Complaints Procedure

Sep 30, 2014

Code of Conduct complaint and disciplinary procedure (v3.2)

This is a procedure for handling complaints that one of ISPA’s members has breached the Code of Conduct.
(Kindly note target times are indicative only and do not constitute a service level commitment. They are measured both against each individual complaint as well as against the average of all complaints received.)

  1. A complaint is initiated against a member of ISPA. This complaint must be submitted via email or via the ISPA web site and will be processed by a Code of Conduct compliance officer appointed by ISPA.
    ISPA has the right to investigate any transgression of or non-compliance with the Code of Conduct by a member, and lodge a complaint against that member using the process outlined below.
  2. The complaint must contain the following information:
    • If the complaint does contain all of these points, proceed to 3.
    • If the complaint does not contain all of these points, a form reply is sent back to the complainant requesting that the missing information be provided.

End of procedure.

  • The name of the service provider against whom the complaint is being made
  • The full names, address and contact details of the complainant
  • Identification of the part of the Code of Conduct which has allegedly been breached
  • A detailed description of the actions (or inactions) which resulted in the alleged breach
  • An indication of whether the complainant has made an effort to resolve the complaint directly with the service provider.
    An acknowledgement of receipt of the complaint is sent to the complainant.
    A few basic sanity checks are done, to ensure that the complaint is valid:

    • If the complaint passes the sanity tests, then proceed to 5.
  • If either any of these sanity checks fail, a letter is sent to the complainant explaining the reason the complaint cannot be addressed, or noting that it has already been dealt with.
  • Is the service provider a member of ISPA?
  • Has an adjudicator or an appeals panel already dealt with an earlier complaint on the same issue?
  • Is the complaint about an Internet service?
  • A copy of the complaint is forwarded to the service provider.

Target turn-around time for steps 1-5 is 3 working days.
The service provider against whom the complaint has been initiated is given five working days to remedy the complaint. If no response has been provided after five days, an attempt must be made to contact the service provider by telephone to inform them that the complaint remains unresolved. On request, and at the discretion of the Code of Conduct compliance officer, an additional five days may be granted for a response. If, after this time, the complaint has not been resolved to the satisfaction of both parties, the complaint is forwarded to an adjudicator with a request for a review. Once a complaint has been forwarded to an adjudicator, both the complainant and the service provider must be notified.
The adjudicator must consider the merits of the complaint, taking into account:

  • The complaint
  • Any response the service provider wishes to make to the complaint
  • The Code of Conduct
  • The associated practical recommendations
  • Any previous complaints made by the complainant
  • Any previous complaints made against the service provider

If there is evidence that the complainant has lodged a complaint or dispute, or instituted an action with any other regulatory body or in a Court, and where the subject matter of that complaint, dispute or action is substantially the same as the subject matter of the complaint lodged by that complainant with ISPA, the adjudicator may at his discretion hear the complaint, dismiss the complaint, or suspend the complaint until such time as determined by the adjudicator.
The adjudicator may request that either the complainant or the service provider or both provide additional information relevant to the complaint. The adjudicator must specify a time frame for the provision of this information. If either party fails to provide the required information within this time frame, the adjudicator must proceed to evaluate the complaint without the benefit of the additional information.
After considering the merits of the complaint, the adjudicator can make any one or more of the following resolutions:

  • The complaint is not valid
  • The complaint should be referred back to the service provider with a further opportunity for remedial action (return to step 6.)
  • The service provider must undertake appropriate remedial action (including the provision of a refund), as specified
  • The service provider should be issued with a reprimand or warning
  • The service provider should be fined
  • The service provide must take-down content (when the complaint stems from a valid take-down notification)
  • The service provider should be suspended from ISPA subject to conditions determined by the adjudicator
  • The service provider’s membership of ISPA should be revoked
  • ISPA should publish a report containing the identity of the service provider, the details of the breach of the Code of Conduct, and any action taken regarding the breach
  • ISPA should report unlawful conduct or content to the relevant law enforcement authority

