This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) identifies and sets forth some requirements and restrictions on the use by Client and Client’s Subscribers of the Products and Services provided by TelWare, and the TelWare platform used by Client to deliver such Products and Services, and is incorporated by reference in the Master Services Agreement (“MSA”) between TelWare and Client. The client must review and comply with the AUP laws and guidelines, however, this AUP is not intended to be (i) interpreted as, relied upon, or used as a substitute for the advice of legal counsel, (ii) or considered to be a complete and exhaustive list of all laws and regulations applicable to Client’s use of the TelWare platform, Products, and/or Services. In addition to the below laws, various other state and foreign laws may apply to the Client’s use of the TelWare platform, Products, and/or Services. Each Client is advised to obtain the advice of its own legal counsel before using the TelWare platform, Products, and/or Services.

Client’s access to the TelWare platform, Products and/or Services, and that of Client’s Subscribers, may be restricted, suspended, or terminated for violation of this AUP, at TelWare’s sole discretion.

TelWare reserves the right to change or modify the terms of the AUP at any time, effective immediately when posted to the TelWare website. Client’s use of the TelWare platform, Products, and/or Services after changes to the AUP are posted to the TelWare website shall constitute acceptance of any changes or additional terms.

TelWare maintains a zero-tolerance policy for any violation of this AUP and requires that its Clients implement and enforce this same zero-tolerance policy.

Capitalized terms used in this AUP shall have the meaning as given in the Client’s Master Services Agreement (MSA).

1. General Statement

TelWare is dedicated to the use of Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) and related technologies to improve the telecommunications industry and the lives of individuals throughout the world.

TelWare’s goal is to deliver carrier-grade Communications Services to all its Clients, at a reasonable price and to make available all the benefits that VoIP offers as broadly as possible. In order to achieve this goal, an Acceptable Use Policy is necessary.

2. Abuse

Client and Client’s Subscribers may not use the TelWare platform, Products and/or Services to engage in, foster, or promote illegal, abusive, or irresponsible behavior, including but not limited to:

1. Restricted Content.
Any purpose prohibited by applicable international, federal, state, or local law, rule, or regulation (which laws may impose more stringent requirements than the guidelines described herein).
a. Child pornography
b. Unlawful gambling activities
c. Threats, harassment, and abuse of any individual or organization
d. Fraudulent activities
e. Terroristic or other solicitations advocating human violence and/or hate crimes based upon religion, ethnicity, or country of origin.
f. Unlawful high yield investment plans (Ponzi schemes)

2. FCC and FTC Rules and Regulations – United States
Using the TelWare platform for auto-dialing, robocalls, telemarketing, high volume fax, text messaging, voicemail broadcasting or call “blasting” or any other transmission that violates any provision of the Federal Communications Commission’s (FCC) Telephone Consumer Protection Act (TCPA), the Federal Trade Commission’s (FTC) National Do Not Call Implementation Act (DNCIA), the FTC Telemarketing Sales Rule (TSR), or other Federal regulatory protections.

3. Use of the TelWare platform in any way that is defamatory, libelous, or invasive of another’s privacy or any similar behavior.

4. Interference with any other Client of TelWare including, without limitation, deliberate attempts to call flood, broadcast attack, or overload a TelWare platform.

5. Collecting or using information without the consent of the owner of the information, including without limitation collecting email addresses, screen names, or other identifiers (sometimes referred to as phishing, scamming, password robbery, spidering, and data harvesting).

6. Any conduct that is likely to result in retaliation against TelWare or TelWare employees, officers, representatives, or other agents.

7. Any conduct that results in retaliation against TelWare, which includes but is not limited to engaging in behavior that results in any virus, malicious software (malware), ransomware or hacking being implemented against TelWare, or any TelWare server or firewall being the target of a distributed denial-of-service attack (DDoS) or any other technological cyberattack.

8. US Congressional CAN-SPAM Act of 2003
The client must comply with the Controlling the Assault of Non-Solicited Pornography and Marketing Act (CAN-SPAM) of 2003 and other laws and regulations applicable to bulk or commercial email in regards to the TelWare platform or any third party products and/or services connected to or utilized with the TelWare platform.

9. Client must comply with the rules and conventions for postings to any TelWare forum, chat group, or another newsgroup medium in which TelWare participates. This includes the prohibition of off-topic commercial messages, mass postings, or any other content deemed offensive, derogatory or inappropriate, and TelWare reserves the right to remove or edit content or users, at its sole discretion.

