ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

Thank you for choosing Surf Erie, LLC. as your Internet Service Provider. Surf Erie has developed a complex infrastructure of network and data serving equipment in order to make your access to the Internet reliable and user friendly. While Surf Erie attempts to encourage quality and accuracy of information available through its system, we exercise no control over most content on the Internet in general, and therefore, Surf Erie cannot be held responsible for incorrect information. By registering for any Surf Erie Internet service, the user agrees to the terms and conditions specified in this document. Surf Erie reserves the right to make changes and supplement this document at any time. Users will be notified via electronic mail (email), of changes affecting the services to which they subscribe.

The services provided by Surf Erie are expected to change from time to time as technology changes and systems are upgraded. Surf Erie reserves the right to change any service offered or the features of any service offered on its network without notice, including changes to access and use procedures such as idle connections and all system hardware and software.

Billing Procedures

All new accounts are subject to an activation / setup fee unless otherwise specified.

Billing dates will be on the 1st of every month. Please take note that all services are paid in advance. All bills will be sent via e-mail unless otherwise specified. In order to effectively receive your Surf Erie bill on time, please be sure that you are using your current Surf Erie e-mail address or call to have your bill sent to an e-mail address that you primarily use. Business customers may receive a paper invoice at no extra fee when requested.

When a new sign-up first activates their account, their sign-up date becomes their initial billing date. Their service will be pro-rated until the 1st of the month and will be due within 20 days of their sign-up date. The customer's next billing date will then be on the 1st of the month in which they signed up and each month thereafter.

Payment on the account is required within twenty (20) days of account billing date. If payment is not received within twenty (20) days, a late fee of $2.50 or 10% (which ever is greater) will be assessed to the account. Failure to abide by payment terms will result in the temporary suspension of all Internet Services. Suspension of the delinquent account will occur if payment is not received by the next billing date. In the event of suspension, all unpaid fees incurred up until suspension date will be due immediately. All fees are subject to change without notice.

In the event that DSL service is suspended for non-payment and is then re-activated, the service will be re-activated and charged from the date of account suspension. There are contracts with the local telco where we are obligated to pay the line fee for your DSL account no matter if the customer is active or suspended with the ISP. DSL charges will continue no matter if the customer's access is suspended with the ISP.

A collection fee of no less than $10.00 will be assessed to any account that goes unpaid 15 days after account suspension. The delinquent account will then be turned over to a collection agency no less than 30 days after account suspension.

In the event that a customer wishes to cancel their account, disconnection notices must be received at least one (1) day prior to scheduled account billing date. Upon cancellation, account balance will be due up to the last day before the start of the new billing cycle and payment will be expected within ten (10) days of cancellation. Refunds will not be provided unless otherwise noted. There are no partial months for any service once cancelled. A cancelled service will terminate at the end of the current billing cycle unless otherwise noted.

Customers that have signed up for our annual payment plan and have already paid in advance at the time of cancellation will be charged a $25.00 disconnect fee before any refund is issued.

Customers that have signed up for our 6 month payment plan and have already paid in advance at the time of cancellation will be charged a $25.00 disconnect fee before any refund is issued.

A minimum $25.00 service charge will be applied for all returned checks.

Dial-up Service Guidelines

All new accounts are subject to an activation / setup fee unless otherwise specified.

You may not use the same dial-up account with more than 1 computer at any given time which means that no account may be logged on more than once at any given time. If you are found to be in violation of this rule, we reserve the right to bill your account accordingly.

While Surf Erie's regular monthly service is unlimited, It is not a dedicated connection. You are able to dial in any time you like. When you are not actively using the system, we ask that you log off to ensure that connections are available for other active users. We utilize detection programs to ensure that customers are not using automated programs just to keep the connection alive. In these circumstances, we will proactively discontinue the connection. If such activity continues, we reserve the right to terminate service.

Broadband Service Guidelines (DSL/Wireless/Dedicated Line)

All new accounts are subject to an activation / setup fee unless otherwise specified.

It is strictly prohibited to use Residential DSL service for web hosting. If you are caught hosting websites using your Residential DSL service, we reserve the right to either block PORT 80, or upgrade your service to Commercial DSL of the same speed.

IP addresses are not portable and are not assigned for independent administration or distribution. Customer understands that IP assignments are not guaranteed, and may be modified as required by Surf Erie and/or the American Registry for Internet Numbers (ARIN).

Customer shall be responsible for obtaining and maintaining any equipment needed to access, connect to, or use Surf Erie Broadband Services. The customer shall be responsible for insuring that such equipment is compatible with the services provided by Surf Erie. Services provided by Surf Erie are for the sole use of the customer and not for resale of any kind without the prior written consent of Surf Erie, which may be given in its sole discretion. In the event the customer attempts to resell the services, Surf Erie may, at its sole discretion, increase the fees associated with the services, or terminate the Services.

All new DSL accounts are ordered under a 1 year line agreement with the local Telco unless otherwise specified. If cancellation occurs before the 1 year term has ended, then an early cancellation fee may be charged to the account in accordance with the local Telco's policies and procedures.