If the adjudicator requested that the service provider supply additional information (in step 9), and the service provider failed to do so, then the adjudicator may take the service provider’s failure to assist into account when making his decision.
Copies of the adjudicator’s resolutions and the reasons for those resolutions are forwarded to the service provider, the complainant and ISPA’s Management Committee.
Target turn-around time for steps 7-9 is 3 calendar weeks
If either the complainant or the service provider believes that the adjudicator has made an incorrect decision, an appeal can be lodged with ISPA’s Management Committee within ten working days of the distribution of the adjudicator’s resolution to the parties. If no appeal is lodged within ten working days, then the matter will be considered closed.
ISPA’s Management Committee can either reject the appeal, or refer the case to an appeals panel. A copy of the Management Committee’s decision and the reason for the decision is sent to both the service provider and the complainant.
If the complaint is referred to an appeals panel, return to step 7, but with the appeals panel fulfilling the role of the adjudicator for steps 7-11. A complaint can only be appealed once to the Management Committee.
If the Management Committee rejects an appeal, that is the end of this procedure.
ISPA must retain records of all complaints and disciplinary proceedings for a minimum period of three years.
Target turn-around time for the complete process (excluding an appeal, if any) is 5 calendar weeks.

Lodge a Complaint

Code of Conduct

Sep 30, 2014

This Code of Conduct and the related documents were formally adopted by ISPA during its Annual General Meeting on 2002-09-12.

Significant revisions were made by the Code of Conduct working group on 2007-01-31, 2007-12-04, 2008-02-21 and again on 2008-07-13 in order for the Code of Conduct to comply with the guidelines for the recognition of an Industry Representative Body in terms of the ECT Act. This revised Code of Conduct was formally adopted by ISPA on 2008-08-22.

A. Freedom of expression

  1. ISPA members must respect the constitutional right to freedom of speech and expression.

B. Privacy and confidentiality

  1. ISPA members must respect the constitutional right of Internet users to personal privacy and privacy of communications.
  2. ISPA members must respect the confidentiality of customers’ personal information and electronic communications, and must not gather, retain, sell or distribute such information to any other party without the written consent of the customer, except where required to do so by law.

C. Consumer protection and provision of information to customers

  1. ISPA members must provide the following information on their web sites: their registered name, email address, telephone and fax numbers and physical address.
  2. ISPA members must inform their customers that members of ISPA must uphold and abide by this Code of Conduct. Members’ web sites must include a reference to ISPA membership, a prominent copy of ISPA’s logo and a link to the section of the ISPA web site that contains the Code of Conduct, complaints and disciplinary procedure and the take-down procedure.
  3. ISPA members must have an Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) for their Internet access services. This policy must be made available to customers prior to the commencement of any such service agreement and at any time thereafter, on request.
  4.  In their dealings with consumers, other businesses, each other and ISPA, ISPA members must act fairly, reasonably, professionally and in good faith. In particular, pricing information for services must be clearly and accurately conveyed to customers and potential customers.
  5. ISPA members may only offer service levels which are reasonably within their technical and practical abilities.
  6. ISPA members must comply with all compulsory advertising standards and regulations.

D. Standard terms and conditions

  1. ISPA members must provide access to their standard terms and conditions on their web sites. These terms and conditions must be available to any potential customer prior to the commencement of any contract.
  2. Standard terms and conditions must contain:
    • All information and terms relevant to the relationship with the recipient of the service;
    • a requirement that the customer will not knowingly create, store or disseminate any illegal content;
    • a commitment to lawful conduct in the use of the services, including copyright and intellectual property rights; and
    • an undertaking not to send or promote the sending of spam.
  3. Standard terms and conditions must give an ISPA member the right to remove any content hosted by that member which it considers illegal or for which it has received a take-down notice.
  4. Standard terms and conditions must give the ISPA member the right to suspend or terminate the service of any customer that does not comply with the terms and conditions, Acceptable Use Policy or any other contractual obligations.

E. Unsolicited communications (“spam”)

  1. ISPA members must not send or promote the sending of unsolicited bulk email and must take reasonable measures to ensure that their networks are not used by others for this purpose. ISPA members must also comply with the provisions of section 45(1) of the ECT Act, and must not send or promote the sending of unsolicited commercial communications that do not comply with the provisions of section 45(1) of the ECT Act.
  2. ISPA members must provide a facility for dealing with complaints regarding unsolicited bulk email and unsolicited commercial communications that do not comply with the provisions of section 45(1) of the ECT Act originating from their networks and must react expeditiously to complaints received.

