ACCEPTABLE USE POLICIES
Effective Date: October 15, 2000

The following are Use Policies that each SelectNet customer, existing and potential, should be aware of. These policies are not a substitute, however, for the Terms and Conditions which Customer has agreed to by applying for service. These policies are non-exclusive, and are provided solely for guidance to Customer. If Customer is unsure whether any contemplated use or action is permitted, please send mail to info@select.net for assistance. Please note that the actions listed below are also not permitted from other Internet Service Providers on behalf of any service provided by, or connected to, via the network.

These policies will be revised from time to time; it is Customer's responsibility to review the policies to determine any changes. If any policy is not agreed to, SelectNet shall be notified that Customer would like to cancel service and immediately cease any use of services. By placing an order with SelectNet Internet Services and using our services, Customer is presumed to have accepted these Acceptable Use Policies.

E-Mail Acceptable Use Policy

Customers and affiliates of are prohibited from using Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) and Unsolicited Bulk Email (UBE) as a means of advertising data or services hosted on SelectNet's network, or using the network to distribute such materials. Infringments of this policy can result in termination of service. Customers and affiliates will be held responsible for the actions of their employees in this matter, so it would be best for Customer or affiliate to implement a similar or stricter policy. Please review the information at http://spam.abuse.net for more information on what constitutes UCE, or 'Spam.' Harassment, whether through language, frequency, or size of messages, is prohibited.

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

• Do not send out any Unsolicited Commercial Email (UCE) or Unsolicited Bulk Email (also known as spam). We do not want to conduct business with anyone who does unsolicited bulk mailings.
• Spam-tising your website, i.e. sending out unsolicited bulk email promoting your site at SelectNet but using another ISP's servers to transmit these messages is absolutely prohibited. These prohibitions also encompass newsgroups and public mailing lists and bulletin boards. Do not flood newsgroups or public mailing lists. Even bulk emails with "opt-out" instructions (e.g. those conforming to Section 301, Paragraph (a)(2)(C) of S.1618) are not permitted.
• Customer will be held liable for such infringment even if the spamming action was done by a third party for Customer's benefit. (i.e. if your advertising agency or one of your employees does the spamming, you would still be held responsible. If a sublessee of your site spams, accountability still remains with you.)

In summary, mass emailing is prohibited except in those cases where the recipient is a current, active customer of yours or has signed up on an opt-in email list. You will need to be able to present irrefutable proof of the foregoing if a recipient challenges you on this.

Failure to observe the above mentioned restrictions will result in:

• an immediate suspension and subsequent deletion of your account, with full forfeiture of all setup and remaining fees.
• recovery of all costs incurred by SelectNet to undo any disruptions caused by the transmission of the UCE. Currently, State of California statutes allow us to recover USD 50 per individual message sent, up to a maximum of USD 25,000 daily, plus legal costs.
• our submission of the the spammer's domain name(s) to all anti-spam blocking databases, making the domain virtually unuseable even when the spammer transfers to another provider.

As mentioned above, by sending UCE's a spammer exposes himself to the following legal liabilities: (this is only a sample listing)

• In California, the recovery penalties as prescribed above, i.e. USD 50 per individual message sent up to a maximum of USD 25,000 daily, plus legal costs. Furthermore, the State of California criminalized the use of forged headers with penalties up to 1 year in prison and a $5000 fine. Note that the California statute applies to any message that is routed through network facilities located in the state, whether or not the spam originated in California. It also applies if the site being promoted is hosted on a server in California. So, this includes all SelectNet hosted sites.
• Apparently, according to a posting by a IRS Inspector, the US Internal Revenue System has established a special email address, at net-abuse@nocs.insp.irs.gov to report spam regarding money making schemes. Apparently, many spammers forget to declare the income derived from their electonic marketing ventures, so, one can understand that the IRS would have a particular interest in identifying those e-mail marketers and refresh their memory.

Note that putting up a disclaimer stating that the email was sent in accordance to HR 3113 or proposed Section 301 is not acceptable. It doesn't dissolve you of any liability. Not only you would still be violating your service contract with SelectNet, but you may still be violating parts of several states' commercial law codes.