Acceptable Use Policy

Section 1. General

Application of Policy. This Policy applies to every individual or entity subscribing to or using an account provided by Alaska Communications (each, a "Customer"). For this purpose, an account includes accounts that contain specialized services that do not provide general Internet access but nonetheless involve the transfer of voice or data. Your use of an Alaska Communications account constitutes acceptance and agreement to comply with this Policy. As a Customer, you agree that Alaska Communications has the right to enforce this Policy, in its sole discretion. This means that if you or anyone using your account violates any provision of this Policy, Alaska Communications may take all appropriate action, including termination of your account, with or without notice and, in certain cases, removal of content that violates this Policy. Prospective customers who cannot or otherwise believe that they may not comply with the Policy requirements should not purchase data services from Alaska Communications. Current Customers who cannot or choose not to comply should deactivate their service. Early Termination Charges may apply if you choose to terminate service prior to the end of your service term.

Modifications of Policy. Alaska Communications reserves the right to modify this Policy at any time without notice. Your continued use of Alaska Communications service constitutes acceptance of the then-current Policy as posted on this website.

Limitations. Except to the extent required for reasonable network management, nothing in this Policy will result in the blocking or degradation of lawful content, applications, services, and devices. In no case will Alaska Communications accept payment (monetary or otherwise) to manage its network in a way that benefits particular content, applications, services, or devices.

Section 2. Account Use

Responsibility for your Account. You are solely responsible for any and all use made of your Alaska Communications account, as well as the conduct of anyone else using your account. This includes the content of all email messages generated or forwarded, and all content in any folders, home pages or other transmissions, information, images or other interactions you generate, transmit or maintain on or through Alaska Communications services.

Section 3. Management of Resources - Limitations and Restrictions

General Practices Regarding Email Use and Storage

Alaska Communications may establish general practices and limits concerning the maximum number of days that email messages, message board postings or other uploaded content will be retained by the service, the maximum number of email messages that may be sent from or received by an account on the service, the maximum size of any email message that may be sent from or received by an account on the service, the maximum disk space that will be allotted on Alaska Communications’ servers on your behalf. You agree that Alaska Communications has no responsibility or liability for the deletion or failure to store any messages and other communications or other content maintained or transmitted by the service.

IP Addresses

Due to Alaska Communications’ obligation to justify to ARIN [American Registry for Internet Numbers] the Internet Protocol (IP) addresses we are consuming, is it very important that you use the IP addresses assigned to you. After six months, we reserve the right to perform random IP swipes and if necessary change the IP addresses of persons that are not using the IP addresses they were assigned, and we reserve the right to reissue any IP addresses without notice. IP addresses are not portable and are not assigned for independent administration or distribution. You understand and acknowledge that IP address assignments are not guaranteed, and may be modified as required by Alaska Communications Internet and/or the ARIN.

Overall Network Management

In General. Like the other networks that make up the Internet, the Alaska Communications network is a shared network, which means that the transmission links and other network resources used to provide services are shared among our customers. Because of this, we manage the network for the benefit of all users based on a variety of factors, and our technical expertise. Nonetheless, temporary congestion may occur when a large number of customers in a concentrated area access the network at the same time or when some customers consume a very large amount of network capacity during busy periods, such as at stadium events, during peak usage times, or during planned network maintenance.

Design. In light of the above, residential accounts are designed for attended use by an individual or family, and business accounts are designed for similar attended use, but by larger groups of users and with the addition of commercial, revenue-generating activities.

Reasonable Network Management. Given the particular network architecture and technology used by Alaska Communications, our services are not designed for continuous or automated high-volume data transfers, and such usage is a violation of this Policy. Continuous, automated, or extreme high-volume data transfers may be caused by peer-to-peer file sharing programs, server hosting, or other uses including uses involving distributed network activity. Likewise, auto-dialing or predictive-dialing (robocalling) on trunks not specifically designated for this purpose constitutes a violation. If your traffic involves those uses, in addition to other actions available under this Policy, during peak times and to provide acceptable functionality across wide variety of content, applications, services, and devices, Alaska Communications may take reasonable actions to manage the performance of its network.