F. Cyber crime

  1. 16. ISPA members must take all reasonable measures to prevent unauthorised access to, interception of, or interference with any data on that members network and under its control.

G. Protection of minors

  1. ISPA members must take reasonable steps to ensure that they do not offer paid content subscription services to minors without written permission from a parent or guardian.
  2. ISPA members must provide Internet access customers with information about procedures and software applications which can be used to assist in the control and monitoring of minors’ access to Internet content. This requirement does not apply to corporate customers where no minors have Internet access.

H. Lawful conduct

  1. ISPA members must conduct themselves lawfully at all times and must co-operate with law enforcement authorities where there is a legal obligation to do so.
  2. ISPA members must respect intellectual property rights and not knowingly infringe such rights.
  3. ISPA members must uphold and abide by this Code of Conduct and adhere to the associated complaints and disciplinary procedures.

I. Unlawful content and activity

  1. There is no general obligation on any ISPA member to monitor services provided to customers, but a member is obliged to take appropriate action where it becomes aware of any unlawful content or conduct.
  2. ISPA members must not knowingly host or provide links to unlawful content, except when required to do so by law.
  3. If an ISPA member becomes aware of conduct or content which has been determined to be illegal, it must suspend or terminate the relevant customer’s service and report the conduct or content to the relevant law enforcement authority. The ISPA member must report such cases and any action taken to ISPA within a reasonable period of time.
  4. ISPA members must establish a notification and take-down procedure for unlawful content and activity in accordance with ISPA’s take-down notification procedure, and respond expeditiously to such notifications.
  5. ISPA members must submit a report to ISPA on the steps taken in response to a take-down notice within a reasonable period of time after such a notice is lodged.
  6. ISPA members must keep a record of all take-down notices received and any materials taken down for a period of at least three years unless possession of such materials is illegal.

J. Internet standards

  1. ISPA members must operate with due regard for established Internet best practices, as set out in the various request for comment (RFC) documents and as mandated from time to time by established and respected Internet governance structures.

K. Compliance with the Code of Conduct

  1. ISPA members must receive and investigate complaints made in accordance with this Code of Conduct, unless such complaints are frivolous, unreasonable, vexatious or in bad faith.
  2. ISPA members must make all reasonable efforts to resolve complaints in accordance with the complaints procedure.
  3. ISPA members must co-operate with ISPA in accordance with the complaints and disciplinary procedures and comply with any decisions taken by ISPA with respect to the Code of Conduct and complaint and disciplinary procedure.
  4. ISPA members must submit an annual statement to ISPA confirming their compliance with the Code of Conduct.
  5. ISPA must audit the compliance of ISPA’s members with the Code of Conduct annually and must perform regular spot checks in this regard.
  6. ISPA may investigate the conduct and compliance with the Code of Conduct by members on its own initiative and may, if appropriate, institute disciplinary proceedings as set out in the Code of Conduct complaint and disciplinary procedure.

L. Alterations

  1. ISPA reserves the right to make alterations to this Code of Conduct from time to time. Such amendments are binding on all ISPA members. The current Code of Conduct will be maintained on the ISPA’s web site.

We are a proud member of ISPA and uphold the ISPA Code of Conduct

ISPA-LOGO

General Terms and Conditions

Sep 29, 2014

General Notice

Thank you for reading About IT Online Acceptable Use Policy (AUP). By accessing this website, or by contracting with us for service, you agree, without limitation or qualification, to be bound by this policy and the terms and conditions it contains, as well as any other additional terms, conditions, rules or policies which are displayed to you in connection with this service/website.
The purpose of this AUP is to comply with the relevant laws of the Republic; to specify to customers and users of our service/website what activities and online behavior are considered an unacceptable use of the service/website; to protect the integrity of our network and to specify the consequences that may flow from undertaking such prohibited activities.
This document contains a number of legal obligations which you are presumed to be familiar with. As such, we encourage you to read this document thoroughly and direct any queries to our customer services/legal department at +27-12-460-1000.
About IT Online respects the rights of our customers and users of our services to freedom of speech and expression; access to information; privacy; human dignity; religion, belief and opinion in accordance with our constitution. We undertake not to interfere with any of those rights unless required to do so by law; unless those rights are exercised for unlawful purposes; or unless the exercise of those rights threatens to cause harm to another person or affect the integrity of our network.

