CCIL is pleased to provide its users with an account on our system. We believe our policies are quite generous, but because we rely on donations and do not charge monthly fees, our resources are limited. In order to ensure that all users have adequate access to our system, there are some rules which we must ask you to follow. Your account is a privilege extended to you by CCIL and we will take appropriate action when policies are violated. You should review and be sure you understand our policies below.

CCIL is a volunteer organization and while we try to provide a valuable and reliable service, we are not a commercial provider with full-time personnel. We will make every attempt to help you use the system productively, but there are some requests to which, in fairness to other users, we simply cannot respond. In dealing with CCIL staff and volunteers, remember that they are your Chester County neighbors and are contributing their time to CCIL to make your service possible. Thank you for your use and support of CCIL.

Anyone who qualifies for an account may use our system. Each family member capable of using a computer may have an account. Only the person to whom an account is registered may use that account. We hold you responsible for your account. If you allow others to use your account, you will be held responsible and your account may be suspended or even revoked.

We cannot allow someone to use more than one account. You may not register an account for someone else and then use the account. If we find that you are using multiple accounts on the system, we will suspend or revoke all accounts.

You should be the only one who knows your password! Do not give your password to anyone. Never put your password in an e-mail. CCIL staff do not need your password. CCIL staff will never ask you for your password. Please keep your password secure.

CCIL reserves the right to ask an individual to provide photo identification or to verify their identification by some other means. Failure to comply with such a request could result in the account being suspended. In some cases we may suspend an account pending verification of identification.

We have arranged our time quotas to give our users the maximum time on line. The current time quotas are:

Any time used during earlier quota periods is deducted from the time available during later quota periods within that 24 hours. For example, if you use 20 minutes during the first time period, you will have 1 hour and 40 minutes to use during the second period OR 40 minutes during the last time period. If you use 10 minutes during the first period and 30 minutes during the second, you will have 20 minutes left during the last period. This schedule enables us to make more on line time available during less busy times. Please do not violate our daily time limits. We are able to monitor the amount of time users spend on line. You will receive only ONE warning about time violations. Thereafter you will be suspended for 2 weeks the first violation, 4 weeks the second violation and any addition violations will result in your account being revoked.

As our telephone line availability permits, we offer extended hours to users with a disability which impacts their ability to use CCIL within the daily time quotas. We will extend your hours upon written medical verification of your disability or if a CCIL volunteer has personal knowledge of your situation. Please send requests and verification to the mail address at the end of this document. CCIL also offers extended hours to those who do regular volunteer work on behalf of the organization. To find out about volunteer opportunities, send an email to vols@ccil.org.

While CCIL does make every attempt to ensure current backups of system and user data, we will not restore files if a user accidentally deletes them. We use backups to restore data in the case of a system-wide crash. Please understand that CCIL runs on a UNIX platform and there is no "undelete" function or recycle bin as in DOS or windows. Please keep copies of important information on your personal computer.

Because many of our users move from using CCIL to a commercial Internet service provider, we do periodic account deletions to ensure that unused accounts do not take up scarce disk space. We do this approximately once every three months and delete accounts which have not been used in six months. In order to avoid having your account deleted, please be sure to access your account periodically. If your account is deleted and you request account restoration, CCIL reserves the right to refer you to a CCIL approved technical analyst rather than performing this service. You will be responsible for negotiating and paying any fees charged by the analyst. (Note: This restoration process is different from file restoration discussed above.)

CCIL allows users to have a maximum of 5 megabyte disk space for mail, and 5 megabyte in miscellaneous files and html. We will enforce this policy by informing users when these limitations are exceeded and allowing 7 days to reduce their disk usage. If a user has not logged onto the system during this period we will send a second note. At the end of the second 7 day period, and regardless of whether or not the user has logged onto the system, we will delete files and mail from the users account at our discretion to conform to this policy. In addition CCIL reserves the right to shorten the period we allow users to reduce disk space when necessary. CCIL also reserves the right, in the case of a disk space emergency, to reduce users disk space without notice. In this case we will make every attempt to limit deletions to old files or old sent-mail. Failure to comply with these policies may result in account suspension or revocation.

CCIL is a tax exempt 501 ( c ) ( 3 ) nonprofit corporation. We do have restrictions on commercial use. Please read our commercial use policy. Violating this policy can result in suspension or termination of your account.

CCIL takes a dim view of people who try to crack our system or any other system. We will not tolerate attempts to access restricted areas or to crack the system. This type of activity will result in immediate and permanent removal from the system. If you have accounts on other systems, we will also warn those systems of your actions.

On occasion, we receive complaints from other Internet service providers that one of our users has done something inappropriate. We take these complaints very seriously. Other Internet service providers can ban an entire system, such as CCIL, from accessing their sites. So that all our users do not suffer for the actions of one individual, we will suspend or revoke your account if we receive such a complaint.

While CCIL does not censor, we do not allow users to harass or annoy other users or our staff, either by e-mail or any other form of communications. If we receive a complaint about harassing communications or unsolicited e-mail (SPAM) we will revoke your account. Fraudulent use or the use of CCIL to send forged e-mail or chain letters will also result in revocation.

You as a user have the right to not be harassed by users or to receive SPAM. If the communication is in the form of e-mail, do not delete it until we have had a chance to view the it. If this happens to you, forward the e-mail to abuse@ccil.org.

CCIL's staff makes every effort to ensure your privacy on our system. However, if we have reason to believe that you are doing something in violation of these policies or which is otherwise inappropriate, we reserve the right to look at your account. This includes your files and e-mail if appropriate. In legal terms, this means that CCIL does not offer you the expectation of privacy.

If we find you are violating the policies stated above, we will take disciplinary action. Our general rules for such actions are as follows: first time offense is a 2 week suspension. Second time offense is a 4 week suspension. Any additional offense will result in your account being revoked. You are not permitted to have another account on the system. However, we reserve the right to immediately revoke your account for the first offense if we feel it is appropriate. CCIL also reserves the right in the case of a minor to require communication with a parent about any system matters.

If you feel that a revocation is unfair, you do have the right to appeal the decision through one of the contact methods below. CCIL will convene a review panel to examine the actions taken and will communicate the result to you. The panel's decision is final. Due to their temporary nature, suspensions may not be appealed.

If you have been suspended or had your account revoked, we will not forward mail or allow access to files.

If your account is suspended or revoked, you will be notified of the action when you log in. You will normally be informed of the violation and when you can expect to have your account reinstated. Your session will then be terminated.

Please do not telephone staff or volunteers at their homes or attempt to contact them outside of the CCIL system and voice mail unless they invite you to do so. If you do, we will give one warning and any additional calls or contacts will result in immediate permanent revocation without review. CCIL may be contacted by voice mail at 610-431-2673, via e-mail to the help desk at help@ccil.org or by postal service mail at: