At Pelican Broadband, your privacy is very important to us. We want to make your experience on the Internet as enjoyable and rewarding as possible, and we want you to use the Internet’s vast array of information, tools, and opportunities with complete confidence.

We have created this Privacy Policy to demonstrate our firm commitment to privacy and security. This Privacy Policy describes how Pelican Broadband collects information from all end users of Pelican Broadband’s Internet services (the “Services”) – those who access some of our Services but do not have accounts (“Visitors”) as well as those who pay a monthly service fee to subscribe to the Service (“Members”) – what we do with the information we collect, and the choices Visitors and Members have concerning the collection and use of such information. Pelican Broadband requests that you read this Privacy Policy carefully.

• Personal Information Pelican Broadband Collects and How It Is Used. Pelican Broadband collects information in different ways from Visitors and Members who access the various parts of our Services and the network of Web sites accessible through our Service. We use this information primarily to provide a customized experience as you use our Services and, generally, do not share this information with third parties. However, we may disclose personal information collected if we have received your permission beforehand or in very special circumstances, such as when we believe that such disclosure is required by law or other special cases described below.
• Registration. Members are asked to provide certain personal information when they sign up for our Services including name, address, telephone number, billing information (such as a credit card number), and the type of personal computer being used to access the Services. The personal information collected from Members during the registration process is used to manage each Member’s account (such as for billing purposes). This information is not shared with third parties, unless specifically stated otherwise or in special circumstances. However, in instances where Pelican Broadband and a partner jointly promote the Services, Pelican Broadband may provide the partner certain personal information, such as the name, address, and username of persons who subscribe to the Services as a result of the joint promotion, for the sole purpose of allowing us and the partner to assess the results of the promotion. In this instance, personal information may not be used by the partner for any other purpose. Pelican Broadband may also generate non-identifying and aggregate profiles from the personal information Members provide during registration (such as the total number, but not the names, of Members). As explained in more detail below, we may use this aggregated and non-identifying information to sell advertisements that appear on the Services.
• Pelican Broadband Partners and Sponsors. Some Pelican Broadband products and services are offered to Visitors and Members in conjunction with a non-affiliated partner. To provide Visitors and Members some of these products and services, the non-affiliated partner may need to collect and maintain personal information. In these instances, you will be notified before any such data is collected or transferred and may decide not to use that particular service or feature.
• Online Shopping. At some Web sites, you can purchase products and services or register to receive materials, such as a catalog or new product and service updates. In many cases, you may be asked to provide contact information, such as your name, address, email address, phone number, and credit/debit card information. If you complete an order for someone else, such as an online gift order sent directly to a recipient, you may be asked to provide information about the recipient, such as the recipient’s name, address, and phone number. Pelican Broadband has no control over the third parties use of any personal information you provide when placing such an order. Please exercise care when doing so. If you order products or services directly from Pelican Broadband, we will use the personal information you provide only to process that order. We do not share this information with outside parties except to the extent necessary to complete that order.
• Online Advertisements. Pelican Broadband displays online advertisements. We share aggregated and non-identifying information about our Visitors and Members collected through the registration process as well as through online surveys and promotions with these advertisers. Additionally, in some instances, we use this aggregated and non-identifying information to deliver tailored advertisements.
• Responses to Email Inquiries. When Visitors or Members send email inquiries to Pelican Broadband, the return email address is used to answer the email inquiry we receive. Pelican Broadband does not use the return email address for any other purpose and does not share the return email address with any third party.
• Voluntary Customer Surveys. We may periodically conduct both business and individual customer surveys. We encourage our customers to participate in these surveys because they provide us with important information that helps us to improve the types of services we offer and how we provide them to you. Your personal information and responses will remain strictly confidential, even if the survey is conducted by a third party. Participation in our customer surveys is voluntary. We take the information we receive from individuals responding to our Customer Surveys and combine (or aggregate) it with the responses of other Pelican Broadband customers to create broader, generic responses to the survey questions (such as gender, age, residence, hobbies, education, employment, industry sector, or other demographic information). We then use the aggregated information to improve the quality of our services to you, and to develop new services and products. This aggregated, non-personally identifying information may be shared with third parties.
• Special Cases. It is Pelican Broadband’s policy not to use or share the personal information about Visitors or Members in ways unrelated to the ones described above without also providing you an opportunity to opt out or otherwise prohibit such unrelated uses. However, Pelican Broadband may disclose personal information about Visitors or Members, or information regarding your use of the Services or Web sites accessible through our Services, for any reason if, in our sole discretion, we believe that it is reasonable to do so, including: to satisfy laws, such as the Electronic Communications Privacy Act, regulations, or governmental or legal requests for such information; to disclose information that is necessary to identify, contact, or bring legal action against someone who may be violating our Terms of Use Agreement or other user policies; to operate the Services properly; or to protect Pelican Broadband and our Members.
• “Cookies” and How Pelican Broadband Uses Them. A “cookie” is a small data file that can be placed on your hard drive when you visit certain Web sites. Pelican Broadband may use cookies to collect, store, and sometimes track information for statistical purposes to improve the products and services we provide and to manage our telecommunications networks. If you are a Member, we will use a cookie to save your settings and to provide customizable and personalized services. These cookies do not enable third parties to access any of your customer information. Additionally, be aware that if you visit non-Pelican Broadband Web sites where you are prompted to log in or that are customizable, you may be required to accept cookies. Advertisers and partners may also use their own cookies. We do not control use of these cookies and expressly disclaim responsibility for information collected through them.
• Pelican Broadband’s Commitment to Children’s Privacy. Protecting children’s privacy is especially important to us. It is our policy to comply with the Children’s Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 and all other applicable laws. While we make every effort to ensure that our Web sites are age-appropriate for our younger audience, we believe that there is no substitute for proper parental supervision. Finally, Pelican Broadband recommends that children ask a parent for permission before sending personal information to Pelican Broadband, or to anyone else online.
• Public Forums. Please remember that any information you may disclose in our Member Directory, or other public areas of our Web sites or the Internet, becomes public information. You should exercise caution when deciding to disclose personal information in these public areas.
• Pelican Broadband’s Commitment to Data Security. Services and Web sites we sponsor have security measures in place to protect the loss, misuse, and alteration of the information under our control. While we make every effort to ensure the integrity and security of our network and systems, we cannot guarantee that our security measures will prevent third-party hackers from illegally obtaining this information.
• Where to Direct Questions About Pelican Broadband’s Privacy Policy. If you have any questions about this Privacy Policy or the practices described herein, you may contact:Customer Service
  Pelican Broadband
  6402 Howell Ave.PO Drawer 185
  Collinston, LA. 71229
  318-874-7011

   

   
• Revisions to This Policy. Pelican Broadband reserves the right to revise, amend, or modify this policy, Terms of Use Agreement, our Internet Service Provider Agreement, and other policies and agreements at any time and in any manner.

