Acceptable Use Policy

BAY COUNTRY COMMUNICATIONS ACCEPTABLE — USE POLICY FOR HIGH-SPEED INTERNET

Why is Bay Country Communications providing this Policy to me?

Bay Country Communications’ goal is to provide its customers with the best Internet service possible. In order to help accomplish this, Bay Country Communications has adopted this Acceptable Use Policy (the “Policy”). This Policy outlines acceptable use of the Bay Country Communications High-Speed Internet service (the “Service”).

What obligations do I have under this Policy?

All Bay Country Communications High-Speed Internet customers and all others who use the Service (the “customer,” “user,” “you,” or “your”) must comply with this Policy. Your failure to comply with this Policy could result in the suspension or termination of your Service account. If you do not agree to comply with this Policy, you must immediately stop all use of the Service and notify Bay Country Communications so that it can close your account.

How will I know when Bay Country Communications changes this Policy and how do I report violations of it?

Bay Country Communications may revise this Policy from time to time by posting a new version on the Web site at https://bcctv.com or any successor URL(s) (the “Bay Country Communications Web site”). Bay Country Communications will use reasonable efforts to make customers aware of any changes to this Policy, which may include sending e-mail announcements or posting information on the Bay Country Communications Web site. Revised versions of this Policy are effective immediately upon posting. Accordingly, customers of the Bay Country Communications High-Speed Internet Service should read any Bay Country Communications announcements they receive and regularly visit the Bay Country Communications Web site and review this Policy to ensure that their activities conform to the most recent version. You can send questions regarding this Policy to, and report violations of it [email protected].

I. Prohibited Uses and Activities

What uses and activities does Bay Country Communications prohibit?

In general, the Policy prohibits uses and activities involving the Service that are illegal, infringe the rights of others, or interfere with or diminish the use and enjoyment of the Service by others. For example, these prohibited uses and activities include, but are not limited to, using the Service, Customer Equipment, or the Bay Country Communications Equipment, either individually or in combination with one another, to:

Conduct and information restrictions

• undertake or accomplish any unlawful purpose. This includes, but is not limited to, posting,
storing, transmitting or disseminating information, data or material which is libelous, obscene,
 unlawful, threatening or defamatory, or which infringes the intellectual property rights of any
 person or entity, or which in any way constitutes or encourages conduct that would constitute a 
criminal offense, or otherwise violate any local, state, federal, or non-U.S. law, order, or 
regulation;
• post, store, send, transmit, or disseminate any information or material which a reasonable person
 could deem to be unlawful;
• upload, post, publish, transmit, reproduce, create derivative works of, or distribute in any way
 information, software or other material obtained through the Service or otherwise that is protected 
by copyright or other proprietary right, without obtaining any required permission of the owner;
• transmit unsolicited bulk or commercial messages commonly known as “spam;”
• send very large numbers of copies of the same or substantially similar messages, empty 
messages, or messages which contain no substantive content, or send very large messages or
 files that disrupts a server, account, blog, newsgroup, chat, or similar service;
• initiate, perpetuate, or in any way participate in any pyramid or other illegal scheme;
• participate in the collection of very large numbers of e-mail addresses, screen names, or other 
identifiers of others (without their prior consent), a practice sometimes known as spidering or
 harvesting, or participate in the use of software (including “spyware”) designed to facilitate this
 activity;
• falsify, alter, or remove message headers;
• falsify references to Bay Country Communications or its network, by name or other identifier, in messages;
• impersonate any person or entity, engage in sender address falsification, forge anyone else’s
 digital or manual signature, or perform any other similar fraudulent activity (for example,
 “phishing”);
• violate the rules, regulations, terms of service, or policies applicable to any network, server, 
computer database, service, application, system, or Web site that you access or use;

Technical restrictions

• access any other person’s computer or computer system, network, software, or data without his
 or her knowledge and consent; breach the security of another user or system; or 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 hosts,
 networks, or accounts without express permission to do so;
• use or distribute tools or devices designed or used for compromising security or whose use is
 otherwise unauthorized, such as password guessing programs, decoders, password gatherers,
keystroke loggers, analyzers, cracking tools, packet sniffers, encryption circumvention devices, or
 Trojan Horse programs. Unauthorized port scanning is strictly prohibited;
• copy, distribute, or sublicense any proprietary software provided in connection with the Service by 
Bay Country Communications or any third party, except that you may make one copy of each software program for 
back-up purposes only;
• distribute programs that make unauthorized changes to software (cracks);
• use or run dedicated, stand-alone equipment or servers from the Premises that provide network 
content or any other services to anyone outside of your Premises local area network (“Premises
LAN”), also commonly referred to as public services or servers unless subscribed to commercial grade Internet service. Examples of prohibited
 equipment and servers include, but are not limited to, e-mail, Web hosting, file sharing, and proxy 
services and servers;
• use or run programs from the Premises that provide network content or any other services to
 anyone outside of your Premises LAN, except for personal and non-commercial residential use unless you are subject to a Service plan that expressly permits you to do so;
• service, alter, modify, or tamper with the Bay Country Communications Equipment or Service or permit any other 
person to do the same who is not authorized by Bay Country Communications;

