Aceeptable Use Policy

Habeas Inc.
Certified Email Acceptable Use Policy
Version 1.1
The Habeas Inc. Certified Email Acceptable Use Policy (this "Policy") applies to Habeas Subscribers ("Subscribers").  Capitalized terms used in this Policy have the meaning set forth in Section 13.

1. Consent
   A Subscriber may only send Habeas Certified Email Messages to an individual who has provided Affirmative Consent to receive email from the Subscriber.  Subscribers may obtain Affirmative Consent by one of the two following methods or "Permission Levels":
   1. Confirmed opt-in (a/k/a double opt-in) means an email address collection practice in which, upon being provided clear and conspicuous notice at the point of collection, a purported recipient expressly requests that an email address be included on a list to receive Email, with the following requirement necessary to complete the subscription process:  the Sender must then send a confirmation email for the purpose of obtaining consent to receive messages selected during the subscription process to the supplied email address, and before mailings commence the recipient must confirm its permission either by replying to the confirmation email or by taking action at a customer-supplied URI.
   2. Unconfirmed opt-in (a/k/a single opt-in) means an email address collection practice in which, upon being provided clear and conspicuous notice at the point of collection, a purported recipient expressly requests that an email address be included on a list to receive email, but the sender does not take adequate steps before mailings commence to ensure that the email address is valid and capable of receiving email and that the request originated from a source authorized to submit the email address.

   Co-registration means an email addresses collection practice in which Subscriber acquires email addresses by Affirmative Consent through a marketing partner's web site using one of the methods described in Section 1(a) or (b). When acquiring email addresses through co-registration, Habeas Certified Senders are required to perform due diligence in order to ensure that appropriate notice was provided, and relevant consent obtained. Co-registration is an acceptable email address collection practice if and only if the Subscriber acquiring the email addresses is explicitly, clearly, and conspicuously identified at the point of email address collection. Moreover, each act of consent must result in the addition of an email address to only one list. The permission level associated with an address acquired through co-registration is determined by the address collection practice used to acquire such addresses.

   Proof of consent, including the date, time, originating IP address, and location (e.g., URL) where the address collection occurred must be produced by the Subscriber upon request by Habeas.

   In jurisdictions where email communications are subject to a more restrictive definition of consent (e.g., the European Commission Privacy and Electronic Communications Directive), Subscribers shall adhere to the applicable local standards.

   A Habeas Certified Sender also may send Transactional Email as defined below.  A transactional email means an email message the primary purpose of which is:

   1. to facilitate, complete or confirm a commercial transaction that the Recipient has previously agreed to enter into with Subscriber;
   2. to provide warranty information, product recall information or safety or security information with respect to a commercial product or service used or purchased by the Recipient;
   3. to provide:
      1. notification concerning a change in the terms or features of,
      2. notification of a change in the Recipient's standing or status with respect to, or
      3. at regular periodic intervals, account balance information or other type of account statements with respect to a subscription, membership, account, loan, or comparable commercial relationship involving the ongoing purchase or use by the Recipient of products or services offered by the Subscriber;
   4. to provide information directly related to an employment relationship or related benefit plan in which the recipient is currently involved, participating, or enrolled; or
   5. to deliver goods or services, including product updates or upgrades, that the Recipient is entitled to receive under the terms of a transaction that the Recipient has previously agreed to enter into with the Subscriber.

   The definition of "Transactional Email" is intended to mirror the definition of "Transactional or Relationship Message" in the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003 and the regulations promulgated thereunder.

   Prohibited Practices.

