Rules for Dragonfire accounts

Last updated: 22 March 1997

Rules for Dragonfire accounts

These rules are broken down into two major subsets. One set is the kind you might expect to find at any service provider, listing in so-called "legalese" the responsibilities of all account owners. However, the second set, which is actually given first, is just as important: rather than precise definitions of requirements and restrictions on use, they are a set of guidelines, which you are expected to interpret with common sense rather than take letter-for-letter. They should not be difficult to follow, but if you do violate the rules, expect a warning at the least; for more serious, or repeat, violations, your account will be terminated. If these rules seem overly strict to some, that cannot be avoided; they are necessary in order to maintain Dragonfire's good reputation and keep it available as a resource for everyone.

(For those who care: The exact interpretation of these rules is at the discretion of the Dragonfire administration, and may vary over time or from case to case. Previous cases will be considered in this interpretation, but shall in no way define these rules more strictly than set out below.)

Content of published material:

Copyrights. Don't break the copyright law. Don't, for example, put up the entire text of a book without the author's permission (and yes, you will be asked for a copy of that permission in such cases). On the other hand, "fair use" (for example, a short quote from a book for the purpose of commentary) is okay, provided you cite the source appropriately. Note that graphics created by other web page authors also fall under this category; if the page does not expressly give permission for use of graphics, make sure you ask the page's author for permission before taking those graphics.

Also, since it seems to be necessary, a reminder: Pirated software is a clear violation of the copyright law and will absolutely not be tolerated. Offenders should expect to lose their accounts and face possible legal action. The Software Publishers Association has a site about piracy, including, among other things, relevant laws and their application to the Internet.
Obscenity. This commonly includes so-called hardcore pornography and child pornography. Not only are these not permitted on Dragonfire, but they are also (in the United States, at least, and quite probably elsewhere) illegal. If you're not sure whether something might be considered "obscene", send mail and ask -- it's far better than losing your account because of a wrong guess. Links to such material are not permitted either.

On a related note, if you have something that's not obscene but that is of an adult nature, or something that could be considered "indecent", please indicate that in some way, possibly with a "warning" entry page or a note next to a link.

Dragonfire's position on pornography in general: We discourage pornographic sites, since they generate far more than their fair share of traffic. We do not strictly prohibit such sites provided they stay within the above guidelines, but we will hold such sites strictly to those guidelines, and violations thereof will almost certainly result in account termination.
Account-cracking software. Breaking into an account, no matter what kind of account it may be or who it may belong to, is like breaking into a house -- you're invading someone else's private property. If we receive and verify any reports of software available from your Dragonfire account being used to break into other accounts, your account will be terminated immediately.
Software "cracks." These are utilities or documentation on how to obtain illegal access to (non-free) software; for example, registration codes or programs that modify other programs to defeat built-in protection against copying. While possession and distribution of such files is not in itself illegal, their only use (or at least, their main use) is illegal, and therefore they are not allowed.

Note that the preceding points can be summarized as: "Material which is illegal or whose only or primary use is for illegal activity is in no way permitted on Dragonfire." This is the key point we look at when determining whether accounts are in violation of these rules.

Quantity:

There are no hard-and-fast disk space quotas as with other Internet service providers; you'll never see a "Disk quota exceeded" error here. But that doesn't mean you can use all the space you want. We realize that some people have more information to provide than others, but at the same time, disk space is neither infinite nor free, and no one user should use up so much space as to prevent others from having any at all. Therefore, all accounts are by default limited to 25 megabytes of disk usage. This is a soft limit, meaning that you can exceed it for short periods of time without penalty. If you need additional disk space, we will provide it for a one-time fee of US$5 per 5 megabytes. Note that disk usage will be checked; consistently exceeding 25 megabytes or whatever other quota may be in effect will have consequences, up to and including loss of your account.

Responsibility:

The short version: It's yours. The long version: All material on your account is your responsibility, no matter who put it there. If you give someone else your password and (s)he breaks these rules, you're the one that gets in trouble. If someone else steals or guesses your password, it's still your responsibility -- though we may take a more lenient view depending on the circumstances. This also applies to CGI scripts for Web sites which allow anyone to post text to an HTML page, as well. And if Dragonfire gets in trouble because of material on your account -- guess what? That's your responsibility, too.

Dragonfire's User Support:

Dragonfire's user support department (E-mail: support@dragonfire.net) is available to answer questions about your account. However, there is also a FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions list) and an introductory guide to FTP. Dragonfire users are expected to read these documents before contacting Dragonfire user support; Dragonfire reserves the right to ignore any questions which are answered in the FAQ or FTP guide. So save everyone time and read them.

Miscellaneous:

If your account has World Wide Web access and you use CGI scripts or programs, the source code for those programs must be available to us for inspection at any time. See the relevant question in the FAQ for an explanation. Failure to keep current source available may result in anything from removal of the script to termination of your account, depending on circumstances.

The "Good Citizen" Clause:

All Dragonfire users are expected not to engage in inappropriate or illegal behavior, including (but not limited to) E-mail bombs, repeated harassing E-mail messages in which the clear and only intent is harrassment, and breaking into other systems. If the Dragonfire administration receives what it considers reasonable evidence of any such actions, whether or not such actions involved use of Dragonfire, the offending user's account will be terminated. Note that we will make no attempts to specifically seek out these actions; however, should we hear of them, they will be dealt with. The purpose of this rule, as unusual as it may seem, is to serve as a reminder that these actions are not acceptable in any context.

Legal addenda

By signing up for (that is, by requesting and paying for) an account with Dragonfire Internet Services ("Dragonfire"), you agree to the following:

You will follow all of Dragonfire's rules as laid out in this document and any other documents this one may refer to. You will also cooperate with the Dragonfire administration and any requests it may make. Failure to do so is grounds for the immediate termination of your account. If you believe that a request made by the Dragonfire administration is unreasonable, send mail to support@dragonfire.net within one week of the request explaining why you consider it unreasonable.
You will accept all responsibility, legal and otherwise, for all material present on your account.
Should Dragonfire become involved in legal proceedings as a result of material present on your account or actions performed using your account, you will pay all legal fees incurred by Dragonfire, even if your account is terminated before said legal proceedings are completed.
You will keep yourself informed of all rule changes upon due notice of such changes. Modifications to this document or any subdocuments will be indicated by a change in the "Last updated:" line at the top of this document. Thirty days shall be considered due notice for any rule changes.
You will keep the Dragonfire administration informed as to an E-mail address at which you can be reached, by sending an account change request as described in the FAQ upon any change in your E-mail address. Any account lacking a valid E-mail address for 90 days, and any account whose owner does not respond to a request for information within 90 days, shall be considered abandoned and may be terminated at any time.

If the E-mail address you give is in the dragonfire.net domain (e.g. jsmith@dragonfire.net), then you must provide an alternate method of contact: either an E-mail address not in the dragonfire.net domain or a "snail-mail" (postal service) address.
You will receive without complaint any E-mail sent from Dragonfire. We will occasionally send messages to all of Dragonfire's users; this is not a "mailing list" as the term is commonly applied to the Internet, and you cannot "unsubscribe".
Dragonfire has the right to delete your account at any time for any reason with or without notice.
Dragonfire has the right to delete any material in your account if:
- Your account is terminated.
- Your account exceeds your disk quota.
- The Dragonfire administration believes said material violates Dragonfire's rules.