Local-ISP Technical Support Policy

This document is intended to describe, in general terms, what Local-ISP will or will not do to support its customers’ (“Customer(s)”) use of Local-ISP services (“Service(s)”). By using the Local-ISP Services all Customers agree to abide by the rules and conditions below.

Operating Systems – Local-ISP will provide technical assistance for computers running any version of Microsoft Windows that is currently in the Microsoft “mainstream” or “extended” support phase. Versions of Windows no longer supported by Microsoft, on limited product support, or in the process of being phased out, as well as new “beta” versions not yet released for general use, and any other operating systems such as Linux, Unix, MacOS, etc., are not covered. Please note that this does not mean such systems will not work with the Services, rather Local-ISP does not guarantee proficiency in those operating systems to be able to provide technical assistance. The Local-ISP Services are general and standards-based in nature and will work with virtually any computer and operating system, provided you can configure it.

Internet Browsers and E-Mail Clients – Local-ISP will provide technical assistance for Microsoft Internet Explorer 6 and later or a current release version of Mozilla Firefox. Local-ISP will support the general configuration of Microsoft Outlook Express 6 and later, Microsoft Outlook 2000/2002(XP)/2003, a current release version of Mozilla Thunderbird, and Local-ISP WebMail.

Unapproved Use Of Service – Local-ISP will not provide technical assistance for any unapproved use of the Service. Some examples would be a) running multiple computers on a personal connection; b) hosting a web, mail, or other server on a personal connection; c) running an open relay mail server on any connection; d) pretty much anything that violates the Acceptable Use Policy; etc. This is by no means a complete list of “unapproved” uses. By using the Service, Customer agrees that Local-ISP at its sole discretion may determine the acceptability of any use of the Service.

Internal Applications And Networks – Local-ISP will provide technical assistance for your Internal Applications and Networks only to the extent such support relates to the use of the Services. Local-ISP will not provide support for applications not specifically related to the use of the Services. In basic terms this means the Local-ISP technicians can provide the information necessary to configure your applications or network but will not be able to provide the specific steps required to implement them. The technicians may not be familiar with every application used and cannot support them directly. In such cases the technicians will provide what information they can and recommend you contact the software or hardware manufacturer for assistance in the actual implementation of those applications.

Third Party Equipment – Local-ISP will not provide technical assistance for any third party equipment. Customer should contact the equipment manufacturer for any assistance they may require in programming or configuring such equipment. Local-ISP can only provide the configuration information necessary for use of the Service and it is up to the Customer to implement it.

Dial-Up Accounts – Before calling for assistance on connection problems with a dial-up account, please make sure you can answer the following questions:

• Is there dial-tone on the telephone line you are using?
• Do you have call-waiting or answer-call on the line you are using?
• What number are you dialing?
• What version of Windows are you running?
• What is the exact error you are receiving?

DSL Accounts – Before calling for assistance on connection problems with a personal or business DSL account, please make sure you can answer the following questions:

• Is there dial-tone on the telephone line your DSL equipment is connected to?
• Have you recently changed anything with your telephone service on that line?
• Have there been any wiring changes on that line (extended, new line added, etc.)?
• What is the exact make and model of the DSL equipment in use?
• What are the lights on the DSL equipment showing?
• Is the problem continuous or intermittent?

E-Mail Accounts – Before calling for assistance on e-Mail accounts, please make sure you have checked the following and can answer the following questions:

• Is your connection active (i.e. are you able to “surf” the Internet)?
• What is the exact error message you are receiving?
• What software are you using to access your e-Mail?
• Have you tried accessing your account through Web-Mail?

Web-Site Hosting Accounts – Local-ISP will provide the configuration information necessary for you to access your web-site and any information necessary to configure database or other “add-on” services. Local-ISP technicians will not provide technical assistance in making your site programming or content work! If you are having problems with your site, and need a programmer to assist, Local-ISP may be able to provide such assistance through our web-site development group at our standard hourly rates.

Web-Site Hosting Permissions - Local-ISP will provide you with a username with permission to read, write, and modify all files in your web-site. Local-ISP will not provide shell access to the web server, and this user will not have the ability to change permissions on files or directories. Your web-site will be configured for anonymous access with the ability to display pages and run scripts. Upon your request, we will disable anonymous access to your web-site (requiring you to log-in using the username provided). Local-ISP will not provide additional system-level usernames on shared-hosting servers. If you require additional users at this level, we can provide you with dedicated hosting or co-location services. Also upon your request, we will configure a subdirectory within your website to allow anonymous users to edit files in order to allow read-write access to a database file. (Please note that this is inherently insecure, and we recommend that you use a technology such as MS-SQL Server or MySQL to securely store your data. You take all responsibility for data in the insecure directory, and agree to take measures to secure your scripting code to prevent attacks.)

FrontPage Support – Local-ISP will configure your web-site for use with the most current version of Microsoft FrontPage if requested. Any issues with functionality, design, or publishing of your FrontPage web-site should be directed to Microsoft. Our technicians will not assist in these matters and will direct you to Microsoft for assistance.

Perl / CGI Scripts - Local-ISP will configure your web-site to use Perl at your request. Our severs run ActiveState Perl under Windows, and therefore UNIX shell scripts will not function. Our technicians cannot assist with the functionality or programming of Perl scripts beyond ensuring that the Perl interpreter is executing scripts on your site.

The above is by no means a complete list of what Local-ISP will or will not support and is subject to change without notice. If you have a question regarding if a specific item will or will not be supported please contact our technical support group before using the Service. Please note that unsupported issues or products are not the responsibility of Local-ISP and in no way would be considered a failure on the part of Local-ISP to provide the Service in question. It is the responsibility of Customer to determine if any products the Customer intends to use which are not provided directly by Local-ISP will be supported or are compatible with the Service.