Network and usage restrictions

• restrict, inhibit, or otherwise interfere with the ability of any other person, regardless of intent,
purpose or knowledge, to use or enjoy the Service (except for tools for safety and security
 functions such as parental controls, for example), including, without limitation, posting or
 transmitting any information or software which contains a worm, virus, or other harmful feature, or
 generating levels of traffic sufficient to impede others’ ability to use, send, or retrieve information;
• restrict, inhibit, interfere with, or otherwise disrupt or cause a performance degradation,
regardless of intent, purpose or knowledge, to the Service or any Bay Country Communications (or Bay Country Communications supplier)
 host, server, backbone network, node or service, or otherwise cause a performance degradation 
to any Bay Country Communications (or Bay Country Communications supplier) facilities used to deliver the Service;
• resell the Service or otherwise make available to anyone outside the Premises the ability to use
 the Service (for example, through wi-fi or other methods of networking), in whole or in part,
 directly or indirectly. The Service is for personal and non-commercial residential use only and you
 agree not to use the Service for operation as an Internet service provider or for any business
 enterprise or purpose (whether or not for profit) unless you are subject to a Service plan that expressly permits you to do so;
• connect the Bay Country Communications Equipment to any computer outside of your Premises;
• interfere with computer networking or telecommunications service to any user, host or network,
including, without limitation, denial of service attacks, flooding of a network, overloading a service, 
improper seizing and abusing operator privileges, and attempts to “crash” a host; and
• accessing and using the Service with anything other than a dynamic Internet Protocol (“IP”)
 address that adheres to the dynamic host configuration protocol (“DHCP”). You may not configure 
the Service or any related equipment to access or use a static IP address or use any protocol
 other than DHCP unless you are subject to a Service plan that expressly permits you to do so.

II. Customer Conduct and Features of the Service

What obligations do I have under this Policy?

In addition to being responsible for your own compliance with this Policy, you are also responsible for any use or misuse of the Service that violates this Policy, even if it was committed by a friend, family member, or guest with access to your Service account. Therefore, you must take steps to ensure that others do not use your account to gain unauthorized access to the Service by, for example, strictly maintaining the confidentiality of your Service login and password. In all cases, you are solely responsible for the security of any device you choose to connect to the Service, including any data stored or shared on that device. Bay Country Communications recommends against enabling file or printer sharing unless you do so in strict compliance with all security recommendations and features provided by Bay Country Communications and the manufacturer of the applicable file or printer sharing devices. Any files or devices you choose to make available for shared access on a LAN, for example, should be protected with a strong password or as otherwise appropriate.

It is also your responsibility to secure the Customer Equipment and any other Premises equipment or programs not provided by Bay Country Communications that connect to the Service from external threats such as viruses, spam, bot nets, and other methods of intrusion.

How does Bay Country Communications address inappropriate content and transmissions?

Bay Country Communications reserves the right to refuse to transmit or post, and to remove or block, any information or materials, in whole or in part, that it, in its sole discretion, deems to be in violation of Sections I or II of this Policy, or otherwise harmful to Bay Country Communications’ network or customers using the Service, regardless of whether this material or its dissemination is unlawful so long as it violates this Policy. Neither Bay Country Communications nor any of its affiliates, suppliers, or agents have any obligation to monitor transmissions or postings (including, but not limited to, e-mail, file transfer, blog, newsgroup, and instant message transmissions as well as materials available on the Service. However, Bay Country Communications and its affiliates, suppliers, and agents have the right to monitor these transmissions and postings from time to time for violations of this Policy and to disclose, block, or remove them in accordance with this Policy, the Subscriber Agreement, and applicable law.

What requirements apply to electronic mail?

The Service may not be used to communicate or distribute e-mail or other forms of communications in violation of Section I of this Policy. As described below in Section III of this Policy, Bay Country Communications uses reasonable network management tools and techniques to protect customers from receiving spam and from sending spam (often without their knowledge over an infected computer).

