, or any rules or regulations promulgated there under.

Harm to minors. Use of the 550Access service to harm, or attempt to harm, minors in any way, including, but not limited to child pornography.

Threats. Use of the 550Access service to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting or otherwise) that threatens or encourages bodily harm or destruction of property.

Harassment. Use of the 550Access service to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting or otherwise) that harasses another.

Fraudulent activity. Use of 550Access 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," and "chain letters."

Forgery or impersonation. Adding, removing or modifying identifying network header information in an effort to deceive or mislead is prohibited. Attempting to impersonate any person by using forged headers or other identifying information is prohibited. The use of anonymous re-mailers or nicknames does not constitute impersonation.

Unsolicited commercial e-mail/unsolicited bulk e-mail Use of the 550Access service to transmit any unsolicited commercial or unsolicited bulk e-mail is expressly prohibited. Violations of this type will result in the immediate termination of the offending 550Access account.

E-mail/News Bombing: Malicious intent to impede another person's use of electronic mail services or new media will result in the immediate termination of the offending 550Access account.

E-mail / Message Forging: Forging any message header, in part or whole, of any electronic transmission, originating or passing through the 550Access service is in violation of this AUP.

Usenet Spamming: 550Access, Inc. has a zero tolerance policy for the use of its network for the posting of messages or commercial advertisements which violate the rules, regulations, FAQ or charter of any newsgroups or mailing list. Commercial messages that are appropriate under the rules of a newsgroups or mailing list or that are solicited by the recipients are permitted.

Unauthorized access. Use of the 550Access service to access, or to attempt to access, the accounts of others, or to penetrate, or attempt to penetrate, security measures of 550Access's or another entity's computer software or hardware, electronic communications system, or telecommunications system, whether or not the intrusion results in the corruption or loss of data, is expressly prohibited and the offending 550Access account is subject to immediate termination.

Copyright or trademark infringement. Use of the 550Access service to transmit any material (by e-mail, uploading, posting or otherwise) that infringes any copyright, trademark, patent, trade secret or other proprietary rights of 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, and the unauthorized transmittal of copyrighted software.

Collection of personal data. Use of the 550Access service to collect, or attempt to collect, personal information about third parties without their knowledge or consent.

Reselling the services. Reselling of 550Access service without our express written authorization is prohibited.

Network disruptions and unfriendly activity. Use of the 550Access service for any activity which affects the ability of other people or systems to use 550Access Services or the Internet. This includes "denial of service" (DOS) attacks against another network host or individual user. Interference with or disruption of other network users, services or equipment is prohibited. It is the Member's responsibility to ensure that their network is configured in a secure manner. A Subscriber may not, through action or inaction, allow others to use their network for illegal or inappropriate actions. A Subscriber may not permit their network, through action or inaction, to be configured in such a way that gives a third party the capability to use their network in an illegal or inappropriate manner. Unauthorized entry and/or use of another company and/or individual's computer system will result in immediate account termination. 550Access will not tolerate any subscriber attempting to access the accounts of others, or penetrate security measures of other systems, whether or not the intrusion results in corruption or loss of data.

Long Connections and Multiple Logins. Using a personal account for high volume or commercial use is prohibited. The Services are intended for periodic, active use of e-mail, newsgroups, file transfers, Internet chat, games, and browsing the World Wide Web. Members may stay connected so long as they are actively using that connection for the above purposes. Members may not use the Services on a standby or inactive basis in order to maintain a connection. Accordingly, 550Access maintains the right to terminate any member's connection following any extended period of inactivity as determined by 550Access. A single account is intended for one individual to access the Internet. Multiple logins under the same user ID are not allowed.

Fraud: Involves a knowing misrepresentation or misleading statement, writing or activity made with the intent that the person receiving it will act upon it.

Infringement of Copyright, Patent, Trademark, Trade Secret, or Intellectual Property Right: Distribution and/or posting of copyrighted or the aforementioned infringements will not be tolerated.

Distribution of Viruses: Intentional distributions of software that attempts to and/or causes damage, harassment, or annoyance to persons, data, and/or computer systems are prohibited. Such an offense will result in the immediate termination of the offending account.

Inappropriate Use of Software: Use of software or any device that would facilitate a continued connection, i.e. pinging, while using 550Access services could result in suspension service.

Third Party Accountability: 550Access subscribers will be held responsible and accountable for any activity by third parties, using their account, that violates guidelines created within the Acceptable Use Policy.

