This document comprises your contract with BRIGHTNET of Indiana [Brightnet] an Internet Service Provider. Although the majority of these provisions have the dial-up client in mind, where appropriate the general provisions are equally applicable to our Web, DSL and dedicated access clients.

The Internet is not the property of any one company or individual, but is shared with millions of others users. Therefore, some basic operating rules are necessary so as to enable all of us to best use this service. This document talks about your rights and responsibilities as a Brightnet subscriber.

The Internet is undoubtedly the greatest and most powerful communications medium today. The Internet can be used to communicate with friends and colleagues, to do research, and to transact business. The limits to the "Information Superhighway" it has become are still being drawn.

The Internet is increasingly used for business. If you decide to engage in business over the Internet, be aware that any agreements you reach are with the other party, and not with Brightnet.

The term "User" refers to the person using any of the services provided by Brightnet. By using services and resources owned by Brightnet, you are deemed to have read it, and you agree to abide by it, and observe the following:

1) Lawful purposes - Brightnet services may only be used for lawful purposes. Brightnet expressively forbids the transmission of any materials of which would violate any U.S., State, or Local regulations. Brightnet exercises no control whatsoever over the content of information obtained through our services.

The services provided to you by Brightnet may only be used in accordance with applicable laws, statutes, regulations and rules and solely for lawful purposes. Transmission, promulgation, theft, procurement, communication, alteration, publication or storage of any information, protected material or property, data or any other material in violation of any national law of any sovereign nation, any International law, the United States Code, or of any state or local law, regulation or rule is strictly prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, any material, data, matter, software/soft code, intellectual property protected by copyright, trademark, privacy or property right, personal or property right, trade secret, or any statute. Further, it is unlawful and a violation of Brightnet's AUP to communicate, transmit, or promulgate in any manner, means or medium, any threatening, harassing, or obscene material, matter, communication of any sort, or to otherwise use Brightnet services for any illegal of unlawful purposes.

2) Warranties - Brightnet makes no warranties of any kind, either expressed or implied for any services provided. Brightnet also disclaims all responsibility for the accuracy, quality or suitability of information obtained through its services.

No agent or representative of Brightnet has any authority to bind Brightnet to any affirmation, representation, or warranty concerning the services provided by Brightnet.

Brightnet shall have no liability for damages caused or allegedly caused by any failure of performance, error, omission, interruption, electrical surge or damage or interference, deletion, defect, delay in operation or transmission, communication line failure, theft or destruction of or unauthorized access to, alteration of, or use of records whether for breach of contract, tortuous behavior, negligence. When awarded, damages shall be strictly limited to the amount paid by you or on your behalf to Brightnet for the current month's billing cycle.

3) Use of information - Nearly all of the information found on the Internet originates on systems other than those under direct Brightnet control. Brightnet can not confirm the proper classification of information presented in any area of the system. By giving the command(s) to view or transfer any information or file on any Brightnet system, or any system reached through the Brightnet system, you are consenting to the display or transfer of the information presented and waive all rights and claims toward Brightnet and its owners. The User agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Brightnet from any claims resulting from the User's use of services provided by Brightnet that may result in damage to the User and/or any other party.

4) Interference with other users - The User will not attempt to interfere with or compromise the operation of Brightnet in whole or in part, to interfere with any of the equipment that is a part of the system or to access other accounts or restricted areas of the system.

It is your responsibility to censor or regulate the access to data available to your children, and it is not the responsibility of Brightnet, its owners, or employees. You are also responsible for the activities of your children on the Internet, and may be held liable for any illegal or damaging activity conducted by them on-line.

5) Brightnet's Privacy policy - Brightnet will use its best efforts to maintain, but does not guarantee, the privacy of electronic forms of communication, system use, and personal directories. Brightnet will not release any of your personal information to other people, except as required by law, unless we receive a signed consent from you.

You can choose any username for your account on Brightnet as long as it will not create a duplicate name in our user list and it is not considered obscene or unlawful. Brightnet at its absolute discretion may refuse to register, or upon 24 hours notice given by e-mail may remove, and rename, a desired username without giving any explanation.

For technical reasons usernames are restricted to a maximum of 8 characters. The username will always appear in your news group postings and when you forward electronic mail. Attempts to block this are prohibited. The username is your login authorization. The username will be shown in systems utilities, such as "who" or "finger," which show current users on the system.

Although you may want to use a made-up username for your Brightnet account, your full legal or entity (company) name must be provided when you sign up with Brightnet.

6) Privacy of User information - User agrees to keep Brightnet informed of your current legal address. Brightnet will not disclose this information to any third party except upon the presentation of a valid warrant or court order.

7) Change of Terms, Condition and Services - Brightnet reserves the right to alter the pricing, offerings, terms and conditions of service at any time. An up to date, online copy of this document is always displayed at URL http://www.bnin.net/ It is your responsibility to check for updates, and your continued use of Brightnet services constitutes your agreement to these terms as modified from time to time.