Inactive Accounts

Alaska Communications reserves the right to disable accounts and/or email accounts that are inactive for an extended period of time.

Section 4. Use for Illegal Purposes is Prohibited

Posting, transmitting, promoting, distributing or storing content in violation of any applicable law or regulation is prohibited. Content in violation of applicable law means the text, software, communications, images, sounds, and all other information and materials you encounter or generate on-line on the Internet that is: (i) protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret or other intellectual property rights that you do not own, (ii) obscene, defamatory, or constitutes an illegal threat, or (iii) otherwise considered unlawful. Conduct in the Alaska Communications Internet space must conform to the requirements of the law, respect the rights of other users of Alaska Communications services, and meet current standards for communicating online. This includes following the rules and policies of any Internet service provider, any other online services, and all applicable state, local and federal laws (including foreign or international laws where appropriate).

The prohibition against the use of Alaska Communications service to engage in unlawful activity is not limited to activities listed here, but applies to all unlawful activity. Any Alaska Communications account found to be engaged in any unlawful activity will be immediately terminated. Some examples of prohibited illegal conduct are:

• Posting obscene content (including child pornography);
• Planning illegal activity, such as building a bomb or counterfeiting money;
• Illegally advertising a lottery, ammunition, firearms, tobacco, alcohol, illegal drugs or drug-related paraphernalia;
• Pretending to be anyone you are not. You may not impersonate another person, nor attempt to “Spoof” your calling line ID information on voice calls nor address on emails;
• Using false statements to get, or to attempt to get, account information or other private information from other Alaska Communications customers or other Internet users;
• Engaging in copyright infringement or other intellectual property infringement;
• Activity which in any way interferes with any person, entity or computer system accessible via the Internet regardless of whether the interference is in violation of federal, state or local law, including unauthorized attempts to access or use the data or resources of another person, entity, host or network, including any attempt to probe another person, entity, host or network, or to breach the security of a system belonging to another person, entity, host or network;and
• Interfering with any person, entity, host or network, including, but not limited to, mail-bombing, flooding, or any other deliberate attempt to adversely impact another person, entity, host or network.
• Origination of illegal robocalls as defined by statute, Federal Trade Commission (FTC) or Federal Communication Commission (FCC).

In connection with the investigation of possible misuse or unlawful use of Alaska Communications data services, whether initiated by Alaska Communications or any law enforcement or governmental agency, Alaska Communications is authorized to disclose any information about you and your use of Alaska Communications services to law enforcement or other government officials, as Alaska Communications, in its sole discretion, believes to be necessary or appropriate. In addition, Alaska Communications is required to cooperate with law enforcement or governmental authorities, including complying with search warrants, court orders and subpoenas. If Alaska Communications decides to investigate or resolve possible misuse involving you or anything you do on your Alaska Communications account, Alaska Communications is entitled to disclose any information about you and anything you do with your Alaska Communications service to law enforcement or other government officials as Alaska Communications, in its sole discretion, believes to be necessary or appropriate to comply with its policies and the law.

Section 5. Prohibited Uses - Objectionable Conduct and Content that Violate this Policy

You are solely responsible for your conduct and the conduct of other users of your account while accessing Alaska Communications services, including the content of all email messages you generate or forward, and all content in any folders, home pages or other transmissions, information, images or other interactions you generate, transmit or maintain on or through Alaska Communications services. Alaska Communications reserves the right to remove content, and if necessary, terminate your Internet account without notice, if we become aware of content which, in our judgment, would be distasteful, shocking or threatening to another user. Alaska Communications reserves the right, in its sole discretion, to make the final determination about whether content is objectionable or not.

