Abuse Policy

Acceptable Usage Policy

Introduction

Welcome to the Netwide Acceptable Usage Policy, this policy is designed to manage the different relationships between us as hosting providers and the customer and/or client.  It is applicable to all our clients and customers and is there to ensure compliance with all the statutory and regulatory requirements as required with the rules of the Republic of South Africa.  It will guide you as our customer to what is allowed and what is illegal activity and/or unacceptable activities. 

Netwide Industries reserves the right to immediately suspend customers who does not comply with this policy, should it also be deemed necessary we will also report such illegal activity to the proper authorities for further investigation and prosecution. 

This policy will also be updated from time to time and will then supersede the previous version of itself – you will need to familiarize yourself with the policy as well as the constant updates that will follow. Updates on this policy is necessary as the environment and laws is constantly changing and regular updates is a consequence thereof. Please note that by accessing our website and ordering our services and/or products you agree to be bound by our terms and conditions as set forth in this document. 

Illegal/unacceptable activities 

We would like to bring under your attention that the following activities are deemed illegal and is prohibited to host any sites that purport: 

Social Engineering – which includes, but not limited to hacking, phishing, spoofing, accessing, exploiting, bluejacking any type of unlawful and illegal computer driven actions that may affect any of our systems of any of the systems that is let by us to any subscriber. 

Hate Crimes / Bias Crimes – by active/passively promoting or partaking in any action or omission to further crimes which targets groups or persons with regards to their race, ethnicity, disability, language, nationality, physical appearance, political views and/or affiliation, age religion, sex, gender identity and/or sexual orientation.  Any hosting of sites which will promote the spreading of hate, violence and inciting terrorism.  Any harassment, abuse, forgery, threatening behaviour, cyber bullying. 

Creating and/or distributing of child pornography – any untoward actions in respect of minors, like the sexual grooming of minors, child pornography will be severely and swiftly dealt with – without any notifications or warnings - the subscriber will be suspended and handed over to the proper authorities for criminal and/or civil actions. 

Online gambling and the promoting of illegal online gambling. 

Intellectual property Theft – which refers to the unauthorized use of copyrighted material, for example, but not limited, the copying of programs, music, videos to benefit from the original owner or author’s ideas.  

Any unlawful act in terms of any South African Laws. 

Spam emailing – also known as junk mail that refer to unsolicited mail being sent usually by botnets/bots/spambots or any networking of computing systems. 

By creating and/or installing malicious software that may be used to infect computer systems, devices, and networks. 

Unlawful interception of data – refer to the any act or omission to intercept or prevent the data or communications to reach the intended recipient, this will also include the acquisition, viewing or copying data that is not of a public nature through the use of software or hardware tools and equipment. 

Any actions with regards to identity theft – it is usually the crime of using the personal information of another person or legal entity to commit fraud such as doing online purchases but can also include a crime that will damage the someone’s credit, financial standing or reputation. 

Any security breaches generated by your domain(s) on our systems or that of any of our tenanted systems. 

Circumventing any security measures created by us or that of our clients. 

Unauthorized access to network – when individuals gain access to a network/system that they are not allowed to access. 

DDos Attacks – also known as Distributed Denial of Service Attack – where the wrongdoer proceeds with targeting the server(s) or network with a flood of traffic in order to overwhelm the system. 

It is important to take note of the fact that we cannot be held liable for any third-party content as we do not moderate any of the content and services that are being offered by any third party and takes no responsibility for any actions or omissions that may arise as a result thereof. 

Reporting  

It is your duty to report to us if there are any suspicious activity/behaviour on the network - we will then proceed with the necessary investigations into the incident and will act accordingly. 

In the event that a client / subscriber to one of our services should contravene any of our rules we have the right to proceed with applying the appropriate sanction according to the type of transgression committed. 

The type of sanctions that can be applied, can range from, a letter or notification being sent to the offending party.  Depending on the severity of the transgression it can also include but not limited to, being suspended from any activity without any prior warning.  We may also proceed to report the incident to the necessary authorities to take further action.   

The Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, does make provision for the way in which a complaint should be done. 

We take the protection of minors very seriously and will proceed with the cancellation of any subscription and you will forfeit the subscription fees paid.  

In terms of the Regulation of Interception and Provision of Communication-related Information Act 17 of 2003, we may intercept communications, as prescribed and directed in certain circumstances, by the act. 

