Complaint Review: Virginia Area Broadband - Culpeper Virginia

My issues started a while back. Here are the emails of those minus email addresses. The first email is them restructuring their network and giving me a new Static IP that doesnt work.

Virginia Broadband is making changes increase the reliability of our network. To accomplish this, we need to change the IP address we provide to you. Please find below your old and new address information. We will complete the transition on June 30th, 2009, so please make the changes to your computer or router by that time. If you have any questions, please call us at 877-299-VABB (8222) and press option 4 for technical support. Your old address information: Your new address information: IP : 12.197.180.60 IP : 199.195.60.60 Subnet mask : 255.255.255.0 Subnet mask : 255.255.255.0 Gateway : 12.197.180.1 Gateway : 199.195.60.1 Your DNS settings will also change: Primary DNS : 68.94.156.1 Secondary : 4.2.2.2 Thank you, Brad Truman Director of Operations Virginia Broadband, LLC 540 829 1700

The new IP as I said never worked. The old one did until mid July 2010 but then the "new IP" still didnt work. So did call tech support back at the end of June 2009 after I got off work for about two weeks. Always getting their answering service and never a tech. Then one day I said screw it and stuck with the old IP. Internet was a lot slower but it was better than dialup. This second email is us using more bandwidth than alloted after a recent restructure of their services and I was transferring a lot of data as well as my wife using the internet doing her school work on line. I took advantage of their offer to upgrade to avoid overage charges and I still got hit with the overage charge plus the upgraded plan cost. My bill that month was $140.

Please upgrade my account to the 35 GB plan. Also, can you provide me an estimated speed with this plan as I am not sure what they are now with the service level changes. Thank you. ---Original Message----- Date: Fri, 28 Aug 2009 00:25:20 -0400 > From: (removed address) > To: (removed address) > Subject: VABB Bandwidth Notification > > Dear Customer, > > The purpose of this email is to remind you of the total transfer limits of your account with VABB. > > You are enrolled in the 10 GB Plan which includes 10240 Megabytes. As of today, you have used all of your allotted monthly transfer quota. Transfer in excess of your normal allotment is assessed at $0.05 per Megabyte. > > If your usage continues at the same pace you will utilize 11516 megabytes (11.25 GB) by the end of your billing cycle. > > We appreciate your use of VABB services and want you to be able to enjoy that service to the fullest. We recommend that you consider upgrading your level of service in order to avoid overage charges associated with your current usage. Please find a brief synopsis of the available levels below: > > 5 Gigabytes of transfer - $54.97/month > 10 Gigabytes of transfer - $74.97/month > 35 Gigabytes of transfer - $99.97/month > > Please give us a call at 877 299 VABB(8222) or e-mail (removed address) if you would like to increase your limit.

This third email was another going no where fast but a year later found the root cause.

Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 16:05:30 -0700 Subject: Delivery Status Notification (Failure) This is an automatically generated Delivery Status Notification. Delivery to the following recipients failed. (address removed) --Forwarded Message Attachment-- From: (address removed) To: (address removed) Subject: FW: Email issues (firewall or routing maybe??) Date: Thu, 16 Jul 2009 19:05:30 -0400 Brad, I have yet to be contacted on this issue. We are not able to access our VABB email from home. I can access everything else on VABB.com, internet, etc just not mail.vabb.com via our web browser or via Outlook. If I am not here, i.e. work or my mothers house in Illinois on a HughesNet network, I can get to VABB. My wife on the other hand, cant access her VABB mail at all since she doesnt have internet at work. Also because of our Static IP address change, my wife cant access her account info for her credit card online without validating herself via her email account. Since she cant access her email, she cant validate herself to gain access to her account via our new IP address. She said she will opt to try and get it straighten out over the phone but the fact this issue still exists and the lack of support again is starting to get on my nerves. Would you please address this issue and resolve it as well as resolve the lack of support from the tech support issue. Thank you for your time and service. I look forward to your response and resolution to these issues. Date: Sun, 12 Jul 2009 08:44:58 -0400 Subject: Re: Email issues (firewall or routing maybe??) From: (address removed) To: (address removed) CC: (address removed) Customer, Your request has been forwarded to our network administrator. You should hear back from us in the next few days. Thank You for using Virginia Broadband, On Sun, Jul 12, 2009 at 8:14 AM, To whom this may concern: I have ran into an interesting issue. When I am at home using my home PC, I can not access my email via mail.vabb.com or via my Outlook. I have also tried via the server IP (207.97.245.100) and I can not access it via that means either. From that I know it is not DNS as I was able to get the server information via nslookup. What is more interesting which makes me believe this is either a firewall or routing issue is that my wife can access her email from my mothers house in Illinois via HughesNet. I have reviewed my firewall logs and configurations, my IPS logs and configurations, and my router configurations and nothing is blocking my email here. The last hop I see on a tracert is 10.32.0.3 when I try to trace the IP of the email server. But I would presume tracert would be blocked within the VABB network so I dont know how reliable that information is. Could you please verify that my IP 199.195.60.60 is allowed access to the mail servers. Thank you for your time and service, I look forward to your response. Ulric Rogers Virginia Broadband, LLC 406 LaGrange Industrial Dr. Suite 1 Building A Tappahannock, Virginia 22560 Phone: 877 299 8222 ex. 2007 804 313 6049 Email: (address removed) Website: www.vabb.com

As you can see, I was blown off here too. Then we also had a time I didnt bother with email. This is when the power supply went out on the Modem and VABB did not think anything was wrong apparently because they would never answer the phone or email. As you can see from the above email, Brad started blocking my email all together. But the interesting thing is when I called him from work, he answered the phone and when he pretty much didnt have much of a choice other than to deal with me, he check into my issue and found out after just a few minutes of looking that my power supply was bad which was why I didnt have internet access for over a week. He had a tech drop off a power supply that same day and said he would credit my account for the service I was not being provided nor was being used because of this issue. It of course was a prorated amount that I never got. Follow up calls was not answered nor was emails able to go through. Imagine that.

