Acceptable Use Policy
Table of Contents
I. Prohibited Uses and Activities
II. Customer Conduct and Features of the Service
III. Network Management
IV. Data Consumption
V. Violation of this Acceptable Use Policy
VI. Copyright
Why is Pristine Internet providing this Policy to my service plan?
Pristine Internet’s goal is to provide its customers with the best commercial Internet service possible. In order to help accomplish this, Pristine Internet has adopted this Acceptable Use Policy (the “Policy”). This Policy outlines acceptable use of Pristine Internet Business Services Internet service, including Pristine Internet -provided Wi-Fi Internet service, Ethernet services, and other Internet-based communications services (each and collectively, the “Service”). This Policy is in addition to any other restrictions contained in any applicable terms and conditions or other agreements for Small Business or Enterprise services. All capitalized terms used in this Policy that are not defined here have the meanings given to them in the applicable Small Business and Enterprise Services agreements (each and collectively, “Business Services Agreements”).
All Pristine Internet Business Services customers and all others who use the Service (the “customer,” “user,” “you,” or “your”) must comply with this Policy. Your business’ failure to comply with this Policy could result in the suspension or termination of its Service account. In these cases, termination or other charges may apply. If your business does not agree to comply with this Policy, it must immediately stop all use of the Service and notify Pristine Internet so that it can close your business’ account.
Does this Policy apply to my use of Pristine Internet Business Services WiFi-identified services inside and outside of my premises and in public places?
This Policy applies to your use of the Service if you are a Pristine Internet Business Services customer who accesses Pristine Internet provided Business Services Wi-Fi identified services inside or outside of your premises or in public places using a Pristine Internet Business Services login and password. In the event certain provisions of this Policy may not apply to all uses of Pristine Internet Business Services Wi-Fi identified services.
How will my business know when Pristine Internet changes this Policy and how will it report violations of this Policy?
Pristine Internet may revise this Policy from time to time. For a copy of this document, please call 877-877-7716 or go to https://pristineinternet.com/acceptable-data-usage-policy/. Pristine Internet will use reasonable efforts to make customers aware of any changes to this Policy, which may include posting information on the Pristine Internet Business Services website. Revised versions of this Policy are effective immediately upon posting. Accordingly, customers of the Service should read any Pristine Internet announcements they receive and regularly visit the Pristine Internet Business Services website and review this Policy to ensure that their activities conform to the most recent version. Your business can send questions regarding this Policy to, and report violations of it at 877-877-7716, To report a child exploitation incident involving the Internet contact your local law enforcement.
I. Prohibited Uses and Activities
What uses and activities does Pristine Internet 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-Provided Equipment, or the Pristine Internet 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 large numbers of copies of the same or substantially similar messages, empty messages, or messages which contain no substantive content, or send 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 large numbers of email 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 designed to facilitate this activity;
- collect responses from unsolicited bulk messages;
- use IRC (Internet Relay Chat) or other chat services or tools to flood chats, or use unattended clones, bots, or other automated programs to engage in chats;
- falsify, alter, or remove message headers;
- falsify references to Pristine Internet 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;
- 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;
- 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 your business, logging into or making use of a server or account your business is not expressly authorized to access, or probing the security of other hosts, networks, or accounts without express permission to do so;
Technical restrictions
- 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 sub-license any proprietary software provided in connection with the Service by Pristine Internet or any third party, except that your business may make one copy of each software program for back-up purposes only;
- distribute programs that make unauthorized changes to software (cracks);
- service, alter, modify, or tamper with the Pristine Internet Equipment or Service or permit any other person to do the same who is not authorized by Pristine Internet;
- restrict, inhibit, compromise, 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 or tools implementing authorized internal business policies)’;
- restrict, inhibit, compromise, interfere with, or otherwise disrupt or cause a performance degradation, regardless of intent, purpose or knowledge, to the Service or any Pristine Internet (or Pristine Internet supplier) host, server, backbone network, node or service, or otherwise cause a performance degradation to any Pristine Internet (or Pristine Internet supplier) facilities used to deliver the Service;
- make the Service (i) available to any third party unless done with Pristine Internet ’s written approval in accordance with an applicable Business Services Agreement or (ii) available to any person or third party for use within a residential unit at the site(s) at which Customer receives the Service. It is not a violation of this Policy for a Customer to make the Service available to its authorized employees, contractors or to other users (i.e., the public, customers of an establishment or hotel or motel guests and patrons) in the common or public areas of the site at which Customer receives the Service, so long as such use does not violate the terms and conditions of Customer’s Business Services Agreement;
- resell the Service or otherwise make available to anyone outside the Service Location(s) the ability to use the Service, in whole or in part, directly or indirectly, unless expressly permitted by the applicable Business Services Agreement;
- connect the Pristine Internet Equipment to any computer outside of your business’ Service Location(s);
- interfere with computer networking or telecommunications service to any user, host or network;
- interfere with Pristine Internet ‘s ability to control or block ports for safety and security purposes and as part of its overall network management;
- interfere with Pristine Internet ‘s use and control of its domain name server (“DNS”) used in connection with the Service; and
- access and use the Service with anything other than a dynamic Internet Protocol (“IP”) address that adheres to the dynamic host configuration protocol (“DHCP”), unless otherwise expressly permitted by the applicable Business Services Agreement.