8) Account Suspension and Cancellation - Brightnet may discontinue any or all levels of service at its discretion. Brightnet users have the right to cancel their accounts. Cancellations, unless made in the first full month of service, take effect at the close of the billing cycle following the month in which you cancel. If you wish to cancel your Brightnet account, you must send notice to Brightnet, in writing, at the appropriate address, which is:

Brightnet Internet
PO Box 258
New Paris, IN 46553

or via e-mail to billing@bnin.net, or by phone at 888-831-4678.

If you have paid in advance, and have credit remaining at the time of your cancellation, Brightnet reserves the right not to refund monies for time unused if the amount is de minimums.

Brightnet reserves the right to terminate and/or deny services to the User at any time without written notice for violation of the Terms of Service. Written notification will be sent to the User's address on file, not more than thirty (30) days after the termination of service.

9) Indemnification - User agrees to indemnify and hold harmless Brightnet and its owners from all claims which are a result of the usage of User's account, without limitation, resulting from use of Brightnet services using your identification in any manner, whether directly or indirectly or by any act of omission or commission.

10) Responsibility of confidentiality - User agrees that the security of their account, including the account password and other confidential information, is their responsibility and that all use which emanates from their account will be considered to be undertaken by the User. It is the User's responsibility to report any suspected unauthorized use, or attempted use, of the User's account to Brightnet.

11) Information Policy - For accounts that do not subscribe to X-Stop, Brightnet will not filter information that is received from the Internet. However, some Website content and/or newsgroup material may be offensive to some people. If you find a newsgroup or Website that you do not like, please do not attempt to read or reply to that Website or newsgroup. We will not practice a policy of restricting access to any sites on the World Wide Web, and will not discontinue a particular newsgroup due to someone's belief that said newsgroup is 'offensive' or 'wrong.' You are free to subscribe to any mailing lists, but as with newsgroups, some information may seem offensive to you. Just follow proper procedures for subscribing and, if you don't like what you are receiving please change or unsubscribe from that list or newsgroup.

12) X-Stop content filtering - Brightnet provides a browser content filtering service (X-Stop) that allows users who subscribe to this service content control. While Brightnet makes every effort to ensure that the underlying technology and content control databases are accurate and up-to-date, Brightnet is unable to insure 100% content control can exist for all users, including X-Stop users. Do to the ever evolving nature of the Internet some content which would normally be filtered for subscribers to the X-Stop service, may be delivered to your browser.

13) Telephone charges - As a User, you are responsible for all telephone charges, including any long distance charges, incurred by connecting to Brightnet's service.

14) Your responsibilities - As a Brightnet user, you are solely responsible for monitoring usage of your Brightnet Internet accounts, including use by guests, visitors, children or pets. It is your responsibility to censor or regulate the access to computer data available to children, and it is not the responsibility of Brightnet, its owners, or employees. You also agree to be responsible for the activities of your children on the Internet, and may be held liable for any illegal or damaging activity conducted by them on-line.

You are solely responsible for the knowledge of and adherence to any and all laws, statutes, rules and regulations pertaining (1) to your use of any Brightnet service, and (2) the communications means by which you connect your terminal, personal computers or other device to Brightnet services or to any services provided by Brightnet.

15) File Transfer Restrictions - By law, you may not upload any commercial software or any other kind of material you don't have the right to share with other people. Likewise, you may not download any software or material you do not have the right or license to use, such as commercial software, from other Internet users. You may not upload anything that will violate local, state, or federal law. If, upon reasonable suspicion and after reasonable investigation, Brightnet finds a violation of this provision, Brightnet will notify appropriate state and/or federal authorities if ordered to do so by a court order.

Your Brightnet account entitles you to e-mail and Web storage space defined in your subscription package. If additional storage space is utilized, Brightnet will charge for additional usage according to then-current Brightnet pricing.

16) Peer to Peer traffic bandwidth limitations - WinMX, Kazaa, Napster and other similar peer-to-peer services will have bandwidth usage limits applied between the hours of 6:00AM to 12:00AM (Midnight) Peer to Peer traffic between 12:01AM to 5:59AM will have lessened bandwidth restrictions. Accounts without Peer to Peer traffic restrictions are available from Brightnet upon request, and on a user by user basis.

17) System Use Policies - There are a great many users sharing Brightnet network facilities, and we are committed to providing good, consistent service to all subscribers. For this reason, we ask that you observe the following guidelines in the usage of your Brightnet account:

Do not maintain a dial-in connection to your account when you are not actively using the service, and be sure to log out of the system when you are ready to end a session. Active use of the account constitutes use which requires your personal presence and activity at the computer. Brightnet reserves the right to broadly interpret activity as non-interactive.

Excessive non-interactive use, as determined by Brightnet, will be grounds for termination of your account.

Brightnet disconnects inactive sessions after a set period of inactivity, and any intentional attempts to defeat this, including but not restricted to the use of 'keep alive' programs, is expressly prohibited.

Brightnet prices its dial-in services on a shared resource basis. Dial-in sessions that exceed 18 hours in duration are strongly discouraged. Users that routinely establish and maintain dial-in sessions that exceed 18 hours will be billed a connection surcharge, in addition to the monthly charges of their normal rate plan.