On July 21 2010 I contacted VABB support (from work this time) and a nice tech checked out my issue. We recently had a storm go through so I waited a day or two as they did lose some service in areas and that was on their network status hotline. But when they reported 100% up except Northern Neck VA area, I decided to call and let them know I was still having some weird issues. Like I said, the tech was trying his best to resolve the problem and I have to admit, I over looked it too. But someone there should have caught it. On this particular call though, he needed to see the data I was seeing. So I captured it and sent it after I got home. I wasnt down, just slower than a 9600 baud modem if you went anywhere west and less than DSL speed if you were in the DC / Virginia area. The next day I called from work to check on the status of the issue as someone was suppose to call me. I talked to another guy who was also nice and picked up where the other guy left off when I talked to him the day before. This guy didnt see anything wrong initially but after looking a little more noticed what I was talking about. He thought it was an RF issue. So he was going to refer it to the RF engineers and I was going to have to wait a week or two. Earlier I mentioned there was an issue with my IP that I found the root cause a year later. Here is the email from what I sent them after finding out what the real problem was.

I have an issue currently being worked on by the guys in Tech Support. The issue was being conferred with the RF engineers/techs to see if adjustments on the tower may resolve the issue. I dont know if anything was done yet but today when I got home, my wife informed me that now the internet isnt just extremely slow, it is down all together. I did some troubleshooting on my own after conferring with the guys at work. They said it sounds like a routing configuration issue. Since going in some directions work while going in others dont, it was said to be likely that the routers and switches didnt know where to send the data. They recommended I switch from my static IP to DHCP on my router (first hop from modem towards my network). Upon doing so, my internet was up and latency was gone. Here is the big differences: I was given the address of 12. 197.180.60, Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0, Gateway 12.197.180.1, DNS1 4.3.3.2, DNS2 4.2.2.2 initially. When the IP change came along I was given the address of 199.195.60.60, Subnet Mask 255.255.255.0, Gateway 199.195.60.1, DNS1 68.94.156.1, DNS2 4.2.2.2. At which point the vabb page didnt work and web browsing all together didnt work. Tech Support never responded back then but I worked around it by reverting back to the old IP but with the new DNS. Internet was slightly slower but it worked. However, after the storm before last went through, the internet went down which you all had reported on your hotline. Later on, it was back up but intermittently the DNS servers were not available. The network when up was fine. When the last storm came through, the internet became slower than dial-up. As the techs helping out on this issue said, something weird is going on. So as I mentioned a little bit ago, I switch myself over to DHCP. As the network guys would probably assume, I should get a similar IP address to the one I have for the subnet I should be on. However, I didnt. I got the following IPs 10.111.135.236 Gateway 255.255.255.0 DNS1 12.127.17.85 DNS2 4.2.2.2 Now my internet is up and running great. SO the question now is, why? So since I am paying for a static IP, I think it is best to change that to DHCP and no longer charge for the Static IP address. I think a partial credit to my account would be in order too since the service level provided wasnt up to VABB standards and the IPs assigned are apparently not supported by VABBs network. Please make the recommended changed effective immediately. As for Tech Support, I appreciate both techs working with me to troubleshoot the issue. It is definitely a strange one. I have only been doing IT for 8 years and those that I asked today at work has been doing it for over 20. Even they were not 100% on this fixing it or knowing what the root cause is. So I thank you both for your time and service.

So with that said you would think the $5 they charge for a static IP would not have been charged for the next months bill right? Wrong. They billed me anyways and I am not talking about a partial credit, Im talking for the next months service (August). So I emailed them and Linda Walker said she would mail a check for $5 as requested. I never received it. Imagine that. So, I decided to cancel my service after switching to a new ISP (wildblue.net). Here is the email fiasco on that where they wont refund my money and are violating the Virginia Consumer Protection Act.