Network and usage restrictions
II. Customer Conduct and Features of the Service
What obligations does my business have under this Policy?
In addition to being responsible for its own compliance with this Policy, your business is also responsible for any use or misuse of the Service that violates this Policy, even if it was committed by an employee, contractor, customer, or guest with access to your Service account. Your business is solely responsible for the security of any device (including data on those devices) it chooses to connect to the Service.
Your business is responsible for securing the Customer-Provided Equipment and any other Service Location(s) equipment or programs not provided by Pristine Internet that connect to the Service from external threats such as viruses, spam, botnets, and other methods of intrusion.
How does Pristine Internet address inappropriate content and transmissions?
The Service may not be used to communicate or distribute email or other forms of communications in violation of Section I in this Policy. As described below in Section III of this Policy, Pristine Internet 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).
Pristine Internet is not responsible for deleting or forwarding any email sent to the wrong email address(es) by your business or by someone else trying to send email to your business or its employees, contractors, or users. Pristine Internet is also not responsible for forwarding email sent to any account that has been suspended or terminated. This email will be returned to the sender, ignored, deleted, or stored temporarily at Pristine Internet’s sole discretion. In the event that a Service account is terminated for any reason, all email associated with that account (and any secondary accounts) that is hosted by or at the direction of Pristine Internet will be permanently deleted as well.
In the event that Pristine Internet believes in its sole discretion that any subscriber name, account name, or email 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, Pristine Internet (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, Pristine Internet may at any time reserve any identifiers on the Service for Pristine Internet ‘s own purposes.
Pristine Internet Service plans limit the storage of messages on Pristine Internet ‘s systems to a specified number of days and may set an upper limit on the size and/or number of messages that you may send or receive through the Service. Neither Pristine Internet nor any of its suppliers shall have any liability for the deletion of, or failure to store, messages or of the nondelivery of, failure to deliver, or the untimely delivery of messages.
Pristine Internet ‘s email servers and other systems employ various virus detection and prevention tools that it updates frequently to respond to the latest threats on the Internet. These tools will automatically remove viruses and other unwanted material from emails whenever possible. This applies both to emails your business sends as well as to emails your business receives. Pristine Internet ‘s systems also may scan all incoming and outgoing email traffic over the Service using automated tools applying recognized and commonly used techniques for identifying and blocking spam and other unwanted or harmful code or content.
What requirements apply to instant, video, and audio messages?
Pristine Internet provides the Service for use in your business. Most everything your business does using the Service will be directly attributable to it and affect its reputation. However, because Pristine Internet provides the systems to deliver the Service, your business can do things using the Service that are directly attributable to Pristine Internet and affect its reputation. Most obviously, if your business uses the Service to send spam (or what spam reporting services or recipients classify as spam) or uses the Web Hosting Services for an improper purpose such as phishing, these activities may affect Pristine Internet ‘s reputation because of its ownership of the IP addresses associated with the Service. These activities also violate this Policy.
Pristine Internet reserves the right to suspend or terminate Service accounts when your business’ use of the Service or any of its features negatively impacts Pristine Internet ‘s reputation as determined in its sole discretion. Any use of the Service or its features that results in your business’ Service account, or any associated Pristine Internet information, being listed on, spam reporting web sites such as Spamhaus, SBL, ROKSO, TrendMicro Maps, or SenderScore Blocklist, or anti-phishing or anti-spyware services, may result in Pristine Internet suspending or terminating your business’ Service account.
In these situations, Pristine Internet prefers to work directly with your business to address the problems causing harm to Pristine Internet’s reputation so that they do not happen again.
III. Network Management
Why does Pristine Internet manage its network?
Pristine Internet 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 Pristine Internet 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. Pristine Internet 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 Pristine Internet. In fact, all large Internet service providers manage their networks. Many of them use the same or similar tools that Pristine Internet 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 degradation of service. By engaging in responsible network management including enforcement of this Policy, Pristine Internet can deliver the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers.
How does Pristine Internet manage its network?