Bay Country Communications is not responsible for deleting or forwarding any e-mail sent to the wrong e-mail address by you or by someone else trying to send e-mail to you. Bay Country Communications is also not responsible for forwarding e-mail sent to any account that has been suspended or terminated. This e-mail will be returned to the sender, ignored, deleted, or stored temporarily at Bay Country Communications’ sole discretion. In the event that Bay Country Communications believes in its sole discretion that any subscriber name, account name, or e-mail address (collectively, an “identifier”) on the Service may be used for, or is being used for, any misleading, fraudulent, or other improper or illegal purpose, Bay Country Communications (i) reserves the right to block access to and prevent the use of any of these identifiers and (ii) may at any time require any customer to change his or her identifier. In addition, Bay Country Communications may at any time reserve any identifiers on the Service for Bay Country Communications’ own purposes. In the event that a Service account is terminated for any reason, all e-mail associated with that account (and any secondary accounts) will be permanently deleted as well.

What requirements apply to instant, video, and audio messages?

Each user is responsible for the contents of his or her instant, video, and audio messages and the consequences of any of these messages. Bay Country Communications assumes no responsibility for the timeliness, mis-delivery, deletion, or failure to store these messages. In the event that a Service account is terminated for any reason, all instant, video, and audio messages associated with that account (and any secondary accounts) will be permanently deleted as well.

III. Network Management and Limitations on Data Consumption

Why does Bay Country Communications manage its network?

Bay Country Communications manages its network with one goal: to deliver the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers. High-speed bandwidth and network resources are not unlimited. Managing the network is essential as Bay Country Communications works to promote the use and enjoyment of the Internet by all of its customers. The company uses reasonable network management practices that are consistent with industry standards. Bay Country Communications tries to use tools and technologies that are minimally intrusive and, in its independent judgment guided by industry experience, among the best in class. Of course, the company’s network management practices will change and evolve along with the uses of the Internet and the challenges and threats on the Internet.

The need to engage in network management is not limited to Bay Country Communications. In fact, all large Internet service providers manage their networks. Many of them use the same or similar tools that Bay Country Communications does. If the company didn’t manage its network, its customers would be subject to the negative effects of spam, viruses, security attacks, network congestion, and other risks and degradations of service. By engaging in responsible network management including enforcement of this Policy, Bay Country Communications can deliver the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers.

How does Bay Country Communications manage its network?

Bay Country Communications uses various tools and techniques to manage its network, deliver the Service, and ensure compliance with this Policy and the Subscriber Agreement. These tools and techniques are dynamic, like the network and its usage, and can and do change frequently. For example, these network management activities may include (i) identifying spam and preventing its delivery to customer e-mail accounts, (ii) detecting malicious Internet traffic and preventing the distribution of viruses or other harmful code or content, (iii) temporarily lowering the priority of traffic for users who are the top contributors to current network congestion, and (iv) using other tools and techniques that Bay Country Communications may be required to implement in order to meet its goal of delivering the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers.

Are there restrictions on data consumption that apply to the Service?

Bay Country Communications reserves the right to suspend or terminate Service accounts where data consumption is not characteristic of a typical user of the Service as determined by the company in its sole discretion. Common activities that may cause excessive data consumption in violation of this Policy include, but are not limited to, numerous or continuous bulk transfers of files and other high capacity traffic using (i) file transfer protocol (“FTP”), (ii) peer-to-peer applications, and (iii) newsgroups. You must also ensure that your use of the Service does not restrict, inhibit, interfere with, or degrade any other person’s use of the Service, nor represent (as determined by Bay Country Communications in its sole discretion) an overly large burden on the network. In addition, you must ensure that your use of the Service does not limit or interfere with Bay Country Communications’ ability to deliver and monitor the Service or any part of its network. If you use the Service in violation of the restrictions referenced above, that is a violation of this Policy. In these cases, Bay Country Communications may, in its sole discretion, suspend or terminate your Service account or request that you subscribe to a version of the Service (such as a commercial grade Internet service, if appropriate) if you wish to continue to use the Service at higher data consumption levels. Bay Country Communications may also provide versions of the Service with different speed and data consumption limitations, among other characteristics, subject to applicable Service plans. Bay Country Communications’ determination of the data consumption for Service accounts is final.

IV. Violation of this Acceptable Use Policy

What happens if you violate this Policy?

Bay Country Communications reserves the right immediately to suspend or terminate your Service account and terminate the Subscriber Agreement if you violate the terms of this Policy or the Subscriber Agreement.

How does Bay Country Communications enforce this Policy?

Bay Country Communications does not routinely monitor the activity of individual Service accounts for violations of this Policy, except for determining aggregate data consumption in connection with the data consumption provisions of this Policy. However, in the company’s efforts to promote good citizenship within the Internet community, it will respond appropriately if it becomes aware of inappropriate use of the Service. Bay Country Communications has no obligation to monitor the Service and/or the network. However, Bay Country Communications and its suppliers reserve the right at any time to monitor bandwidth, usage, transmissions, and content in order to, among other things, operate the Service; identify violations of this Policy; and/or protect the network, the Service and Bay Country Communications users.

