CommStream Internet Acceptable Use Policy

Introduction
The provisions of this Acceptable Use Policy apply to residential and business CommStream High Speed Internet Customers, except where specifically stated otherwise. References to “Customer” and “You/your” include both residential and business customers. Where a provision is intended to apply only to a residential customer the provision will specifically refer to ‘residential customers’. If a provision is intended only to apply to business customers, the provision will specifically refer to ‘business customers’. If you have any questions concerning this policy please contact CommStream. CommStream provides a variety of Internet services to customers (the “Services”). The CommStream High Speed Internet service allows customers to connect to the Company’s high-speed backbone network and the Internet. The Services provide access to the Internet, which is used by millions of other users. Each user benefits by being able to share resources and communicate almost effortlessly with other members of the user community. However, as with any community, the benefits and privileges available from the Services and the Internet in general, must be balanced with duties and responsibilities so that other users can also have a productive experience. Use of the Services is subject to this Acceptable Use Policy (the “Policy” or “AUP”) and the applicable CommStream Terms of Service for High Speed Internet. Each customer is responsible for ensuring that the use of all Services provided to such customer complies with this AUP. ANY USER WHO DOES NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE TERMS SHOULD IMMEDIATELY STOP USE OF THE SERVICES AND NOTIFY THE CommStream CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT SO THAT THE USER’S ACCOUNT MAY BE CLOSED. CommStream has the right to terminate or suspend service for non-compliance with this Policy. CommStream reserves the right to make changes to these Terms without notice. Current updates of CommStream’s Terms will be posted on CommStream’s website at www.CommStream.ca. Accordingly, CommStream customers should access the website to ensure that their activities conform to the most recent version.

Illegal Activity
The use of the Services for any activity that violates any local, provincial, federal or international law, order or regulation is a violation of this Policy. Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to:

• Posting or disseminating material which is unlawful (such as child pornography or obscene material).
• Disseminating material that violates the copyright or other intellectual property rights of others. You assume all risks regarding the determination of whether material is in the public domain.
• Pyramid or other illegal soliciting schemes.
• Any fraudulent activities, including impersonating any person or entity or forging anyone else’s digital or manual signature.

Security
You are responsible for any misuse of the Services that you have contracted for, even if the inappropriate activity was committed by a friend, family member, guest, employee or customer with access to your account. Therefore, you must take steps to ensure that others do not gain unauthorized access to the Services. The Services may not be used to breach the security of another user or to attempt to gain access to any other person’s computer, software or data, without the knowledge and consent of such person. They also may not be used in any attempt to circumvent the user authentication or security of any host, network, or account. This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for you, logging into or making use of a server or account you are not expressly authorized to access, or probing the security of other networks. Use or distribution of tools designed for compromising security, such as password guessing programs, cracking tools, packet sniffers or network probing tools, is prohibited.

You may not disrupt the Services. The Services also may not be used to interfere with computer networking or telecommunications services to any user, host or network, including, without limitation, denial of service attacks, flooding of a network, overloading a service, improper seizing and abuse of operator privileges and attempts to “crash” a host. The transmission or dissemination of any information or software that contains a virus or other harmful feature is also prohibited. You are solely responsible for the security of any device you choose to connect to the Services, including any data stored on that device. CommStream recommends that any files or services you do choose to make available for remote access be protected with a password or as otherwise appropriate.

Inappropriate Content
There may be content on the Internet or otherwise available through the Services which may be offensive to some individuals, or which may not be in compliance with all local laws, regulations and other rules. For example, it is possible to obtain access to content that is pornographic or offensive, particularly for minors. CommStream does not assume any responsibility for the content contained on the Internet or otherwise available through the Services. You must assume the risk of accessing content through the Service, and CommStream shall not have any liability for any claims, losses, actions, damages, suits or proceedings arising out of or otherwise relating to access to such content. Customers may want to use a program capable of restricting access to sexually explicit material, or any other content that the customer wishes to restrict on the Internet. Content questions or complaints should be addressed to the content provider.