Customer, We will issue a refund check upon receipt of equipment. Linda Walker Office Coordinator Virginia Broadband 877-299-8222 Ext 1720 (address removed)Hello Customer, Your billing cycle starts at 12:00am on the 31st. You contacted us at 7:01am. You had already been charged for you next month of service. I am going to forward this on to billing and you may take up any further questions with them. Thank you, Megan Cooper Sales Coordinator/Marketing Coordinator Virginia Broadband LLC 877-299-8222 Ext. 2163 (address removed) ----- Original Message ----- From: Allen Weise To: Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 8:03 PM To: (address removed) Cc: (address removed); Billing at VABB; Brad Truman Subject: RE: Terminate Service for (physical address removed) According to the terms and condition I just read from the VABB site, VABB considers service terminated upon notification to terminate service and schedule deinstallation. Here is the snipit. 4. Initial Term; Renewal Term. After the expiration of the Initial Term, this Agreement shall continue on a month-to-month basis until the customer contacts Virginia Broadband to arrange termination and de-installation of the equipment, if any. Termination shall be as-of the effective date of the notice provided to VABB. VABB will not grant credit or allowance for time of service prior to the cancellation date. So according to VABB's Terms and Conditions, the refund is actually the $5.00 for the overpayment of Augusts service and the $89.95 for Septembers service for a total of $94.95. From: (address removed) To: (address removed) CC: (address removed) Subject: Re: Terminate Service for (physical address removed) > Date: Wed, 1 Sep 2010 15:29:43 -0400 > > Hello Customer > > We actually do not pro-rate our service. However, we will refund you the > overpayment of $5.00. If you have any additional questions, please do not > hesitate to contact me at the methods below. > > Thank you, > Megan Cooper > Sales Coordinator/Marketing Coordinator > Virginia Broadband LLC > 877-299-8222 Ext. 2163 > (address removed) ----- Original Message ----- > From: (address removed) To: "'Megan Cooper'" > Cc: > Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 7:45 PM > Subject: RE: Terminate Service for (physical address removed) > > > Yes that does work better. I replied to the email sent to my msn.com account > before I seen this one. So I take it that my refund would be the $5 > overpayment from August plus the $65.96 for the prorated refund for the > month of September, thus totaling $70.96 for a refund? > > -----Original Message----- > From: Megan Cooper [mailto:(address removed)] > Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 10:09 AM > To: (address removed)> Subject: Re: Terminate Service for (physical address removed)> > Hello Customer, > > I actually have an opening as early as September 8th from 11-12pm. If this > works better for you. > > Megan Cooper > Sales Coordinator/Marketing Coordinator > Virginia Broadband LLC > 877-299-8222 Ext. 2163 > (address removed)> ----- Original Message ----- > From: "Megan Cooper" > To: > Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 8:34 AM > Subject: Re: Terminate Service for (physical address removed) > > > > Hello Customer, > > > > I cannot terminate your service until our equipment is back in our > > possession. I can schedule you a de-install for Sept. 14th from 10-11am. > > When the de-install has been complete we will terminate your service. If > > this date doesn't work for you, please contact me at the methods below. > > > > Thank you, > > Megan Cooper > > Sales Coordinator/Marketing Coordinator > > Virginia Broadband LLC > > 877-299-8222 Ext. 2163 > > (address removed)> > ----- Original Message ----- > > From: > > To: ; ; > > Sent: Tuesday, August 31, 2010 7:01 AM > > Subject: Terminate Service for (physical address removed)> > > > > > Please terminate my internet service today. > > > > Allen Weise > > > The fact is though, I cancel on the 30th. Here is the email: This was the original request on August 30th. I sent another request on the 31st since I didnt get a response on the first one. From: (address removed) To: (address removed); (address removed) Subject: Terminate Service Date: Mon, 30 Aug 2010 10:42:31 -0400 Please terminate my VABB service at the end of this Billing Period (8/30-31/2010). You may come to uninstall and pick up the equipment. To ensure access to the Modem, please call myself or my wife to get access inside the house. My wifes number is (xxx) xxx-xxxx and my number is below. Thank you for your time and service. So come deinstall day, Sept 8th. Here is what happened and the email I sent VABB. The tech that was suppose to do the de-install was a no show. According to the security logs at the gate, no one from VABB as of 5 minutes ago (7pm) has shown up. We also never received a call. I did however talk to Wayne in Tech Support about 3:39PM and he did verify I had a scheduled de-install for today but he did not have a status on it. He did attempt to contact the tech but was not able to reach him on his cell phone. Wayne stated he would have the tech call me to update me on the status if he is able to get a hold of him. I am presuming he didnt get a hold of him since we never got a call. So to no fault on my behalf, the equipment is still here. In regards to the refund, I am going to caution VABB on their practices and refer you to the Virginia Consumer Protection Act which states that such actions must be in the Terms and Conditions in order to hold any money already collect under normal billing. Overpayment and billing past cancellation can not be held unless it was a check in which case the refund can be delayed no more than 10 days to allow the check to clear. Since you are doing an ACH Debit, that is not the case. Thus legally, you have to refund the overpayment and the billing past the cancellation date as soon as possible. Holding funds until the equipment is returned is not allowed as VABB has stated a policy for a fee to be charged should the equipment not be returned. Additionally, since the soonest VABB could get out here (according to previous emails) was today 9/8/2010 which is exactly 10 days after notice of termination. Since the tech was a no show, no fee may be charged since access is not being prevented for the deinstallation and return of equipment. I will expect a refund of the money already received that should be refunded no later than Monday next week (to allow time for delivery). At which point, should I not receive the refund, I will refer the matter over to the OAG for investigation. As for the deinstallation, you are free to deinstall whenever a tech can show up. From: (address removed) To: (address removed); (address removed) CC: (address removed); (address removed); (address removed) Subject: RE: Terminate Service for (physical address removed) Date: Thu, 2 Sep 2010 08:33:30 -0400 Customer, We will issue a refund check upon receipt of equipment. Linda Walker Office Coordinator Virginia Broadband 877-299-8222 Ext 1720 (address removed) From: (address removed) Sent: Wednesday, September 01, 2010 8:03 PM To: (address removed) Cc: (address removed); Billing at VABB; Brad Truman Subject: RE: Terminate Service for (physical address removed) According to the terms and condition I just read from the VABB site, VABB considers service terminated upon notification to terminate service and schedule deinstallation. Here is the snipit. 4. Initial Term; Renewal Term. After the expiration of the Initial Term, this Agreement shall continue on a month-to-month basis until the customer contacts Virginia Broadband to arrange termination and de-installation of the equipment, if any. Termination shall be as-of the effective date of the notice provided to VABB. VABB will not grant credit or allowance for time of service prior to the cancellation date. So according to VABB's Terms and Conditions, the refund is actually the $5.00 for the overpayment of Augusts service and the $89.95 for Septembers service for a total of $94.95.