   1. Habeas Certified Senders may not acquire email addresses through list purchase, list rental, list exchange, partner mailings or similar types of email campaigns.
   2. Any form of email prospecting (i.e., where there is no consent or existing business relationship between the Subscriber and the Recipient) by Habeas Certified Senders is prohibited.
   3. Email addresses to be used for Habeas Certified Email must not be gathered through methods such as scraping, or dictionary harvesting attacks.
   4. Email Addresses must not be sold, shared or exchanged with third parties unless such sale, sharing or exchange is disclosed at the point of address collection.
2. Notice
   Subscriber shall provide clear and conspicuous notice at the point of email address collection about the nature, content, frequency and source of messages which will be sent to the Recipient as a result of completing the subscription process.  Subscriber also shall provide clear and conspicuous notice at the point of email address collection if the Recipient’s email address will be shared, rented or sold causing the Recipient to receive commercial or promotional Email messages from affiliates or third parties.
    
3. Content
   Subscribers shall ensure that all Habeas Certified Email Messages conform to all applicable laws including, but not limited to, the CAN-SPAM Act of 2003. In addition, Habeas Certified Senders shall comply with the following:
   1. Message headers, subject lines and content shall not be misleading, misrepresentative or falsified in any way.
   2. Messages shall not transmit viruses or other programs which may destroy or limit the functionality of a computer.
   3. Messages shall not contain content which is unlawful or harassing.
       
4. Unsubscribe
   1. Subscribers shall include an unsubscribe function within each Habeas Certified Email Message.
   2. Once an unsubscribe request is received, it shall be considered permanent and no Habeas Certified Email Messages may be sent to that Recipient unless Affirmative Consent is obtained again. Re-establishment of a business relationship is not sufficient to override a prior unsubscribe request.
   3. Habeas will interpret a complaint as a request to unsubscribe and expects Subscribers to unsubscribe a complaining Recipient within 10 calendar days. Habeas will identify complaining Recipients to Subscriber for this purpose.
   4. Subscriber acknowledges that in order to process unsubscribe requests and complaints received through the Habeas Certified Email program, receiver partners will provide complaint data and email addresses of complaining Recipients to Habeas in order for Habeas to provide this information to Subscriber.
       
5. Infrastructure
   Subscriber must maintain an email sending infrastructure that complies with all industry standards and best practices.  For example, the IP Address of the reverse DNS entry for the sending email server must match the IP address of the sending email server.  In addition, list maintenance systems must be employed to reliably receive and process bounces and other notices from receiving networks. Subscriber must adopt and implement a policy for managing addresses that bounce repeatedly.
    
6. Certification.
   Prospective Subscribers must successfully complete Habeas' certification process before sending Habeas Certified Email Messages. Prospective Subscribers must complete a certification application, which will be reviewed by a representative of Habeas or one of its reseller partners, and successfully complete an audit, after which a certification decision will be rendered.
    
7. Habeas Certified Email Permission Levels.
   Habeas will provide a mechanism to designate Habeas Certified Email Messages as having a particular permission level.  The permission level of a Habeas Certified Email Message is provided so that Receivers may make determinations about the categories of email it wishes to accept.
    
8. Recipient Complaints
   A complaint occurs when Habeas receives notice from a Recipient regarding an unwanted Habeas Certfied Email Message.  Habeas will interpret a complaint as a request to unsubscribe and expects Subscribers to unsubscribe a complaining Recipient.  Habeas will identify complaining Recipients to Subscriber for this purpose.
    
9. Contact Information.
   Subscriber must create and maintain abuse and postmaster mailboxes for all domains that send email in order to facilitate the receipt and handling of complaints and other issues. Subscriber must maintain accurate contact information in the WHOIS database, and, in addition, Subscriber agrees to provide current and correct contact information to Habeas.
    