Once we have become aware of any contraventions or illegal activities, performed by the subscriber, we will investigate the matter further, should the need arise, we may investigate the subscriber’s servers which has been rented/leased from us.  

We may also proceed to charge the subscriber with fees regarding waisted costs and may held the subscriber liable for the remainder of the term – even if the subscriber has been suspended or taken down completely.  We also reserve the right to update this policy from time to time. 

Consequences Of an Illegal Activity 

Any illegal activity will be handled in accordance with the South African Laws and Statutes with  

Netwide Telecoms that will have unrestricted discretion in what constitutes a violation of its policies and will act accordingly.   We may conduct investigations into a potential compromised server and notify the owner/lessee of such investigation.   

We may suspend or terminate any and all services or limit portions thereof provided to the customer should it be determined that the customer has engaged in any transgression, whether doing so knowingly or otherwise and or has used the services and network of Netwide Telecom, for any purpose or activities in violation of this policy.  Civil actions may be taken against the offending party and may be reported to the authorities should it violate any South-African Laws.  We may also proceed to notify other service internet providers of the transgression.  We may also charge the offending party fees for the investigations that need to be completed as well as suspend or cancel service to the offending party completely and hold the offending party still liable for the remainder of the term. 

We do reserve the right to update and/or amend this policy from time to time.  We will however notify you of any major changes that may occur, but it is still your responsibility to ensure that you have read and understood all the changes that have been made.  For any further information and inquiries please do not hesitate to contact our office information officer. 

Code of Conduct

As an Independent Communications Authority of South Africa (ICASA) license holder, Netwide Internet Code of

Conduct has been developed in line with the guidelines and minimum standards for subscriber charters as published

in the Government Gazette No 30553.

This Code of Conduct serves as a guide for our daily interactions with all our subscribers, reflecting our standard for

proper behaviour and corporate values. Our Code applies to all Netwide Internet employees and involves the

following:

1. Key Commitments

Netwide Internet makes the following key commitments:

1.1 act in a fair, reasonable and responsible manner in all our dealings with our customers and potential

customers;

1.2 ensure that all services and products meet the specification contained in Netwide Internet licenses

and in all relevant laws and regulations;

1.3 not unfairly discriminate against or between our customers or potential customers on the basis of

race, gender, sex, age, religion, belief, disability, ethnic background or sexual orientation;

1.4 display utmost courtesy and care when dealing with our customers or potential customers;

1.5 provide our customers or potential customers with information regarding services and pricing;

1.6 upon request, provide our subscribers and potential subscribers with guidance in regard to their

needs;

1.7 keep our customers personal information confidential; and

1.8 advise our customers to refer a complaint to the Authority, where Netwide Internet has failed to

resolve the complaint to the satisfaction of our customer.

2. Consumer Rights

Your rights in terms of the services Netwide Internet provides include (without limitation) the right to:

2.1 to be provided with the required service without unfair discrimination;

2.2 choose the services provider of your choice;

2.3 receive a copy of this Code of Conduct

2.4 access and question records and information held by Netwide Internet relating to your relationship

with Netwide Internet;

2.5 the protection of your personal data, which includes the right not to have your personal data sold to

third parties without your permission;

2.6 lodge a complaint;

2.7 redress.

3. Provision of Information

3.1 Information relating to our services and/or products we offer, tariff rates and fees, terms and conditions,

payment policies, billing, complaints handling procedures as well as contact details are available:

3.1.1 on our website, www.netwide.co.za

3.1.2 on application forms;

3.2 Netwide Internet is entitled to perform a credit referencing check or risk assessment process in order to

determine if you will be in a position to meet your obligations under the agreement. You consent to the use of all

information supplied for this purpose.

Privacy Policy

Security Statement

Terms & Conditions

Netwide is a company duly registered in terms of the statutes of the Republic of South Africa, providing Voice Services, Cyber Security, IT & Network support, Hosting, which includes email, web, VPS (Virtual Private Server) and Cloud services Internet & Connectivity services all of which will be regulated by this terms and conditions.

--Acceptance of Terms and Conditions--
By accessing, using or ordering any of our services and/or products, you accept and agree to be bound by the terms and conditions of this agreement.  In addition, when using or ordering any of our services and/or products, you shall be subject to any posted guidelines or rules applicable to such services and/or products. Any participation in our services and/or products will constitute acceptance of this agreement. If you do not agree to abide by the above, please do not use or order our services and/or products.

