Following is a list of actions which are defined as being contrary to acceptable usage. This list is non-exclusive. Any action about which there is any doubt should be referred to Hotline IT for evaluation. Actions which constitute unacceptable usage include, but are not limited to:

Security Violation Any unauthorised use of accounts, computers or the Network by a Hotline IT subscriber in order to make or attempt unauthorised entry to other accounts, computers, communications devices or other resources, whether or not the attacked resource belongs to Hotline IT, will result in action against the attacker. This includes:

unauthorised security probing activities or other attempts to evaluate the security integrity of a network or host system without permission

attempting, in any way, to interfere with or deny service to any subscriber or any host on the Internet

attempting to cancel, supersede, or otherwise interfere with email or posts other than that of the subscriber

intentionally seeking information on, obtaining copies of or modifying files, other data or passwords belonging to other subscribers without permission

propagation of computer worms or viruses

Resource Usage No system has limitless resources so subscribers must act responsibly and fairly to other subscribers when using shared Hotline IT resources. With a dialup service subscribers must be aware that they are sharing dialup lines with other users and that they may not stay continually connected when not actively using the service. Hotline IT reserves the right to charge at any time for usage time over the allowed usage.

Operating a mail server allowing Open Relay Clients operating their own mail server permanently connected through Hotline IT must specifically disallow open relay. ‘Open relay’ allows a third party (in particular a spammer) to send email through the server. Allowing this puts the owner of the mail server at risk of having their own email blocked by other sites, incurring significant ‘download’ costs, degraded network performance, and the cost and aggravation of dealing with complaints and abuse from other victims of spammers.

Transmission of illegal Material It is not acceptable to use Hotline IT or any of its facilities for any purposes which violate applicable State, Territory, Commonwealth or International laws or regulations. This includes, but is not limited to, copyright material, material legally judged to be threatening or obscene, and material protected by trade secret, whether or not the subscriber was aware of the content of the material or of the relevant law.

Nuke Attempting to send a data packet to another computer with the intention of crashing it is unacceptable

Forging email posting header information This practice is highly unethical. How to identify forged email headers. Unsolicited Mail Messages Sending a message, especially an advertisement, to more than five or six recipients is unacceptable unless the individuals have specifically requested to be added to a mailing list on that topic. E-mail is a person-to-person medium, not a broadcast medium.

Chain Letters Posting a chain letter to Newsgroups or via e-mail is prohibited under Australian law.

Harassment Harassment via email, IRC and other Internet services is a serious breach of conduct and a misuse of Internet resources. Harassment includes: use of foul and/or abusive language; sending excessively large and/or frequent messages.

Censorship In accordance with Australian Legislation, refer Internet Industry Association code, Hotline IT reserves the right to remove, without notice, any content identified by the Censor as being objectionable charging for the WebMaster service at standard Hosted Website Technical Support rates.