10. Suspension and Termination
    1. Habeas shall place a Subscriber's account in suspension if Subscriber fails to comply with all terms of this Policy or for any other material violation of this Policy or the Master Services Agreement or any exhibits thereto. Grounds for suspension may include the following: >
       • Unheeded, negligent or untimely response to recipient requests to be removed from Subscriber's mailing list as determined by audit of Recipient complaint information.
       • Repeated complaints of a similar nature regarding Subscriber Email indicating non-compliance with Habeas Certified Email Terms of Use as determined by Recipient complaint information.
       • Repeated abuse complaints regarding Subscriber Email.
       • Evidence that Subscriber knowingly sends Email to harvested email addresses.
       • Demonstrated unwillingness of Subscriber to comply with all or any of the terms of this policy, the Master Services Agreement or any exhibit attached thereto.
       • Clear evidence of Subscriber use of Email practices commonly associated with "spam" or "spamming" occurring after the Effective Date.
       • Nonpayment of fees to Habeas.
    2. A Subscriber's account shall remain in suspension until Subscriber has corrected the conditions which led to its account being placed in suspension.
    3. Subscriber's account will be terminated if it does not correct the conditions which led to its account being placed in suspension within a period of thirty (30) days.
    4. Habeas will provide its receiver partners with immediate notification of Subscribers who are placed on suspension or whose use of the Habeas Certified Email Service has been terminated.
    5. If a Subscriber's account is terminated, or if, in order to protect the Habeas Certified Email Service, Habeas' receiver partners and their Recipients, Habeas may suspend a Subscriber's access to the Habeas Certified Email Service, then Subscriber shall have no recourse against Habeas or any of its receiver partners in the event such action is taken.
    6. If a Subscriber whose use of the Habeas Certified Email Service was previously terminated can demonstrate to Habeas that it has taken appropriate corrective action, Habeas may reinstate the Subscriber with appropriate use limitations until the Subscriber reasonably satisfies Habeas that its email practices comply with this Policy, the Master Services Agreement and the exhibits thereto. Decisions on recertification and applicable use limitations will be determined by Habeas on a case-by-case basis together with Subscriber, but will ultimately be determined in Habeas' sole discretion. By example, and not by way of limitation, use limitations may include:
       1. Habeas Certified Email Message sending limits (quotas)
       2. Limited/no use of the CertifiedEmail icon and marks
       3. Pre-registration of "from" lines with Habeas for monitoring
11. Security.
    The security of Habeas Certified Senders is vital to the public's trust in the Habeas Certified Email Service. Habeas Certified Senders must take reasonable steps to ensure the security of networks used to distribute Habeas Certified Email and store Recipient information.
    1. Senders must ensure that reasonable measures are in place to protect the security and integrity of any Recipients' email addresses held in databases or on electronic systems.
    2. Senders must take reasonable steps to preserve the security of the network sending infrastructure used to distribute Habeas Certified Email, including the prevention of open proxies, open relays and the dissemination of computer viruses, worms, or trojans on the Participating Sender's network and any IP addresses over which Email Messages are sent.
        
12. Changes to Policies and Additional Requirements.
    Habeas reserves the right to change or modify this Policy at any time at its discretion. Subscribers will be notified of changes to the terms of this Policy either by e-mail, regular mail or by publication on the Habeas web site. Continued use of the Habeas services after two (2) weeks following publication of the new Policy shall be deemed consent to the revised Policy. Habeas may from time to time provide Subscriber with a set of headers or a logo it may use on its web sites or in Habeas Certified Email Messages in order to identify itself as a Habeas Certified Sender. Use of these headers or logos is optional and at the discretion of Subscriber; however, Subscriber must be a Habeas Certified Sender in order to use such headers or logos.
     
13. Definitions
    Any term used but not defined in this Policy shall have the meaning given to that term in the Master Services Agreement or any exhibits attached thereto.
    1. "Certification Process" means the process of determining whether a Client qualifies to use the Habeas Certified Email Service.
    2. "Habeas Certified Email Message" or "Message" means any email that is sent by the Subscriber which is certified by Habeas.
    3. "Habeas Certified Sender" or "Sender" means any Subscriber which successfully has completed the Certification Process and is certified by Habeas.
    4. "Recipient" means an individual who receives a Habeas Certified Email Message.
    5. "Service" means the Habeas Certified Email Service that adds Subscriber IP addresses and domains to the Habeas SafeList.