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Acceptable Use Policy

The UsenetBucket Acceptable Use Policy outlines acceptable usage of your UsenetBucket account, describes what we consider to be abuse / misuse of our services, and details the procedures we follow in investigating reports of abuse / misuse.

Although we wish to extend every possible consideration to our members, UsenetBucket will deal quickly and decisively with instances of clear abuse / misuse of our service, to include suspension of posting or account termination.

By signing up and/or using your UsenetBucket account, you agree to abide by this policy and to keep updated on changes, since this policy may change at any time. This Acceptable Use Policy should be considered as part of the Terms of Service for your UsenetBucket account.

Reasonable Use Policy

UsenetBucket would like for all of its members to have reasonable use of its service. To that end, UsenetBucket may curtail unreasonable usage of Unlimited accounts in order to ensure the best possible service for all members. UsenetBucket’ Unlimited account does not constitute a dedicated connection. If a member appears to be unable to maintain a reasonable use of the service, UsenetBucket may cancel, suspend, or decline to renew service for that member without notice. It is within UsenetBucket’ sole discretion to determine what comprises unreasonable use.

UsenetBucket accounts are for individual use only. Any non-individual use, or any use that is indistinguishable from non-individual use, is prohibited. For example, the following uses are prohibited:

• Sharing a login between people
• Simultaneous logins from multiple IP addresses
• Connecting from a proxy of any kind
• Using DNEWS, NetCache, or any other multi-access caching system

Net Etiquette and Abuse / Misuse

Each newsgroup can be considered as a separate “community”, where those who regularly use the newsgroup have standards for what is appropriate and what is not. These standards can vary from one group to the next. Many groups have written charters and FAQs that reflect a consensus of those who regularly use the newsgroup. You should always read posts in a newsgroup to learn what is considered appropriate before posting to that newsgroup. For a listing of charters and FAQs on various subjects, be sure to check out our FAQ page.

At UsenetBucket, we would like every member to have the best experience possible with the newsgroups. We do not, however, wish that to be at the expense of others. The newsgroups are comprised of people from diverse backgrounds. When communicating with people on the newsgroups, it is best to keep in mind that there are many other people that read what you post. Please consider the views and feelings of everyone who might read your posts and give them the same consideration and respect as you would like to receive yourself.

Posting

When UsenetBucket receives complaints of improper or abusive posting from our servers, we consider the following guidelines as we investigate the posting. Improper or abusive posting may result in temporary or permanent suspension of posting on the account, or in account termination.

Copyright

Almost every country has copyright laws. UsenetBucket cannot and does not review the information flowing through or stored on our system. When you become a UsenetBucket member, you are agreeing not to transfer or store copyrighted works on our system without the permission of the copyright holder.

Spam

Although there is no single, precise definition of spam, and there are differing opinions on what constitutes spam, we will consider the following when reviewing complaints:

Repetitive Posting

Although there is no single, precise definition of spam, and there are differing opinions on what constitutes spam, we will consider the following when reviewing complaints:

• Repetitive Posting
  Posting the same thing repeatedly in one or more newsgroups will usually be considered spam, regardless of the content.
• Commercial Posts
  Commercial posts are frowned upon in nearly every newsgroup. Most groups do not welcome contributions from a business or commercial website.
• Repetitive Posting
  Posting the same thing repeatedly in one or more newsgroups will usually be considered spam, regardless of the content.
• ‘For Sale’ Groups
  Most groups with ‘forsale’ in the group name are meant for individuals to exchange information about items they are selling or wish to purchase. Many of these groups are ‘local’ to a geographical area. Most of these groups do not welcome posts from businesses or about items for sale on an auction site, such as eBay. Be certain that your posts to these groups will be welcomed by those who use these newsgroups.
• Chain Letters/Pyramid Schemes
  According to United States law, chain letters and pyramid schemes are illegal. Almost all “make money fast”, “get rich quick”, and “multilevel marketing” offers fall into this category. If you are found to be posting these to the newsgroups, your account will be terminated.
• Cross posting
  A few binary newsgroups, such as certain music groups, encourage posting to more than one group at the same time, as long as the content is appropriate to each newsgroup. The majority of binary groups and almost all text groups, however, discourage any form of cross posting. Please consider that a thread in a text group may begin as appropriate to two newsgroups, but followups may soon become “off topic” in one of the groups.
• Off-Topic Posting
  Nearly every newsgroup has a stated topic or acceptable range of topics for posting or discussion. Blatant disregard of the intended subject matter in a newsgroup will be treated as abusive posting. Posting off topic material in large volume or with apparent malicious intent will lead to immediate account termination.
• Trolling
  Trolling is the practice of maliciously trying to incite others that use a newsgroup, to deviate from the stated topic of the group. In other words, trolling is an attempt to anger others to the point of drawing them into an argument or an off topic debate. UsenetBucket does not tolerate trolling and will terminate service of those who abuse / misuse the service in this manner.
• Altered Headers
  Falsifying header lines to obscure the originating server, to attribute a post to someone else, to falsely indicate moderator approval, or to make an original post look like a followup are serious abuses / misuses of our service and will result in immediate account termination.
• Other Abuse / Misuse Situations
  The UsenetBucket abuse / misuse staff has a great deal of experience with newsgroups, as individual users, ourselves. That extensive experience will allow us to reach an equitable determination in situations that do not fall into any of the explicit categories detailed above.

UsenetBucket is very strict about spamming. You agree to not spam, and you agree to avoid any form of posting that may look like spam. If it is determined that you have posted spam through the UsenetBucket servers, you will be charged a $50 cleanup fee per spam message that you posted, and your account will be terminated.

Retention and Completion

UsenetBucket does not guarantee any retention or completion rates. Retention and completion rates displayed on UsenetBucket’ website are approximations based on then current data. As the posting volume on Usenet increases and decreases UsenetBucket’ retention may increase and decrease accordingly without notice.

Abuse / Misuse Reports

Reports of abuse / misuse can be sent to misuse [@] usenetbucket.com

We cannot address incidents of spam or other abuse / misuse unless it was posted through the UsenetBucket servers. We will need full article headers in order to investigate any report of abuse / misuse originating on our servers.

When we receive a valid abuse / misuse report about a UsenetBucket member, our staff will take immediate action, as we feel necessary to ensure posting of the abusive material will cease. This may include suspension of posting on the account where the posts originated, pending investigation of the report.

If it is clear to our staff that someone has signed up for UsenetBucket service for the sole purpose of abusing our service, the account will be terminated immediately without notice or refund.

Other complaints will be reviewed by our abuse / misuse staff. Each member of our abuse / misuse staff will consider the circumstances of the posting, the newsgroup to which it was posted, and the number of complaints received about the posting. In certain cases, we may consider whether there was a malicious intent apparent in the abusive posting. In addition to other factors, our staff will evaluate whether the subject posting is consistent with the kind of service we have chosen to offer to consumers. Our abuse / misuse staff almost always operates on a consensus basis.

UsenetBucket wishes to offer a flexible service that will meet the needs of our members. We do not wish to regulate or censor our members in any way. We do feel an obligation, however, to encourage appropriate use of our service and proper use of the newsgroups, to the mutual benefit of everyone that uses them.

 

 

18 January 2011

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info [@] usenetbucket.com
misuse [@] usenetbucket.com

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