I. Definitions

This Northeast Louisiana Telephone Company, Inc. (hereafter NELTC) CPNI policy manual relies on the following definitions:

1. Account Information. “Account information” is information that is specifically connected to the customer’s service relationship with NELTC, including such things as an account number or any component thereof, the telephone number associated with the account, or the bill’s amount.
2. Address of record. An “address of record,” whether postal or electronic, is an address that the carrier has associated with the customer’s account for at least 30 days.
3. Affiliate. The term “affiliate” means a person that (directly or indirectly) owns or controls, is owned or controlled by, or is under common ownership or control with, another to own an equity interest (or the equivalent thereof) of more than 10 percent.
4. Call detail information. Any information that pertains to the transmission of specific telephone calls, including, for outbound calls, the number called, and the time, location, or duration of any call and, for inbound calls, the number from which the call was placed, and the time, location, or duration of any call.
5. Communications-related services. The term “communications-related services” means telecommunication services, information services typically provided by NELTC and services related to the provision or maintenance of customer premises equipment.
6. Customer. A customer of NELTC is a person or entity to which NELTC is currently providing service.
7. Customer premises equipment (CPE). The term “customer premises equipment (CPE)” means equipment employed on the premises of a person (other than a carrier) to originate, route, or terminate telecommunications.
8. Customer Proprietary Network Information. The term “customer proprietary network information” means –
   1. information that relates to the quantity, technical configuration, type, destination, and amount of use of a telecommunications service subscribed to by any customer of NELTC , and that is made available to NELTC solely by virtue of the NELTC -customer relationship; and
   2. information contained in the bill pertaining to telephone exchange service or telephone toll service received by a customer of NELTC ; except that such term does not include subscriber list information.
9. FCC. The acronym “FCC” refers to the Federal Communications Commission.
10. Information services typically provided by NELTC. The phrase “information services typically provided by NELTC” means only those information services that are typically provided by NELTC, such as Internet access or voice mail services.  Such phrase “information services typically provided by telecommunication carriers,” as used in this manual, shall not include retail consumer services provided using Internet website (such as travel reservation services or mortgage lending services), whether or not such services may other wise be considered to be information services.
11. Local exchange carrier (LEC). The term “local exchange carrier (LEC)” means any person that is engaged in the provision of telephone exchange service or exchange access.  Such term does not include a person insofar as such person is engaged in the provision of a commercial mobile service under section 332(c) of TA-96, except to the extent that the Commission finds that such service should be included in the definition of such term.
12. Opt-in approval. The term “opt-in approval” refers to a method for obtaining customer consent to use, disclose, or permit access to the customer’s CPNI.  This approval method requires that NELTC obtain from the customer affirmative, express consent allowing the requested CPNI usage, disclosure, or access after the customer is provided appropriate notification of NELTC’s request consistent with the requirements.
13. Opt-out approval. The term “opt-out approval” refers to a method for obtaining customer consent to use, disclose, or permit access to the customer’s CPNI.  Under this approval method, a customer is deemed to have consented to the use, disclosure, or access to the customer’s CPNI if the customer has failed to object thereto within the waiting period described after the customer is provided appropriate notification of NELTC’s request for opt-out consent consistent with the rules.
14. Password. The term “password” means a secret word or sequence of alpha and numeric characters which is used to limit access to a customer’s account to authorized individuals.
15. Pretexting. The term “pretexting” means the practice of pretending to be a particular customer or other authorized person in order to obtain access to that customer’s call detail or other private communications records.
16. Readily available biographical information. “Readily available biographical information” is information drawn from the customer’s life history and includes such things as the customer’s social security number, or the last four digits of that number; mother’s maiden name; home address; or date of birth.
17. Subscriber list information (SLI). The term “subscriber list information” means any information –
    1. identifying the listed names of subscribers of NELTC and such subscribers’ telephone numbers, addresses, or primary advertising classifications (as such classifications are assigned at the time of the establishment of such service), or any combination of such listed names, numbers, addresses, or classifications; and
    2. NELTC or an affiliate has published, caused to be published, or accepted for publication in any directory format.
18. NELTC or carrier. The terms “NELTC,” or “carrier” shall have the same meaning.
19. Telecommunications service. The term “telecommunications service” means the offering of telecommunications for a fee directly to the public, or to such classes of users as to be effectively available directly to the public, regardless of the facilities used.
20. Telephone number of record. The telephone number associated with the underlying service, not the telephone number supplied as a customer’s “contact information.”
21. Valid photo identification. The term “valid photo identification” means an official identification document issued by a federal or state governmental agency that identifies the holder of the document that includes a photograph of sufficient clarity to positively identify the holder of the document.

II. Company Policy Regarding CPNI

Customer proprietary Network Information (CPNI) is information that NELTC obtains when providing telecommunications services to our customers, including services provided by our affiliates.   Under federal law, customers have the right and NELTC has the duty to protect the confidentiality of information regarding the telecommunication services to which customers subscribe.  This confidential information includes such things as, specific services the customer purchases, the number of services purchased, who the provider is for a service, call detail records, and charges related to services purchased.  NELTC takes our responsibility to protect our customers CPNI very serious and we do not use, disclose, or allow access to our customers CPNI except as allowed by law.

NELTC authorized employees are allowed to use CPNI as necessary to:

1. initiate, render, bill and collect for telecommunications services NELTC provides;

2. protect the rights or property of NELTC , or to protect users of those services and other carriers from fraudulent, abusive, or unlawful use of, or subscription to, such services; or

3. provide any inbound telemarketing, referral, or administrative services to the customer for the duration of the call, if such call was initiated by the customer and the customer approves of the use of such information to provide such service.

NELTC shall also disclose CPNI upon affirmative written request by the customer, to anyone designated by the customer.

Other use, disclosure, or permitting access to CPNI for marketing purposes must be conducted within FCC defined rules.

In this effort, NELTC must follow all applicable FCC rules as contained in Subpart U – Customer Proprietary Network Information – of Part 64 of Title 47 of the Code of Federal Regulations.

This CPNI Policies and Procedures Manual does not supersede any statute, regulation, order, or interpretation in any State, except to the extent that such statute, regulation, order, or interpretation is inconsistent with the provisions of this Manual, and then only to the extent of the inconsistency.

1. Disciplinary Action
   Improper use or disclosure of CPNI by employees is subject to disciplinary action up to and including termination. Discipline for infractions will be in the form of a letter of reprimand to the employee’s file for an initial infraction, one day suspension without pay for a second infraction and termination in the case of a third infraction within a twelve month period.
2. Customer Notice at Initiation of Service
   Customers are informed during the initiation of service with NELTC of their CPNI rights and that their CPNI data is not used, disclosed, or permitted access to for marketing purposes outside what is allowable by law.
3. Customer Recurring Notice
   Adequate notice with respect to customer CPNI rights and NELTC’s duty to protect CPNI is provided on NELTC’s website.

III. Marketing

1. Customer Approval Necessary
   NELTC has chosen not to use, disclose, or permit access to CPNI data that enables NELTC or its affiliates to market additional products or services outside the category of services currently being purchased by the customer. The FCC has defined three categories of telecommunications service; local (includes intralata toll if provided by a LEC), interexchange (includes intralata toll if provided by an IXC), and CMRS. Accordingly, NELTC’s personnel are trained not to use CPNI for such purposes.  Because CPNI is not used for such marketing purposes, NELTC has established the appropriate safeguards for this type of treatment (non-use) of CPNI data.  These safeguards include documentation of this policy in the manual and training of NELTC personnel with regard to non-use of CPNI data.No NELTC marketing campaigns are related to CPNI.  As a logical outcome of this policy, NELTC uses neither opt-in nor opt-out approval from customers with regard to any marketing.
2. Customer Approval Not Necessary
   NELTC is allowed to use, disclose, or permit access to customer CPNI by our affiliate(s) who provide telecommunications services for marketing purposes as long as the customer obtains a category of service from both NELTC and our telecommunications affiliate(s) at the same time.NELTC as the provider of local service to the customer is allowed to use, disclose, or permit access to our customers CPNI for marketing what is known as adjunct-to-basic services.  Adjunct-to-basic services would include, but is not limited to, speed dialing, call monitoring, call tracing, call blocking, call return, call waiting and call forwarding.NELTC may use, disclose or permit access to a customers CPNI for marketing such services as, call answering, voice mail or messaging, voice storage and retrieval services, fax storage and retrieval services and CPEINELTC may use CPNI of a customer lost to a competitor in an attempt to “Win Back” the customer.