ISPA membership and Code of Conduct

About IT Online confirms that in compliance with section 72 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act 25 of 2002, About IT Online is a member of the Internet Service Providers’ Association (ISPA) and has adopted and implemented the association’s official Code of Conduct, which can be viewed at http://ispa.org.za/code-of-conduct.

Unlawful Use

About IT Online services/website may only be used for lawful purposes and activities. We prohibit any use of our website/network including the transmission, storage and distribution of any material or content using our network that violates any law or regulation of the Republic. This includes:

Any violation of local and international laws prohibiting child pornography; obscenity; discrimination (including racial, gender or religious slurs) and hate speech; or speech designed to incite violence or hatred, or threats to cause bodily harm.
Any activity designed to defame, abuse, stalk, harass or physically threaten any individual in the Republic or beyond its borders; including any attempt to link to, post, transmit or otherwise distribute any inappropriate or defamatory material.
Any violation of Intellectual Property laws including materials protected by local and international copyright, trademarks and trade secrets. Moreover About IT Online cannot be held liable if you make any unlawful use of any multimedia content accessed through the search facility provided by About IT Online network, or otherwise available through access to our network, whether for commercial or noncommercial purposes.
Any violation of the individual’s right to privacy, including any effort to collect personal data of third parties without their consent.
Any fraudulent activity whatsoever, including dubious financial practices, such as pyramid schemes; the impersonation of another subscriber without their consent; or any attempt to enter into a transaction with About IT Online on behalf of another subscriber without their consent.
Any violation of the exchange control laws of the Republic.
Any activity that results in the sale, transmission or distribution of pirated or illegal software.
Failing to respond to a request by a recipient of unsolicited mail to be removed from any mailing or direct marketing list and continuing to send unsolicited mail following such a request for removal.
Where any user resides outside of the Republic, permanently or temporarily, such user will be subject to the laws of the country in which s/he is currently resident and which apply. On presentation of a legal order to do so, or under obligation through an order for mutual foreign legal assistance, About IT Online will assist foreign law enforcement agencies (LEA) in the investigation and prosecution of a crime committed using About IT Online resources, including the provisioning of all personal identifiable data.

Prohibited Activities

The following sections outline activities that are considered an unacceptable use of About IT Online services/network/website and also detail the guidelines for acceptable use of certain facilities/services, as the case may be.

Threats to Network Security

Any activity which threatens the functioning, security and/or integrity of About IT Online’s network is unacceptable.

This includes:

Any efforts to attempt to gain unlawful and unauthorized access to the network or circumvent any of the security measures established by About IT Online for this goal;
Any effort to use About IT Online’s equipment to circumvent the user authentication or security of any host, network or account (“cracking” or “hacking”);
Forging of any TCP-IP packet header (spoofing) or any part of the header information in an email or a newsgroup posting;
Any effort to breach or attempt to breach the security of another user or attempt to gain access to any other person’s computer, software, or data without the knowledge and consent of such person;
Any activity which threatens to disrupt the service offered by About IT Online through “denial of service attacks”; flooding of a network, or overloading a service or any unauthorized probes (“scanning” or “nuking”) of others’ networks;
Any activity which in any way threatens the security of the network by knowingly posting, transmitting, linking to or otherwise distributing any information or software which contains a virus; Trojan horse; worm, lock, mail bomb, cancelbot or other harmful, destructive or disruptive component.
Any unauthorized monitoring of data or traffic on the network without About IT Online’s explicit, written consent.
Any unsolicited mass mailing activity including direct marketing; spam and chain letters for commercial or other purposes, without the consent of the recipients of those mails.
Public Space and Third Party Content and sites