You are solely responsible for any information that you publish on the web or other Internet services. You must ensure that the recipient of the content is appropriate. For example, you must take appropriate precautions to prevent minors from receiving inappropriate content. CommStream reserves the right to refuse to post or to remove any information or materials, in whole or in part, that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be offensive, indecent, or otherwise inappropriate regardless of whether such material or its dissemination is unlawful.

CommStream has no obligation to monitor transmissions made on the Services. However, CommStream has the right to monitor such transmissions from time to time and to disclose the same in accordance with your subscriber agreement or as necessary to satisfy applicable laws and regulations.

By using the Services to reproduce, publish, display, transmit and distribute content, a user is warranting that the content complies with this Policy and authorizing CommStream to reproduce, publish, display, transmit and distribute such content as necessary for CommStream to deliver the content in a timely manner.

Newsgroups
Messages posted to newsgroups must comply with the written charters or FAQs for those newsgroups. Advertisements, solicitations, or other commercial messages should be posted only in those newsgroups whose charters or FAQs explicitly permit them. You are responsible for determining the policies of a given newsgroup before posting to it.

Forging, altering or removing header information is prohibited. This includes attempting to circumvent the approval process for posting to a moderated newsgroup. CommStream reserves the right to discontinue access to any Usenet newsgroup at any time for any reason.

You may not attempt to “flood” or disrupt Usenet newsgroups. Disruption is defined as posting a large number of messages to a newsgroup which contain no substantive content, to the extent that normal discussion in the group is significantly hindered. Examples of disruptive activities include, but are not limited to, posting multiple messages with no text in the body, or posting many follow-ups to messages with no new text. Messages may not be canceled, except by the author or by official newsgroup moderators performing their duties.

Internet Relay Chat
The Services may be used to participate in “chat” discussions. These discussions may be hosted by CommStream network servers, by third party servers, or may not involve any servers at all. In all cases, CommStream does not normally monitor the contents of the discussion and is not liable for the contents of any communications made via Internet chat.

The services may not be used to perform chat “flooding.” Flooding is defined as deliberately repeating actions in quick succession in order to fill the screens of other Internet users with text.

Any computer or other device connected through the Services may not maintain more than 2 simultaneous chat connections. This includes the use of automated programs, such as “bots” or “clones”. Automated programs may not be used when the account holder is not physically present at the device.

The Services may not be used to send messages which disrupt another Internet user’s equipment, including software, hardware, and user display.

The Services may not be used to access any chat server in violation of the acceptable use policy of that server. The Services may not be used to manipulate any chat server in order to harass or disconnect other Internet users, or to gain privileges that have not been authorized. A customer may not use the Services to connect to chat servers or channels from which they have been previously banned.

The Services may not be used to continue to send chat messages to an Internet user who has indicated their desire to not receive such messages.

Forging, altering, or obscuring your identity (other than using a nickname from which CommStream could if necessary determine your real name) while participating in chat sessions is forbidden.

Bandwidth, Data Storage and Other Limitations
Users must ensure that their activity does not improperly restrict, inhibit, or degrade any other user’s use of the Services, nor represent (in the sole judgment of CommStream) an unusually large burden on the network itself, such as, but not limited to peer to peer file sharing programs, serving streaming video or audio, mail, http, ftp, irc, dhcp servers, and multi-user interactive forums. CommStream reserves the right to set specific limits for Bandwidth Usage and other elements of service at any time.

Customers of all types are expected to use appropriate net etiquette when using or accessing various services within and outside the network. In addition, users must ensure that their activity does not improperly restrict, inhibit, disrupt, degrade or impede CommStream’s ability to deliver the Services and monitor the Services, backbone, network nodes, and/or other network services.

Internet Traffic Management Policies (ITMP)
CommStream uses traffic management policies to ensure proportional access to its network for all CommStream Internet customers. Some Peer-to-Peer (P2P) applications used for non real-time file sharing can consume a disproportionate amount of bandwidth causing disruption to other customers on CommStream’s network. These policies have been introduced to address any congestion caused by these P2P applications while standard network expansion activities are undertaken to increase the bandwidth availability for all users.’