Network management activities employed by Pristine Internet may include (i) identifying spam and preventing its delivery to customer email accounts, (ii) detecting malicious Internet traffic and preventing the distribution of viruses or other harmful code or content, and (iii) using other tools and techniques that Pristine Internet may be required to implement in order to meet its goal of delivering the best possible broadband Internet experience to all of its customers.
IV. Data Consumption
Are there restrictions on data consumption that apply to the Service?
The Service is for commercial use only in a small, medium, or large business as determined by the applicable Business Services Agreement. Therefore, Pristine Internet reserves the right to suspend or terminate Service accounts where data consumption is not characteristic of a typical commercial user of the Service as determined by the company in its sole discretion, or where it exceeds published data consumption limitations. 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) user generated content sites. Your business must also ensure that its 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 Pristine Internet in its sole discretion) an overly large burden on the network. In addition, your business must ensure that its use of the Service does not limit or interfere with Pristine Internet ‘s ability to deliver and monitor the Service or any part of its network.
If your business uses the Service in violation of the restrictions referenced above, that is a violation of this Policy and a breach of your Business Services Agreement. Pristine Internet ‘s determination of the data consumption for Service accounts is final.
V. Violation of this Acceptable Use Policy
What happens if your business violates this Policy?
Pristine Internet reserves the right immediately to suspend or terminate your business’ Service account and terminate the Business Services Agreement if it violates the terms of this Policy or the Business Services Agreement.
How does Pristine Internet enforce this Policy?
Pristine Internet has no obligation to monitor and does not routinely monitor the Service and/or the network. However, Pristine Internet and its suppliers reserve the right at any time to monitor bandwidth, usage, data consumption, 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 Pristine Internet users.
Pristine Internet prefers to inform customers of inappropriate activities and give them a reasonable period of time in which to take corrective action. Pristine Internet also prefers to have customers directly resolve any disputes or disagreements they may have with others, whether customers or not, without Pristine Internet ‘s intervention. However, if the Service is used in a way that Pristine Internet or its suppliers, in their sole discretion, believe violates this Policy, Pristine Internet 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, filtering of Internet transmissions, and the immediate suspension or termination of all or any portion of the Service. Neither Pristine Internet nor its affiliates, suppliers, or agents will have any liability for any of these responsive actions. These actions are not Pristine Internet ‘s exclusive remedies and Pristine Internet may take any other legal or technical actions it deems appropriate with or without notice.
Pristine Internet reserves the right to investigate suspected violations of this Policy and examination of material on Pristine Internet ‘s servers and network. During an investigation, Pristine Internet may suspend the account or accounts involved and/or remove or block material that potentially violates this Policy. Your business expressly authorizes and consents to Pristine Internet 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 business’ Service account, Pristine Internet is authorized to delete any files, programs, data, email and other messages associated with your business’ account (and any secondary accounts).
The failure of Pristine Internet 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. Your business agrees 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.
VI. Copyright
How does Pristine Internet communicate with customers about copyright?
Pristine Internet 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, your business 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. Pristine Internet complies with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act of 1998 (“DMCA”) that provides a process for copyright owners to communicate information about alleged infringements to us, and for us to inform our customers about them. Your business may receive notices under the DMCA if a copyright owner identifies your business’ Service account as having been used in connection with acts of alleged copyright infringement.
What is Pristine Internet ‘s DMCA policy?
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 DMCA to report alleged infringements. Pristine Internet , in accordance with applicable laws, reserves 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 Pristine Internet, in its sole discretion, believes is infringing these rights. Pristine Internet 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 Pristine Internet under the DMCA?
Copyright owners may report alleged infringements of their works that are stored on the Service or the Web Hosting Services by sending Pristine Internet ‘s authorized agent a notification of claimed infringement that satisfies the requirements of the DMCA. Upon Pristine Internet ‘s receipt of a satisfactory notice of claimed infringement for these works, Pristine Internet will respond expeditiously to either directly or indirectly (i) remove the allegedly infringing work(s) stored on the Service or the Web Hosting Services or (ii) disable access to the work(s). Pristine Internet will also notify the affected customer or user of the Service of the removal or disabling of access to the work(s).
Copyright owners may send Pristine Internet a notification of claimed infringement to report alleged infringements of their works under the DMCA to:
If your business receives a DMCA notification of alleged infringement as described above, and it believes in good faith that the allegedly infringing works have been removed or blocked by mistake or mis-identification, then your business may send a counter notification to Pristine Internet. Upon Pristine Internet’s receipt of a counter notification that satisfies the requirements of the DMCA, Pristine Internet 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, your business expressly agrees that Pristine Internet will not be a party to any disputes or lawsuits regarding alleged copyright infringement.
If a notification of claimed infringement has been filed against your business, it can file a counter notification with Pristine Internet’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.