10. Fair Use
TelWare unlimited usage plans are for normal use and are plan specific. Normal, reasonable use on TelWare unlimited plans must be in accordance with the Acceptable Use Policy, located at https://www.telware.com/learn/acceptable-use-policy and the applicable Sales Order, and consistent with the types and levels of usage by typical Clients on the same plan. “Typical” refers to the calling and connection patterns of at least 90% of TelWare’s Clients on the same business plan. Excessive or unauthorized use beyond that normally experienced by TelWare’s Clients, in TelWare’s sole and absolute discretion, may result in unlimited usage plan service termination. Prior to taking such action, TelWare will attempt to contact the Client to discuss the cause for the excessive or abusive use and the required remediation to continue the Service. Should unlimited usage plan service be terminated, usage will be billed at the current prevailing rate as indicated in the TelWare knowledge base or by contacting the TelWare sales department and requesting the current rate(s).

TelWare may determine that abnormal, unreasonable, or impermissible usage is occurring, and may take appropriate steps, including suspension or termination of Service, even if the number of minutes or bandwidth used is not excessive when a Client’s usage or connection patterns during more than one month reflect excessive usage, including but not limited to :

- call lengths;

- frequency of call forwarding/transferring;

- short duration calls;

- number of calls made during a month;

- number of calls made to a 3rd party conference calling service during a month;

- number of calls terminated and re-initiated consecutively, which, in the aggregate, result in excessive call lengths during a specific time frame; or

- other calling patterns indicative of an attempt to evade enforcement of this Acceptable Use Policy (AUP)

In addition, unlimited usage plans cannot, under any circumstances, be used for call centers, continuous or extensive call forwarding, auto-dialing (including automatic outbound dialing systems or call distribution systems), telemarketing (including without limitation charitable or political solicitation, and/or polling), transcription services, fax “blasting”, junk faxing or fax spamming, broadcast fax, ANI or CLI spoofing or other high volume or multi-person calling or faxing purposes.

3. Subscriber Care

The client must provide a phone number and email address for Subscriber complaints in a conspicuous location on the Client’s primary website. The client must use all reasonably available resources to resolve Subscribers’ complaints and service affecting issues.

4. Remote Access to Servers/IP Addresses

The client must provide remote access to all server(s) hosting the TelWare platform and any third-party applications utilized in the delivery of the License(s), Product(s), and/or Service(s) to the Client and its Subscribers. Additionally, the Client may only use IP addresses documented and approved by TelWare in connection with the TelWare platform and related Product(s) and Service(s). The client agrees that if the IP Numbers utilized for the Client’s account are listed on an abuse database Client will be in violation of this AUP, and TelWare may take reasonable action to protect its platform, including suspension and/or termination of the Client’s Product(s) and Service(s), regardless of whether the IP numbers were listed on an abuse database as a result of Client’s actions or those of Client’s Subscribers.

5. Copyrighted Material

The client may not use the TelWare platform to download, distribute or otherwise use in any manner any music, audio, text, or other works protected by copyright law unless Client has been expressly authorized by the owner of the copyright or otherwise permitted by established copyright law for said use.

6. Intellectual Property Rights – Trademarks/Service Marks

Any and all marks are and shall remain the exclusive property of TelWare, its Suppliers, and/or their Affiliates, as the case may be, and TelWare grants Client a limited license to reproduce the marks only to the extent expressly provided for in the Master Services Agreement. Client shall not perform any act that would infringe upon, harm, or contest the validity of any mark or rights therein or hinder or prevent TelWare, its Suppliers and/or their Affiliates from utilizing, licensing, or sublicensing the marks in any manner, nor use, alter or exploit in any manner any of the marks, except in such manner and media as TelWare may consent to in writing. The client acknowledges that any right to use the marks is conditioned upon the Client’s observance of the provisions of the MSA and this AUP regarding Intellectual Property Rights and the marketing of the Products and/or Services. The client shall display the marks in accordance with TelWare guidelines for using trademarks as in effect from time to time and as provided to Client upon TelWare receiving request, in writing. Notwithstanding the foregoing, any change by Client, its Suppliers or any of their Affiliates to the marks guidelines which affects Client’s usage shall not apply retroactively to Client’s past usage which conformed with the then-current guidelines and TelWare shall permit Client a reasonable period of time in which to conform with the new guidelines. TelWare retains the right to specify and approve the quality and standards of all materials on which the marks are displayed and to inspect from time to time samples of such materials. If requested by TelWare, additional agreements and conditions regarding manufacture and quality control will be set forth in a separate Addendum to the Master Services Agreement. Failure of Client to adhere to such standards of quality as provided herein shall be grounds for TelWare to terminate Client’s rights to use such marks and to terminate the Agreement. All advertising and other promotional, packaging, and similar materials used by Client concerning TelWare Products and/or Services shall bear such trademark notices and legends as TelWare may reasonably require pursuant to this AUP.