In reading this AUP or in signing a service contract with About IT Online, you acknowledge that About IT Online has no power to control the content of the information passing over the Internet and its applications, including e-mail; chat rooms; news groups; or other similar fora, and that About IT Online cannot be held responsible or liable, directly or indirectly, for any of the abovementioned content, in any way for any loss or damage of any kind incurred as a result of, or in connection with your use of, or reliance on, any such content.
Our services also offer access to numerous third party webpage’s. You acknowledge that we exercise absolutely no control over such third party content, or sites and in such cases, our network is merely a conduit or means of access and transmission. This includes, but is not limited to, third party content contained on or accessible through the About IT Online network websites and web pages or sites displayed as search results or contained within a directory of links on the About IT Online network. It remains your responsibility to review and evaluate any such content, and that any and all risk associated with the use of, or reliance on, such content rests with you.
About IT Online holds the right to block dangerous ports and Illegal activities through our backbone infrastructure at any time.
Access to public Internet spaces, such as bulletin boards, Usenet groups, chat rooms and moderated forums is entirely voluntary and at your own risk.
About IT Online employees do not moderate any of these services, or your communications, transmissions or use of these services.

We do not undertake any responsibility for any content contained therein, or for any breaches of your right to privacy that you may experience as a result of accessing such spaces.

Usenet Newsgroups

The customer is responsible for determining and familiarizing himself or herself with the written policies of a given newsgroup before posting to it.
The customer must comply with these guidelines at all times which can be obtained from other users of the newsgroup upon request, or from the group’s administrators/moderators.
The following are prohibited practices with regard to Usenet newsgroups and About IT Online reserves the right to delete and/or cancel posts which violate the following conditions:

Excessive cross-posting of the same article to multiple newsgroups.
Posting of irrelevant or off-topic material to newsgroups (also known as USENET spam).
Posting binaries to a non-binary newsgroup.
Posting adverts, solicitations, or any other commercial messages unless the guidelines of the newsgroup in question explicitly permit them.
Unsolicited, Spam and Junk mail

Spam and unsolicited bulk mail are highly problematic practices. They affect the use and enjoyment of services by others and often compromise network security.

About IT Online will take swift and firm action against any user engaging in any of the following unacceptable practices:

Sending unsolicited bulk mail for marketing or any other purposes (political, religious or commercial) to people who have not consented to receiving such mail;
Operating or maintaining mailing lists without the express permission of all recipients listed;
Failing to promptly remove from lists invalid or undeliverable addresses or addresses of unwilling recipients or a recipient who has indicated s/he wishes to be removed from such list;
Using About IT Online’s service to collect responses from unsolicited e-mail sent from accounts on other Internet hosts or e-mail services, that violate this AUP or the AUP of any other Internet service provider;
Including About IT Online’s name in the header or by listing an IP address that belongs to About IT Online in any unsolicited email whether sent through About IT Online’s network or not;
Failure to secure a customer’s mail server against public relay as a protection to themselves and the broader Internet community.
Public relay occurs when a mail server is accessed by a third party from another domain and utilised to deliver mails, without the authority or consent of the owner of the mail-server.
Mail servers that are unsecured against public relay often become abused by unscrupulous operators for spam delivery and upon detection such delivery must be disallowed. About IT Online reserves the right to examine users’ mail servers to confirm that no mails are being sent from the mail server through public relay and the results of such checks can be made available to the user.

About IT Online also reserves the right to examine the mail servers of any users using About IT Online’s mail servers for “smarthosting” (when the user relays its mail via a About IT Online mail server to a mail server of its own or vica-versa) or similar services at any time to ensure that the servers are properly secured against public relay. All relay checks will be done in strict accordance with About IT Online’s privacy policy.

Spam/virus Filtering

About IT Online provides a spam and virus filtering system to protect customers from unsolicited mail and viruses. The customer acknowledges that this system might incorrectly identify a valid message as spam or as a virus and consequently this message might not be delivered to the customer. The customer acknowledges and agrees that About IT Online shall without limitation have no responsibility for, or liability in respect of any data lost as a result of this system. About IT Online reserves the right to examine incoming or outgoing mail to the extent necessary to determine if it is classified as spam.

