IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE GUIDELINES, YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY END YOUR USE OF PEIS SERVICES AND PEIS SOFTWARE AND NOTIFY THE PEIS CUSTOMER SERVICE DEPARTMENT SO THAT PEIS MAY INITIATE A CLOSURE OF YOUR ACCOUNT.
A list of ways to contact PEIS is available on the World Wide Web at http://www.earth1.net

Specific questions about these Guidelines should be directed to: webmaster@earth1.net.

A. Use of Services
1.01 The accountholder agrees to use PEIS's services only for lawful purposes, in compliance with all applicable laws.

1.02 PEIS dial-up or hosting accounts are provided for use in conformance with these Guidelines and the Terms and Conditions. PEIS reserves the right to investigate suspected violations of these Guidelines. When PEIS becomes aware of possible violations, PEIS may initiate an investigation which may include gathering information from the accountholder or accountholders involved and the complaining party, if any, and examination of material on PEIS's servers.
During an investigation, PEIS may suspend the account or accounts involved and/or remove the material involved from its servers. If PEIS believes, in its sole discretion, that a violation of these Guidelines has occurred, it may take responsive action. Such action may include, but is not limited to, temporary or permanent removal of material from PEIS's servers, the cancellation of newsgroup posts, warnings to the accountholder or accountholders responsible, and the suspension or termination of the account or accounts responsible. PEIS, in its sole discretion, will determine what action will be taken in response to a violation on a case-by-case basis. Violations of these Guidelines could also subject the accountholder to criminal or civil liability.

1.03 The accountholder of record is responsible for all use of the account, with or without the knowledge or consent of the accountholder. 

B. Use of Material
2.01 Materials in the public domain (e.g., images, text, and programs) may be downloaded or uploaded using PEIS services. Accountholders may also re-distribute materials in the public domain. The accountholder assumes all risks regarding the determination of whether the material is in the public domain. 

2.02 The accountholder is prohibited from storing, distributing or transmitting any unlawful material through PEIS services. Examples of unlawful material include but are not limited to direct threats of physical harm, child pornography, and copyrighted, trademarked and other proprietary material used without proper authorization. The accountholder may not post, upload or otherwise distribute copyrighted material on PEIS's servers without the consent of the copyright holder. The storage, distribution, or transmission of unlawful materials could subject the accountholder to criminal as well as civil liability, in addition to the actions outlined in section "A" above. 

2.03 The account holder may not store or distribute certain other types of material on PEIS's servers. Examples of prohibited material include, but are not limited to, programs containing viruses or trojans and tools to compromise the security of other sites. 

C. Passwords
3.01 PEIS personal dial-up accounts are for individual use only. Accountholders may not share passwords or accounts with other individuals. Accountholders of business accounts, or of accounts that expressly permit multiple users, and who pay the enhanced rates for these services, may share passwords and access with individuals associated with their account.

3.02 Each PEIS dial-up or hosting account user is responsible for the security of his or her password. Secure passwords are between 6 and 8 characters long, contain letters of mixed case and non-letter characters, and cannot be found in whole or in part, in normal or reverse order, in any dictionary of words or names in any language. 

3.03 PEIS staff may monitor the security of accountholder's passwords at any time. An accountholder with an insecure password may be directed to change the password to one which complies with the above rules. Accountholders who repeatedly choose insecure passwords may be assigned a password by PEIS; continued failure to maintain password security may be grounds for account termination. 

D. System Security
4.01 The accountholder is prohibited from utilizing PEIS services to compromise the security or tamper with system resources or accounts on computers at PEIS or at any other site. Use or distribution of tools designed for compromising security is prohibited. Examples of these tools include but are not limited to password guessing programs, cracking tools or network probing tools. 

4.02 PEIS reserves the right to release the usernames of accountholders involved in violations of system security to system administrators at other sites, in order to assist them in resolving security incidents. PEIS will also fully cooperate with law enforcement authorities in investigating suspected lawbreakers. 

E. System Resources
5.01 PEIS will allocate system resources to provide all accountholders with the best service possible. As part of resource allocation, PEIS may limit, restrict or prioritize access to system resources, including CPU time, memory, disk space, session length, and number of sessions.
Additionally, PEIS may institute services and fees for account holders who are interested in accessing system resources above and beyond acceptable usage.

5.02 PEIS may log instances of abuse of system resources, including but not limited to those outlined below, and take action as outlined in section "A" above. 

5.03 System abuse is defined as any use of PEIS resources which disrupts the normal use of the system or Internet services for others. Examples of system abuse include, but are not limited to, attempting to disrupt the sessions of other Internet users, consuming excessive amounts of CPU time, memory or disk space, or otherwise affecting the performance of PEIS servers. 

5.04 Accountholders may not run programs which provide network services from their accounts. Examples of prohibited programs include, but are not limited to, mail, http and irc servers and multi-user interactive forums. 

