Acceptable Use Policy

The staff of Aetherius respects your privacy and intellectual property rights, and requires that you extend the same respect to others. Please read this file completely before typing @request for the first time, as the program requires you to acknowledge that you have read the file and agree to abide by its terms.

'Residents' refers to all players and staff. Where the distinction between staff and players is important, this will be explicitly noted.

1.0 Access and Legal Responsibility

Access to Aetherius MUCK, and the computing resources required to operate it, is granted on a revokable basis, and at no time is this access guaranteed.

Aetherius MUCK's services may be used only for lawful purposes. Transmission or solicitation for reception of material which violates US Federal or Hawaii State Law, any Policy of the site where the MUCK operates, or state or local law of the area in which you reside is prohibited. This includes, but is not limited to, material that is threatening, libelous, or violates trade-secret, patent, or copy-right protections.

You agree to indemnify and hold harmless Aetherius MUCK, its staff, the owners/operators of the computing resources, and all other parties connected with the administration of Aetherius from all claims which are a result of your usage, without limitation. You agree that any traffic which originates from your character or connection is your legal responsibility.

Notwithstanding the above, you agree that should Aetherius or its staff be found liable in a court of law for any action or lack of action related to your use of Aetherius, our liability is limited to $0.00.

2.0 Privacy

As a resident of Aetherius MUCK, you have a right to reasonable privacy.

  • 2.1 Residents may not use programs, zombie objects, or other methods to monitor your conversations or activities inappropriately.
  • 2.1.2 Staff may monitor intrusively, by setting the Dark flag on themselves or referring to logs, if they have reason to believe that a player or group of players is actively conspiring to destroy or damage the MUCK's database, or is engaged in illegal activities.
  • 2.1.3 Electronic Communications Privacy Act (ECPA) NOTICE: The staff of Aetherius MUCK reserves the right to monitor any and all communications through or with its computing facilities. You agree that Aetherius MUCK's facilities are NOT to be considered a secure communications medium for the purposes of the ECPA.
  • 2.2 Residents may not use programs or other methods to retrieve information stored in properties on your character or belongings inappropriately.
  • 2.2.2 Staff may use the ‘examine’ command and other methods of retrieving information remotely as needed.
  • 2.3 Residents may not harrass you.
  • 2.3.1 If you indicate that you are not receptive to intimate or sexual contact with another resident, that resident is obligated to respect your wishes. If someone persists in making unwanted advances, repeat your demand that he or she stop, and page a staff member immediately. Residents guilty of sexual harrassment are liable to disciplinary action up to and including @toading and site-banning.
  • 2.3.2 Repeated attempts to talk to, page, or otherwise interact with a resident who has clearly requested to be left alone are a violation of Acceptable Use.
  • 2.3.3 Racial, ethnic, and religious slurs directed at a player are a violation of Acceptable Use.
  • 2.4 Information about your life outside of Aetherius is privileged. Your RL name, gender, age, phone number, email address, and place of residence are privileged information. That is, unless you explicitly indicate that this information may be dispersed, residents are obligated to treat the information as confidential.
  • 2.5 Privacy as regards alternate characters is left to residents' discretion.
  • 2.5.1 You may have alternate characters, and you are not obliged to inform others of the relationships between your characters.
  • 2.5.2 If you do not wish others to know of the relationships between your characters, do not give out this information. If you do not mind other residents knowing about the relationships between your characters, it would be helpful if you indicated this, by conversation, pinfo, or other means.

3.0 Intellectual Property Rights

The staff of Aetherius honors intellectual property rights as they pertain to the MUCK, and requires that residents do so as well. The staff claims no particular expertise in the complex and evolving field of international copyright law and the Internet. This does not, however, invalidate or limit the AUP as it pertains to intellectual property rights: Aetherius MUCK's policies on intellectual property rights stand as detailed below.

  • 3.1 Residents may not create programs, rooms, or other objects incorporating copyrighted material without verifiable permission from the copyright holder.
  • 3.2 The staff of Aetherius become joint holders of intellectual property rights for public rooms or other creations which become an integral part of the MUCK and are used by a substantial portion of the residents. The owners of such creations may improve and add to them as they see fit, but may not @recycle the object or remove the properties or code that make it integral to the MUCK without permission from the staff. In the event that a player inappropriately destroys or changes public creations, the staff reserves the right to restore such creations from back ups. Should such occassions arise, intellectual property rights for that creation as they pertain to the MUCK will from that point lie solely with the staff of Aetherius. That is, the creating player forfeits rights to determine if and how the creation is used on the MUCK.
  • 3.3 Programs which include notices that permission to port is requested or required may not be ported to or from Aetherius without such permission. If you wish to port such a program and are unable to contact the author, notify a staff member. The staff will attempt to contact the author, and if unable to do so, will determine on a case-by-case basis whether the port meets AUP requirements.
  • 3.4 The staff will not modify or remove any of your programs without your permission, with the following exceptions: in the case of programs which pose a threat to the integrity of the database or violate privacy and the AUP, the staff will either request that you modify or remove the program, or will do so themselves.

4.0 Violations of Acceptable Use.

Residents who violate the Acceptable Use Policy, or who commit acts not explicitly covered by this policy but which are deemed a violation of the policy's spirit by the staff, are liable to consequences including:

  • Suspension of access to the MUCK and its computing resources for a time to be determined by the administrators.
  • Removal of your character and termination of access to the Muck and its computing resources without prior notice.
  • Notification of your site and/or system administrators
  • Notification of civil and/or law enforcement authorities.
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