Personal Page Guidelines

Residential subscribers to Surf Erie's service may publish personal home pages only. Users wishing to publish pages of a business orientation, must publish them through a business account or web hosting package. A business oriented page is described as any page that advertises, promotes, markets or disseminates information about products or services including but not limited to the use of phone numbers, addresses, product descriptions, etc. for the purpose of generating a product inquiry or sale.

Surf Erie, at its sole discretion, reserves the right to suspend or cancel, without notice, user accounts for misuse related to the above. In addition, the user will assume financial responsibility for the difference between the amount paid for a personal home page account and a business account. User agrees that Surf Erie is authorized to charge the user's credit card or account for such costs.

Mail and Newsgroup Usage Guidelines

In order to maintain an efficient environment for the exchange of information and opinions, Surf Erie will not facilitate the transmission of harassing or mass unsolicited email (spam) therefore such activity is prohibited. Using or storing programs or methods designed to conceal the author's identity by forging header information is also prohibited. Using programs to collect email addresses from mailing lists, newsgroups or Web sites ("address harvesters" or "extractors") is strictly prohibited. Additionally, the use of any form of bulk e-mailer system to deliver unsolicited mail in any amount is prohibited.

Surf Erie does not restrict news postings on the basis of content with the exceptions that postings do not contain illegal information and that the policies set by the news groups moderators are followed. Posting ten (10) or more separate copies of the same message ("spamming" or "excessive multi-posting") or cross-posting a message to 10 or more newsgroups ("excessive cross-posting") is also prohibited. Users who violate these rules may be subject to additional charges for resources spent responding to complaints, deleting unsolicited correspondence and account cancellation.

Surf Erie reserves the right to communicate information of a commercial or non-commercial nature to its subscribers that it believes will enhance the benefits of the Surf Erie service.

Surf Erie will actively monitor your email storage space and reserves the right to remove your mailbox if it exceeds the 10MB limit during a period of at least 30 days inactivity. We ask that you check your email with Surf Erie at least once per month to avoid filling your mailbox to capacity. This procedure will allow the active users to have the maximum email storage space possible on the server.

Lawful Use Policy

Surf Erie's service may only be used for lawful purposes and must stay consistent with all rights of other parties. Without limiting the foregoing, Surf Erie's service shall not be used in a manner which would violate any law or infringe any copyright, trademark, trade secret, right of publicity, privacy right or any other right of any person or entity or for the purpose of transmitting or storing of material which is obscene, libelous or defamatory. Use and access to other networks through Surf Erie's must comply with the rules, regulations, terms, policies and/or conditions for such other networks. For purposes of tracking security breaches as well as general system administration, Surf Erie users agree to be subject to monitoring of activity while logged on to any of its systems.

No current or former Surf Erie customer, employee, contractor or affiliate may use programs or methods intended to, or as a possible side-effect of their use, compromise the security of any system or device on our network or any external network, or attempt to bring about a denial of any form of service on our network or any external network.

Surf Erie will make every effort to comply with Title 18 of the Pennsylvania Consolidated Statutes (section 7330), which requires that an Internet Service Provider shall remove or disable access to child pornography accessible through its service within five business days of when the Internet Service Provider is notified by the Pennsylvania attorney general of such Internet content to be blocked.

Limitation of Liability

Use of Surf Erie services, and the Internet in general, is at the user's sole risk. Surf Erie does not warrant that its services and/or access to its network will be uninterrupted or error free; nor does Surf Erie make any warranty as to the results or information obtained from use of its service or system or the Internet in general. Surf Erie's services are provided on an "as is," "as available" basis without warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied, including implied warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose, all of which warranties are hereby expressly disclaimed except to the extent any warranty cannot be disclaimed under applicable law. Under no circumstances shall Surf Erie be liable for any indirect, incidental, special or consequential damages, including, without limitation, loss of profits.

Although Surf Erie makes every effort to keep information with regard to local calling up to date in it's databases, you should check with your phone company to verify that the number you dial to connect to the Internet will be a local call. Surf Erie strongly recommends that you confirm with your local telephone provider that the access number you wish to use is a local, toll-free call. Under no circumstances will Surf Erie accept responsibility for telephone toll charges incurred while accessing our network.

Indemnity

The user agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Surf Erie, its directors, officers, shareholders, agents, employees and its customers from any and all claims, liabilities, damages, or expenses, including attorney fees, arising out of, or resulting from, any and all use of Surf Erie services and/or its network, whether or not authorized.

Acceptance & Applicable Law

By accepting service from Surf Erie, user agrees to all of the Terms and Conditions of this Agreement. These terms and conditions supersede all other written and oral communications or agreements with regard to the subject matter. Any waiver, modification or variation of these terms and conditions shall only be effective if in writing and/or in the form of a business contract signed by an authorized officer of Surf Erie, LLC.

This agreement is governed by the laws of the State of Pennsylvania, USA. If any provision of this agreement is invalid or unenforceable under applicable law, then it is, to that extent, deemed omitted and the remaining provisions will continue in full force and effect.

Thank you again for choosing Surf Erie as your Internet Service Provider.

Acceptable Use Policy

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