So that is all of it as of right now. I suggest you avoid VABB. In case your wondering, their speeds are only around 600KB at best and it is best effort now. So they are not really giving you Broadband internet by industry standard definition. I fought for this country for 10 years so we can have the freedoms and liberties that we do. I will be damned if some company will go unnoticed for ripping off its customers and break the law without being held accountable. If the Office of Attorney General does nothing on this. Then their is some serious issues in this country which makes me question if it is one worth defending. Oh, and those terms and conditions, here is the whole thing.

Notice: By activating or using Virginia Broadband, L.L.C. Services and equipment you agree to be bound by the following: TERMS AND CONDITIONS 1. Services. VABB shall provide wireless broadband Internet Access Services, together with the Additional Services, if any, (collectively, the "Services") to the Customer upon the terms and conditions set forth in this Agreement, including these Terms and Conditions. Except for the Equipment described in Section 2 below, the Customer is responsible, at its sole expense, for obtaining any equipment needed to access, connect to, or use the Services including without limitation a personal computer, and for ensuring that such equipment complies with VABBs minimum systems and compatibility requirements. 2. Equipment. VABB shall provide certain equipment necessary to access and utilize the Services to the Customer, including antenna, wiring and VABB Base Station receiver (the "Customer Premise Equipment "CPE"). This equipment remains the property of VABB. Customer is responsible for any and all losses, repairs or damages to the CPE following installation, regardless of cause. Customer agrees that the CPE shall remain at all times at the Customers premises at the time of installation (the Premises). Under no circumstances shall Customer remove, uninstall, modify, or change the location of any of the CPE, or attempt any of the foregoing actions.In addition to Customers indemnity obligations under Section 14 below, Customer forever waives and releases VABB and its employees, officers, agents, and representatives from and against any and all liability for any loss or damage (including death, bodily injury, and property damage) suffered or incurred by Customer or any other person as a result of any attempt by Customer, or any other person (except an employee or agent of VABB), to install, remove, uninstall, modify, or change the location of any of the CPE. VABB, BEING NEITHER THE MANUFACTURER, A SUPPLIER, NOR A DEALER OF THE CPE, MAKES NO WARRANTY, EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, TO ANYONE, AS TO THE FITNESS, MERCHANTABILITY, DESIGN, CONDITION, CAPACITY, PERFORMANCE OR ANY OTHER ASPECT OF ANY OF THE CPE OR ITS MATERIAL OR WORKMANSHIP. VABB FURTHER DISCLAIMS ANY AND ALL LIABILITY FOR LOSS, DAMAGES, OR INJURY TO CUSTOMER OR THIRD PARTIES AS A RESULT OF ANY DEFECTS, LATENT OR OTHERWISE, IN THE CPE. THE CPE IS PROVIDED "AS IS". 3. Additional Installation Fees. The installation fees cover standard installation of the CPE. If additional services or equipment are required in order to install the CPE, VABB shall have no obligation to perform or provide any such additional services or equipment and may terminate this Agreement immediately. If VABB performs or provides any additional services or equipment, Customer agrees to pay all fees, costs, charges, and expenses relating thereto, which shall be determined by the then-prevailing hourly rate for VABB technicians and/or the cost of the equipment provided (the Additional Installation Fees). 4. Initial Term; Renewal Term. After the expiration of the Initial Term, this Agreement shall continue on a month-to-month basis until the customer contacts Virginia Broadband to arrange termination and de-installation of the equipment, if any. Termination shall be as-of the effective date of the notice provided to VABB. VABB will not grant credit or allowance for time of service prior to the cancellation date. 5. Payment Terms. Customer agrees to pay VABB the Installation Fees, the Additional Installation Fees, and the recurring monthly fee for the Services (the Monthly Fee), together with all applicable regulatory fees and taxes (collectively, Fees). All invoices for Services are subject to payment in accordance with VABB's prevailing terms and conditions as of the date of such invoice, without deduction or setoff of any kind, and payment must be received by VABB by the payment date set forth on the invoice. All customer payments will be made by credit card unless VABB agrees in advance to an alternative form of payment. The Monthly Fee is due and payable in advance of each monthly billing period. All Fees are non-refundable. Customers first invoice will include Installation Fees, Additional Installation Fees, and monthly fee. Any invoice not paid when due shall have added to the unpaid balance thereof, on a monthly basis, a late fee equal to one and one-half percent (1.5%) of the outstanding balance (the "Late Fee"). Payments received by VABB from Customer will first be applied to any unpaid Late Fees and then chronologically applied to the oldest invoice. All prices and payment terms are subject to change without notice. 