IV. Release of Call Detail Information

1. Password Protection
   Due to the sensitive nature of call detail CPNI information, the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) released rules pertaining to the use and disclosure of call detail CPNI. Call detail CPNI refers to any and all information pertaining to the transmission of specific telephone calls such as telephone number called, telephone number calling, time, date, charges, location and duration of the telephone call.Among the new rules is the requirement for NELTC to allow our customers to establish a password and provide that password during a customer initiated telephone call before NELTC is authorized to disclose or discuss call detail information.  For customer protection, this password cannot derive from readily available biographical or account information such as their social security number, mother’s maiden name, home address or date of birth.If a customer should lose or forget his/her password, the FCC allows for NELTC to implement a back-up authentication method.  NELTC may ask the customer to provide a secret question and answer.  In the case of a lost or forgotten password, NELTC may ask the secret question which should prompt the customer for the appropriate answer.  NELTC may then provide the password to the customer.  Again, the secret question and answer cannot derive from biographical or account information.  As an example the customers’ secret question might be; what is the color of my eyes? or, what is my dogs’ name?  In which case, the back-up answers may be “Green” or “Gizmo” respectively.NELTC has implemented the above password protection authentication method(s) and will release call detail information as outlined below.Because the FCC allows carriers to bolster their security measures through additional measures to meet their section 222 obligations to protect the privacy of CPNI, NELTC has elected to not implement the password authentication method outlined above for the release of call detail information.  Instead, NELTC may only release call detail information via the methods outlined below.
2. Authorized Release
   NELTC will release call detail information only if certain specific requirements have been met:
   1. Customer Initiated Telephone Account Access
      Call detail CPNI information requested by the customer via a customer initiated telephone call will only be released via the following methods:
      1. the requesting individual provides a password of record or proper backup answer to a secret question; or
      2. the information will be sent to the customer’s address of record; or
      3. NELTC will call the telephone number of record and disclose the call detail information.
      4. NELTC may proceed with routine customer care procedures if the customer can provide all of the call detail information. NELTC will not disclose any call detail other than the information the customer disclosed during that particular contact.
   2. Retail Location Account Access
      Customers must have a valid, government issued photo identification, such as a driver’s license, passport, or comparable ID to obtain call detail CPNI information at NELTC’s retail location.
   3. Online Account Access
      NELTC requires an online password to protect online access to CPNI. Passwords will be designed by the customer and will consist of alpha and numeric characters.NELTC will authenticate both new and existing customers seeking online access to their CPNI.NELTC can reinitialize existing passwords for online access but will NOT base online access on readily available biographical or account information.  This procedure will relate to all customer information, not just call detail.Online access to CPNI will be blocked after repeated unsuccessful attempts to log on.  Once a customers’ online account has been blocked as a result of unsuccessful attempts, the customer must contact the NELTC business office to re-establish his/her online account.
3. Business Customer Exemption
   Business customers that are served only by a dedicated NELTC representative as the primary contact and have a contract in place that includes language regarding NELTC ’s duty to protect their CPNI are exempt from the CPNI authentication rules.

V. Notification of Account Changes

NELTC will notify customer immediately of any account changes including password, customer response to NELTC  designed back-up means of authentication, online account, or address of record.  This notification will be through a voicemail, text message or sent to the address of record. Such notification will not reveal the changed account information and in the case of an address change, notification will be sent to the former address, not the new.  New customers are exempt from this notification at service initiation.

VI. Procedures to Protect Against Pretexting

Pretexting is the practice of pretending to be a particular customer or other authorized person in order to obtain access to that customer’s call detail or other private communications records.  NELTC has employed the above procedures and safeguards in order to achieve reasonable measures designed to discover and protect against pretexting.

VII. Annual Certification

NELTC will certify annually compliance to the CPNI rules.  This certification will be filed with the FCC and will be made publicly available by request.

NELTC’s annual certification will be signed by an Officer as an agent of NELTC, stating that he/she has personal knowledge that NELTC has established operating procedures that are adequate to comply with the FCC CPNI rules.

In addition to the annual certification, NELTC will provide an accompanying statement explaining how its policies and procedures ensure NELTC is or is not in compliance with the FCC’s CPNI rules.  In the explanation, NELTC will include:

1. the training employees receive to protect CPNI.
2. the disciplinary process applicable to improper disclosure of CPNI.
3. [Optional, depending on marketing – the process used to ensure all requests to opt-in or opt-out are recorded and follow-up methods used.]
4. an explanation of any actions taken against data brokers.
5. information the company possesses with respect to the processes pretexters are using in an attempt to access CPNI.
6. a summary of all customer complaints received in the past year concerning unauthorized release of CPNI.
7. other measures relevant to demonstrate compliance with the FCC’s CPNI rules.

VIII. Notice of Unauthorized Disclosure and/or CPNI Security Breaches

As used in this section, a “breach” has occurred when a person, without authorization or exceeding authorization, has intentionally gained access to, used, or disclosed CPNI.

As soon as practicable, but in no event later than seven (7) business day, after reasonable determination of the breach, NELTC  shall electronically notify the United States Secret Service (USSS) and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) through a central reporting facility.   This will be done through the FCC’s link to the reporting facility at http://www.fcc.gov/eb/cpni.

NELTC  will not notify any of its customers or disclose the breach publicly, whether voluntarily or under state or local law or these rules, until it has completed the process of notifying law enforcement as required and spelled out below.

1. Notwithstanding any state law to the contrary, NELTC shall not notify customers or disclose the breach to the public until 7 full business days have passed after notification to the USSS and the FBI except as in the following two parts of this section
   1. If NELTC believes that there is an extraordinarily urgent need to notify any class of affected customers sooner than otherwise allowed under the above paragraph of this section, in order to avoid immediate and irreparable harm, it shall so indicate in its notification and may proceed to immediately notify its affected customers only after consultation with the relevant investigating agency. NELTC shall cooperate with the relevant investigating agency’s request to minimize any adverse effects of such customer notification.
   2. If the relevant investigating agency determines that public disclosure or notice to customers would impede or compromise an ongoing or potential criminal investigation or national security, such agency may direct NELTC not to disclose or notify for an initial period of up to 30 days. Such period may be extended by the agency as reasonably necessary in the judgment of the agency.  If such direction is given, the agency shall notify NELTC when it appears the public disclosure or notice to affected customers will no longer impede or compromise a criminal investigation or national security.  The agency shall provide in writing its initial direction to NELTC, any subsequent extension, and any notification that notice will no longer impede or compromise a criminal investigation or national security and such writing shall be contemporaneously logged on the same reporting facility that contains records of notifications filed by carriers.
2. Customer Notification. After NELTC has completed the process of notifying law enforcement as listed above, it shall notify the affected customer(s) of the CPNI breach.
3. Recordkeeping. NELTC will maintain a record, electronically or in some other manner, of any breaches discovered, notifications made to the USSS and the FBI, and all notifications made to customers.  This record must include, if available:
   1. dates of discovery and notification.
   2. a detailed description of the CPNI that was the subject of the breach.
   3. the circumstances of the breach
   4. NELTC will retain the record for a minimum of 2 years.

