Acceptable Use Policy                                             

Introduction. This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") sets forth the principles that govern the use of the Web-based products, emails and services provided by Vertex (the "Vertex Services") by Vertex's customers and the customers of resellers of the Vertex Services (collectively, "customers"). Vertex's goal is to offer customers a positive experience in their use and enjoyment of the Vertex Services. To help Vertex offer its customers the best user experience possible and to ensure the Vertex Services are used in an appropriate manner, all customers need to follow the same rules and guidelines with respect to their use of the Vertex Services. This AUP is designed to help protect customers, and the Internet community, from irresponsible, abusive or illegal activities, and to make the Vertex Services available to all customers as consistently and efficiently as possible. By accessing and/or using the Vertex Services, you agree to adhere to this AUP.

Inappropriate Actions. Actions, whether intentional or inadvertent, that Vertex considers inappropriate and grounds for restriction of access to or removal of offending material or termination of Vertex Services include, but are not limited to, the following:
  • Using the Vertex Services to sell any products or services that are unlawful in the location at which the content is posted or received or the products or services delivered;
  • Using the Vertex Services to undertake or accomplish any unlawful purpose (including, but not limited to, posting, storing, transmitting or disseminating information, data or material which is libelous, obscene, unlawful, threatening, defamatory, or otherwise objectionable in Vertex's sole opinion), or which infringes the intellectual property rights of any person or entity, or which in any way constitutes or encourages conduct that would constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability, or otherwise violate any local, state, federal or international law, order or regulation;
  • Using the Vertex Services to post, store, send, transmit, or disseminate any information or material which Vertex determines (in its sole opinion) that a reasonable person could deem to be objectionable, offensive, indecent, pornographic, harassing, threatening, embarrassing, distressing, vulgar, hateful, racially or ethnically offensive, or otherwise inappropriate, regardless of whether this material or its dissemination is unlawful;
  • Using the Vertex Services to send unsolicited email to any email address where the owner has not provided affirmative consent to receive marketing communications;
  • Using the Vertex Services to send transactional or relationship messages which violate the FTC's Primary Purpose Rule pertaining to transactional messages (the FTC's Primary Purpose final rule may be accessed at http://www.the-dma.org/press/PrimaryPurposeFactSheet.pdf);
  • Using the Vertex Services to restrict, inhibit, or otherwise interfere with the ability of any other person, regardless of intent, purpose or knowledge, to use or enjoy the Vertex Services, including, without limitation, posting or transmitting any information or software which contains a worm, virus, or other harmful feature, or generating levels of traffic sufficient to impede others' ability to send or retrieve information;
  • Using the Vertex Services to restrict, inhibit, interfere with, or otherwise disrupt or cause a performance degradation, regardless of intent, purpose or knowledge, to the Vertex Services, or otherwise cause a performance degradation to any facilities, equipment or networks used to deliver the Vertex Services;
  • Using the Vertex Services to post any content that holds Vertex, its affiliates and parent company, and their employees or shareholders up to public scorn or ridicule or would in anyway damage or impair their reputation or goodwill;
  • Assigning, reselling, sublicensing, or otherwise making the Vertex Services available to third parties for their own use, except as expressly permitted by the terms of a customer's agreement with Vertex;
  • Reverse engineering, decompiling, disassembling, or otherwise attempting to learn the source code to, the Vertex Services;
  • Bundling the Vertex Services as part of a customer's own product offering, without the express prior written consent of Vertex;
  • Selling, leasing, renting, or otherwise making available data learned through the Vertex Services in any form (printed, electronically relayed, posted to public list services or bulletin boards, or magnetically stored) to, or for the benefit, of any third party for any reason other than to assist the customer in its normal business activities;
  • Misidentifying the source of an email; adding, removing, or modifying identifying network header information (aka "spoofing") in an effort to deceive or mislead, or attempting to impersonate any person by using forged headers or other identifying information; or
  • Activities which adversely affect the ability of other people or systems to use Vertex Services or the Internet (including without limitation "denial of service" attacks against Vertex's servers, network hosts or individual users).
This is intended to be an illustrative, and not exhaustive, list of Inappropriate Actions. The examples identified in this list are in addition to the content identified in the agreement between Vertex and its customer pursuant to whose agreement you are given the right to access the Vertex Services and are provided solely for your guidance. If you are unsure whether any contemplated use or action is permitted or wish to report a violation of this AUP, please contact Vertex at support@Vertexcommunication.com.

Violations. Vertex prefers to advise customers of inappropriate behavior and any necessary corrective action. However, if the Vertex Services are used in a way that Vertex, in its sole discretion, believes violates this AUP, Vertex may take such responsive action(s) as Vertex, in its sole discretion, determines to be appropriate. These responsive actions may include, but are not limited to, suspending your right to access and use the Vertex Services until the Inappropriate Action has ceased to Vertex's satisfaction, and termination of the agreement between Vertex and the customer on whose behalf you are using the Vertex Services. Vertex reserves the right in its sole discretion to restrict access to or to remove any content for any reason, including but not limited to, your violation of any laws or the terms and conditions of any agreement between Vertex and its customer pursuant to whose agreement you are given the right to access the Vertex Services, or this Acceptable Use Policy.

While Vertex may elect to monitor your use of the Vertex Service to confirm your adherence to this Acceptable Use Policy, it is ultimately responsibility of the user of the Vertex Services to ensure that all use complies with this Acceptable Use Policy. Vertex's right to take action under this Acceptable Use Policy will not place an obligation on Vertex to monitor or exert any editorial control over your Web site.

Bandwidth Usage Allocation. A customer's use of bandwidth is expected to compare to the normal bandwidth used by other Vertex customers. If, in the sole discretion of Vertex, a customer requires or is utilizing bandwidth that is excessive in comparison to other Vertex customers, Vertex may impose additional charges for this bandwidth usage, or if such charges cannot be agreed upon, may prevent such excessive use of the Vertex Services.

Network Security. You may not use Vertex's network or any third party networks contracted by Vertex to circumvent user authentication or interfere with the security of any host, network, or account. This includes, but is not limited to, accessing data not intended for you, logging into a server or account you are not authorized to access, password cracking, probing the security of other networks in search of weaknesses, or violation of any other organization's security policy. You may not attempt to interfere with or deny service to any user, host, or network. Any violation of network security may result in immediate termination of the agreement between the customer on whose behalf you are utilizing the Vertex Services and Vertex.

Revisions to this Acceptable Use Policy. Vertex reserves the right to revise, amend, and/or modify this AUP at any time. Notice of any revision, amendment, and/or modification to this AUP will be posted on the log-in page for the Vertex Services. You agree that your use of the Vertex Services, beyond a period of ten (10) calendar days after a notice of such change has been provided on the Vertex Services for the first time, shall constitute your consent to the revised, amended, and/or modified version of the AUP.

v07.03 (effective December 19, 2007)

End Vertex Acceptable use policy.