6. Early Termination Fee ("ETF"). In the event that Customer terminates this Agreement (or this Agreement is terminated by VABB for Cause pursuant to Section 10 below) prior to the expiration of the Initial Term or any Renewal Term, Customer agrees to pay VABB an early termination fee in the amount of $199.00 as liquidated and agreed-upon damages. The ETF, together with any other Fees due from the Customer as of the effective date of such termination shall be due and payable immediately by Customer upon delivery of an invoice therefor by VABB. Customer agrees that the ETF is not a penalty, but is a reasonable approximation of damages as of the Effective Date. Customer forever waives any right to protest or challenge the enforceability of the ETF. 7. Compliance. Customer agrees that Customer and all Users shall (a) comply with all of the terms of this Agreement, including these Terms and Conditions, and the Policy; (b) comply with all applicable federal, state and local laws, rules and regulations; and (c) not use the Services in any manner to violate, infringe, or misappropriate any partys intellectual property or proprietary rights, including without limitation any copyright, trademark, trade secret, or patent rights of any party. Without limiting the foregoing, Customer agrees that when using the Services, Customer and all Users shall comply with all copyright laws, including without limitation the provisions of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act ("DMCA"). If VABB becomes aware of alleged, actual or apparent copyright infringement, VABB may take any action it deems necessary or appropriate, including without limitation any action permitted under copyright law, other applicable laws, and these Terms and Conditions, including, removing and/or blocking access to the allegedly infringing material, and terminating Customers use of the Services. Customer acknowledges and agrees that VABB shall have the right to monitor Customer's "bandwidth consumption" (i.e. aggregate volume of data that may be sent or received) at any time and on an on-going basis, and to limit excessive bandwidth consumption by Customer (as determined by VABB) by any means available to VABB, including suspension or termination of Services. VABB reserves the right to implement specific limits on the maximum amount of bandwidth consumption available to Customer per month - defined as 30 consecutive days, beginning on the first day of service for the level of ISP Service subscribed for by Customer. If Customer exceeds the bandwidth consumption limits assigned to the level of ISP Service for which Customer has subscribed in any month, VABB has the right to limit bandwidth consumption by Customer in excess of such level by any means available to VABB, including to impose an additional fee of $.05/Megabyte and/or suspension of Services. These limits are: Base Package - 2 GByte/mo. 5 GB Plan- 7 GBytes/mo. 10 GB Plan- 12 GBytes/mo. 35 GB Plan - 45 Gbytes/mo. Additional GB package - each adds 10 Gbytes/mo. This Bandwidth Limit policy, regardless of reason, applies to all Virginia Broadband subscribers with Internet access service. Bandwidth overage will be automatically charged to the Customer's credit card number on file. If a credit card is not on file, an invoice - payable upon receipt will be sent via e-mail to the customer's primary VABB.com e-mail address. 8. Use of Services by Others. The CPE and the Services are intended for the sole use of Customer, and Customers employees or authorized contractors who work at the Premises. All other use, sharing and reoffering, and all resale of the Services, is expressly prohibited. Customer is responsible for compliance by all Users (as defined in the Acceptable Use Policy) with the terms of this Agreement and all applicable federal, state and local laws and regulations, and agrees to ensure that only Authorized Users access the Services. Customer is, and shall be responsible, for any misuse of Services or breach of this Agreement by all Users. The Customer (a) shall not use the CPE or the Services, except for Customers internal business purposes; (b) shall not make any part of the Services available to members of the public, including through the use of a wireless network or by providing or offering the Services to neighbors, or other tenants in a multi-tenant facility; and (c) shall not use, or make available, the service for the operation of an Internet Service or Service Bureau. 9. Intellectual Property. The Services and CPE, together with any hardware or software provided by, or behalf of VABB, for Customers use in connection with Services, together with all intellectual property embodied, incorporated, or associated therein or therewith, and all information, documents and materials on VABB's website(s) are owned or licensed by VABB (all of the foregoing, VABB Intellectual Property), and are protected by trademark, copyright or other intellectual property laws and international treaty provisions. All websites, corporate names, service marks, trademarks, trade names, logos and domain names (collectively "Marks") of VABB are and shall remain the exclusive property of VABB and nothing in this Agreement shall be construed to grant Customer the right or license to use any Marks. Customer acknowledges and aggress that Customer is not granted a license or right or to use any VABB Intellectual Property other than a limited, nontransferable, revocable license to use such VABB Intellectual Property in connection with Customers use of the Services as necessary to access the Internet, provided that such use is in strict compliance with the terms of this Agreement. Any other use by Customer of any VABB Intellectual Property shall constitute a material breach of this Agreement entitling VABB to immediately terminate this Agreement in addition to all other remedies available at law or in equity (including, without limitation seeking injunctive relief). Customer agrees that under no circumstances shall it reverse compile, disassemble or reverse engineer or otherwise attempt to derive the source code from the binary code of any VABB Intellectual Property. 