News Acceptable Use Policy
(NEWS-AUP)

Email AUP | Terms & Conditions for Internet Service| Network AUP

1. Introduction

News (Usenet News) is very much a bulletin board system where enjoyable and productive discussions can be conducted. Its tremendous coverage makes it an excellent medium for widespread dissemination of news and a forum for open discussion for all Internet users.

The Usenet News system comprises several newsgroups, each having its own purpose. Participating successfully in News is a matter of common sense and courtesy to others. It is not the intent of Bi Way Communications to judge the merit of News content. Bi Way Communications may alert the legal authorities to content which may be illegal or which relate to criminal offences such as fraud if such content is brought to Bi Way Communication's attention.

Customers are ultimately responsible for all News articles originating from their Accounts even though they may not be the actual person posting. In order to maintain News service levels and Customer satisfaction, certain activities will result in action being taken by Bi Way Communications as described in Section 3 of this document.

Bi Way Communications reserves the right to change this Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for News service at its sole discretion and without prior notice. Any decision made by Bi Way Communications in relation to this service shall be final on all matters.

2. What Constitutes Net Abuse?

Net Abuse is an abuse of Usenet services and not necessarily abuse on Usenet. An act which interferes with the Net-use of an individual or group of individuals in some specific way qualifies as Net Abuse. Net Abuse also includes activities which are illegal or dishonest.

Under the terms of this AUP, Net Abuse includes, but is not limited to, the following:

Chain Letters and Ponzi Pyramid-Selling Schemes
Such messages work in much the same way as the conventional postal version. The most common example of this in email is the infamous "MAKE-MONEY-FAST" scam. In addition to being a waste of resources, such messages are illegal in certain countries.

Commercial Articles
Newsgroups are rarely created for commercial purposes, and readers of these newsgroups will object strongly to commercial traffic.

Please check with the FAQ/charter of the newsgroup in question before posting articles of a commercial nature. In general, look around first before making a posting.

 

Binary Postings to Non-binary Groups
Other than the alt.binaries.* and alt.pictures.* newsgroups, the posting of encoded binary data is usually not welcomed. The majority of Usenet sites and news reader programs do not have the capability for selective downloading of articles and such posts can result in a significant amount of resources being wasted in transmission.

Excessive Multi-Posting (EMP) and Excessive Cross-Posting (ECP)
These forms of Net Abuse occur when the same (or similar) article is posted or cross-posted to a large number of unrelated newgroups. A complete definition of these terms can be found in the FAQ posted on the news.admin.net-abuse.announce newsgroup.

User Identity Forgery
Forging headers or messages means posting articles such that they appear to originate from another user.

Bi Way Communications takes a serious view when an identity is forged and may terminate the Account on the first offence without warning.

Illegal Content
Bi Way Communications will cooperate with the legal authorities should any illegal activity occur using Bi Way Communication's email services.

Breach of Copyright or Intellectual Property Rights
You must not send copyrighted material or material over which subsisting intellectual property rights exist via email unless with express permission from the owner to do so.

Administrator's Email
All Customers are required to accept and read email addressed from postmaster@biway.com.au and abuse@biway.com.au, and to respond to the email should a reply be requested. Mail sent from the Postmaster and Abuse Response Team (ART) must not be "bounced" or ignored.

3. What Bi Way Communications will do

All abuse cases involving Bi Way Communications Customers will be investigated. In order for investigations to proceed, an ART staff may contact the Customer and the Customer should cooperate by responding to the email, phone call, or fax. Bi Way Communications may at its discretion suspend/terminate an Account should the Customer fail to respond within the grace period given by the ART staff.

All ART mails shall come from abuse@biway.com.au. Bi Way Communications may carry out the following actions and any other measures deemed necessary upon completing an investigation:

 

Suspension of Account
The offending Account is suspended and access will not be available. The Customer will be contacted by a member of the ART or Technical/Customer Support team and given notice. The Customer may also take the initiative to contact a member of the ART when the Account is suspended.

The Customer is required to write to:
Abuse Response Team
c/o Systems and Network Engineering
Bi Way Communications
P.O. Box 468
Pennant Hills NSW 1715

or send a fax to fax number: 02 9980 6342 providing an explanation and assurance of no further breaches of the Terms and Conditions of Use and Acceptable Use Policies from the Account. Bi Way Communications may take further action should the Customer fail to furnish an explanation within the given grace period.

NOTE: In no circumstances will any refund be made for the period during which the Account is suspended under this AUP.

Termination of Account
The offending Account is terminated. A formal notification of termination will be served on the Customer.

NOTE: No refund of monies paid for the Account will be made, except as specified in the Terms and Conditions of Use.

4. Definitions

ART:

Abuse Response Team, a team in Bi Way Communications dedicated to handling investigations into cases of Net Abuse.

ACCOUNT:

A single billing entity, comprising all services being supplied by Bi Way Communications to the Customer. This may range from a single host to a complete network, depending upon the services purchased.

CUSTOMER:

The registered holder of the Bi Way Communications Account from which the Net Abuse originates.

NET ABUSE:

Includes any and all email items that are in breach of the Bi Way Communications EMAIL-AUP.

EMAIL-AUP:

This document.

Email AUP | Terms & Conditions for Internet Service| Network AUP