Webmail

Webmail and other web based email services made available by About IT Online are provided on an “as is” basis without representations, warranties or conditions of any kind, and the customer acknowledges and agrees that About IT Online shall have no responsibility for, or liability in respect of, any aspect of the Webmail services, including without limitation for any lost or damaged data or any acts or omissions of About IT Online. As webmail storage space is limited, some Webmail messages may not be processed due to space constraints or message limitations.
Webmail is provided to individuals and for personal use only. Any unauthorised commercial use of the Webmail service, or resale of the Webmail service is expressly prohibited.

Protection of Minors

About IT Online prohibits customers from using About IT Online’s service to harm or attempt to harm a minor, including, but not limited to, by hosting, possessing, disseminating, distributing or transmitting material that is unlawful, including child pornography.

Privacy and Confidentiality

About IT Online respects the privacy and confidentiality of our customers and users of our service. Please review our privacy policy which details how we collect and use personal information gathered in the course of operating this service.
User Responsibilities
Customers are responsible for any misuse of About IT Online’s services that occurs through the customer’s account. It is the customer’s responsibility to ensure that unauthorized persons do not gain access to or misuse About IT Online’s service.
About IT Online urges customers not to reply to unsolicited mail or “spam”, not to click on any suggested links provided in the unsolicited mail. Doing so remains the sole responsibility of the customer and About IT Online cannot be held liable for the Customer being placed on any bulk mailing lists as a result.
Where the customer has authorized a minor to use any of the About IT Online’s services or access its websites, you accept that as the parent/legal guardian of that minor, you are fully responsible for: the online conduct of such minor; controlling the minor’s access to and use of any services or websites; and the consequences of any misuse by the minor, including but not limited to transactions entered into by the minor using such access.
About IT Online cannot be held liable for any business dealings you have with any third parties on the Internet, including any vendors, or advertisers found on, or through, the About IT Online network. Further, About IT Online assumes no responsibility whatsoever for any charges you or any user of your account incurs when making purchases or other transactions in this manner. Further, the responsibility for ensuring compliance with all applicable customs and exchange control laws in connection with any such transactions shall be the customer’s.
Notice and Take-down Procedures
About IT Online confirms that it has a procedure in place for the notice and take-down of illegal material. In compliance with section 77 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (No. 25 of 2002) About IT Online’s designated agent for this process is the Internet Service Providers’ Association. ISPA can be reached at +27-010 500 1200 or takedown@ispa.org.za . The notice and take-down procedure can be viewed at http://ispa.org.za/code-of-conduct.
Customers are also notified of the content and procedures of the ISPA Code of Conduct which may be used against any Internet service provider who fails to comply with the code of conduct. We urge you to familiarize yourselves with this code.

Complaints and procedures

It is the customer’s responsibility to familiarize himself or herself with the procedure set out below and report any cases of violation of this AUP to About IT Online’s designated complaints handling agent.
Please note that About IT Online cannot handle complaints concerning networks or users that do not have service contracts with us or our affiliates, or are outside of our control.
In order for About IT Online to thoroughly investigate the complaint and take appropriate action, all complaints must be in writing, via fax or e-mail and contain as much information as possible, including, but not limited to:

the origin of abuse or offence, including the website, full mail headers, relevant logfile extracts etc;
any contact details for the source of the complaint;
a brief explanation why the incident is considered to be an offence.
About IT Online discourages anonymous complaints being made via this service, and urges complainants to supply their name and contact details to us. Such information will not be released, except where required by law enforcement. Anonymous complaints will however be acted upon as long as sufficient detail as outlined above is supplied.
Action following breach of the AUP.
Upon receipt of a complaint, or having become aware of an incident, About IT Online may take any of the following steps:

In the case of a network, inform the user’s network administrator of the incident and request the network administrator or network owner to deal address the incident in terms of this AUP and the ISPA Code of Conduct;
In severe cases suspend access of the user’s entire network until abuse can be prevented by appropriate means;
In the case of individual users, warn the user; suspend the user’s account and/or revoke or cancel the user’s network access privileges completely;
In all cases, charge the offending parties for administrative costs as well as for machine and human time lost due to the incident;
Assist other networks or website administrators in investigating credible suspicions of any activity listed in this AUP;
Institute civil or criminal proceedings;
Share information concerning the incident with other Internet access providers, or publish the information, and/or make available the users’ details to law enforcement agencies
Reservation and Non Waiver of Rights

About IT Online reserves the right to amend or alter this policy at any time, and without notice to you.
About IT Online reserves the right to take action against any individuals, companies or organizations that violate any of the prohibited activities set out herein, or engage in any illegal or unlawful activity while accessing our services, to the fullest extent of the law.

