Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

While we want your Usenet experience to be free and unhindered by extraneous rules and regulations, it is important for both NNTP, Inc (Collectively “NewsRazor” , “We”, “Our”) and you the consumer (“Customer”, “User”) to adhere to a standard of Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”). We have developed this Acceptable Use Policy to provide the Customer with the best possible experience Usenet can offer by protecting our servers and access (“Service”) from abuse and ensuring full functionality. By signing up and using a NewsRazor membership, you agree to abide by this policy as well as the Terms of Service (“TOS”) and adhere to current and future changes. It is important to check the AUP from time to time as it may change without prior notice. It is essential that the Customer understands the conditions set forth as violations may adversely affect your access to our system.

Terms of Service (TOS)

Description of Terms of Service:
The Terms of Service (“TOS”) are a supplement to the Acceptable Use Policy. By creating or using a NewsRazor account or membership, the User agrees to abide by all applicable regulations. NewsRazor reserves the right to change, or alter the AUP or TOS at any time, without prior notification. It is the responsibility of the User to read and understand the stated/implied contract between both parties.
Description of Service:
NewsRazor provides access to the general Usenet, which includes but is not limited to the collection, transmission and hosting of data, as well as broad services related to the propagation and storage of Usenet groups. All Usenet groups contain content posted by Users of our service and is strictly the property of the posting User. NewsRazor does not control, monitor, collect or track data related to any User or Newsgroup. However, NewsRazor reserves the right to remove, censor or alter particular groups or articles at any time without prior notification. We reserve the right to change or alter the Terms of Service at any time.
Customer Responsibility:

By accessing and using our services, the Customer agrees to enter a contract with NewsRazor under the conditions outlined in the Acceptable Use Policy and Terms of Service, as well as any National or Local laws where the User is accessing from. The customer agrees that they are of legal age (18 or above), and are not barred from receiving any of the said conditions of service by any applicable law or circumstance. No information uploaded by the User is guaranteed by NewsRazor for validity, integrity or accuracy. It is the responsibility of the Customer to read and understand this agreement before continuing to use the NewsRazor service.

You agree that you will not use our services in a way that would: (i) be unlawful, threatening, abusive, libelous, defamatory, or obscene, (ii) constitute or encourage conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate applicable laws or regulations, (iii) introduce or propagate a virus or other harmful component, or (vi) violate the Acceptable Use Policies of any service or technology accessed through our services.

Reasonable Use

 As previously stated, we at NewsRazor want all our Customers to have an extraordinary Usenet experience and during the course of business may deem it acceptable to set limits for certain users who demonstrate “Unreasonable” usage of our Unlimited Bandwidth account options. Our Unlimited accounts are for individual use only and are not considered a dedicated connection to our service. If we determine an account is being abused or used for non-individual use, we retain the right to suspend, cancel, or refuse to renew an account without prior notice or notification.
Unreasonable account usage falls into several categories, including but not limited to:
-Sharing an account with multiple parties
-Using a proxy or connection sharing method to share access with additional parties
-Logging in simultaneously from multiple IP addresses
-Excessive download volume indicative or using a multi-access system (Such as NetCache, DNEWS, etc.)
Please remember that while this list is not conclusive, We retain our rights to suspend or cancel the contract between the Customer and NewsRazor.
We do offer other account types for both Commercial and Business use, which allow for multi-user access at very reasonable rates. For more information regarding commercial applications, please contact us at support@newsrazor.net.

Abuse

 The Usenet is a very broad collective of many communities each having their own set of standards for appropriate conduct. While there are no set guidelines for the users’ behavior, it is generally a good idea to read the charters or Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) before posting in a Newsgroup. Generally these documents will address what is appropriate, inappropriate, and outline their definition of abuse.
Remember, when participating in a Newsgroup, the information you post will be propagated and shared with many other uses, from various backgrounds. We ask you give them the same courtesy and respect as you would expect to receive yourself. NewsRazor reserves the right to act upon complaints, which may include actions defined in the Acceptable Use Policy (AUP).

Copyright Infringement

It is currently a Technological impossibility to review all information stored or transferred on or over our servers. We do not, however, condone or support the illegal propagation of copywrited or copyprotected works over our Service without the explicit permission of the copyright holder. By using our Service, the User agrees not to post or transfer any copyrighted material across our systems. If you discover any infringing works stored or posted on our system, we will follow the DMCA (Digital Millennium Copyright Act) guidelines and proceed to remove the article in question from our servers.
To file a copyright infringement notification with us, you will need to send a written communication which contains the Message-ID(s) [RFC 977] of the article(s) containing the infringing work(s), and the following (see Section 512(c)(3) of the Copyright Act):

  1. A physical or electronic signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

  2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single notification, a representative list of such works at that site.

  3. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled, and information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to locate the material. (see Message-ID requirement)

  4. Information reasonably sufficient to permit the service provider to contact the complaining party, such as an address, telephone number, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which the complaining party may be contacted.

