Spam, including unsolicited commercial email, unsolicited bulk email, mass email, and junk email, is a message that advertises goods or services that you send to someone without their prior consent or in the absence of a previous relationship. In one respect spam is the electronic equivalent of the junk mail you receive in your postal mailbox every day.

There are three main types of spam: Usenet, message board, and email. Usenet and message board spam are messages sent or posted which are unrelated to the topic of discussion of the particular news group or message board. Email spam is any electronic mail message that is addressed to a recipient with whom the initiator does not have an existing business or personal relationship or is not sent at the request of, or with the express consent of, the recipient.

There are other types of Internet abuse that qualify as spam. These include, but are not limited to, spamming of chat rooms and spamming via Internet Relay Chat or "Instant Messaging" systems (such as ICQ).

DV TECHNOLOGIES' SPAM POLICY
DV Tech's Acceptable Use Policy has been formulated with the following goals in mind:

• Ensure security, reliability and privacy of DV Tech systems and network.
• Avoid situations that may cause DV Tech to incur civil liability.
• Maintain the image and reputation of DV Tech as a responsible organization.
• Preserve the value of Internet resources as a conduit for free expression.
• Encourage the responsible use of net resources, discouraging practices which degrade the usability of network resources and thus the value of Internet services.
• Preserve the privacy and security of individual users.

The Acceptable Use Policy below defines the actions which DV Tech considers to be abusive, and thus, strictly prohibited.

The examples named in this list are non-exclusive, and are provided solely for guidance to DV Tech customers. If you are unsure whether any contemplated use or action is permitted, please send mail to tracy@dvtech.net and we will assist you. Please note that the actions listed below are also not permitted from other Internet Service Providers on behalf of, or to advertise, any service hosted by DV Tech , or connected via the DV Tech network. Furthermore, such services may not be advertised via deceptive marketing policies, as defined by the Federal Trade Commission Deception Policy Statement.

General Conduct
Customers are prohibited from transmitting on or through any of DV Tech's services, any material that is, in DV Tech's sole discretion, unlawful, obscene, threatening, abusive, libelous, or encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any local, state, national or international law.

DV Tech's services may only be used for lawful purposes. Transmission, distribution, or storage of any information, data or material in violation of United States or state regulation or law, or by the common law, is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, material protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, or any other statute. DV Tech's reserves the right to remove such illegal material from its servers.

The customer is responsible for keeping his billing data with DV Tech's up-to-date and accurate. Furnishing false data on any contract or application, including fraudulent use of credit card numbers, is grounds for immediate termination, and may subject the offender to civil or criminal liability.

The resale of DV Tech's products and services is not permitted, unless specifically permitted and documented in a written agreement.

Network Security
Customers may not use DV Tech's network as to 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 the Customer, logging into a server or account the Customer is not expressly authorized to access, password cracking, probing the security of other networks in search of weakness, or violation of any other organization's security policy.

Customers may not attempt to interfere or deny service to any user, host, or network. This includes, but is not limited to, flooding. mailbombing, or other deliberate attempts to overload or crash a host or network.

DV Tech 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. Users who violate systems or network security may incur criminal or civil liability.

E-mail
DV Tech has zero tolerance for Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) that is in any way associated with DV Tech , its clients, or any of its client's associates. Customers are prohibited from using UCE as a means of advertising data or services hosted on DV Tech's network, or using the network to distribute such materials. Infringements of this policy can result in any one of the following:

• A warning from DV Tech , via E-mail or phone.
• Removal of DNS for the advertised / originating site.
• Temporary shutdown of the server or a block on outgoing mail.
• $150 fine for each complaint.
• Permanent disconnection of service.

Infringements of this policy include, but are not limited to:

• Sending mail to users who have not specifically requested to receive such mail, including opt-out mailing lists.
• Sending, being involved in sending, or employing a third party to send mail which advertises or mentions a site hosted at DV Tech to users that have not specifically requested this mail.
• Forging of message headers to mask the originator of the message.
• Distributing software designed to aid in the delivery of UCE.

Harassment, whether through language, frequency, or size of messages, is prohibited.

These rules apply to other types of Internet-based message distribution.

DV Tech Personal Shell/Web Accounts
Customers may not run background processes on DV Tech's shell servers. Violations of this policy will result in a user's background processes being killed, and may result in account suspension.

Customers may not use their personal homepage space to advertise commercial services. DV Tech reserves the right to remove such content from our servers.

General Online Communicatons
DV Tech is not liable for the content of any communications or posting, other than those made by representatives of DV Tech , whether or not the communication originated from DV Tech's network.

Postings to public forums must comply with the written charters or FAQs for those newsgroups. Advertisements should only be posted in those newsgroups whose charters/FAQs explicitly permit them (see SPAM / Email Abuse). The poster is responsible for determining the etiquette of a given forum, prior to posting.

Customers are prohibited from posting the same or similar message to large numbers of newsgroups or otherwise flooding users with unwanted information.

Customers may not forward or otherwise propagate chain letters, whether or not the recipient wishes to receive such mailings.

Customers are prohibited from forging header information. This includes attempting to circumvent the approval process for posting to a moderated newsgroup.

Customers may not attempt to impersonate others in a public forum.