In order to provide high quality service and ensure the integrity of the service, Vergennes Broadband LLC (“VB”) has adopted this Service Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy.
Please read this Service Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy prior to authorizing installation of VB Service or accessing Service provided by VB. “Customer” is used herein to refer to any person, entity or business organization that uses the Service. Authorization granted by the Customer to VB for the installation of any service-related equipment, or any subsequent use of any Services provided by VB, constitutes Customer’s acknowledgment of and agreement to the terms of this Service Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy. VB reserves the right to immediately terminate the Customer’s service without notice at VB’s sole discretion if Customer or others using Customer’s service violate this Service Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy. VB also reserves the right to immediately remove any material or information that violates this policy for any reason whatsoever at VB’s sole discretion without prior notice.
Use of Service
The service provided to the Customer is being provided solely for use by the Customer and any unauthorized access by a third party to e-mail, Internet access, or any other function of the Service is in violation of this Policy and relieves VB of any affirmative obligations it may have. Customer will not resell or redistribute, nor allow others to resell or redistribute, access to the service in any manner, except as expressly provided in any contract for service. The limitation on resale or redistribution of access includes, but is not limited to, related applications such as the provision of e-mail, FTP and Telnet access. VB reserves the right to disconnect or reclassify the service for failure to comply with any portion of this provision or this Policy. Any violation of these policies may lead to prosecution under state and/or federal law and/or termination of Customer’s service.
End Users
Customer is responsible for ensuring that all end users of the Service comply with this Service Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy. VB may disconnect service if an end user violates this Service Agreement and Acceptable Use Policy. VB shall consider any complaints regarding the Customer’s end users to apply to the Customer. Customer is responsible for any and all e-mail addresses associated with the Customer’s account.
The Customer is responsible for any misuse of the service, whether by authorized or unauthorized end users. Therefore, the Customer must take steps to ensure that others do not gain unauthorized access to the Service. Customer is solely responsible for the security of (i) any device Customer chooses to connect to the Service, including any data stored or shared on that device and (ii) any access point to the Service. Any wireless network equipment connected to the service must have WEP or WPA security enabled and not be “open” for the public to access.
Timely Payments
Customer will make timely payments satisfying charges shown on initial and subsequent invoices for all requested and agreed upon services, including but not limited to monthly services and one time services, installation charges, service call charges, and equipment charges.
No Illegal or Fraudulent Use
Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the Service to violate any applicable federal, state, local or international laws. Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the Service to commit a crime, act of terrorism, or fraud, or to plan, encourage or help others to commit a crime or fraud, including but not limited to, acts of terrorism, engaging in a pyramid or ponzi scheme, or sending chain letters.
No Copyright or Trademark Infringement
Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the service to send or receive any information which infringes the patents, trademarks, copyrights, trade secrets or proprietary rights of any other person, entity or business organization. This includes, but is not limited to, digitization of music, movies, photographs or other copyrighted materials or software.
No Threats or Harassment
Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the service to transmit any material that threatens or encourages bodily harm or destruction of property or which harasses, abuses, defames or invades the privacy of any other person or entity.
No Harm to Minors
Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the service to harm or attempt to harm a minor, including but not limited to using the service to send pornographic, obscene or profane materials.
No “Spamming”
Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the service to send unsolicited messages or materials, bulk e-mail, or other forms of solicitation (“spamming”). VB reserves the right, in VB’s sole discretion, to determine whether such posting or transmission constitutes unsolicited messages or materials. This prohibition against spamming is applicable to mass mailings by Customers in conjunction with third parties and is designed to maintain service quality for all Customers. Mass mailings are those sent to more than 150 recipients by Customer or in conjunction with a third party to any group of recipients. Customer is responsible for maintaining confirmed opt-in records and must provide them to VB upon request. The term “opt-in” means that recipient has signed up for mailings voluntarily.
No “Hacking”
Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the service to access the accounts of others or to attempt to penetrate security measures of the service or other computer systems (“hacking”) or to cause a disruption of the service to other online users. Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, tools designed for compromising network security, such as password-guessing programs, cracking tools, packet sniffers or network probing tools.
No System Disruption
Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the Service to disrupt VB’s network or computer equipment owned by other VB Customers. Any static public IP address must be authorized and provisioned by VB. Customer also agrees that Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the service to disrupt other Internet Service Providers or services, including but not limited to e-mail bombing or the use of mass mailing programs.