--Definitions--
Acceptable Use Policy means the policies relating to the acceptable use of our equipment, services and network, as modified or amended from time to time and published on our website.

Activation Date means the date that Netwide will enable or give you access to the Equipment and/or Services you ordered.
Agreement means these Terms and Conditions, the Customer Application Form, the Acceptable Use Policies, the Price List, the Privacy Policy and the Product Specific Terms and Conditions, all of which together, constitute the Agreement between Netwide and the Customer for the supply of the Equipment and/or Services.
Application Form means the document, including any electronic documents, for example email communication, or any other form of online application system on which you selected your Equipment and/or Services and Products of choice.
Business Day means any other day than Saturday, Sunday or any public holiday within the Republic of South-Africa, from 08h00 – 17h00.
Customer or Subscriber means a user of any of our Equipment and/or Services and/or Products we develop from time to time.
Delete means all data of a client, being existing or previous client, that will be scrubbed and removed from any and all our hosting/backup/vps/cloud systems
Effective Date means the date of accepting our Agreement, either in writing or by way of electronic medium or telephonic acceptance.
Equipment means any hardware, device or other equipment used to access our Equipment and/or Services and/or products.
Service Schedule means the fixed term agreement for specific Equipment and/or Services/Products.
Systems means any and all hardware, software and equipment to run platforms, services, applications and products.
Privacy Policy means our Privacy Policy that we apply and follow in accordance with the Protection of Personal Information Act 4 of 2013.
Programs means any and all software, applications, programs, and or code.
Uncontrollable Event (Force Majeure) means elements of nature or acts of God such as fire, floods, earthquakes as well as civil disorders, rebellions or revolutions in any country or any other cause beyond the reasonable control of Netwide including the termination or suspension of a service or product provided by a Network Operator, that may result in a delay or a failure to provide any product or service.
VAT means Value Added Tax as per the Value Added Tax Act, 1991.
Website means www.netwide.co.za.

--Terms of Service--
This Agreement will commence on the Effective Date on which both parties have agreed to and will continue on a month-to-month basis, subject to the right of either party to terminate this Agreement on one calendar month written notice should no Service Schedule be in effect.

Installations
Where we need to install any Equipment on your behalf, we will make every effort to fit the Equipment where you prefer. However, this may not be possible because of technical or other reasons. If this is the case, we will connect the equipment as we see fit. Please do not move any equipment. Should you wish to alter the routing of any existing equipment such as cables or wall sockets, you should contact us.
Where we do not need to install equipment, we will either send you all the equipment you need to connect to the services or advise you of any additional equipment you need. If applicable, it is your responsibility to purchase the additional equipment as notified to you. We will not be liable to you for any loss or damage caused by your installation of the equipment or additional equipment.  
We shall not be obliged to provide or activate your Equipment and/or Services unless and until we have received any initial charges due from you in respect of the Equipment and/or Services.   Any equipment purchased or rented through us, will be supported by us. Any other Equipment and/or Services, not obtained through Netwide, will not be supported by us.

Suspension of Services
Netwide is entitled to cancel and or/suspend the services to you as our customer in the following circumstances:

• In the event of non-payment or there be any outstanding amounts owed by you to us;
• Should there be any breach of the terms of this policy or any other policies such as, but not limited thereto, Acceptable Usage Policy or Privacy Policy;
• Should we need to carry out maintenance or emergency maintenance;
• Should there be any breach of security from your side.

Security of Systems
We will endeavour to implement the necessary measures to ensure the security and safety of the systems, but we give no warranty that security breaches will not occur.  It is therefore important that the customer must report to us should any incident with regards to security and safety of systems occur.  The customer must not do anything that will compromise and/or endanger the security and safety of the systems.  No malicious programs must be uploaded.  All use of our services and products must be in accordance and be aligned with our Acceptable Usage Policy.  For more information with regards to the security aspects please refer to the Acceptable Usage Policy published on our website and updated from time to time.