10. Termination; Default. VABB may terminate this Agreement, and Customers use of the Services, for any reason whatsoever by providing Customer with thirty (30) days prior written notice of termination. VABB may terminate this Agreement for Cause if Customer or any User breaches any term of this Agreement and fails to totally cure such breach within thirty (30) days following Customers receipt of written notice from VABB, specifying such breach; provided, however, that VABB may immediately terminate this Agreement without prior notice to Customer, and without a cure period, if (a) Customer or any User breaches any of the provisions of Sections 7, 8, and 9 of these Terms and Conditions, and/or any provision of the Policy; or (b) Customer becomes insolvent, executes an assignment for the benefit of its creditors, voluntarily files a petition in bankruptcy, or has a petition in bankruptcy filed against it under the United Sates bankruptcy laws. Upon termination of this Agreement for any reason, Customers right to use the Services and the CPE shall also automatically and immediately terminate and Customer agrees to (i) immediately cease, and ensure that all Users immediately cease, all use by all Users of the Services; (ii) pay VABB all Fees due and outstanding (even if not yet invoiced) as of the date of termination (including, if applicable, the ETF); and (iii) grant VABB, and VABBs authorized representatives, access to the Premises to remove and recover the CPE. Unless alternative arrangements are agreed by VABB in writing, if, following the termination of this Agreement, Customer fails to permit VABB access to the Premises to remove and retrieve the CPE, or otherwise fails to return any CPE to VABB within ten (10) business days of the effective date of termination of this Agreement, Customer agrees to pay VABB an CPE fee (the CPE Fee) of Fifty Dollars ($50) for each day thereafter that Customer retains possession of the CPE. Customer agrees that the CPE Fee is not a penalty, but is a reasonable approximation of VABBs damages as of the Effective Date. Customer forever waives any right to protest or challenge the enforceability of the CPE Fee. In the event that any CPE is not returned in acceptable condition, normal wear and tear excepted, Customer shall pay VABB all reasonable repair costs, or the cost of replacement. 11. Reconnect Fee. If VABB terminates this Agreement for Cause, VABB may (but shall have no obligation), in its sole discretion, agree to reconnect the Services upon Customers payment of VABBs then-applicable reconnection fee. 12. Security. Customer is solely responsible for the security of, and any damage caused to, any device, equipment or CPE that Customer chooses to connect to, or use in connection with, the Services, including any data stored thereon. VABB requires that any files or services Customer makes available for remote access to be protected with a password or other security device. Customer expressly assumes any and all risks relating to its use of the Services, including any and all risk of damage to any device, hardware, software or CPE, and any and all risks to the security and integrity of Customer and any Authorized Users communications, data, files and/or networks. Customer is responsible in all respects (including payment obligations) for all use of Customers account, including under any screen name, user name or password by any person, and all use by others of Customers account is subject to the terms hereof and the Acceptable Use Policy. For the purposes of this Agreement, all use of Customers account, whether or not authorized by Customer, shall be deemed Customers use. Customer shall be responsible for protecting the confidentiality of Customers passwords, and for ensuring that all use of Customers account complies fully with the provisions of this Agreement and the Acceptable Use Policy. 13. Disclaimer of Warranties; Limitation of Liability. THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED ON AN "AS IS" AND "AS AVAILABLE" BASIS WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO WARRANTIES OF TITLE, NON-INFRINGEMENT OR IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY OR FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE. ACCESS SPEEDS ARE NOT GUARANTEED. VABB EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS ANY WARRANTY THAT (A) THE SERVICES WILL OPERATE UNINTERRUPTED; (B) THE INTERNET CAN BE ACCESSED BY CUSTOMER AND AUTHORIZED USERS USING THE SERVICES AT ALL TIMES WITHOUT INTERRUPTION; AND (C) THE SERVICES WILL BE FREE FROM DEFECTS. NO ORAL OR WRITTEN ADVICE OR INFORMATION GIVEN BY VABB'S EMPLOYEES, AGENTS OR CONTRACTORS SHALL CREATE A WARRANTY, AND CUSTOMER MAY NOT RELY ON ANY SUCH INFORMATION OR ADVICE. VABB MAKES NO WARRANTY OF ANY KIND, EITHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED, REGARDING THE QUALITY, CONTENT, ACCURACY, SECURITY OR VALIDITY OF ANY INFORMATION AND/OR DATA ACCESSED USING THE SERVICES, OR RESIDING ON OR PASSING THROUGH ANY NETWORK. USE OF ANY INFORMATION OBTAINED FROM OR THROUGH SERVICES PROVIDED BY VABB IS AT CUSTOMERS SOLE RISK. CUSTOMER ACKNOWLEDGES THAT VABB IS NOT AND SHALL NOT BE LIABLE OR RESPONSIBLE FOR ANY ERRORS OR INTERRUPTION IN THE SERVICES, WHETHER WITHIN OR OUTSIDE THE CONTROL OF VABB OR OTHERWISE. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL VABB BE LIABLE TO CUSTOMER OR ANY OTHER PERSON OR ENTITY, FOR ANY FORM OF DAMAGES OR LOSSES (INCLUDING DIRECT, INDIRECT, INCIDENTAL, SPECIAL, PUNITIVE OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES) THAT RESULT FROM (A) CUSTOMER'S USE OF OR INABILITY TO ACCESS ANY PART OF THE INTERNET OR THE SERVICES; (B) CUSTOMER'S RELIANCE ON OR USE OF INFORMATION, SERVICES OR MERCHANDISE PROVIDED ON, THROUGH, OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SERVICES OR THE CPE; (C) ERRORS, DELAYS, LOSS OF INFORMATION, OR INTERRUPTIONS IN SERVICES CAUSED BY THE CUSTOMER, VABB OR A THIRD PARTY'S NEGLIGENCE, FAULT, MISCONDUCT OR FAILURE TO PERFORM, OR THAT RESULT FROM MISTAKES, OMISSIONS, INTERRUPTIONS, DELETION OF FILES, ERRORS, DEFECTS, DELAYS IN OPERATION OR TRANSMISSION, OR ANY FAILURE OF PERFORMANCE OF ANY NATURE WHATSOEVER; AND (D) any damage caused to, any device, equipment or CPE that Customer chooses to connect to, or use in connection with, the Services, including any DAMAGE TO, OR LOSS OF, data stored THEREON. CUSTOMER UNDERSTANDS THAT THESERVICES MAY BE TEMPORARILY UNAVAILABLE FOR SCHEDULED OR UNSCHEDULED MAINTENANCE AND FOR OTHER REASONS OUTSIDE OF THE DIRECT CONTROL OF VABB. UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES SHALL ANY SUCH ERRORS, DELAYS, INTERRUPTIONS IN SERVICES OR LOSS OF INFORMATION NULLIFY OR MODIFY THESE TERMS AND CONDITIONS. IN NO EVENT SHALL VABB'S LIABILITY TO CONSUMER FOR ANY CLAIM ARISING OUT OF, OR RELATING TO, THIS AGREEMENT, THE SERVICES, AND/OR CUSTOMER OR ANY USERS USE OF THE SERVICES, EXCEED THE TOTAL FEES PAID BY CUSTOMER TO VABB UNDER THIS AGREEMENT IN THE SIX (6) MONTH PERIOD IMMEDIATELY PRECEDING THE ACT OR OMISSION GIVING RISE TO SUCH LIABILITY. 