5.05 Accountholders may only make use of PEIS system resources while logged in. The sole exceptions to this policy are e-mail filters, which process and sort mail as it arrives. 

F. Usenet News Use
6.01 PEIS services include access to many Usenet discussion groups (newsgroups). The accountholder acknowledges that some newsgroups contain language, pictures, or discussion of subjects intended for adult audiences. PEIS does not monitor access to Usenet newsgroups or the content of posts by PEIS accountholders or accountholders at other sites. Accordingly, PEIS is not responsible for the content of any posting made to Usenet. 

6.02 PEIS reserves the right to discontinue access to any Usenet newsgroup at any time for any reason. 

6.03 PEIS will investigate complaints regarding posts of inappropriate material to Usenet by accountholders and may, in its sole discretion, take action based on the rules below. Criteria for determining whether a post is inappropriate include, but are not limited to, the written charter/FAQ of the newsgroup(s) in question, the established Usenet conventions outlined below, the system resources consumed by the posting, and applicable laws.

6.04 If a post is found to violate one of the policies below, or to contain unlawful material, as described in section"B" above, PEIS may require that the post be moved to a more appropriate forum (if any), or take action as outlined in section "A" above. 

6.05 Usenet news articles posted using PEIS services must comply with the written charter/FAQ of the newsgroup to which they are posted. If a newsgroup does not have a charter or FAQ, its title may be considered sufficient to determine the general topic of the newsgroup. PEIS accountholders are responsible for determining the rules of a newsgroup before posting to it. 

6.06 Established Usenet conventions ("Netiquette") prohibit advertising in most Usenet newsgroups. PEIS accountholders may post advertisements only in those newsgroups which specifically permit them in the charter or FAQ. Some newsgroups may permit "classified ads" for single transactions between private individuals, but not commercial advertisements. PEIS accountholders are responsible for determining whether or not a newsgroup permits advertisements before posting. 

6.07 Netiquette prohibits certain types of posts in most Usenet newsgroups. Types of prohibited posts include chain letters, pyramid schemes, encoded binary files, job offers or listings, and personal ads. PEIS accountholders may post these types of message only in newsgroups which specifically permit them in the charter or FAQ (if any). PEIS accountholders are responsible for determining whether or not a newsgroup permits a type of message before posting. 

6.08 PEIS accountholders may not alter the headers of posts to Usenet to conceal their e-mail address or to prevent accountholders from responding to posts. 

6.09 Only the poster of a Usenet article or PEIS has the right to cancel the article. PEIS accountholders may not use PEIS resources to cancel articles which they did not post. The sole exception to this rule is for moderators of formally moderated newsgroups; the moderator of a newsgroup may cancel any articles in a newsgroup he or she is moderating. 

6.10 PEIS accountholders 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 followups to messages with no new text. 

G. Email Use
7.01 PEIS will investigate complaints regarding e-mail and may, in its sole discretion, take action based on the rules below. If an e-mail message is found to violate one of the policies below, or to contain unlawful material, as described in section "B" above, PEIS may take action as outlined in section "A" above.

7.02 PEIS accountholders may not send e-mail to any user who does not wish to receive it, either at PEIS or elsewhere. PEIS recognizes that e-mail is an informal medium; however, accountholders must refrain from sending further e-mail to a user after receiving a request to stop.

7.03 Unsolicited advertising mailings, whether commercial or informational, are strictly prohibited. PEIS accountholders may send advertising material only to addresses which have specifically requested it. PEIS will not forward mail of accounts terminated for bulk mailing or unsolicited advertising.

7.04 Chain letters are unsolicited by definition and may not be propagated using PEIS services.

7.05 PEIS accountholders may not send, propagate, or reply to mailbombs. Mailbombing is defined as either e-mailing copies of a single message to many accountholders, or sending large or multiple files or messages to a single user with malicious intent. 

7.06 PEIS accountholders may not alter the headers of e-mail messages to conceal their e-mail address or to prevent accountholders from responding to messages.

7.07 Violations of the PEIS policies outlined in this document can sometimes result in massive numbers of e-mail responses. If a PEIS accountholder receives so much e-mail that PEIS resources are affected, PEIS staff may shut down the accountholder's mailbox. 

H. World Wide Web Use
8.01 The accountholder acknowledges that some World Wide Web (WWW) pages contain language, pictures, or discussion of subjects intended for adult audiences. PEIS does not monitor access to the World Wide Web or the content of PEIS accountholders' Personal Web pages. Accordingly, PEIS is not responsible for the content of any accountholder Web pages on PEIS's servers or elsewhere. 