Security

You are responsible for any misuse of your account, even if the inappropriate activity was committed by a friend, family member, guest or employee. Therefore, you must take steps to ensure that others do not gain unauthorized access to your account.  In addition, you may not use your account to breach security of another account or attempt to gain unauthorized access to another network or server.

Your password provides access to your account. It is your responsibility to keep your password secure.

Sharing your password and account access with unauthorized users is prohibited. You should take care to prevent others from using your account since you will be held responsible for such use.

Attempting to obtain another user's account password is strictly prohibited, and may result in termination of service.

You must adopt adequate security measures to prevent or minimize unauthorized use of your account.

You may not attempt to circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network or account. This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for you, logging into or making use of a server or account you are not expressly authorized to access, or probing the security of other networks. Use or distribution of tools designed for compromising security is prohibited. Examples of these tools include, but are not limited to, password, guessing programs, cracking tools or network probing tools.

You may not attempt to interfere with service to any user, host or network ("denial of service attacks"). This includes, but is not limited to, "flooding" of networks, deliberate attempts to overload a service, and attempts to "crash" a host.

Users who violate systems or network security may incur criminal or civil liability. 550Access will cooperate fully with investigations of violations of systems or network security at other sites, including cooperating with law enforcement authorities in the investigation of suspected criminal violations.

Network Performance

550Access accounts operate on shared resources. Excessive use or abuse of these shared network resources by one customer may have a negative impact on all other customers. Misuse of network resources in a manner which impairs network performance is prohibited by this policy and may result in termination of your account.

You are prohibited from excessive consumption of resources, including CPU time, memory, disk space and session time. You may not use resource-intensive programs which negatively impact other customers or the performances of 550Access systems or networks. 550Access reserves the right to terminate or limit such activities.

You may not establish more than one connection to our network from your account at any one time.

You may not provide network services from your account (for example, you may not use your account to operate an ftp or a web server), unless your account type specifically provides for it.

Each customer account will be provided 10 MB of disk storage for each e-mail box. Messages left on 550Access's mail servers for more than thirty days (30 days) are subject to immediate deletion read or unread. Total mailbox storage is limited to 10MB per mailbox without regard to the age of the messages in the mailbox. Once the 10 MB limit is exceeded, any incoming messages will be returned to the sender until the subscriber reduces mailbox size by removing mail from the server.

You may not employ automated electronic or mechanical processes designed to defeat network inactivity time-outs. Such tools include, but are not limited to, use of an auto-dialer and repetitive pinging of a host.

Internet Relay Chat

Although 550Access does not offer technical support for Internet Relay Chat (IRC), you may use your account to connect to IRC servers and networks maintained by 550Access or third parties. Please remember that you are a guest when you make use of these facilities. It is particularly important that you do not engage in activities which might interfere with other customers' access to IRC.

You may not use IRC scripts or programs that interfere with or deny service to other users on any other server, host, network or channel.

You may not engage in activities which harass other users. This includes, but is not limited to, "flooding" (rapidly entering text with the intent to disrupt service), "flashing" (disrupting terminal emulation), "takeovers" (improper seizure and abuse of operator privileges), attempting to send private messages to those who do not wish to receive them, attempting to return to a channel after being banned from it, and other disruptive behaviors.

You may not attempt to impersonate other users. The use of nicknames does not constitute impersonation.

You may not run "clones" (multiple simultaneous IRC connections).

REPORTING VIOLATIONS OF 550Access AUP

550Access requests that anyone who believes that there is a violation of this AUP direct the information to the Abuse Department at abuse@550Access.com.

If available, please provide the following information:

The IP address used to commit the alleged violation

The date and time of the alleged violation, including the time zone or offset from GMT

Evidence of the alleged violation

E-mail with full header information provides all of the above, as do system log files. Other situations will require different methods of providing the above information. 550Access may take any one or more of the following actions in response to complaints:

Issue written or verbal warnings

Suspend the Member's newsgroups posting privileges

Suspend the Member's account

Terminated the Member's account

Bill the Member for administrative costs and/or reactivation charges

Bring legal action to enjoin violations and/or to collect damages, if any, cause by violations

REVISIONS TO THIS ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

550Access reserves the right to revise, amend, or modify this AUP, our Terms and Conditions and our other policies and agreements at any time and in any manner. Notice of any revision, amendment, or modification will be posted in accordance with the Terms and Conditions.

Copyright 2001 550Access