The Internet is a global network of networks and information resources, which belong to a large number of individuals and organizations. The Internet network is decentralized and does not have a set of rules (laws) which are binding for everyone and regulate its usage. However, there are commonly accepted norms of conduct on the Internet, directed at assuring that activities of every Internet user do not interfere with those of other users. The fundamental rule is: the terms of use of any resource on the Internet (from an e-mail box to a communication channel) is at the absolute discretion of the owners of these resources.

These Terms describe the commonly accepted norms of conduct on the Internet, adherence to which is mandatory for all users. Abiding by these Terms is applicable to the use of resources available on the Net (here and further below Net will mean Internet and the networks accessible from it).

1. Limitations on Distribution of Unsolicited and Unauthorized Information (spam)

The development of the Net resulted in the excessive amount of information available for a user, which has become one of the major problems. This is why the Net society has worked out special rules designed to protect users from receiving unsolicited and unauthorized information (spam).

The following is deemed unacceptable:

• Mass e-mailing (here and further below by an e-mail message we mean electronic mail messages, ICQ message and other similar means of personal information exchange) without prior consent of the addressee. By mass e-mailing we mean both sending one message to a number of addressees as well as dispatching a number of messages to a single addressee.

  In this and the following articles mailing is deemed solicited when the addressee has provided his/her express and explicit consent to receive certain type of information, the addressee has been authenticated while expressing this consent, and the conditions specified by addressee while expressing this consent are being observed (mailing frequency limit, volume, style, language used, etc.) and he/she did not express the unwillingness to receive such information.

  The following typical actions cannot be viewed as solicited mailing:

  • Mailing to an address, located on a network resource (WWW-page, in Usenet letter, etc.) which are not accompanied by a user's explicit consent to send him/her the information of this kind.

  • The mailing which breaks the limitations specified in the consent to receive information;

  • Mailing to the address, incorporated into WWW-form, specified in the e-mail message or indicated otherwise, and not confirmed by the prior request from the owner of the address to receive such information.

• Unsolicited sending of e-mail messages which are more than one page in size or containing the attached files.

• Unsolicited sending of e-mail messages containing advertising, promotional, and commercial materials, as well as messages containing abusive, harassing, vulgar, obscene, or otherwise objectionable phrases.

• Placement in newsgroups of off-topic articles (here and further below by a newsgroup we mean Usenet newsgroups and other groups, forums and e-mailing lists).

• Placement in any newsgroup of advertising, commercial or promotional materials, except when it is expressly permitted by rules of the newsgroup or with prior consent of the owners or moderators of the newsgroup.

• Placement of messages containing attached files in any newsgroup, except when it is expressly permitted by rules or the newsgroup or with prior consent of the owners or moderators of the newsgroup.

• Mailing to the addressees who have previously expressed their unwillingness to receive such information.

• Use of proprietary or contracted information resources (mail boxes, e-mail addresses, WWW-pages, etc.) as the identifier when performing one of the above mentioned actions, irrespective of from what part of the Net these actions have been performed.

2. Ban on Dissemination of Certain Types of Information.

It is prohibited to place on network resources or transfer via the Net such types of information, dissemination, publication or use of which is prohibited or restricted by the current national legislation or effective international agreements.

3. Ban on Unauthorized Access and Network Attacks.

It is prohibited to attempt to gain unauthorized access to the Net resources and wage or participate in network attacks and intrusion into networks, except for the cases when a network is attacked upon the explicit permission of the owner or administrator of the resource. The following is also prohibited:

• actions aimed at disrupting normal operation of network components (computers, other hardware or software) which do not belong to a user.

• actions aimed at gaining unauthorized access, including the privileged one, to a Net resource (computer, other hardware or informational resource), as well as further use of the resource, deletion or modification of software or data which do not belong to a user, without obtaining the explicit permission from the owners or administrators of this software or information resource.

• flooding computers or other hardware on the Net with useless traffic, which exceeds minimum amount of load necessary to test connectivity and accessibility of separate components of the network, in order to create the parasite load on this hardware and (or) intermediary network segments.

4. Abiding by the Rules Set Forth by the Owners of Net Resources.

Besides the above mentioned rules, an owner of any informational or technical resource on the Net can set forth his/her own specific terms of use.

Terms of use for any resource or link to such terms of use are published by owners and administrators of such resources at the point of connection to such resources and are mandatory for any user of the resource.

A user must adhere to the requirements specified in the terms of use of the resource or otherwise stop using it.

5. Inadmissibility of Forgery

Considerable part of Net resources does not require identification of users and permits the anonymous use. However, as a rule a user has to submit information, which would identify him/her and the means they use to access the Net. Hence users are not allowed to:

• use identification data (names, addresses, tel. numbers etc.) of any third party, except when these parties have authorized the user to do so. At the same time, the user should take every precaution to prevent use of Net resources by third parties on his/her behalf (assure the safety of passwords and other authorized access codes).

• falsify his/her IP-address as well as addresses used in other networking protocols during data transfer via the Net.

• use the non-existing reverse addresses to send e-mail messages, as well as send e-mails on behalf of mail robots (daemons) and mailing systems, except for the cases when these are the email status notifications.

6. Configuring Proprietary Resources.

When a user goes on-line he/she becomes a fully-fledged member of the game, which enables other third parties to use the network resources belonging to the user. Therefore, the user should take the necessary steps to set up its resources in the way that would prevent the malicious use of such resources by third parties, and to take prompt defensive actions in case of such intrusions.

Below are some examples of the network resources set up which can endanger these resources.

• SMTP-relay is open;

• commonly accessible news servers which do not require posting authorization;

• security gaps that allow third parties the unauthorized disguise of points of access (open proxy-servers, etc.);

• commonly accessible broadcast addresses in LANs;

• e-mailing lists with insufficient subscription authorization without the possibility to cancel it.