Acceptable Use Policy

General info

This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") sets forth the principles that govern the use by users of the systems, services and products provided by NIKHEF. The AUP has been created to promote the integrity, security, reliability and privacy of NIKHEF's systems and networks.

Compliance With Law

User shall not post, transmit, re-transmit or store material on or through any of NIKHEF's system services or products that:

  1. is in violation of any national or international law or regulation;
  2. threatening, obscene, indecent , defamatory or that otherwise could adversely affect any individual, group or entity (collectively, "Persons"); or
  3. violates the rights of any person, including rights protected by copyright, trade secret, patent or other intellectual property or similar laws or regulations including, but not limited to, the installation or distribution of "pirated" or other software products that are not appropriately licensed for use by User.

Prohibited Uses of NIKHEF's Systems, Services and Products

This AUP identifies the actions that the NIKHEF considers to be abusive, and thus, strictly prohibited. In addition to the other requirements of this AUP, User may only use the NIKHEF's systems, services and products in a manner that, in the NIKHEF's sole judgement, is consistent with the purposes of such systems, services and products. If a User is unsure whether a contemplated use or action is permitted under the AUP, the User should e-mail NIKHEF with a description of the proposed use at helpdesk@nikhef.nl for a determination as to whether the use is permissible under this AUP. The examples identified in the subsections below are non-exclusive and are provided, in part, for guidance purposes.

The following uses of NIKHEF's systems, services and products as described in subsections A through E are expressly prohibited:

  1. Prohibited Actions: General Conduct
    1. Transmitting on or through any of NIKHEF's systems, services, or products any material that is, in NIKHEF's sole discretion, unlawful, obscene, threatening, abusive, libelous, or hateful, or encourages conduct that may constitute a criminal offense, may give rise to civil liability, or otherwise may violate any national or international law.
    2. Transmission, distribution, or storage of any information, data or material in violation of Dutch regulations or law.
    3. Violations of the rights of any Person protected by copyright, trade secret, patent or other intellectual property or similar laws or regulations.
    4. Actions that restrict or inhibit any Person, whether a User of the NIKHEF or otherwise, in its use or enjoyment of any of the NIKHEF's systems, services or products.
    5. Resale of NIKHEF's services and products, without the prior written consent of NIKHEF.
    6. Deceptive on-line marketing practices.
  2. Prohibited Actions: System and Network Security
    1. Attempting to circumvent user authentication or security of any host, network, or account ("cracking"). This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for the User, logging into a server or account the User is not expressly authorized to access, or probing the security of other networks (such as running a SATAN scan or similar tool).
    2. Effecting security breaches or disruptions of Internet communications. Security breaches include, but are not limited to, accessing data of which User is not an intended recipient or logging onto a server or account that User is not expressly authorized to access. For purposes of this section, "disruption" includes, but is not limited to, port scans, ping floods, packet spoofing, forged routing information, deliberate attempts to overload a service, and attempts to "crash" a host.
    3. Using any program/script/command, or sending messages of any kind, designed to interfere with a User's terminal session, by any means, locally or by the Internet.
    4. Executing any form of network monitoring which will intercept data not intended for User.
  3. Prohibited Actions: E-Mail
    1. Harassment, whether through language, frequency, or size of messages, is prohibited.
    2. Sending unsolicited mail messages, including the sending of "junk mail" or other advertising material to individuals who did not specifically request such material ("e-mail spam"). User are explicitly prohibited from sending unsolicited bulk mail messages. This includes, but is not limited to, bulk-mailing of commercial advertising, informational announcements, and political tracts. Such material may only be sent to those who have explicitly requested it. If a recipient asks to stop receiving e-mail, the User must not send that person any further e-mail.
    3. Creating or forwarding "chain letters" or other "pyramid schemes" of any type, whether or not the recipient wishes to receive such mailings.
    4. Malicious e-mail, including, but not limited to, "mail bombing" (flooding a User or site with very large or numerous pieces of e-mail).
    5. Unauthorized use, or forging, or mail header information.
    6. Using a NIKHEF or a User account to collect replies to messages sent from another provider.
    7. Use of unsolicited e-mail originating from the NIKHEF network or networks of Internet Service Providers on behalf of, or to advertise any service hosted by NIKHEF, or connected via the NIKHEF network.
    8. Willful failure to secure open SMTP ports so as to prevent the unauthorized use of User resources for the purposes of sending unsolicited e-mail by a third party.
  4. Prohibited Actions: Usenet Newsgroups
    1. Positing the same or similar messages to large numbers of Usenet newsgroup ("Newsgroup spams or USENET spam").
    2. Posting chain letters of any type.
    3. Posting encoded binary files to newsgroups not specifically named for that purpose.
    4. Cancellation or superseding of posts other than your own, with the exception of official newsgroup moderators performing their duties.
    5. Forging of header information. This includes attempting to circumvent the approval process for posting to a moderated newsgroup.
    6. Solicitations of mail for any other e-mail address other than that of the poster's account or service, with intent to harass or to collect replies.
    7. Postings that are in violation of the written charters or FAQ's for those newsgroups.
    8. Posting of Usenet articles from the NIKHEF network or networks of Internet Service Providers on behalf of, or to advertise any service hosted by NIKHEF, or connected via the NIKHEF network.
    9. Failure to secure a news server so as to prevent the unauthorized use of User resources by a third party which may result in Usenet posts which violate this policy.
    10. Advertisements posted in newsgroups whose chargers/FAQ's explicitly prohibit them. The poster of an advertisement or other information is responsible for determining the etiquette of a given newsgroup, prior to posting to it.
  5. Prohibited Actions: Individual Accounts
    1. Consuming excessive resources, including CPU time, memory, disk space, and session time. The use of resource-intensive programs which negatively impact other system users or the performance of NIKHEF systems or networks is prohibited, and NIKHEF staff may take action to limit or terminate such programs. Sharing of passwords or accounts with others.

Complaint and Enforcement

  1. Complaint
    Complaints will be accepted via e-mail at abuse@nikhef.nl, so long as a valid return address is included. NIKHEF must be able to independently verify each instance of abuse, and so each complaint must include the COMPLETE TEXT OF THE OBJECTIONAL MESSAGE, INCLUDING ALL HEADERS. Please do NOT send excerpted parts of a message; sending a copy of the entire message, including headers, helps to prevent misunderstandings based on incomplete information, or information used out of context. Full headers demonstrate which path the message has taken, and enable us to determine whether any part of the message has been forged. This information is vital to our investigation.
  2. Enforcement
    NIKHEF may, in its sole discretion, suspend or terminate a User's service for violation of any of AUP at any time and without warning. As a general matter, NIKHEF attempts to work with User to cure violations and to ensure that there is no re-occurrence of the violation prior to terminating service.

Liability

In no event will NIKHEF be liable to any User or third party for any direct, indirect, special or other consequential damages for actions taken pursuant to this AUP, including, but not limited to, any lost profits, business interruption, loss of programs or other data, or otherwise, even if NIKHEF was advised of the possibility of such damages.

Miscellaneous

  1. Modification of AUP
    NIKHEF retains the right to modify the AUP at any time and any such modification shall be automatically effective as to all User when adopted by NIKHEF.
  2. NIKHEF Is Not Responsible For Content
    NIKHEF is not responsible for the content of any USENET posting, whether or not the posting was made by a User of the NIKHEF.
  3. Removal of Materials
    At its sole discretion, NIKHEF reserves the right to remove materials from its servers and to terminate internet access to User that NIKHEF determines have violated this AUP.
about this document: Last modified: Friday, 11 June 2004 @ 11:15:38
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