Running servers or server processes is expressly prohibited on individual accounts. Accounts which allow server functionality are available from Brightnet at a server connection rate structure. Examples of servers are Web servers, FTP servers, IRC bots, etc.

Materials that otherwise violate federal, state or local law; and materials and content that threaten the security or utility of the Brightnet network (such as unsolicited mass e-mailing which may elicit rogue hacker strikes or real time black holing [RTBH] listings of Brightnet), are strictly forbidden.

Brightnet reserves the right to remove from public view any material or content the User has placed in the public view without prior notice to the User.

The services you purchase from Brightnet are not transferable. You may not resell your Brightnet account services. This constitutes non-personal use of your account. Only one login session can be used at any time by the subscriber on any system account. If the subscriber has multiple accounts, the subscriber is limited to one login session per system account at any time.

18) AUP changes and other updates to operational procedures - This document is under constant review. We consider comments from our users and from experienced staff. We will change this document from time to time. You are subject to the document in effect at the time you sign up for Brightnet services, and to each revision of the document that becomes effective subsequently.

19) Qualification as a User - By using Brightnet services, the user certifies that they are at least 18 years old (or have a guardians' permission) and have carefully read the above policies. The User agrees to abide by the letter and the spirit of the conditions and limitations set forth in this document. The User understands that their use of any Brightnet service constitutes the acceptance of these Terms of Service and the AUP.

20) General Terms of Service - You are responsible for keeping your billing information with Brightnet up-to-date and accurate. Furnishing false data on the sign-up form, contract, or online application, including fraudulent use of credit card numbers, is grounds for immediate termination, and possible civil or criminal liability.

Where checks are returned or credit cards are refused, Brightnet will levy an additional fee of $25 to cover costs and administration. Furthermore, credit for early-payment discounts will not be granted.

If a customer's account is terminated for any reason, and reconnection is agreed, a $25 reconnect fee will be assessed. In addition Brightnet will usually require extra pre-payment for the account.

21) SPAM - Brightnet considers the complaints and comments from other users on the Brightnet system, as well as those of system administrators from other Network Service Providers. Comments may be e-mailed to abuse@bnin.net. We will take immediate action against any Brightnet subscriber who abuses any of our facilities or services. Abuse of our system(s) carries a further penalty of US $1000 or US $500 per man hour required to restore our system(s) to its previous operational order, whichever is greater.

Examples of the types of conduct which are inappropriate on the Internet, and thus prohibited while using your Brightnet account, are in this partial list:

Posting commercial/marketing/advertising/sales materials in non-commercial areas (for example, in a newsgroup dedicated to the discussion of the political significance of the two-party system of government, you should not post a message that you have a watch for sale), or sending unwanted/unsolicited commercial e-mail ("UCE"). This activity is often called "spamming". Simply posting a clause at the end of any bulk e-mail requesting that the user respond in the event that they want to be removed from a bulk e-mail DOES NOT make your bulk e-mail solicited. Neither does any claim that the list is "targeted" to a select group of people. A thorough explanation of why this activity is a problem can be found at http://spam.abuse.net.

Posting "chain letters" is *illegal* under federal and state law, and they are inappropriate on paper and on the Internet. "Make money fast" or "get rich quick" messages are also inappropriate -- even if it says it's legal, it isn't, and is covered under chain letter laws.

E-mailing or posting abusive, vulgar or threatening messages.

Gaining unauthorized access to any network, either by use of an access account that is not yours, or by engaging in otherwise illegal methods.

Brightnet will review all complaints or instances of inappropriate use brought to our attention and will then decide what action to take. That action may result in the termination of your Brightnet account. The decision of Brightnet is final.

22) Mail storage - Brightnet supports the 'leave messages on server' option that is an option setting for many e-mail programs.

We ask that you remove messages older than 30 days. You may have selected this e-mail program setting to provide an extra measure of security if the computer you use to receive e-mail would fail.

Brightnet's standard policy is that messages associated with your account that are older than 60 days will be archived. You will need to contact us if you need or want these messages.

23) Other laws and Internet rules - In addition to this document, the provisions of all applicable laws apply to your use of Brightnet facilities. Users that access the Internet through Brightnet services must conform to the Acceptable Use Policies of the Network Service Providers whose networks they access.

If you have any complaints about another subscriber's use of Brightnet facilities, or if you are subjected to any inappropriate use of Brightnet facilities, contact our office immediately. You may send e-mail to abuse@bnin.net

24) Ownership of User rights - The rights herein granted cannot be transferred, shared, sold, or used by anyone other than yourself. Only one login session can be used at any time on any system account. If you have multiple accounts, you are limited to one login session per system account at any time. Accounts that have been transferred to other parties or show other activity in violation of this paragraph are subject to immediate cancellation.

Brightnet has the right to delete all e-mail, data files, or other information that is stored in your account if your Brightnet account is terminated, for any reason, by either you or Brightnet.

Brightnet has the right to suspend or cancel your account at any time, for reasonable cause, without notice. "Cause" includes, but is not limited to, nonpayment for services; violation of the terms specified in the AUP (this document); and use of your account to engage in violation of any federal, state or local law.