14. Indemnification. Customer shall defend, indemnify and hold VABB harmless from and against any and all demands, claims, causes of actions, losses, damages, liabilities, fees and expenses suffered or incurred by VABB (including attorneys fees, court costs and other expenses) resulting from, arising out of, or in connection with any breach or violation by Customer or any User of any of the terms of this Agreement, and/or Customer or any Users use of Services. 15. Notices; Facsimile Signatures. Notices to you will be deemed given when personally delivered, addressed to you at your last known address and deposited in the U.S. Mail (which may include inclusion in your billing invoice), sent electronically to your last known e-mail address, or delivered telephonically, deemed given when a message is left at the phone number on your account. Your notices to VABB will be deemed given when VABB receives them at VABBs then current address or phone number. The now current address and phone number is 14115 Lovers Lane, Ste 135, Culpeper VA 22701, 540-829-1700. 16. Binding Effect; Assignment. This Agreement shall be binding upon, and shall inure to the benefit of, and be enforceable by, the parties and their successors and permitted assigns. Customer shall not assign this Agreement, or any of its rights hereunder, without the prior written consent of VABB, which consent VABB may withhold in its absolute discretion. 17. Governing Law. This Agreement shall be governed by and construed in accordance with the laws of the Commonwealth of Virginia, without regard to the conflict of laws principles of any jurisdiction. 18. Resolving Disputes. In order to expedite and control the cost of disputes, you agree that any legal or equitable claim relating to this Agreement and any addendum thereto will be resolved as follows: 1.Informal Resolution. We will first try to resolve any Claim informally. Accordingly, neither of us may start a formal proceeding (except for Claims described in section 18.c. below) for at least 60 days after one of us notifies the other of a Claim in writing. You will send your notice to the then current address of VABB and we will send our notice to your billing address. 2.Formal resolution. In the event VABB and Customer are unable to resolve a dispute informally within 60 days, then such dispute shall be resolved by arbitration under the following terms and conditions: 1.claims, disputes or other matters in question except as indicated in 18.c. below between the parties shall be subject to and decided by arbitration in accordance with applicable rules of the American Arbitration Association currently in effect unless the parties agree otherwise. 2.in any action to arbitrate, adjudicate, or interpret this agreement other matters in dispute, the party substantially prevailing in such action shall be entitled to payment from the other party of all costs and attorney fees incurred. 3.The award entered by arbitration or the arbitrator SHALL BE BINDING. 4.Any arbitration and/or award pursuant to this Agreement shall be governed by Chapter 21, Article 8.01, Sections 8.01-577 through 8.01-581.016 of the Code of Virginia, 1950, as amended. 5.All parties to this agreement specifically waive all rights to a jury or bench trial in a court of law except indicated herein. 4.Notwithstanding the foregoing any Claim based on nonpayment for services, damage to VABB equipment, or unacceptable use, theft or resale of services may only be decided by a court of competent jurisdiction in the Commonwealth of Virginia. 19. Severability. If any provision of this Agreement, or the application thereof, shall for any reason and to any extent be determined by a court of competent jurisdiction to be invalid or unenforceable, the remaining provisions of this Agreement shall be interpreted so as best to reasonably effect the intent of the parties. The parties further agree to replace any such invalid or unenforceable provisions with valid and enforceable provisions designed to achieve, to the extent possible, the business purposes and intent of such invalid and unenforceable provisions. 20. Waiver. No waiver or failure by either party to exercise any option, right or privilege under the terms of this Agreement on any occasion or occasions shall be construed to be a waiver of the same on any other occasion or of any other option, right or privilege. 21. Representation and Warranty of Customer. Customer represents and warrants to VABB that (a) it is an individual or is a company or limited liability company duly incorporated or organized and in good standing in the jurisdiction of its incorporation or organization and is authorized to transact business in the Commonwealth of Virginia; and (b) the activation or use of VABB services and the performance by Customer of its obligations hereunder, (i) have been duly authorized by all necessary action; (ii) do not require any approval or consent of any person or local, state, federal, or other governmental authority; (iii) do not and will not conflict with, resulting in any violation of, or constitute any default under, any provision of Companys organizational documents, including its articles, by-laws or otherwise, or any contract, agreement, document, or instrument to which Customer is a party or by which Customer is bound. 