Shastalink Acceptable Use Standards (AUS)

This AUS (Acceptable use Standards) serves as notice to Shastalink users, in compliance with Education code Sections 48980 and 51870.5, that the Shasta County Office of Education's policy regarding access to the Internet for its students, employees and Shastalink users is known as its Acceptable Use Standards (AUS), which are below.

The Internet may contain harmful matter (as defined in subdivision (a) of Section 313 of the Penal Code). Although we exercise reasonable supervision over those who access the Internet within our system and we use due diligence in educating students and employees regarding acceptable and unacceptable practices on the Internet within our system, it is still possible that Shastalink users may intentionally or unintentionally access information which some may consider to be inappropriate.

Acceptable Use Standards

(A) The Shasta County Office of Education/SCOE may terminate a Shastalink user's account at any time without cause if these Acceptable use Standards are violated.

(B) Use of the system is a privilege, which may be terminated if the Shastalink user abuses the system. Abuse would include, but is not limited to: the placing of unlawful information on or through the system; the use or retrieval of information (messages, text, images, programs) which is obscene, abusive, or otherwise objectionable; redistribution or extension of Internet connectivity beyond the Shastalink user’s computer; and use of the system as a commercial operation.

(C) The Shasta County Office of Education/SCOE or designated staff will be the sole determiner of what constitutes use or retrieval of information (messages, text, images, programs), which is obscene, abusive, or otherwise objectionable.

(D) The Shasta County Office of Education/SCOE or designated staff reserves the right to access any material stored in its equipment on behalf of the Shastalink user and reserves the right to remove any material which it considers obscene, abusive, or otherwise objectionable

(E) Each Shastalink user is responsible for any password security extended to him or her in conjunction with Internet access or activities.

(F) Shastalink dial-in usage in guided by the generally accepted Internet practices called “netiquette”, a set of common-sense rules abut using the Internet with respect for others. Although Shastalink has no set maximum numbers of connected hours per user per time period, we do regular scans, which show the patterns of our most intensive users. Because Shastalink is a low-cost service for the educational community, we must regulate our user’ time online to a certain extent; otherwise, a handful of “modem hogs” tie up the system for all. Occasionally, overuse is due to improperly set equipment or unknown use of the account by others. More often, “modem hogs” forget netiquette and try to use dial-in access in a manner similar to networked access – generally round-the-clock connectivity.

(G) Generally, Shastalink users who connect less than an average of 2 hours a day (14 hours a week, 60 hours a month) make up the vast majority, and these are reasonable use amounts. When a Shastalink user exceeds these amounts by a wide margin, we reserve the right to terminate service, usually (but not always)
after prior notification.

(H) A Shastalink user terminated once has two options: (1) refund of the remaining paid subscription fees, or (2) re-activation at a $20 fee. A Shastalink user terminated more than once is only eligible for a refund of the remaining paid subscription, if requested.