IX. Safeguards by Company

1. Customer Records
   When a marketing campaign requires customer approval, NELTC customer service records will clearly establish the status of the customer CPNI approval. Record of this approval or disapproval will be kept for a minimum of (one) year.  The customers’ approval or disapproval will remain in effect until revoked by the customer.  The record is designed by NELTC ’s service bureau. All existing personnel of NELTC will be trained and upon commencement in the case of new employment regarding customer CPNI status.  This will include when the employee is authorized to use and when they are NOT authorized to use CPNI.  Any infractions of NELTC’s CPNI policies will be reported to the General Manager and a record will be made of the infraction(s) and the appropriate disciplinary steps taken. Discipline for infractions of the policies will be in the form of a letter of reprimand to the employee’s file for an initial infraction, one day suspension without pay for a second infraction and termination in the case of a third infraction within a twelve month period.

X. Interface with CALEA Compliance

In order to comply with certain Communications Assistance for Law Enforcement Agencies (CALEA) rules, NELTC has engaged the services of a Trusted Third Party.  This Trusted Third Party is involved in the event of a request for certain types of surveillance activities by Law Enforcement Agencies (LEAs).  The following or similar language will be included in the Trusted Third Party agreement to protect customer CPNI.

Whereas NELTC is required by law and under NELTC policies to protect the privacy and security of the information regarding its customers,

NELTC ’s Trusted Third Party, in rendering services for NELTC  receives customer proprietary network information, as that term is defined under 47 U.S.C. Section 222 and interpreted by the FCC (“CPNI”), the Trusted Third Party shall maintain the confidentiality of such CPNI according to the policies and procedures implemented by NELTC .  The Trusted Third Party shall promptly delete from its records any CPNI that is received which is not delivered to an LEA pursuant to a lawfully authorized intercept request.

XI. Interface with Contractors                      

NELTC  has occasion to utilize Contractors for specific projects in conducting its normal business.  The following or similar language will be included in the Contractor agreement to protect customer CPNI.

Whereas NELTC  is required by law and under NELTC  policies to protect the privacy and security of the information regarding its customers,

NELTC ’s Contractors, in rendering services for NELTC  may have access to customer proprietary network information, as that term is defined under 47 U.S.C. Section 222 and interpreted by the FCC (“CPNI”).  Contractors shall maintain the confidentiality of such CPNI according to the policies and procedures implemented by NELTC .  Upon completion of the project, Contractor shall promptly delete from its records any CPNI that is received in its engagement with NELTC .

XII. Training of Employees

Included as a part of the employee training is the need to communicate to NELTC  employees that the customer always retains the right to restrict NELTC  or affiliate use of CPNI data. This restriction applies to the authorized use and sharing of CPNI without customer approval as stated in Section “Customer Approval Not Necessary” of this policies and procedures manual.  The customer decision regarding NELTC  use of CPNI will not affect NELTC ’s provision of any current customer services.

Included as a part of the employee training is the need to communicate to NELTC  employees that the customer always retains the right to restrict NELTC  or affiliate use of CPNI data. This restriction applies to the authorized use and sharing of CPNI without customer approval as stated in Section “Customer Approval Not Necessary” of this policies and procedures manual.  The customer decision regarding NELTC  use of CPNI will not affect NELTC ’s provision of any current customer services.

XIII. Annual Review by Company Management

NELTC  treats customer privacy as a serious issue.  NELTC  is proud of its long history of reliable, trustworthy service and is vigilant in the steps that will be taken to ensure customer privacy.  Accordingly, NELTC  policy requires this CPNI Policy Manual to be reviewed by the General Manager on an annual basis.

NortheastTel (“NortheastTel” or “Company”) provides this Policy in order to disclose its network management practices in accordance with the FCC’s Open Internet Rules. Information about NortheastTel’ other policies and practices concerning broadband are available at www.ne-tel.com (“NortheastTel Website”).

NortheastTel manages its network to ensure that all of its customers experience a safe and secure broadband Internet environment that is fast, reliable and affordable. NortheastTel wants its customers to indulge in all that the Internet has to offer, whether it is social networking, streaming videos and music, to communicating through email and videoconferencing.

NortheastTel manages its network for a number of reasons, including optimization, as well as congestion- and security-protocol-management. NortheastTel’s customers generally will not be impacted by the protocols and practices that NortheastTel uses to manage its network.

NortheastTel’ Network Management Practices

NortheastTel uses various tools and industry standard techniques to manage its network and deliver fast, secure and reliable Internet service. Such management tools and practices include the following:

I. Managing Congestion

NortheastTel’s employees periodically monitor the connections on its network in the aggregate to determine the rate of utilization. If congestion emerges on the network, NortheastTel will take the appropriate measures to relieve congestion such as shaping traffic or bandwidth restrictions to speeds purchased by customers. NortheastTel On NortheastTel’ network, all customers have access to all legal services, applications and content online and, in the event of congestion, most Internet activities will be unaffected. Some customers, however, may experience longer download or upload times, or slower surf speeds on the web if instances of congestion do occur on NortheastTel’ network.

Customers using conduct that abuses or threatens the NortheastTel network or which violates the company’s Acceptable Use Policy, Internet service Terms and Conditions, or the Internet Service Agreement will be asked to stop any such use immediately and may have some network access disabled. A failure to respond or to cease any such conduct could result in service suspension or termination.

NortheastTel uses QoS and dedicated paths for internal VoIP service.

NortheastTel’s network and congestion management practices are ‘application-agnostic’, based on current network conditions, and are not implemented on the basis of customers’ online activities, protocols or applications. NortheastTel’ network management practices do not relate to any particular customer’s aggregate monthly data usage.

II. Network Security

NortheastTel knows the importance of securing its network and customers from network threats and annoyances. The company promotes the security of its network and patrons by providing resources to its customers for identifying and reporting such threats as spam, viruses, firewall issues, and phishing schemes. NortheastTel offers NAT routers/modems to customers. NortheastTel also deploys spam filters in order to divert spam from an online customer’s email inbox into a quarantine file while allowing the customer to control which emails are identified as spam. Customers may access the spam files through the email. Spam files are automatically deleted if not accessed within __7__ days.

As its normal practice, NortheastTel does not block any protocols, content or traffic for purposes of network management except that the company may block or limit such traffic as spam, viruses, malware, or denial of service attacks to protect network integrity and the security of our customers. NortheastTel also offers customer-controlled, web-based content filtering by request in some areas.

III. Device Attachment Rules/Application Specific Behaviors

Except as provided herein, NortheastTel does not currently engage in any application-specific behaviors nor does it employ device attachment rules for its network. Customers may use any lawful applications or devices with NortheastTel.

IV. Monitoring Schedule

NortheastTel checks its usage logs on a weekly basis to determine utilization on its network. NortheastTel also checks for abnormal traffic flows, network security breaches, malware, loss, and damage to the network. If a breach is detected or high volume users are brought to light by complaint, NortheastTel provides notification to the customer via email or phone. If a violation of NortheastTel’ policies has occurred and such violation is not remedied, NortheastTel will seek to suspend or terminate that customer’s service.

V. Network Management Technology

NortheastTel employs a variety of industry-standard tools, applications and devices to monitor, secure and maintain its network, including the following:

• network graphing solutions
• software to monitor SNMP network devices

VI. Service Descriptions

NortheastTel offers broadband service over Fiber Internet technologies. Pricing and service information for NortheastTel’ services can be found here.

VII. Network Performance

NortheastTel makes every effort to support advertised speeds and will dispatch repair technicians to customer sites to perform speed tests as needed to troubleshoot and resolve speed and application performance caused by NortheastTel’ network. NortheastTel measures availability, latency, and aggregate utilization on the network and strives to meet internal service level targets. However, customer’s service performance may also be affected by one or more of the following: (1) the particular websites being accessed; (2) capacity in the public Internet beyond NortheastTel’ network; (3) customer’s computer and equipment (including wireless router); and (4) inside wiring at customer’s premise.

