Acceptable Use Policy

 

 

1           Definitions

1.1                Service Provider means Optima Business Systems and Consulting (Pty) Ltd (trading as OptimaBSC).

1.2                Client or You means the Client, including all the Client s users, making use of the Services provided by the Service Provider or the Service Provider s Suppliers.

1.3                Supplier means a supplier of Services to the Service Provider.

1.4                Party means the Client or the Service Provider and Parties means the Client and the Service Provider.

1.5                AUP means this Acceptable Use Policy.

1.6                Third Party or Third Parties means any natural person, company, organisation or other legal entity that is not the Service Provider, the Client, or a Supplier, and who is not acting on behalf of or under the authority of any of the foregoing parties.

1.7                Service or Services means any products, services, software or infrastructure provided to the Client by the Service Provider or the Service Provider s Suppliers.

2           Introduction

2.1                The purpose of this AUP is to:

2.1.1              Protect the Services of the Service Provider and of the Service Provider s Suppliers, and

2.1.2              Ensure compliance with the relevant domestic or foreign laws and regulations.

2.2                This AUP describes conduct and practises that are considered unacceptable when visiting the Service Provider s website or when using the Services.

2.3                This AUP may be updated from time to time, without prior notice, and the latest version will be published on the Service Provider s website.

2.4                By accessing the Service Provider s website or by using the Services, the Client agrees to be bound by the terms and conditions of the latest version of this AUP.

3           Content Responsibility

3.1                The Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, do not take any responsibility for any Client content created, accessible or delivered via the Services.

3.2                The Client acknowledges that the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, do not monitor or exercise any editorial control over content created and maintained by the Client, and that the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, do not know the substance of any content the Client places on or within the Services.

3.3                The Client acknowledges they are solely responsible for:

3.3.1              Any content published or made available via the Services, and

3.3.2              Compliance with any domestic or foreign laws and regulations applicable to the publication, distribution or export of such content.

3.4                The Client shall be solely responsible for maintaining a copy of its content.

4           Unacceptable Use

4.1                Illegal and inappropriate activities

4.1.1              The Client shall not use the Services to transmit, distribute or store material that violates any domestic or foreign laws and regulations.

4.1.2              The Client shall not use the Services to transmit, distribute or store material that is inappropriate, as reasonably determined by the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, or material that is defamatory, indecent, obscene or pornographic.

4.2                Fraudulent activities

4.2.1              The Client shall not use the Services to distribute material containing fraudulent offers, or advertising or promotional materials that contain false, deceptive or misleading statements.

4.3                Intellectual property and copyright infringements

4.3.1              The Client shall not use the Services in any manner that would infringe, dilute, misappropriate, or otherwise violate any personal rights or intellectual property rights, including but not limited to, copyrights and laws protecting patents, trademarks, trade secrets or other proprietary information.

4.4                Privacy violations

4.4.1              The Client shall not use the Services to violate any Third Parties right to privacy, including any effort to collect personal data of Third Parties without their consent or contrary to the applicable data privacy laws.

4.5                Security & access threats

4.5.1              The Client shall not conduct any activity which threatens the functioning, security or integrity of the Services, including, but not limited to:

4.5.1.1                Accessing data, servers, accounts, databases or networks which the Client is not authorised to access.

4.5.1.2                Forging any TCP/IP packet header or any part of the header information in any email or newsgroup posting,

4.5.1.3                Any effort to breach or attempt to breach the security of a Third Party or attempt to gain access to a Third Party s computer, software or data without the knowledge of and consent from that Third Party.

4.5.1.4                Any activity which threatens to interfere with, disrupt or disable the Services through denial of service attacks ( DDOS ), flooding of a network , overloading , mailbombing or crashing .

4.5.1.5                Transmitting, distributing or storing material or software that contains a virus, worm, Trojan horse, malware or other component harmful, destructive or disruptive to the Services.

4.5.1.6                Any attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of any system, network or software, or to breach the security, authentication or authorisation measures without the knowledge of and the consent from the Service Provider or the Service Provider s Suppliers.

4.6                Excessive usage

4.6.1              The Client acknowledges that certain Services are subject to defined usage limits, as set out in the applicable Service Provider s Terms & Conditions, the Service Provider s Specific Terms & Conditions, or the Client's accepted quotation from the Service Provider.

4.6.2              The Client agrees to use the Services within the agreed limits.

4.6.3              Should the Client's usage exceed the agreed limits applicable to any Service, the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, reserve the right to bill the Client for any usage exceeding the agreed limits, in accordance with the rates and mechanisms set out in the applicable Service Provider s Terms & Conditions, Service Provider s Specific Terms & Conditions, and/or the Client's accepted quotation from the Service Provider.

4.6.4              If the Client does not pay for the excess usage as billed by the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, reserve the right, at its sole discretion and without prior notice, to curtail the Client's usage, where such curtailment may include, but is not limited to, the throttling, restricting, or reduction of speed, capping of bandwidth or throughput, to the extent necessary to bring the Client's usage within acceptable limits.

4.6.5              The rights of the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, in respect of excessive usage, including any consequences thereof, are further governed by the Service Provider s Terms & Conditions and Service Provider s Specific Terms & Conditions applicable to the relevant Services.

4.7                Spam or unsolicited emails

4.7.1              The Client shall not use the Services to distribute or facilitate the sending of unsolicited bulk email for marketing, commercial or any other purposes (political, religious or commercial) to Third Parties who have not consented to receiving such emails.

5           Abuse Reporting

5.1                Any violations of this policy can be reported in writing to the Service Provider via email using the contact details as found on the Service Provider s website, including at least the following information:

5.1.1              The origin of abuse or offense, including the website, the full email headers, the relevant log file extracts and the name of the Services,

5.1.2              The contact details for the source of the complaint,

5.1.3              A brief description of the incident, and

5.1.4              A brief explanation why the incident is considered to be an offense.

5.2                Anonymous complaints are discouraged, and complainants are requested to supply their name and contact details which enables a prompter investigation into, and potentially a quicker resolution of, the incident. Such information will not be released, except where required by law. Anonymous complaints will however be acted upon as long as sufficient detail is supplied.

6           Breach

6.1                If the Client becomes aware of any violation to this AUP, the Client shall take all necessary action to prevent or stop such violation.

6.2                If the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, become aware of any violation to this AUP, the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, shall take action as deemed necessary to prevent or stop such violation.

6.3                The Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, shall be solely responsible for determining if any content or activity violates this AUP.

6.4                The Service provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, reserves the right to terminate or suspend the use of or access to any specific Service if the continued provision of such Service would violate domestic or foreign law and regulations, or otherwise harm the Service Provider s, or the Service Provider s Suppliers , reputation or other clients.

6.5                The Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, reserves the right to cooperate with legal authorities and Third Parties in the investigation of alleged wrongdoing, including notifying such legal authorities or Third Parties of such alleged wrongdoing and disclosing the identity of the party that the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, deem responsible for the wrongdoing.

6.6                The Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, will endeavour to provide notice to the Client prior to suspending or terminating the use of or access to its Services.

6.7                The Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, shall not be liable for any damages of any nature suffered by the Client, or any Third Party, resulting in whole or in part from the Service Provider, or the Service Provider s Suppliers, exercising its rights under this AUP.