In this document:

• words used in this Policy which are defined in the Subscription Licence Agreement have the same defined meaning;
• Customers means other customers of QDC with access to and use of Qmecom;
• Policy means this Acceptable Usage Policy;
• Services means Qmecom;
• we/us/our means QDC;
• you/your means the Subscriber.

The purpose of this Policy is to ensure that you understand that you must use the Services in a way which does not:

• breach any laws,
• hinder the efficient operation of the Qmecom network, or
• interfere with the rights of other Customers and more generally users of the Internet.

We may from time to time amend this Policy. Your use of our Services after any amendments or revisions have been posted on our website will constitute your acceptance of the amended Policy.

Responsibilities of Customers

You must:

• Use our Services in a manner which complies with all relevant laws, whether Federal, State or international;
• Be solely responsible for disseminating or posting content through the Services or publishing on the web pages of your site, including obtaining legal permission to use any works included in such content and/or web pages;
• Respect the legal protection afforded by copyright, trade mark, patent and other laws protecting intellectual property rights in material, including content and software applications, accessible through the Internet;
• Respect the privacy of others and the legal protection afforded by the Privacy Act (Cth) 1988 and all other applicable laws and regulations; and
• Use our Services in a manner which does not interfere with or disrupt our Services or other Internet users.

Unacceptable Usage

You must not use our Services to:

• Violate anyone’s copyright or intellectual property rights;
• Publish or transmit defamatory, obscene, threatening, abusive or offensive material or content which breaches the ratings of the Classification Board;
• Facilitate or engage in “spamming” which we regard as unsolicited broadcast or commercial email sent to recipients who do not affirmatively and verifiably request the material, collect or redirect responses from unsolicited emails sent from accounts with other Internet service providers, or any activity which is prohibited under: (a) the Spam Act 2003 (Cth); (b) any other applicable legislation and regulations; and (c) policies or regulations of any regulatory authority or body having jurisdiction over such activities;
• Create or propagate Internet viruses, worms and other types of malicious programs;
• Facilitate or engage in “Hacking” which we regard as including gaining illegal or unauthorized access to any computers, accounts or networks accessible through the Internet;
• Misrepresent transmission information by forging, deleting or altering message headers, return mail information and/or Internet Protocol addresses in order to conceal or misidentify the origin of a message;
• Interfere with, disrupt or threaten to interfere with or disrupt our Services and/or the ability of our customers or any of them to use the Services; or
• Breach any relevant law, Federal, State or international.

Breach of Usage Policy

We exercise no direct supervision or control whatsoever of content and software transmitted through our network or hosted on our infrastructure, and we do not monitor your websites or activities to determine whether they fail to comply with this Policy.

If, however, we become aware of any breach or threatened breach of this Policy, we may take whatever action we deem necessary, in our sole discretion and without notice to you, to correct such breach or threatened breach, including:

• Suspending or denying access to the Services or to the Internet on a temporary or permanent basis; and/or
• Deleting or removing content or software stored on our infrastructure.

In certain circumstances we can be required to remove content from our network infrastructure by third parties, including on receipt of a Take Down Notice under the Copyright Act of 1968 (as amended)(Commonwealth of Australia).

In all cases you will indemnify us against, and we will not be held liable for, any loss or damage which you may suffer through the suspension, unavailability or removal of the Services or which we may suffer where your use of the Services causes loss or damage to a third party.

Disclosure of Information

You should be aware that we may disclose information relating to you and your use of the Services, including Internet transmissions, in order to comply with any court order, subpoena, summons, discovery request or order made by any competent court or any warrant or request of any authorized government agency.

Cooperation in Investigating Breaches of this Usage Policy

We reserve the right to investigate suspected violations of this Policy, including the gathering of information from users involved and from complainants, as well as examination of materials and content which may have been stored on or transmitted through our network.  In investigating breaches of this Policy, you authorise us to cooperate with law enforcement authorities and other regulators as well as other systems administrators at other Internet and carriage service providers.

Qmecom Complaint Resolution Process

At Qmecom we believe Customer Service is an attitude and not a department

• Team Members

  All Qmecom staff are encouraged to handle customer complaints. We believe that the most efficient means of handling customer dissatisfaction is to resolve disputes at the first point of contact.

• Senior Team Members / Team Leaders

  In the event that a complaint needs to be escalated, Senior Team Members from each department have the authority and experience to handle complicated disputes. In most cases, complaints are resolved without further need of escalation.

• Customer Service Manager

  The Customer Service Manager is the third point of escalation.