Bay Country Communications prefers to inform customers of inappropriate activities and give them a reasonable period of time in which to take corrective action. Bay Country Communications also prefers to have customers directly resolve any disputes or disagreements they may have with others, whether customers or not, without Bay Country Communications’ intervention. However, if the Service is used in a way that Bay Country Communications or its suppliers, in their sole discretion, believe violates this Policy, Bay Country Communications or its suppliers may take any responsive actions they deem appropriate under the circumstances with or without notice. These 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 Service (including but not limited to newsgroups). Neither Bay Country Communications nor its affiliates, suppliers, or agents will have any liability for any of these responsive actions. These actions are not Bay Country Communications’ exclusive remedies and Bay Country Communications may take any other legal or technical actions it deems appropriate with or without notice.

Bay Country Communications 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 Bay Country Communications’ servers and network. During an investigation, Bay Country Communications may suspend the account or accounts involved and/or remove or block material that potentially violates this Policy. You expressly authorize and consent to Bay Country Communications and its suppliers cooperating with (i) law enforcement authorities in the investigation of suspected legal violations, and (ii) and system administrators at other Internet service providers or other network or computing facilities in order to enforce this Policy. Upon termination of your Service account, Bay Country Communications is authorized to delete any files, programs, data, e-mail and other messages associated with your account (and any secondary accounts).

The failure of Bay Country Communications or its suppliers 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. You agree to indemnify, defend and hold harmless Bay Country Communications and its affiliates, suppliers, and agents against all claims and expenses (including reasonable attorney fees) resulting from any violation of this Policy. Your indemnification will survive any termination of the Subscriber Agreement.

V. Copyright and Digital Millennium Copyright Act Requirements

What is Bay Country Communications’ DMCA policy?

Bay Country Communications is committed to complying with U.S. copyright and related laws, and requires all customers and users of the Service to comply with these laws. Accordingly, you may not store any material or content on, or disseminate any material or content over, the Service (or any part of the Service) in any manner that constitutes an infringement of third party intellectual property rights, including rights granted by U.S. copyright law. Owners of copyrighted works who believe that their rights under U.S. copyright law have been infringed may take advantage of certain provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (the “DMCA”) to report alleged infringements. It is Bay Country Communications’ policy in accordance with the DMCA and other applicable laws to reserve the right to terminate the Service provided to any customer or user who is either found to infringe third party copyright or other intellectual property rights, including repeat infringers, or who Bay Country Communications, in its sole discretion, believes is infringing these rights. Bay Country Communications may terminate the Service at any time with or without notice for any affected customer or user.

How do copyright owners report alleged infringements to Bay Country Communications?

Copyright owners may report alleged infringements of their works by sending Bay Country Communications’ authorized agent a notification of claimed infringement that satisfies the requirements of the DMCA. Upon Bay Country Communications’ receipt of a satisfactory notice of claimed infringement for these works, Bay Country Communications will notify the affected customer or user of the Service of the removal or disabling of access to the work(s).

Copyright owners may send Bay Country Communications a notification of claimed infringement to report alleged infringements of their works to:

Scott Shilling
Bay Country Communications
502 Maryland Ave
Cambridge MD USA
Phone: 410.901.2224
Fax: 410.901.9116
Email: [email protected]

Copyright owners may use their own notification of claimed infringement form that satisfies the requirements of Section 512(c)(3) of the U.S. Copyright Act. Under the DMCA, anyone who knowingly makes misrepresentations regarding alleged copyright infringement may be liable to Bay Country Communications, the alleged infringer, and the affected copyright owner for any damages incurred in connection with the removal, blocking, or replacement of allegedly infringing material.

What can customers do if they receive a notification of alleged infringement?

If you receive a notification of alleged infringement as described above, and you believe in good faith that the allegedly infringing works have been removed or blocked by mistake or misidentification, then you may send a counter notification to Bay Country Communications. Upon Bay Country Communications’ receipt of a counter notification that satisfies the requirements of DMCA, Bay Country Communications will provide a copy of the counter notification to the person who sent the original notification of claimed infringement and will follow the DMCA’s procedures with respect to a received counter notification. In all events, you expressly agree that Bay Country Communications will not be a party to any disputes or lawsuits regarding alleged copyright infringement.

If a notification of claimed infringement has been filed against you, you can file a counter notification with Bay Country Communications’s designated agent using the contact information shown above. All counter notifications must satisfy the requirements of Section 512(g)(3) of the U.S. Copyright Act.

Revised and effective: January 1, 2009