Acceptable Use Policy

SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA TELEPHONE COMPANY (“SCTC”) IS REGISTERED AND COMPLIANT WITH THE DIGITAL MEDIA COPYRIGHT ACT (“DMCA”) AND, AS SUCH, FOLLOWS DMCA GUIDELINES AND PROCESSES

For commercial and residential subscribers of SCTC services (“Subscribers”), unless otherwise stated, use of Southern California Telephone Company Internet and/or Hosting Services(“Services”) is subject to the following Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”). In addition to complying with our Master Service Agreement (“Terms of Service”), you agree not to use or allow third parties to use the Services provided to you for any of the following purposes:

To use any SCTC equipment for anything other than its intended purpose.
To violate or encourage the violation of the legal rights of others.
For any unlawful, invasive, infringing, defamatory, or fraudulent purpose.
To intentionally distribute viruses, worms, Trojan horses, corrupted files, hoaxes, or other items of a destructive or deceptive nature.
For residential Subscribers, to operate servers for commercial purposes. However, personal, non-commercial use of servers that comply with this AUP is acceptable, including using virtual private networks (“VPNs”) to access services in your home and using hardware or applications that include server capabilities for uses like multi-player gaming, video-conferencing, and home security.
For Subscribers, to generate or facilitate sending unsolicited bulk commercial email via the Services.
To make the Services available to anyone outside the property to which the Services are delivered, to resell the Services directly or indirectly, except as explicitly approved by SCTC in writing, or to create substitute or related services through the use of or access to the Services (for example, to provide Wi-Fi services to third parties outside of your residence).
To interfere with the use of the Services or the equipment used to provide the Services by subscribers or other authorized users.
To alter, disable, interfere with, or circumvent any aspect of the Services, including but not limited to security features of the Services.

Your failure to comply with the AUP may result in suspension and/or termination of the Services.

SCTC reserves the right at any time to take action necessary to protect the integrity of its network and other parts of the Internet. This may include terminating or suspending Service to Subscribers who engage in activity that violates the SCTC Terms of Service, including but not limited to activity that threatens to undermine the integrity of SCTC’s network or Services.

Resale and Redistribution - For residential Subscribers, the Services are intended for the personal use of you and other occupants and guests within your residence. You agree not to resell or repackage the Services, or otherwise make them available to anyone outside of your building, without the express permission of SCTC.

For Commercial Subscribers, the Services are intended for the commercial use of you and other employees and guests within your business. You agree not to resell or repackage the Services or otherwise make them available to anyone outside of your building, without the express permission of SCTC.

Intellectual Property Violations - Engaging in any activity that infringes or misappropriates the intellectual property rights of others, including copyrights, trademarks, service marks, trade secrets, software piracy, and patents held by individuals, corporations, or other entities. Also, engaging in activity that violates privacy, publicity, or other personal rights of others. SCTC is required by law to remove or block access to Subscriber content upon receipt of a proper notice of copyright infringement. It is also SCTC's policy to terminate the privileges of Subscribers who commit repeat violations of copyright laws.

Spamming - Sending unsolicited bulk and/or commercial messages over the Internet (known as "spamming")is prohibited. It is not only harmful because of its negative impact on consumer attitudes toward SCTC, but also because it can overload SCTC's network and disrupt service to SCTC Subscribers. Also, maintaining an open SMTP relay is prohibited. When a complaint is received, SCTC has the discretion to determine from all of the evidence whether the email recipients were from an "opt-in" email list.

Obscene Speech or Materials - Using SCTC 's network to advertise, transmit, store, post, display, or otherwise make available child pornography or obscene speech or material is prohibited. SCTC is required by law to notify law enforcement agencies when it becomes aware of the presence of child pornography on or being transmitted through SCTC's network.

Defamatory or Abusive Language - Using SCTC 's network as a means to transmit or post defamatory, harassing, abusive, or threatening language is prohibited.

Forging of Headers - Forging or misrepresenting message headers, whether in whole or in part, to mask the originator of the message is prohibited.

Illegal or Unauthorized Access to Other Computers or Networks - Accessing illegally or without authorization computers, accounts, or networks belonging to another party, or attempting to penetrate security measures of another individual's system (often known as "hacking") is prohibited. Also, any activity that might be used as a precursor to an attempted system penetration (i.e. port scan, stealth scan, or other information gathering activity) is prohibited.

Distribution of Internet Viruses, Worms, Trojan Horses, or Other Destructive Activities - Distributing information regarding the creation of and sending Internet viruses, worms, Trojan horses, pinging, flooding, mailbombing, or denial of service attacks is prohibited. Also, activities that disrupt the use of or interfere with the ability of others to effectively use the network or any connected network, system, service, or equipment is prohibited.

Facilitating a Violation of this AUP - Advertising, transmitting, or otherwise making available any software, program, product, or service that is designed to violate this AUP, which includes the facilitation of the means to spam, initiation of pinging, flooding, mailbombing, denial of service attacks, and piracy of software is prohibited.

Usenet Groups - SCTC reserves the right not to accept postings from newsgroups where we have actual knowledge that the content of the newsgroup violates the AUP.

Other Illegal Activities - Engaging in activities that are determined to be illegal, including advertising, transmitting, or otherwise making available ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, fraudulently charging credit cards, and pirating software is prohibited.

Security - You are responsible for implementing appropriate security measures when using the Services, including using secure transfer protocols (e.g., https) and taking whatever steps are necessary to ensure that your data is not accessed by unauthorized third parties. SCTC is not responsible for any damages to users of the Services that may be caused by unauthorized third parties. SCTC engages in network management practices intended to address threats to its network and subscribers. SCTC reserves the right at any time to take action that SCTC, in its sole discretion, deems necessary to protect the integrity of its network and other parts of the Internet. This may include terminating or suspending service to subscribers who engage in activity that violates these terms or otherwise threatens to undermine the integrity of SCTC’ network or services. Please notify SCTC of any perceived network security or other Internet threats.