NortheastTelFor Fiber service, NortheastTel measures traffic every 5 min. All services are best effort.

NortheastTel tests each service when installed to demonstrate that the service is capable of supporting the advertised speed. Customers can also test their actual speeds using the speed test found on the company website. NortheastTel is in the process of developing additional systems that will allow us to measure these indicators out to test points at each major network aggregation site on the edge of our last mile network. Once these systems are developed, NortheastTel will be able to measure system metrics on a network-wide basis and will disclose the results on its website.

VIII. Specialized Services

NortheastTel provides Voice-over-the-Internet-Protocol (VoIP) to its fiber customers. The VoIP traffic uses private RFC 1918 addresses, dedicated paths for VoIP and QoS on the routers/switches it touches. The QoS priority is based on the source and destination IP. Where VoIP traffic is combined with best effort Internet traffic and QoS priority is employed, the network could endure marginal delays if there are instances of bandwidth contention, although very unlikely.

IX. Commercial Terms

In addition to this Network Management Policy, patrons may also find links to the following on the NortheastTel Website:

• Frequently Asked Questions (“FAQs”)
• Acceptable Use Policy
• Internet User Policy
• Broadband Service Offerings and Rates
• Privacy Policy

For questions, complaints or requests for additional information, please contact NortheastTel at: info@199.19.233.95

NortheastTel 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 NortheastTel’s 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 NortheastTel believes in its sole discretion is infringing these rights. NortheastTel may terminate the Service at any time with or without notice for any affected customer or user.

Copyright owners may report alleged infringements of their works that are stored on the Service or the Personal Web Features by sending NortheastTel’s authorized agent a notification of claimed infringement that satisfies the requirements of the DMCA. Upon NortheastTel’s receipt of a satisfactory notice of claimed infringement for these works, NortheastTel will respond expeditiously to either directly or indirectly (i) remove the allegedly infringing work(s) stored on the Service or the Personal Web Features or (ii) disable access to the work(s). NortheastTel will also notify the affected customer or user of the Service of the removal or disabling of access to the work(s). If the affected customer or user believes in good faith that the allegedly infringing works have been removed or blocked by mistake or misidentification, then that person may send a counter notification to NortheastTel. Upon NortheastTel’s receipt of a counter notification that satisfies the requirements of DMCA, NortheastTel 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 NortheastTel will not be a party to any disputes or lawsuits regarding alleged copyright infringement.

Designation of Agent to Receive Notification of Claimed Infringement

Agent Designated to Receive Notification of Claimed Infringement:
Rick Darsey, Director of Network Operations

Full Address of Designated Agent to which Notification Should be Sent:
6402 Howell Ave., Collinston, LA 71229

Telephone Number of Designated Agent: (318) 874-7011

Facsimile Number of Designated Agent: (318) 874-2041

E-Mail Address of Designated Agent: Infringement@199.19.233.95

The following are the Terms of Service and Network Management Practices for NortheastTel.  The bandwidth you purchase (your service package or nominal bandwidth) is the maximum bandwidth available to you. NortheastTel will make its best effort to transmit your data in a timely fashion. However, NortheastTel does not guarantee you that you will be able to use your entire nominal bandwidth at any given time. This is referred to as “best effort” service. NortheastTel strives to make your total nominal bandwidth available for you to use within our network. NortheastTel’s prices for its service offerings and access speeds are set forth by the company elsewhere on our website – http://199.19.233.95.

NortheastTel cannot control bandwidth availability, congestion, or service quality on those parts of the Internet beyond our network.   When other customers use our network, you may not be able to use your maximum nominal bandwidth because all customers share total bandwidth capacity at some points on our network and on the Internet. If the bandwidth demand of all customers at a particular network location exceeds the bandwidth capacity provided, you may not be able to use your entire nominal bandwidth.

Service is provided equally to all customers, and every customer’s data has an equal chance to be served.  Service is provided equally to all customers, Internet services, protocols, and sources or destinations on the Internet such as websites, email servers, etc.

Affiliated Prioritization /Paid Prioritization.  NortheastTel does not practice directly or indirectly any prioritization of traffic that favors some traffic over other traffic, whether it is to an affiliated company or to any other customer in exchange for consideration, money, or otherwise.

Due to limited bandwidth capacity on an upstream basis (customer to Internet), service is provided equally to all customers, protocols, and sources or destinations on the Internet such as websites, e-mail servers, etc. Service is not prioritized by customer or source or destination on the Internet.  No services, protocols, or legal sources and destinations on the Internet are blocked other than for reasonable network management. Any effects on service may only be noticeable in times of significant congestion.

Throttling.  NortheastTel does not, other than for reasonable network management, throttle, degrade or impair access to lawful internet traffic on the basis of content, application, service, user, or use of a non-harmful device.

Blocking.  NortheastTel may block any service, protocol, source, or destination that NortheastTel determines to be illegal or a threat to life, property, or national security, or if ordered to block or otherwise modify your data by law enforcement agencies.

Congestion Management.  At this time, NortheastTel  does not implement network management techniques when congestion occurs, however, in times of congestion on NortheastTel’s network, NortheastTel may, at its sole discretion, implement reasonable network management techniques to protect the services of all of NortheastTel’s customers so that each customer has adequate service quality. NortheastTel will not implement network management if degradation of service is caused by congestion on portions of the Internet outside of the NortheastTel’s network.

Devices & Software

There are no restrictions on types of devices you may connect to NortheastTel’s network other than that they must be approved by the Federal Communications Commission (FCC) for use in the US telecommunications network. You may not connect any equipment to NortheastTel’s network that is not approved by the FCC. Most commercially available equipment such as modems, routers, and PCs are approved. All equipment approved by the FCC will have a label stating that it is approved and what the type of the approval is. This information is also found in the user’s manual or printed instructions that are provided with the equipment and may be found online at the manufacturer’s website. You should read this label whenever you buy any equipment you wish to connect to NortheastTel’s network. If you have questions about any particular equipment, please call us at 318-874-7011.

NortheastTel’s Internet access service is designed to function with accepted industry standard interface software such as provided by Microsoft, Apple, and others. If you use a type of software not widely used in the worldwide Internet, you may experience some problems with compatibility between your software and NortheastTel’s Internet access service. If you have any questions, please call us at 318-874-7011, and we will try to help you resolve this problem. It is the customer’s responsibility to assure that their software and operating interfaces conform to industry accepted specifications.

Network Security

NortheastTel uses the latest industry-best-practices to maintain integrity and security of its network. This may include security protections that interfere with some types of customer traffic. If you believe your services are being disrupted by our security systems, please contact us at 318-874-7011.

It is the customer’s responsibility to protect their computers and other devices from unwanted or harmful items. It is very strongly recommended that you provide your own virus and malware protection, spam filtering, and firewall software.

There are additional considerations regarding Internet security related to NortheastTel’s Internet access service. Please review the Terms and Conditions portion of your service agreement.

Use of NortheastTel’s Services for Real-Time Applications

The Best Effort services above may be suitable for real-time applications if the customer has purchased adequate bandwidth for that service. Disruption during times of congestion, if any, will be minimized if you purchase adequate bandwidth for the services you wish to use. However, since there are occasionally conditions of extreme congestion at various points in the Internet. NortheastTel does not guarantee that your service will never be degraded.