7. Links from the Website or Knowledge Base

If the TelWare Website or TelWare Knowledge Base contains links to other websites and/or resources provided by third parties (including but not limited to downloads of any kind), these links and resources are provided for the Client’s convenience only. This includes links contained in advertisements, including banner advertisements and sponsored links. TelWare has no control over the content of those sites or resources and accepts no responsibility for them or for any loss or damage that may arise from the Client’s use of them. If Client decides to access any of the third-party websites linked to the TelWare Website or TelWare Knowledge Base, Client does so entirely at their own risk and are subject to the terms and conditions of use for such websites.

8. Disclaimer of Warranties

The client understands that TelWare cannot and does not guarantee or warrant that files available for downloading from the internet, the TelWare Website, or TelWare Knowledge Base will be free of viruses or other destructive code. To the fullest extent allowed by law, TELWARE WILL NOT BE LIABLE FOR ANY LOSS OR DAMAGE CAUSED BY A DISTRIBUTED DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK, VIRUSES, OR OTHER TECHNOLOGICALLY HARMFUL MATERIAL THAT MAY INFECT YOUR COMPUTER EQUIPMENT, COMPUTER PROGRAMS, DATA, OR OTHER PROPRIETARY MATERIAL DUE TO YOUR USE OF THE TELWARE WEBSITE, TELWARE KNOWLEDGE BASE OR ANY SERVICES OR ITEMS OBTAINED THROUGH THE WEBSITE OR TO YOUR DOWNLOADING OF ANY MATERIAL POSTED ON IT, OR ON ANY WEBSITE LINKED TO IT.

Client’s use of the TelWare Website and/or TelWare Knowledge Base (referenced collectively as the “Website/KB”, its contents, and any services or items obtained through the TelWare Website/KB is solely at the Client’s own risk. The Website/KB, its contents, and any services or items obtained through the Website/KB are provided on an “as is” and “as available” basis, without any warranties of any kind, either express or implied. Neither TelWare nor any person associated with TelWare makes any warranty or representation with respect to the completeness, security, reliability, quality, accuracy, or availability of the TelWare Website/KB. Without limiting the foregoing, neither TelWare nor any person associated with TelWare represents or warrants that the TelWare Website/KB, its contents, and any services or items obtained through the TelWare Website/KB will be accurate, reliable, error-free, or uninterrupted, that defects will be corrected, that the TelWare Website/KB or the Server(s) that makes the TelWare Website/KB available are free of viruses or other harmful components, or that the TelWare Website/KB or any services or items obtained through the Website/KB will otherwise meet Client’s needs or expectations.

TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PROVIDED BY LAW, TELWARE HEREBY DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, WHETHER EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, STATUTORY, OR OTHERWISE, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO ANY WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, NON-INFRINGEMENT, AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE.

9. Indemnification

The client agrees to defend, indemnify, and hold harmless TelWare and its respective officers, directors, shareholders, employees, agents, and representatives against all damages, claims, liabilities, judgments, awards, losses, and other expenses, including without limitation reasonable attorney’s fees and costs, whether or not a lawsuit or other proceeding is filed, arising out of or relating to Client’s violation of this Acceptable Use Policy.

10. Inquiries

Inquiries regarding this AUP should be directed to our Legal Department at legal@telware.com.

11. Complaints about Abuse or Breach of the AUP

If you wish to inform TelWare about a breach of this AUP please contact a TelWare representative or email our Legal Department at legal@telware.com.

12. Best Practices

The client must follow all relevant industry guidelines, standards, and best practices, such as those provided by the Internet Engineering Task Force (IETF) and the Internet Society (ISOC) when utilizing the TelWare platform. The client may purchase Professional Services from TelWare if the Client is unclear as to best practices for the TelWare platform.

13. Compliance

TelWare may test and otherwise monitor the Client’s compliance (and that of the Client’s Subscribers) with all these requirements. Client’s access to the TelWare platform and any related Products and Services, and that of Client’s Subscribers, may be restricted, suspended, or terminated for violation of this AUP, at TelWare’s sole discretion. Any failure to enforce this policy in every instance does not amount to a waiver of TelWare’s rights.

This AUP was last updated in January 2021.