CommStream’s traffic management policies are time-of-day sensitive to accommodate the fluctuating network traffic levels, and reduce the amount of bandwidth available for non real-time P2P applications.

These policies do not affect real-time interactive activities such as on-line gaming, banking, e-mail or VoIP services. For the majority of CommStream customers the Internet experience is unaffected and both upstream and downstream bandwidth will be available to optimize our customer’s Internet experience.

Like other communications companies, CommStream uses Deep Packet Inspection (DPI) technology in conjunction with the IP address assigned to you, for the purposes of applying the policies described above. Since IP addresses have the potential to be linked to an individual’s customer account, IP addresses could be considered personal information.

Resale, Sharing, Distribution, Servers

(a) Residential Customers

CommStream residential customers may not resell, share, or otherwise distribute the Services or any portion thereof to any third party without the written consent of CommStream. For example, you cannot provide Internet access to others through a dial up connection, host shell accounts over the Internet, provide email or news service, or send a news feed. The CommStream residential service offering is a consumer product designed for your personal use of the Internet. For example, the service does not provide the type of security, upstream performance and total downstream throughput capability typically associated with commercial use.

You may not run a server in connection with the CommStream residential service, nor may you provide network services to others via the CommStream residential service. The CommStream residential service includes personal Webspace accounts for publishing personal Web pages. Examples of prohibited uses include, but are not limited to, running servers for mail, http, ftp, irc, and dhcp, and multi-user interactive forums.

(b) Business Customers

The above restrictions regarding resale, sharing, distribution and use of servers also apply to all business customers, except to those business customers who have high speed Internet packages that expressly allow for this activity as defined by their chosen Internet Service package. Where a business customer is not certain about whether their Internet Service package permits this activity please contact CommStream.

Unlimited Bandwidth Usage

Some CommStream High Speed Internet packages offer unlimited data usage. This means that there will be no additional charges for the bandwidth you consume however CommStream reserves the right to manage its network efficiently and to the enjoyment and benefit of all of its users. Violation of Acceptable Use Policy CommStream does not routinely monitor the activity of accounts for violation of this Policy. However, in our efforts to promote good citizenship within the Internet community, we will respond appropriately if we become aware of inappropriate use of our Services. Although CommStream has no obligation to monitor the Services and/or the network, CommStream reserves the right to monitor bandwidth, usage, and content from time to time to operate the Services; to identify violations of this Policy; and/or to protect the network and CommStream users.

CommStream prefers to advise customers of inappropriate behavior and any necessary corrective action. However, if the Services are used in a way that CommStream believes violates this Policy, CommStream may take any responsive actions it deems appropriate. Such actions include, but are not limited to, temporary or permanent removal of content, cancellation of newsgroup posts, filtering of Internet transmissions, and the immediate suspension or termination of all or any portion of the Services. CommStream will not have any liability for any such responsive actions. The above-described actions are not CommStream’s exclusive remedies and CommStream may take any other legal or technical action it deems appropriate.

CommStream reserves the right to investigate suspected violations of this Policy, including the gathering of information from the user or users involved and the complaining party, if any, and examination of material on CommStream’s servers and network. During an investigation, CommStream may suspend the account or accounts involved and/or remove material that potentially violates this Policy. You hereby authorize CommStream to cooperate with (i) law enforcement authorities in the investigation of suspected criminal violations, and (ii) and system administrators at other Internet service providers or other network or computing facilities in order to enforce this Policy. Such cooperation may include CommStream providing the username, IP address, or other identifying information about a subscriber. Upon termination of an account, CommStream is authorized to delete any files, programs, data and email messages associated with such account.

The failure of CommStream to enforce this Policy, for whatever reason, shall not be construed as a waiver of any right to do so at any time. You agree that, if any portion of this Policy is held invalid or unenforceable, that portion will be construed consistent with applicable law as nearly as possible, and the remaining portions will remain in full force and effect. This Policy shall be exclusively governed by, and construed in accordance with, the laws of the Province of Manitoba.

© CommStream, January 2019