Note that bandwidth requirements will differ by real-time application. For example, video such as that offered by various services such as YouTube may require somewhat less total bandwidth than entertainment quality streaming video. Bandwidth requirements may also differ among providers.

Privacy of Customer Information

NortheastTel uses industry standard protocols to route traffic to and from customers.  An example of this protocol is TCP/IP.  Part of the IP protocol uses information contained in the header of packets sent to and from our customers to determine the final destination and route accordingly.

NortheastTel does not examine the content of your data, i.e.: the data which you send or receive, such as the from and to e-mail addresses of your e-mail, which web sites you visit, the sources of your video, or the contents of files you send or receive.

NortheastTel does not sell or reveal your data to any third parties.

NortheastTel may provide any of your data, both on an active, real time basis and stored data such as your billing records, to law enforcement under appropriate legal orders if law enforcement requests your information in matters dealing with illegal acts or a threat to life, property, or national security.

Contact Us

If you have any complaints, questions or comments regarding our network management policies or practices, please contact us at 318-874-7011 or info@199.19.233.95

Industry Certified Professionals

• Our professionals have walked in your shoes, having dealt with internal and external challenges with reference to technology, communications and customer service issues. We pride ourselves as being leaders in our industry capable of providing solutions to real business issues in your industry.

Solutions Oriented

• There is no shortage of problems to consider when trying to coordinate your technology and communication needs. At NortheastTel we understand it is our role to help fix problems and not create new ones.
  Our team of professionals will analyze your communications and network needs, and then provide the appropriate technology solutions for your business.

Local, Knowledgeable and Reliable

• Each of our professionals are certified
  within their own disciplines. Our team of technology and communication professionals collaborate with your technology partners and vendors as well as each other. Working together we can develop and implement the best solutions for your business.

NortheastTel – Our History: How we got here!

NortheastTel began serving customers in 1946 as Northeast Louisiana Telephone Company. As we look back over the history of our company, we find that many people and events helped shape who we are today.

The Collinston exchange portion of NortheastTel was originally part of the Oak Ridge-Collinston Telephone Company owned by W. Clarke Williams in the 1930’s. The “Gum Swamp” area around Collinston was hard to serve. The area around Collinston was the last large section of Morehouse Parish to be settled. The area was heavily covered with timber and was a favorite place to hunt bear. The Collinston exchange was separated from the Oak Ridge exchange and sold to E.N. Gibbs who in turn sold it to Tom Linzay who operated under the name Collinston Telephone Company until 1946.

In late 1946, Ben W. “Hop” Hopgood purchased the Collinston Telephone Company from Tom Linzay. Hop worked for the Missouri-Pacific Railroad at the time and later went to work for International Paper as a liaison between the railroad and IP. A magneto switchboard was used to process calls through an operator at the Linzay residence. Tom’s wife, Lula Mae and his children, Tommie Mae, Audrey Faye, David, and Shirley, operated the switchboard along with Hop’s wife Mary Elizabeth Rector Hopgood, and Dorothy Anne Norsworthy. Mary Elizabeth was the daughter of Dr. James M. Rector and Ida Robinson Rector. Dr. Rector had a medical practice in Collinston.

Sometime in the early 1950’s the switchboard was moved to a back room in the Hopgood home on Main Street in Collinston. Mary Elizabeth Hopgood and Lillian Justice served as the switchboard operators at that time. Joyce Takewell and Dorothy Anne Norsworthy helped out between college school terms. Hop’s sister, Ethel Daniels, also assisted on the switchboard for a time while she lived with Hop and Mary Elizabeth. During this time, the switchboard was open for calls 24 hours per day and 7 days per week even if you had to wait for the operator to get out of bed to make the call.

During 1952, the Bonita-Jones exchange which was also still using the old magneto switchboard system was purchased from Victor Watts. Victor’s wife, Doris, served as the telephone operator while they owned the system. At that time the Collinston Telephone Company became Northeast Louisiana Telephone Co., Inc. with Ben W “Hop” Hopgood and Alton Norsworthy serving as officers of the corporation. The Charles Bilbury family operated the switchboard for the Bonita-Jones exchange for several years. Faye and Lorrain Sims operated the Bonita-Jones exchange from 1952 until Mr. Sims retired in 1976. Bill Sims worked alongside Mr. Bilbury for several years and then with his father until going into the service in 1955. David Justice, Jr. was hired to help with the construction and maintenance in 1950 on a part-time basis as he worked for the Missouri-Pacific Railroad full time. He later became a full time employee and general manager after Hop’s death in 1960. Dave retired in June 1984. Dave’s wife, Lillian, worked in the business office in Collinston for many years also retiring in 1984. Mrs. Alton Norsworthy (Mrs. Dee) was secretary-treasurer for the company from 1956 until her retirement in early 1980. Mary Ann Harkness assisted in the commercial office from 1979 to 1987.

In 1949, Congress authorized the Rural Electrification Administration (REA) to make loans to rural telephone companies who could not get reasonable funding from the banks for the construction or upgrades to the service. Northeast management operated on a shoestring budget for many years and they took every penny made from the telephone company and used it to purchase materials to expand and upgrade the system. With financial assistance from REA, many small companies were able to reconnect isolated areas and expand to new locations. In 1955, Northeast applied for and received funding for a loan from the REA to provide dial service to all of the subscribers located in Bonita, Jones, and Collinston. By 1957, the old manual switchboards were replaced with new Stromberg Carlson dial offices. All of the old “open wire” circuits were also replaced. Some of these “open wire” circuits were literally tacked on fence posts and sweet gum saplings. In 1956, a new business office was built next to the dial equipment office in Collinston and that building still serves as Northeast’s commercial business office today. Throughout the years with the help of the REA, telephone service has been extended to all rural subscribers and no area in the Company’s exchange boundaries is left unserved.

Mike George, CEO/Chairman, Doug George, Vice-President, and Erin Jarrell, Secretary, serve as the officers for the corporation today. Many changes have occurred since the Company started operations. In the early 1950’s only 168 subscribers could afford or could be provided telephone service, but at the present time over 900 subscribers in the Bonita, Jones, and Collinston communities are served. In late 1968, IMTS mobile telephone service was added to the overall company service. This proved to be a valuable service to the area farmers.

In 1982, Northeast Telepage was established by NortheastTel to offer personal paging capabilities throughout Morehouse Parish, which was not being served at that time. Through the utilization of antennae and tower placement in the Monroe, Collinston, and Bonita, subscribers were provided pager coverage for all of Morehouse Parish and portions of Ouachita Parish.

In 1987, TV Northeast, Inc. was established by NortheastTel to provide cablevision service to Bonita, Collinston and the Bayou Galion area in Mer Rouge. Community support and subscription to this service was widely received.

In 1993, a fiber optic toll (long distance) cable was buried between Bonita and Collinston connecting the two exchanges by NortheastTel connecting the exchanges in the South Central Bell network in Mer Rouge. This fiber optic cable provides quality digital long distance service to our subscribers.

In 1994, NortheastTel replaced the Stromberg Carlson step-by-step dial offices originally installed in 1957 with a new state-of-the-art digital switching system manufactured by Siemens Stromberg Carlson. The REA once again provided loan funds for this replacement to help hold the cost down to our rural subscribers. This new switching system provides digital service as well as many special calling features to our subscribers such as call waiting, call forwarding, call return and caller ID to mention a few

In 1995, NortheastTel began the first phase of a major replacement of equipment and cable which connected each subscriber with our office. The Collinston exchange was completed in June of 1996. The second phase of the replacement was completed in 1997 for the Bonita exchange. This construction provided sharp and clear service to our subscribers.