8.02 The accountholder is solely responsible for the content of Web pages owned by the account. 

8.03 PEIS reserves the right to remove any Web page on PEIS's servers, at any time and for any reason. 

8.04 PEIS will investigate complaints regarding inappropriate material on Web pages within the PEIS domain and may, in its sole discretion, require that the material be removed or take action as outlined in section "A" above. Criteria for determining whether a page is inappropriate include, but are not limited to, the system resources consumed by the page and applicable laws. 

8.05 PEIS accountholders may not use World Wide Web pages within or outside the PEIS domain to violate any part of these Guidelines, or to attempt to disrupt the pages or Internet experiences of other users. 

8.06 Account holders are responsible for applying a proper rating to their web page. This independent third-party rating system will be identified by PEIS and is subject to change without notice. All pages without a rating are named "Unrated." The combination of the third-party rating system and the viewing user's Internet filtering software determines whether or not "Unrated" pages will be seen. Usually "Unrated" pages are blocked. PEIS, at it's sole discretion, may remove any page reported to PEIS as inappropriately rated based on the rating system. 

8.07 If you establish a PEIS Personal Page, then you must complete the independent third party rating system for your Personal Page. If you use Internet filtering software you may choose to screen-out Personal Pages with certain types of language or images or unrated Personal Pages. The rating system depends upon each accountholder's self-evaluation of the accountholder's Personal Page. If an accountholder fails to accurately evaluate his or her Personal Page, the Internet filtering software may not screen all material that you wish to screen. Because other users depend on your honest and complete evaluation of the content of your Personal Page in order to screen out rated material that they do not wish to receive, if you fail to accurately or completely describe your Personal Page, PEIS may terminate your service or your Personal Page privileges, at PEIS's discretion. 

I. IRC Use
9.01 IRC channels are not monitored by PEIS. Any user in IRC may create a channel and hold operator privileges, and any user with operator privileges on a channel may remove anyone else from that channel. Channel operators are not agents of PEIS, and are in no way compensated or supervised by PEIS, with the exception of the operators of official PEIS channels used for the sole purpose of customer support or communication between PEIS employees. Accordingly, PEIS is not liable for the content of any communication made on IRC. 

9.02 PEIS will respond to complaints of inappropriate behavior in IRC, and may, in its sole discretion, take action based on the rules below. If the accountholder's behavior is found to violate any of PEIS's IRC policies, or to involve unlawful material, as described in section "B" above, PEIS may take action as outlined in section "A" above. 

9.03 Accountholders may not engage in "flooding". Flooding is defined as deliberately repeating actions in quick succession in order to fill the screens of other accountholders with text. 

9.04 Accountholders may not maintain more than 3 simultaneous IRC connections from one account. This includes the use of automated programs ("bots") and "clones". A "bot" is a program written by a user to automatically execute IRC commands. Each bot counts as one IRC connection. PEIS accountholders may run bots as long as the total number of connections does not exceed 3, and the bots do not violate any of PEIS's IRC guidelines. Bots may not be run while the owner is not logged in. 

9.05 A "flash" is a message which contains control code information designed to disrupt a user's terminal emulation or session. PEIS accountholders may not send or relay such messages via any medium, including IRC. 

9.06 Each IRC channel is controlled by one or more accountholders with operator privileges, or "ops". The holder of ops on a channel has the ability to remove any other user from that channel, temporarily or for as long as the channel exists. "Hacking" is defined as manipulation of IRC servers in order to harass or disconnect other accountholders, or forcible seizure of ops on a channel for purposes of disruption or harassment. PEIS accountholders may not engage in hacking or attempt to gain operator privileges for a channel without the permission of the current holder(s) of ops (if any) on that channel.

9.07 As stated above, the holder of ops on a channel has the right to remove any accountholders he or she considers offensive. Users who are removed have the option to move to another channel or create a channel of their own, where they hold operator privileges. PEIS accountholders may not attempt to return to a channel after being banned from it.

9.08 Any user has the ability to screen out messages from a user they find objectionable, using the "ignore" command. PEIS accountholders may not attempt to continue sending private messages to a user after being ignored. 

9.09 PEIS accountholders may adopt any available nickname for use in IRC; however, the /whois command can be used to discover the username and hostname of any IRC user. PEIS accountholders may not attempt to disguise their username or hostname in order to impersonate other accountholders or to use IRC anonymously. 

J. Transfer Rate
10.01 There is a 0.5 GB per day per account limit on FTP transfers from PEIS servers. Accountholders whose accounts are generating transfers which surpass the limit or which consume an excessive percentage of PEIS's FTP resources may receive a warning from PEIS. Continued excessive use of PEIS's FTP resources may result in suspension or termination of the account. 

10.02 There is a 750 MB per month per account limit on data transfers to and from a personal web page. Accountholders whose personal page is generating transfers in excess of the limit may receive a warning from PEIS. Continued excessive use of PEIS's personal page web server resources may result in suspension or termination of the account.