Duration, Suspension and Termination
Netwide may, without liability to the Customer, terminate or suspend the services:

• for any material breach of this agreement. Netwide will afford you a reasonable opportunity to remedy the breach, considering the nature of the breach in question. In such circumstances you will have no right to terminate this agreement, or any other Service Schedule, withhold or suspend payment or be entitled to a reduction in any charge or have any other right or remedy against Netwide arising out of such suspension;
• for any maintenance, repairs or improvements to any part of our Equipment and/or Services or the network that needs to be carried out;
• if we have to do so by law or in line with a contract or agreement;
• should you fail to pay any amount on the due date for payment – in the event of any outstanding payments we will reserve the right to suspend your services, you will be duly notified of the outstanding amount owed by you and the subsequent suspension of your services, should you still however be in breach of the agreement and not proceed with making your payment and paying any outstanding amounts due by you we may proceed with the termination of your services and the subsequent deletion of your data. We will retain no backups of your data.
• Any suspension of the Equipment and/or Services will not constitute termination of the Agreement and we may require you to pay a reconnection fee to resume the Equipment and/or Services together with the relevant charges.

Any month-to-month agreement may be terminated by either Netwide or the Customer by giving one calendar month notice.
In the event of a Fixed Term agreement cancellation, you will remain liable for all amounts owing to Netwide up to the date of cancellation or a reasonable cancellation penalty determined by Netwide.
In the event that you continue to use the Equipment and/or Services, despite the termination of the agreement, you will remain liable for and promptly pay on demand all amounts that would have been due to Netwide as a result of the use of or access to the Equipment and/or Service and this agreement shall be deemed to continue to apply until such time as all amounts due to Netwide have been paid in full.

Personal Information
You agree that we may hold all names and other information in the Application Form you have supplied us, in a computerised database or any form of media that will record your information as supplied by yourself or on behalf of your company or legal entity.  You agree that such data may be processed and may, in certain circumstances, be supplied to and processed by our suppliers to enable the provision and maintenance of the Equipment and/or Services.
Netwide may, from time to time, be required by law to co-operate with and/or disclose data to government and / or other authorities.
Netwide is entitled to subject your application to a credit referencing or risk assessment process. This means that we may use the information, including personal information, provided by you and request and receive information about you and your credit record from registered credit bureaus in order to determine whether you will be in a position to meet your obligations under the intended Agreement. Netwide will be entitled to decline activating any Equipment and/or Service(s) that you apply for if Netwide reasonably determines that you may not be able to meet your commitments under this Agreement.
It remains the customer’s responsibility to inform Netwide of any changes to customer information.

Services
Netwide undertakes that all Equipment and/or Services are of a high quality to all customers. However, we provide services and do not guarantee that the services will at all times be free of errors or interruptions, always be available, conform to your delivery time requirements or fit for any purpose. In order for us to maintain the quality and safety of our Equipment and/or Services, we may from time to time:

•  Suspend, close down or restrict the whole or any part of the Equipment and/or Services/Products in order to carry out emergency or other repairs, maintenance and/or improvements or to prevent overload of the network or to preserve the safety, security or integrity of our network and services, although we will give you as much notice as is reasonably practical before doing so and will endeavour to carry out such works during the relevant scheduled maintenance periods.

The Customer agrees that all other people who use any Equipment and/or Services/Products under their account will comply with this Agreement. You will remain responsible for all transactions and any other activities that may occur under your username and password.
It remains your responsibility to keep copies and back-ups of your data. Netwide will endeavour to ensure protection of any data or content which you may receive or upload to our servers, but:

• we will not be liable for any direct or indirect loss of damages of any kind, which you may suffer as a result of the loss of your data, or any part thereof, for any reason whatsoever;
• we will, unless otherwise required by law, delete all your data from our servers upon termination of the Agreement and any other agreements between us.

Equipment and Software
Unless paid for in full, all Equipment remains the property of Netwide.
You are responsible for making sure that our equipment is safe and always used properly.
To do this, you agree to do the following:

• follow the instructions we have given you;
• keep the equipment under your control (for example, you may not sell it, lend it or hire it out to anyone else, put it up as security for a loan or mortgage, or allow it to be seized under any legal process against you);
• insure any of our equipment against any loss, theft or damage for the full replacement value;
• not tamper with, misuse, neglect or damage our equipment;
• not remove, tamper with or cross out any words or labels on our equipment;
• always take proper care to prevent the loss or theft of our equipment.

You must immediately notify us if your equipment is lost, stolen or destroyed. We will charge you for any loss or damage to the equipment. Should you wish to terminate the services, your obligations under the agreement will continue to apply.