Some examples of objectionable conduct and content that violate this Policy are:

• Harassing, threatening, or embarrassing another Alaska Communications customer or other user;
• Stalking another Alaska Communications customer or other user;
• Transmitting or facilitating distribution of content that is harmful, abusive, violent, racially or ethnically offensive, lewd, vulgar or (in a reasonable person's view) objectionable;
• If you are an adult, requesting personal or other information from a minor (any person under the age of 18) who is not personally known to you, including but not limited to any of the following: full name or last name, home address, zip code, telephone number, picture, or the names of the minor's school, church, athletic team or friends;
• Use of your Alaska Communications account to send unsolicited email or robocall messages of any type - whether commercial or non-commercial, for profit or non-profit unless specifically permitted under FTC rules; and
• Posting content that defames abuses or threatens physical harm to others or yourself.

Section 6. System and Network Security

Violations of system and network security are prohibited and may result in criminal and civil liability. Alaska Communications will investigate incidents involving such violations and may involve and will report any suspected criminal activity to and cooperate with law enforcement.

Examples of system and network security violations include the following:

• Unauthorized access to or use of data, systems or networks, including any attempt to probe, scan or test the vulnerability of a system or network or to breach security or authentication measures without the express authorization of the owner of the system or network;
• Unauthorized monitoring of data or traffic on any network or system without the express authorization of the owner of the system or network;
• Interference with service to any user, host or network including, without limitation, mail bombing, flooding, deliberate attempts to overload a system and broadcast attacks;
• Falsifying your user identity or providing other false information to Alaska Communications or to other users of the services in connection with your use of your Alaska Communications data account or any feature of that account;
• Posting viruses or software designed to create a virus or to do harm to Alaska Communications' services, any Alaska Communications customers or users of Alaska Communications data services, or any network components;
• Taking any other action to disrupt the normal use of Alaska Communications' services or the Internet by other users;
• Use of software that allows your account to stay logged on while you are not actively using the account, except for those accounts specifically designed to provide these kinds of connections.

Section 7. One Account, One Connection, No Resale

• You may use your Alaska Communications account to make only one connection at any given time, unless you have specifically purchased a business account that is, in Alaska Communications' sole opinion, suitable for multiple user applications. Multiple, simultaneous connections from an Alaska Communications account, except as noted, are prohibited. This paragraph is not intended to restrict the use of a router and multiple computers or home network devices in conjunction with one Home Internet connection. Resale is always prohibited unless specifically permitted under your Agreement.
• You may use our voice products only in a manner consistent with normal residential or business usage patterns. Voice services may not be resold in whole or in part without prior written consent. Unlimited voice calling is intended for continuous, live conversation between two individuals and may not be used with automated “robocall” dialer or equipment intended to consolidate all outbound calling for toll bypass purposes. Lack of continuous conversation, unusual calling patterns, excessive caller and calling destinations and/or excessive usage will be considered as indicators that your use may be inconsistent with normal usage.

Section 8. Satellite: Fair Access Policy

Plan rate and network sharing (contention) ration are used to determine a committed information rate (CIR) and suggested daily data allowance for each satellite plan. Customer is expected to purchase a plan that is adequate for their actual usage, and chronic overutilization will result in the customer being asked to limit their usage, or upgrade their services.

Excessive use of Satellite services may be a violation of this policy.

Section 9. Information, Files, and Programs

Recommend Use of Up-to-Date Anti-Virus Program

Alaska Communications data may be used to access all manner of information, files and programs available on the Internet. When accessing such resources, Alaska Communications strongly recommends the use of an up-to-date, quality anti-virus program. While the risk of harm may be small, risk does exist. Alaska Communications cannot, and does not attempt to guard account owners from any risk of harm associated with the use of information, files and/or programs retrieved from the Internet. Alaska Communications can only urge caution in the retrieval or use of any information, file or program from the Internet.

Personal Information

When using any on-line resource - whether email, newsgroups, web page postings, chat groups, on-line shopping, or other resources available on the Internet, Alaska Communications urges account owners to use caution in divulging personal information of any kind. Such information might include credit card information, telephone or address information, or account names and passwords (in general, account owners should never give out account name and password information).