About IT Online reserves the right, at its sole discretion, to act against other types of abuse not listed in this document and to investigate or prevent illegal activities being committed over our network.

About IT Online reserves the right to monitor user and network traffic for site security purposes and prevent any unauthorized attempts to tamper with our site or cause damage to our property.
About IT Online reserves the right to suspend, revoke or cancel About IT Online’s services to the customer/user if the safety and integrity of About IT Online resources are placed at risk in continuing to provide service to the subscriber/user.
About IT Online reserves the right to remove any information or materials in whole or in part, that, in About IT Online’s sole discretion, is deemed to be offensive, indecent, or otherwise objectionable.
About IT Online does not undertake to guarantee the security of any data passing through its networks. Although About IT Online will provide a “best effort” service, including regular updates on computer viruses and other threats to security of data, it is the responsibility of the communicating parties to safeguard their data, and About IT Online cannot be held liable for any loss or damage arising as result of the failure to do so.
About IT Online does not waive its right to enforcement of this AUP at any time, or prejudice its right to take subsequent action, should About IT Online fail, neglect or elect not to enforce a breach of the AUP at any time.

Notice and Take-down Procedures

Sep 29, 2014

About IT Online confirms that it has a procedure in place for the notice and take-down of illegal material. In compliance with section 77 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act (No. 25 of 2002) About IT Online’s designated agent for this process is the Internet Service Providers’ Association. ISPA can be reached at 010 500 1200 or takedown@ispa.org.za

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it . The notice and take-down procedure can be viewed at http://ispa.org.za/code-of-conduct/.
Customers are also notified of the content and procedures of the ISPA Code of Conduct which may be used against any Internet service provider who fails to comply with the code of conduct.

We urge you to familiarize yourselves with this code.

Complaints and procedures

It is the customer’s responsibility to familiarize himself or herself with the procedure set out below and report any cases of violation of this AUP to About IT Online’s designated complaints handling agent.
Please note that About IT Online cannot handle complaints concerning networks or users that do not have service contracts with us or our affiliates, or are outside of our control.
In order for About IT Online to thoroughly investigate the complaint and take appropriate action, all complaints must be in writing, via fax or e-mail and contain as much information as possible, including, but not limited to:

  • the origin of abuse or offence, including the website, full mail headers, relevant logfile extracts etc;
  • any contact details for the source of the complaint;
  • a brief explanation why the incident is considered to be an offence.

About IT Online discourages anonymous complaints being made via this service, and urges complainants to supply their name and contact details to us.

Such information will not be released, except where required by law enforcement. Anonymous complaints will however be acted upon as long as sufficient detail as outlined above is supplied.

Action following breach of the AUP

Upon receipt of a complaint, or having become aware of an incident, About IT Online may take any of the following steps:

  • In the case of a network, inform the user’s network administrator of the incident and request the network administrator or network owner to deal address the incident in terms of this AUP and the ISPA Code of Conduct;
  • In severe cases suspend access of the user’s entire network until abuse can be prevented by appropriate means;
  • In the case of individual users, warn the user; suspend the user’s account and/or revoke or cancel the user’s network access privileges completely;
  • In all cases, charge the offending parties for administrative costs as well as for machine and human time lost due to the incident;
  •  Assist other networks or website administrators in investigating credible suspicions of any activity listed in this AUP;
  • Institute civil or criminal proceedings;
  • Share information concerning the incident with other Internet access providers, or publish the information, and/or make available the users’ details to law enforcement agencies

ISPA will receive the take-down notifications in terms of section 75 of the Electronic Communications and Transactions Act, on behalf of About IT Online.

Details for ISPA:

Tel: 010 500 1200
takedown@ispa.org.za
PO Box 518
Noordwyk
1687
Midrand