Internet Policies

General Policy:

All information transiting the Runestone Internet Services network is unrestricted unless it is listed as unacceptable under this policy.

It is the policy of Runestone Internet Services to provide its subscribers electronic access to the broadest possible number of organizations connected to the Internet. This is accomplished through connectivity to one or more state, multi-state, regional or national backbone networks. All information that exits the Runestone Internet Services network and traverses the numerous other networks to which Runestone Internet Services is directly or indirectly connected, must conform to the acceptable use policies governing those networks.

Privacy Policy:

It is the responsibility of all individual subscribers or subscriber organizations to:

Respect the privacy of other subscribers and not to seek information pertaining to other subscribers without their explicit permission. This includes but is not limited to personal data, passwords, access to confidential files, or modification of files belonging to other subscribers.
Use the network service in a manner that is consistent with ethical practice and accepted community standards

Copyright Policy:

It is the responsibility of all individual subscribers or subscriber organizations to respect the legal protection provided by copyright and license to programs, data, and other information that may be accessible over the Runestone Internet Services network.

We reserve the right to remove any material from any of our servers at any time.

Unacceptable Use Policy:

It is not acceptable to use the Runestone Internet Services network services or facilities for any purpose:

Which would violate any applicable laws or regulations
Where the meaning of the message or the content of a file would likely be highly offensive to the recipient or recipients
Which make unauthorized entry into other computational, information storage, or communications devices or resources
Which propagate computer worms, viruses or transmissions of any type which cause disruption to disable or otherwise impede the recipient's facilities or equipment
To make distribution of unsolicited advertising/bulk email/spam
Which causes disruption of our service or any other entities service due to facilities overload (flaming, bulk e-mail/spam, web server disruption, etc.)

Unlimited Use Policy:

It is not the intent nor should it be expected that "unlimited" service will entitle the subscriber to a continuous, 24 hr/day connection to the Internet. A subscriber on a dial-up "unlimited" plan is permitted Internet access for as many hours as desired under the following conditions:

While connected, the computer must be engaged in interactive use by the subscriber for the purpose of accessing the Internet.
While connected, the computer shall not be left unattended for extended periods of time except in the event of a large file upload or download.
During high demand periods, we reserve the right to disconnect those subscribers who are maintaining a long-duration modem connection. The disconnected subscriber may attempt to reconnect immediately, but this procedure is intended to allow other subscribers who could not establish a modem connection an opportunity to do so.
The use of a "pinger" program or a similar function to avoid automatic disconnection from the Internet is not permitted.
Setting an email program to check for new mail at short intervals and thus avoid automatic disconnection from the Internet is not permitted unless the practice can be justified and permission is obtained from Runestone Internet Services.

Access to this service entitles the subscriber to have no more than one computer connected to a given Internet account at one time. An account may be accessed from as many different computers as desired but only one computer per account at a time. This service is not intended for resale without prior arrangement and written permission from Runestone Internet Services.

The above "Unlimited Use" terms and conditions relating to time limits and disconnection do not apply to a connection that is inherently "on" 24 hrs per day such as wireless or DSL service. Please contact us if you have questions about the terms and conditions associated with these services.

It is not permissible to operate a server of any kind (web, email, ftp, chat, gaming, news, streaming media, etc.) over any type of connection without prior arrangement and written permission from Runestone Internet Services.

If any of the conditions stated in this unlimited use policy are contrary to your needs, please contact us for information about other Internet access packages that we offer which may be more suitable.

E-mail Policy:

In addition to the items relating to e-mail stated in the section titled Unacceptable Use Policy, the following rules and conditions also apply:

Check and remove your e-mail from the server on a regular basis, at least once a week.
If an individual e-mail box exceeds one megabyte in size for more than one week, we will attempt to contact you and request that you promptly remove your e-mail from the server.
If an individual e-mail box has not been checked in two weeks, we will attempt to contact you and request that you promptly check your e-mail.
We reserve the right to delete any e-mail from the server at any time.
Do not consider Internet e-mail to be a secure means of communications. While no one other than system administration personnel (throughout the Internet) would normally have access to e-mail messages, the content of a message is nothing more than simple text in readable form. If more security is required, consider using an encryption program to scramble messages before they are sent. The message recipient will also have to be told how to decrypt any encrypted messages sent to them.
Do not consider Internet e-mail to be 100% reliable. While there are many safeguards built in to the system, the Internet is not infallible. If you must know that a message was delivered, request that the message recipient reply immediately with a confirming message.

If any of the conditions stated in this e-mail policy are contrary to your needs, please contact us for additional information or to make further arrangements.

Menu System Policy:

The menu system located at http://home.runestone.net/mainmenu.htm is provided as a courtesy to Runestone Internet Services customers. The links placed at these locations and on subsequent pages do not indicate any endorsement or recommendation of the product or service that the linked-to website is providing. Runestone Internet Services is not responsible for the content, availability or professional conduct of the linked-to sites. Concerns about a particular website or any company or organization related to that website must be directed to the parties responsible for that website.

All links on the menu system are subject to review and approval by Runestone Internet Services. Links may be added, removed or relocated at any time.

Please contact us if you have comments or questions about the menu system.

Extended Service Outage Reimbursement Policy:

While Runestone Internet Services strives to provide reliable Internet access, we also recognize that equipment can fail. In the event that we cannot provide access to the Internet because of a failure within our equipment, we will provide prorated reimbursement to our "unlimited access" subscribers in the form of a credit. The following conditions apply:

An outage must be the result of a failure within our equipment as opposed to the Internet in general. "Our equipment" is defined to mean that communications equipment used to provide access to the Internet which we own and have direct control over. The subscriber's equipment and other equipment and facilities that we may utilize but do not own are excluded.
An outage must extend for a period of time greater than 48 hours.
The subscriber must be on an "unlimited access" plan prior to and during an outage.
An outage does not include unavailability of service due to 100% utilization of our facilities by other subscribers.
The amount of reimbursement will be prorated and determined by Runestone Internet Services. It will be based on the number of days access was unavailable and the total number of days in the month in which the outage occurred. For example, a three day outage that occurred during a month that was thirty days long would result in a ten percent credit of the monthly subscription fee.
The amount of reimbursement is not to exceed the subscription fee for one month of service.
Any other real or perceived loss incurred by the subscriber as the result of an outage is the responsibility of the subscriber.

Responsibility Policy:

All subscribers of the Runestone Internet Services, whether organization or individuals, are responsible for publicizing this Acceptable Use Policy at their locations.

All participating telephone companies and resellers are responsible for communicating this policy statement to the appropriate administrative authorities at all user sites connected to theirs via connections that are not directly supported by Runestone Internet Services.

The ultimate responsibility for assuring the acceptability of use according to this policy is with the individual end-user who originates the communication.

Enforcement Policy:

The Runestone Internet Services Board of Directors or its designee will review alleged violations of this policy on a case-by-case basis. A violation may result in denying the user access to the network, termination of access to all services, and forfeiture of all fees paid.

Evidence of illegal activities will be reported to the appropriate law enforcement authorities.

Policy Modifications:

Runestone Internet Services reserves the right to modify this policy at any time. Subscribers are encouraged to visit this page regularly.

More Information:

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