22. Entire Agreement. This Agreement, these Terms and Conditions, and the Acceptable Use Policy, sets forth the parties entire agreement and understanding concerning the Services and supersedes all prior negotiations and all other agreements between the parties, whether electronic, written or oral. These Terms and Conditions and the terms of the Policy may be modified at any time hereafter by VABB. VABB shall notify Customer of any such changes by posting a notice of such changes at www.vabb.com or by notice via e-mail or postal mail. Customer shall have, at that time, an opportunity to terminate this Agreement without penalty, in which event the provisions of Section 10 above shall apply. Customer or any Users continued use of Services following receipt of such notice shall irrevocably constitute acceptance of all of such changes. 23. Attorneys Fees; Collection Costs. In the event that VABB is required to bring any action or suit (including without limitation any action or suit seeking injunctive and/or other equitable relief) against Customer that arises out of or relates to Customer or any Users use of the Services, and/or this Agreement, including to recover any Fees and other sums owed by Customer, Customer agrees that it shall pay VABBs reasonable attorneys' fees and courts costs incurred in connection with such action or suit. Customer further agrees to pay all collection costs incurred by VABB in attempting to collected payment from Customer of any Fees owed under this Agreement. 24. Government and Business Mandated Fees. Vabb may at its discretion pass thru any fees mandated by Government taxing authorities or Business partners. These mandated fees may include: Taxes- local, State, and Federal; Cost Recovery Surcharges by Sprint, AT&T, and Verizon among other; Federal Universal Service Fund per provider, and others. These fees are a direct pass-thru by VABB and applies to all providers and major Telcos and go directly to the Taxing or Business entity imposing the fees. These Fees may change over time and your bill will reflect the most current pass-thru amounts. VIRGINIA BROADBAND, L.L.C. (VABB) ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY This Acceptable Use Policy (this Policy), as may be amended form time to time, describes specific actions that are prohibited by VABB and applies to all Users of any part of the Services, without exception. Defined terms used in this Acceptable Use Policy, but not otherwise defined, shall have the meanings ascribed thereto in the Terms and Conditions of the Customers Agreement with VABB. The term Users means the Customer, Authorized Users, Consumers and any other person who uses the Services, regardless of whether such use is permitted by VABB and/or the Customer. VABB reserves the right to modify the terms of this Policy at any time and from time to time. The then current version of this Policy will be posted on VABBs website at www.vabb.com. Users shall not use the Equipment or the Services: To monitor data on any network or system without the prior explicit authorization of the administrator of that system or network. To interfere with the service of any user, host or network, including deliberate attempts to overload a server, network connected device or network component. To send unsolicited, mass electronic mail messages to one or more recipients or systems (Spamming). Any electronic messages, which are sent in an unsolicited manner to ten (10) or more recipients, or any series of unsolicited electronic messages to a single user, qualifies as Spamming. For illegal purposes or to further illegal activities, including without limitation, uploading, downloading, posting, distributing or facilitating the distribution of any material in any chat room, message board, newsgroup or similar interactive medium that: 1.constitutes an unauthorized reproduction or display of copyrighted or other protected materials, or otherwise violates copyright or intellectual property laws; 2.violates U.S. export control laws; 3.is threatening, abusive, harassing, obscene, defamatory, libelous, deceptive, fraudulent or invasive of anothers privacy; 4.encourages conduct that could constitute a criminal offense, give rise to civil liability or otherwise violate any applicable local, state, national or international law or regulation. To transmit any material or data in violation of federal, state or local law or regulation, including, but not limited to any copyrighted material or data, or material or data protected by trade secret or trademark laws. To probe hosts or networks without the prior explicit authorization of the administrator of those systems. To breach the security of a host, network component or authentication system without the prior explicit authorization of the administrator of those systems. To originate malformed data or network traffic that results in damage to, or disruption of, a service or network connected device. To forge data with the intent to misrepresent the origination user or source. To forge electronic mail headers (including any portion of the IP packet header and/or electronic mail address), or any other method used to forge, disguise, or conceal the users identity when using the Services (Spoofing). To use another Internet users electronic mail server to relay electronic mail without the prior explicit authorization from that third party (E-mail Relay). To conceal, forge or otherwise falsify Users identity in connection with any Services, or present a false identity to VABB when signing up for any Services. To cross-post the same or similar messages to two or more USENET newsgroups or to post messages which are off-topic to the particular newsgroup. All postings to USENET newsgroups by User must comply with that newsgroups charter and other policies. VIRGINIA BROADBAND, L.L.C. .About Us Contact Us Privacy Policy Customer Support | Contact Us | My Account | Terms & Conditions | Privacy Policy 2008