  5. A statement that the complaining party has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

  6. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the complaining party is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

  7. Such written notice should be sent to our designated agent as follows:
        DMCA Complaints
        NewsRazor, Inc.
        5128 Service Center Drive
        San Antonio, TX 78218
        Note that under Section 512(f) any person who knowingly materially misrepresents the above material or activity is liable under Federal law to receive criminal punishment.

Accounts

All accounts provided by NewsRazor are provided “as is” as single, personal accounts. Only the owner of the account is permitted to access our Service. Sharing accounts, or using accounts for commercial or non-specified purposes is a violation of our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) and may result in permanent suspension or cancellation. Please read the Acceptable Use Policy and Terms of Service for more information.
NewsRazor cannot be held responsible for the articles or information posted or transferred across our systems. All information posted by the User is property of the User, and cannot hold NewsRazor liable for possible copyright infringement. The account owner accepts all responsibility for all usage of the account, including but not limited to posting, downloading and receiving content, intentional or not. NewsRazor holds the account owner responsible for incidents of harassment and spam.

Spam

NewsRazor has an absolute ZERO-TOLERANCE policy regarding Spam. While we are here to provide the  best access to the Usenet possible, we do not allow users to access our Service with the intention of propagating spam. If you are unsure what constitutes spam, we recommend reviewing the information contained at Spam Abuse. If it is deemed that you have posted spam across our Service, you will be charged a maximum of $300 cleanup fee per spam message that was posted. Your account will be permanently terminated and NewsRazor will make all reasonable efforts to ensure that the offending User will be unable to access our Service indefinitely under any conditions.

Completion and Retention

 While We try our best to provide the greatest Usenet experience as possible, we cannot guarantee the completion or retention rates listed. As Usenet posting volume and traffic fluctuates, retention times may change drastically. It is our goal to provide the highest Completion and Retention rates as possible within our current means.

Reporting Abuse

 If you believe there has been an incident of abuse, please send a report to abuse@newsrazor.net.
Please note, however, that we can only address abuse claims if the article or User in question originated from posting activity on our own Service. To appropriately address claims of abuse, we will need the full article headers from the abusive posts.
If we determine that an abuse report is valid, our staff will take every action necessary to stop further abuse including any punishment outlined in the Acceptable Use Policy until further investigation is completed.

Privacy Policy

NewsRazor respects the privacy of our Customers, and we are fully committed to protecting any information regarding the User or their account. However, in order to provide access to our Service, we must require certain information including, but not limited to, personal details, ISP, and credit card information. This information is never released to or shared with third parties. We will never sell or rent any information regarding you or your account.
While we do not actively track, monitor or collect User or Usage data, it is essential to collect aggregate data totals, including the amount of data downloaded. We will not, however, track or monitor which Newsgroups you post in, or what articles you download.
NewsRazor will not release personal information or usage information to attorneys, investigators, or agencies unless we are required to by a court of law of competent jurisdiction. If there is a court hearing, the customer will be notified to provide the opportunity to contest the surrender of personal information with a motion of suppression.
NewsRazor fully cooperates with law enforcement agencies, but will still require a court order subpoena be issued before we surrender any customer information. If a criminal investigation is occurring, NewsRazor may have a duty not to divulge the fact of the investigation to the customer.
We appreciate your privacy. For further information regarding your privacy, please contact support@newsrazor.net.

Termination and Suspension

As agreed to under the Acceptable Use Policy, NewsRazor reserves the right to permanently and without notice suspend or terminate any account indefinitely. Reasons for such action include, but are not limited to:
-Breaches or Violations of the AUP and/or TOS
-Requests by Law Enforcement Agencies
-Consistent Abuse and/or Spamming
If your account is terminated, it is implied that the contract between NewsRazor and the Customer is terminated. All personal information and access by the User will be removed from our system. NewsRazor will take reasonable steps to remove any articles in question regarding Termination or Suspension, but is not held liable for the content of the User in question.

Disclaimer

NewsRazor reserves the right to alter, change, add, or remove any information including the Terms of Service, Acceptable Use Policy, and Disclaimer at any time, with or without prior notification. It is the sole responsibility of the Customer to read and understand these terms. Use of the Service constitutes acceptance of these terms.
NewsRazor provides the Service “as-is” on an “as-available” basis, without guarantee of uptime, retention or completion. NewsRazor disclaims all warranties, both express and implied, and of any kind.
The User assumes all risks, both express and implied, associated with downloading, uploading or viewing content through any means. The User is solely responsible for any damages or loss incurred through the viewing, downloading, uploading or posting of any material and waives the right to hold NewsRazor accountable. All information posted is the responsibility of the User.
In no event will NewsRazor be liable to the User for any direct, indirect, incidental or figurative damages, including those incurred by the use of our Service. NewsRazor makes no guarantee regarding information handled by the user, or any affects thereafter propagation on the Usenet. NewsRazor does not provide any immunity to DMCA requests, Harassment claims, Spam claims or any other damage that may or may not adversely affect the User. Use of NewsRazor or our Service constitutes an acceptance of this Disclaimer, the Acceptable Use Policy, and the Terms of Service.