No Impersonation or Forgery
Customer will not impersonate, nor allow others to impersonate, another user, falsify one’s user name, company name, age or identity in e-mail or in any post or transmission to any online discussion forum, newsgroup or mailing list or other similar groups or lists. Customer will not, nor allow others to, forge any message header of any electronic transmission, originating or passing through the service.
No Excessive Use of Bandwidth
If VB determines, at VB’s sole discretion, that Customer is using an excessive amount of bandwidth over the VB network infrastructure for Internet access or other functions using public network resources, VB may at any time and without notice, suspend excessive bandwidth capability, suspend Customer’s access to the service, and/or terminate the Customer’s account.
No Viruses
Customer will not use, nor allow others to use, the service to transmit computer “viruses,” worms, “Trojan horses,” “malware” or other harmful software programs. Customer will use standard practices to prevent the transmission of such viruses or other harmful software.
No Waiver
The failure by VB or its affiliates to enforce any provision of this Acceptable Use Policy shall not be construed as a waiver of any right to do so at any time.
Revisions to Policy
VB reserves the right to update or modify this policy at any time and from time to time with or without prior notice. Continued use of the service will be deemed acknowledgment and acceptance of the policy. Notice of modifications to this Policy may be given by posting such changes to VB’s homepage www.vbfiber.com, by electronic mail, or by conventional mail.
Vergennes Broadband Network Management Practices
Vergennes Broadband, in accordance with the Open Internet Order, complies with the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) requiring all ISPs to disclose their congestion management, application-specific behavior, device attachment rules, and security practices. The FCC further requires ISPs to disclose any blocking, throttling, affiliated prioritization, or paid prioritization in which they engage. Vergennes Broadband engages in “reasonable network management” which is to mean a practice “appropriate and tailored to achieving a legitimate network management purpose, taking into account the particular network architecture and technology of the broadband Internet access service.”
Blocking. Vergennes Broadband does not engage in any practice (other than reasonable network management elsewhere disclosed) that blocks or otherwise prevents end user access to lawful content, applications, service, or non-harmful devices.
Throttling. Vergennes Broadband does not engage in any practice (other than reasonable network management elsewhere disclosed) that degrades or impairs access to lawful Internet traffic on the basis of content, application, service, user, or use of a non-harmful device.
Affiliated Prioritization. Vergennes Broadband does not engage in any practice that directly or indirectly favors some traffic over other traffic, including through use of techniques such as traffic shaping, prioritization, or resource reservation, to benefit an affiliate.
Paid Prioritization. Vergennes Broadband does not engage in any practice that directly or indirectly favors some traffic over other traffic, including through use of techniques such as traffic shaping, prioritization, or resource reservation, in exchange for consideration, monetary or otherwise.
Congestion Management. Vergennes Broadband uses reasonable and industry accepted network management practices to manage network congestion. For example, in the event of network congestion, voice (SIP) traffic may be prioritized over video streaming traffic. Voice traffic takes precedence because of the E911 requirements for our customers. In nearly all cases, our customers will never realize the difference or notice any degradation of service. Vergennes Broadband uses the engineering standards generally adopted by fiber and fixed wireless ISPs to detect and manage network congestion.
Application-Specific Behavior. Vergennes Broadband does not engage in any practice that blocks or rate-controls specific protocols or protocol ports. Furthermore, it does not modify protocol fields in ways not prescribed by the protocol standard, or otherwise inhibits or favors certain applications or classes of applications.
Device Attachment Rules. Many devices are approved for use on Vergennes Broadband’s network. For a device to be approved, it must be FCC certified. Unless it has been installed by an authorized technician, Vergennes Broadband does not permit attachment of a network device to any cabling that is attached to the premises. Prior written approval is required in the event a technician is not required. Requests for authorization of a device should be emailed to [email protected]. From time to time, Vergennes Broadband may discontinue support for certain devices or cease permitting a device to attach to the network for network management and security reasons.
Security. Vergennes Broadband engages in network security practices to protect its end-users. This includes the use of hardware and software for the detection and prevention/blocking of unauthorized or unethical network access. Without notice, Vergennes Broadband reserves the right to block network access to or from specific IP addresses within its own network if the security of the network (or any one of its end-user connected devices) is found to be at risk or has been compromised.
Performance Characteristics. Unless otherwise sold and communicated, Vergennes Broadband’s internet services are sold as “best effort” services meaning that expected and actual speeds and latency may vary depending on network congestion both inside and outside of our network. Our services are generally suitable for real-time applications (such as gaming, voip or video conferencing) but subject to the speed and latency of the plan they have chosen.