In the event that this agreement is ended, either by Netwide or you, you must return our equipment to us, unless paid for in full, or make it available for collection in a reasonable condition, allowing for fair wear and tear. If you fail to return or make available the equipment for collection for any reason, we are entitled to charge you for the replacement and reasonable recovery costs of the equipment.
You authorise us and our representatives to enter or have access to your premises as reasonably necessary, at mutually agreed times, to install, maintain, inspect, repair or remove the equipment.
Any software and accompanying documentation we provide to you remains our property or that of our licensors.  You will take all reasonable steps to protect such software or documentation from theft, loss or damage. You will be obliged to review and agree to the applicable end user license agreement before installing or using the software.  Unless otherwise provided in the applicable end user license agreement, all end user license agreements will terminate upon termination of the Agreement.

Intellectual Property Rights
If, in our opinion, the display of any material or information, provided by you, is or would be in breach of any rights (including intellectual property rights) we may refuse or terminate such display.  You agree to comply with all laws (local and international) applicable to Intellectual Property Rights in respect of any data, information or files accessed, stored or retrieved by you.

Billing and Payment
Billing will commence on the Activation Date of your Equipment and/or Services.  Netwide will provide you with an itemised invoice and you agree to pay all amounts due under this Agreement in consideration for the Equipment and/or Services as per the Application Form you have submitted.  Payments are due as shown on your invoice. If payment is not received on the due date, you may be liable to interest or other charges for your non-payment.  We may also suspend or cancel (reminders will be sent for overdue payments) your services and/or products and charge you the costs of any legal or debt recovery proceedings to recover any debt you owe Netwide under this agreement. We will use reasonable endeavours to inform you well in advance about the possibility of disconnection or suspension in the case of non-payment.  Your first invoice may be for part of a month and you will be charged a fee calculated pro-rata, from the date of activation plus the subscription cost for the next month.  Debit orders will commence on the Activation Date and will continue and not be revoked until termination of this agreement or until all amounts due and owing to Netwide have been fully and finally discharged.   If any changes are proposed to any terms of an agreement between Netwide and a Network Operator or Supplier which impacts on the provision of any services or products in terms of this Agreement, Netwide shall be entitled to amend the terms, fees or charges for its services or products at any time on 30 (thirty) days’ notice.

Privacy
Our Privacy Policy specifies how customer personal information is dealt with. This policy is available on our website for your viewing.  Netwide has the right to take any action necessary to uphold our network security, performance and reliability.

Liability to Customer
Netwide will not be liable for:

• loss or destroyed data or software;
• any indirect loss or any loss which is not a reasonably foreseeable consequence of Netwide negligence or breach of this agreement (including loss of profits, business, revenue, contracts or anticipated savings, wasted expenses or any other purely financial losses);
• any business loss (including loss of profits, business, revenue, contracts or anticipated savings, wasted expenses or any other purely financial losses) even if such loss was reasonably foreseeable or if we had been advised of the possibility of you incurring such loss;
  Netwide shall not be held liable for, and you will have no claim of any nature against Netwide as a result of:
• Any unavailability or interruption in the service due to an Uncontrolled Event;
• Any damage, cost or claim or loss which you may suffer or incur arising from any suspension or termination of the service for any reason.

Indemnity
You hereby unconditionally and irreversibly indemnify Netwide and agree to indemnify and hold Netwide harmless against all loss, damages, claims, liability and/or costs, of whatsoever nature, howsoever and whensoever arising, suffered or incurred by Netwide as a result of any claim instituted against Netwide by a third party (other than you) as a result of (without limitation):

• your use of our services or products other than as allowed or prescribed in the Agreement;
• any other cause whatsoever relating to the Agreement or the provision of services or products to you where you have acted wrongfully or failed to act when you had a duty to so act.
  

General
Netwide reserves the right to amend our Terms and Conditions, as well as this Agreement from time to time. It is your obligation to read through our Policies and Terms and Conditions on a regular basis and familiarise yourself.  You agree that this Agreement constitutes the whole of the agreement between yourself and Netwide. No other agreements or representations, verbal or written, shall be binding to either party.  You agree that the details you have given us are true and accurate and that you will notify us if any of your details change.  Netwide reserves the right to change these conditions from time to time as it sees fit and your continued use of the site, our services and/or products will signify your acceptance of any adjustment to these terms. If there are any changes to our policies, we will announce that these changes have been made on our home page and on other key pages on our site. If there are any changes in how we use our site customers' Personally Identifiable Information, notification by email or postal mail will be made to those affected by the change. Any changes to our privacy policy will be posted on our site 30 days prior to these changes taking place. You are therefore advised to re-read this statement on a regular basis.