In 1999, Internet services were added to NortheastTel’s family of offerings. Beginning with dialup services, customers were able to access the world from their homes and businesses in rural Morehouse Parish.

In 2000, Northeast Long Distance made it easy for NortheastTel customers to make long distance phone calls at rates comprisable to national long distance providers while giving customers the convenience of having everything on one bill.

In 2010, NorthesastTel started a three year construction project that converted all of our existing services over a 300 mile fiber optic ring that not only upgraded services for our existing customers, but also expanded our service area to the Horseshoe Lake, Holly Ridge, Little Missouri, and Cooper Lake Road areas. The upgraded services included converting to a digital television service that offers hundreds of high quality channel options, including local stations and premium channels.

In 2014, the Siemens Stromberg Carlson digital telephone switching system was replaced by the Metaswitch VP2510 Integrated Softswitch. The new switch reduces power consumption, increases capacity capability, and adds support for the latest voice-over-IP (VoIP) technologies.

In 2016, Rector Hopgood decided he was ready to retire and renew his interests in travel and recreational activities. The Norsworthy and George families took over his interests in the company to guarantee the company would remain locally owned.

In 2017, NortheastTel has expanded to open an office location in Monroe, LA to offer VoIP and Networking services to Monroe and the surrounding areas. Other milestones reached in 2017 are the ability to offer Gigabit services to our local services areas and the celebration of our 70th year of providing services to Morehouse Parish.

The officers and staff of NortheastTel are dedicated to improving the quality of life for our subscribers. Area residents have expressed the desire to have services usually available in large cities, but to also have the many wonderful amenities of small town life. At NortheastTel we all recognize the vital role that telecommunications and high speed broadband service will play in the continued development and support of our rural communities.

In accordance with Federal civil rights law and U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) civil rights regulations and policies, the USDA, its Agencies, offices, and employees, and institutions participating in or administering USDA programs are prohibited from discriminating based on race, color, national origin, religion, sex, gender identity (including gender expression), sexual orientation, disability, age, marital status, family/parental status, income derived from a public assistance program, political beliefs, or reprisal or retaliation for prior civil rights activity, in any program or activity conducted or funded by USDA (not all bases apply to all programs). Remedies and complaint filing deadlines vary by program or incident.

Persons with disabilities who require alternative means of communication for program information (e.g., Braille, large print, audiotape, American Sign Language, etc.) should contact the responsible Agency or USDA’s TARGET Center at (202) 720-2600 (voice and TTY) or contact USDA through the Federal Relay Service at (800) 877-8339. Additionally, program information may be made available in languages other than English.

To file a program discrimination complaint, complete the USDA Program Discrimination Complaint Form, AD-3027, found online at How to File a Program Discrimination Complaint and at any USDA office or write a letter addressed to USDA and provide in the letter all of the information requested in the form. To request a copy of the complaint form, call (866) 632-9992. Submit your completed form or letter to USDA by: (1) mail: U.S. Department of Agriculture, Office of the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights, 1400 Independence Avenue, SW, Washington, D.C. 20250-9410; (2) fax: (202) 690-7442; or (3) email: program.intake@usda.gov.

USDA is an equal opportunity provider, employer, and lender.

Please read these Guidelines, and the Terms and Conditions for Internet services carefully before opening or continuing a Internet account with us. By using our services, you agree to comply with these acceptable use guidelines, and we may terminate your account if you fail to comply with these guidelines.

IF YOU DO NOT AGREE TO BE BOUND BY THESE GUIDELINES, YOU SHOULD IMMEDIATELY END YOUR USE OF OUR SERVICES AND OUR SOFTWARE AND NOTIFY US SO THAT WE MAY INITIATE A CLOSURE OF YOUR ACCOUNT.

NORTHEASTTEL ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY

• 1.0 Use of Services
• 1.01 The accountholder agrees to use our Internet services only for lawful purposes, in compliance with all applicable laws. The accountholder agrees that the internet connection will not be used for continuous, uninterrupted connection. The accountholder is responsible for making sure the access number they use is a local, toll-free number for them.
• 1.02 Our Internet accounts are provided for use in conformance with these Guidelines and the Terms and Conditions. We reserve the right to investigate suspected violations of these guidelines. When we become aware of possible violations, we 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 any of our servers. During an investigation, we may suspend the account or accounts involved and/or remove the material involved from its servers. If we believe, in our sole discretion, that a violation of these guidelines has occurred, we may take responsive action. Such action may include, but is not limited to, temporary or permanent removal of material from our servers, the cancellation of newsgroup posts, warnings to the accountholder or accountholders responsible, and the suspension or termination of the account or accounts responsible. We, in our 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.
• 2.0 Use of Material
• 2.01 Materials in the public domain (e.g., images, text, and programs) may be downloaded or uploaded using our services. Accountholders may also redistribute 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 our 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 our 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 1.02 above.
• 2.03 The account holder may not store or distribute certain other types of material on our 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.
• 3.0 Passwords
• 3.01 Personal Internet 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 Internet 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 part, in normal or reverse order, in any dictionary of words or names in any language. The accountholder is responsible for changing his or her password regularly.
• 3.03 Our 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 us; continued failure to maintain password security may be grounds for account termination.
• 4.0 System Security
• 4.01 The accountholder is prohibited from utilizing our services to compromise the security or tamper with system resources or accounts on computers at any of our facilities 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 We reserve 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. We will also fully cooperate with law enforcement authorities in investigating suspected lawbreakers.
• 5.0 System Resources
• 5.01 We will allocate system resources to provide all accountholders with the best service possible. As part of resource allocation, we may limit, restrict or prioritize access to system resources, including CPU time, memory, disk space, session length, and number of sessions. Additionally, we may institute services and fees for accountholders who are interested in accessing system resources above and beyond acceptable usage.
• 5.02 We may log instances of abuse of system resources, including but not limited to those outlined below, and take action as outlined in section 1.02 above.
• 5.03 System abuse is defined as any use of our 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 our 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 ircservers and multiuser interactive forums.
• 5.05 Accountholders may only make use of our system resources while logged in. The sole exceptions to this policy are e-mail filters, which process and sort mail as it arrives.
• 6.0 Usenet News Use
• 6.01 Our 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. We do not monitor access to Usenet newsgroups or the content of posts by our accountholders or accountholders at other sites. Accordingly, we are not responsible for the content of any posting made to Usenet.
• 6.02 We reserve the right to discontinue access to any Usenet newsgroups at any time for any reason.
• 6.03 We will investigate complaints regarding posts of inappropriate material to Usenet by accountholders and we may, at our 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 2.02 and 2.03 above, we may require that the post be moved to a more appropriate forum (if any), or take action as outlined in 1.02 above.
• 6.05 Usenet news articles posted using our services must comply with the written charter/FAQ of newsgroups 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 newsgroups. Our accountholders are responsible for determining the rules of a newsgroups before posting to it.
• 6.06 Established Usenet conventions (“Netiquette”) prohibit advertising in most Usenet newsgroups. Our 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. Our 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. Our accountholders may post these types of message only in newsgroups which specifically permit them in the charter or FAQ (if any). Our account holders are responsible for determining whether or not a newsgroup permits a type of message before posting.
• 6.08 Our 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 an Usenet article or NortheastTel has the right to cancel the article. Our accountholders may not use our 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. Our accountholders may not attempt to “flood” or disrupt Usenet newsgroups. Disruption is defined as posting a large number of messages to a newsgroup which contains no substantive content, to the extent that normal discussion in the group is significantly hindered.
• 6.10 Examples of disruptive activities include, but are not limited too, posting multiple messages with no text in the body, or posting many follow-ups to messages with no new text.
• 7.0 E-mail Use
• 7.01 We will investigate complaints regarding e-mail and may, in our 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 2.02 and 2.03 above, we may take action as outlined in 1.02 above.
• 7.02 Our accountholders may not send e-mail to any user who does not wish to receive it, either to our accountholders or elsewhere. We recognize that e-mail is an informal medium; however, accountholders must refrain from sending further e-mail to an user after receiving a request to stop.
• 7.03 Unsolicited advertising mailings, whether commercial or informational, are strictly prohibited. Our accountholders may send advertising material only to addresses which have specifically requested it. We 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 our services.
• 7.05 Our 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 Our 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 our policies outlined in this document can sometimes result in massive numbers of e-mail responses. If one of our accountholders receives so much e-mail that our resources, in our sole opinion, are adversely affected, we may shut down the accountholder’s mailbox.
• 8.0 World Wide Web Use
• 8.01 The accountholder acknowledges that some World Wide Web (WWW) pages contain language, pictures, or discussions of subjects intended for adult audiences. We do not monitor access to the World Wide Web or the content of our accountholders’ personal Web pages. Accordingly, we are not responsible for the content of any accountholders’ Web pages on our servers or elsewhere.
• 8.02 The accountholder is solely responsible for the content of Web pages owned by the account.
• 8.03 We reserve the right to remove any Web page on our servers, at any time and for any reason.
• 8.04 We will investigate complaints regarding inappropriate material on Web pages within our domain and may, at our sole discretion, require that the material be removed or take action as outlined in 1.02 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 Our accountholders may not use World Wide Web pages within or outside our domain to violate any part of these Guidelines, or to attempt to disrupt the pages or Internet experiences of other users.
• 9.0 IRC Use
• 9.01 IRC channels are not monitored by us. 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 our agents, and are in no way compensated or supervised by us, with the exception of the operators of our official channels used for the sole purpose of customer support or communication between our employees. Accordingly, we are not liable for the content of any communication made on IRC.
• 9.02 We will respond to complaints of inappropriate behavior in IRC, and may, in our sole discretion, take action based on the rules below. If the accountholder’s behavior is found to violate policies, or to involve unlawful material, as described in 2.02 and 2.03 above, we may take action as outlined in 1.02 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 three (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 an IRC connection. Our accountholders may run bots as long as the total number of connections does not exceed three (3), and the bots do not violate any of our 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. Our 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. Our accountholders may not engage in hacking or attempt to gain operator privileges for a channel without the permission of the current holder(s) or 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 of their own, where they hold operator privileges. Our 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 an user they find objectionable, using the “ignore” command. Our accountholders may not attempt to continue sending private messages to an user after being ignored.
• 9.09 Our 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. Our accountholders may not attempt to disguise their username or hostname in order to impersonate other accountholders or to use IRC anonymously.
• 10.0 Transfer Rate
• 10.01 There is a 0.5 GB per day per account limit on FTP transfers from our servers. Accountholders whose accounts are generating transfers which surpass the limit or which consumes an excessive percentage of our FTP resources may receive a warning from us. Continued excessive use of our FTP resources may result in suspension or termination of the account.
• 10.02 There is a 750 MB 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 us. Continued excessive use of our personal page Web server resources may result in suspension or termination of the account.

This policy is by and between NortheastTel with its office at 6402 Howell Ave. Collinston, LA. 71229, and the Customer for the provision by NortheastTel Internet or its subcontractors of certain electronic communication services and related items.

• Service Warranties: With respect to the Service provided, NortheastTel, makes no warranties of any kind, expressed or implied, including any implied warrantee or merchantability or fitness of this service for a particular purpose. NortheastTel takes no responsibility for any damages suffered by the Customer, including but not limited to, loss of data from delays, non-deliveries, mis-deliveries, or service interruptions caused by NortheastTel’s own negligence or Customer’s errors and/or emissions.
• Acceptable Use: This Service may only be used for lawful purposes. Materials and/or transmissions in violation of any local, state, or federal regulation(s) are prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to copyrighted materials, material legally judged to be threatening or obscene, or material protected by trade secrets.
• Use of information: Use of any information obtained via this service is at the customer’s risk. NortheastTel specifically denies any responsibility for the accuracy or quality of information obtained through its services.
• Inappropriate Usage: NortheastTel or other relevant authorities may determine inappropriate usage of this account and the privilege may be revoked at NortheastTel’s discretion. Should this occur, the Customer will be notified in writing of this action.
• Change of Status: NortheastTel will occasionally require new registration and account information by the Customer to continue this service. In addition, the Customer shall notify NortheastTel in writing of any changes in the account information.
• Limitation of Liability: Neither party shall be liable to the other for any loss, damage, liability, claim or expense arising out of or in relation to this agreement or the provision of service or equipment, however caused, whether grounded in contract, tort (including negligence) or theory of strict liability. The parties agree to work in good faith to implement the purpose of this Agreement, but recognize the network connection and services to be provided by NortheastTel could not be made available under these terms or other similar terms without a substantial increase in cost if the parties were to assume a greater liability to each other.
• Hosting: NortheastTel DSL Service is not intended or designed for hosting of private or public Internet sites. This activity may result in immediate suspension of the user’s account and DSL Service.
• Computer Networks: Two or ore computers running from the same DSL modem or a digital circuit constitutes a network. There are various extra components needed to complete a networked DSL environment that the customer is responsible for. NortheastTel will not build or maintain computer networks. Please contact your computer service provider for further support.
• Bandwidth: Actual data transfer or throughput may be lower than the minimum connection speed listed due to Internet congestion, server speeds, routing paths, protocol overheads, and internal network traffic (LAN) and other factors that cannot be controlled by NortheastTel.
• Security: NortheastTel makes no warranties, expressed or implied, concerning the security of the customer’s Data or computer system(s) or network. Use of NortheastTel DSL Service provides a constant connection to the Internet, which may be accessible to other computers connected to the Internet. The Customer is responsible for security connections regarding his/her computer(s) or network. Any connection to the World Wide Web, or public network, exposes the user to the possibility of being unprotected against a multitude of malicious programs such as viruses, port scanners and system intrusion. It is the customer’s responsibility to run, maintain and update an anti-virus program and or firewall.
• Equipment Agreement: The High Speed Modem, Power Supply Cable and Ethernet Cable installed on your premises will remain the property NortheastTel. If this equipment is tampered with, lost, stolen or damaged in any manner other than a determination by NortheastTel of a factory defect, you agree to replace equipment at your expense.
• Evaluation: NortheastTel reserves the right to evaluate on an individual basis the bandwidth or hardware utilization of individual accounts. Excessive bandwidth or hardware utilization that affects the ability of NortheastTel to provide service will result in the account being reevaluated and may at the discretion of NortheastTel result in “throttling” the bandwidth available to the customer.
• Other: These Terms and Conditions supersede all previous representations, understanding or agreements and shall prevail notwithstanding any variance with terms and conditions of any order submitted.
• Use of NortheastTel services constitutes acceptance of these Terms and Conditions.
• Account Holders Responsibilities: The sharing of passwords or accounts is strictly prohibited and violators are subject to the cancellation of such Customer’s Service without prior notice. The resale of the Service or any other associated services by any and all means is restricted unless approved in advance in writing by NortheastTel.

WARNING:

Sexually explicit material can be obtained over the Internet. NortheastTel will not be responsible for any activity in which you, as the user, conduct your Internet travels. Parents may want to obtain software that will disable this type of activity.