French Broad Fiber Broadband Acceptable Use Policy

French Broad Fiber is the fiber Internet service of French Broad Electric Membership Corporation (“FBEMC”). This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP” or “Policy”), including the list of Prohibited Uses below, is incorporated into and forms part of your Residential Fiber Internet Service Agreement (the “Agreement”). By using French Broad Fiber services you agree to this Policy. If you engage in any of the activities prohibited by this Policy, French Broad Fiber may suspend or terminate your service as described below and in the Agreement.

This Policy is designed to help protect French Broad Fiber, French Broad Fiber’s customers, and the Internet community in general from irresponsible or, in some cases, illegal activities. The Policy is a non-exclusive list of the actions prohibited by French Broad Fiber. French Broad Fiber reserves the right to modify the Policy at any time. The current version is always available on this page, and continued use of the service after a change constitutes acceptance of the revised Policy.

Prohibited Uses of French Broad Fiber Systems and Services

You may not use French Broad Fiber services, or allow anyone else to use your service, for any of the following:

1. Illegal content. Transmission, distribution, or storage of any material in violation of any applicable law or regulation. This includes, without limitation, material protected by copyright, trademark, trade secret, or other intellectual property right used without proper authorization, and material that is obscene, unlawful, abusive, libelous, or defamatory, constitutes an illegal threat, or otherwise may violate any local, state, national, or international law.
2. Child sexual abuse material. Accessing, transmitting, distributing, or storing child sexual abuse material or any other content that sexually exploits minors. French Broad Fiber will report such activity to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children and to law enforcement as required by law.
3. Intellectual property violations. Violating the rights of any person protected by copyright, trade secret, patent, or other intellectual property or similar laws or regulations, including the unauthorized downloading, uploading, or sharing of copyrighted movies, music, software, or other works.
4. Resale or sharing of service. Reselling, redistributing, or sharing French Broad Fiber service beyond the premises at which it is installed, including by wireless, wired, or other means, without the prior written consent of French Broad Fiber.
5. Spam and unsolicited messaging. Sending unsolicited bulk email (“spam”), unsolicited commercial messages, or chain letters; collecting or harvesting email addresses or other personal information without consent; or operating a mailing list that does not use confirmed opt-in subscription. This prohibition applies whether the messages are sent through French Broad Fiber’s network or through another provider while advertising or referencing a French Broad Fiber account or service.
6. Forgery and impersonation. Forging, altering, or concealing the origin of any communication, including IP addresses, email headers, or other identifying information, or impersonating any person or entity.
7. Malicious software. Creating, distributing, hosting, or knowingly transmitting viruses, worms, ransomware, spyware, bots, or any other malicious code or program.
8. Unauthorized access. Attempting to gain access to any account, computer, network, or other resource not belonging to you without authorization (“hacking”), including the unauthorized access, alteration, or destruction of information belonging to any French Broad Fiber customer or end-user, or any attempt to do so.
9. Probing and scanning. Scanning, probing, or testing the vulnerability of any system or network, or circumventing any security or authentication measure, without the express authorization of the owner of that system or network.
10. Denial of service and harassment. Knowingly engaging in any activity designed to harass another user, or that will interfere with or deny service to any user, host, or network, including flooding, mail-bombing, and denial-of-service or distributed denial-of-service attacks, whether on the French Broad Fiber network or on another provider’s network.
11. Attack tools. Advertising, transmitting, or otherwise making available any software, program, product, or service that is designed to violate this Policy or the acceptable use policy of any other Internet service provider, including tools for sending spam or launching denial-of-service attacks.
12. Open relays and exploitable services. Operating an open mail relay, open proxy, open DNS resolver, or any other service that is misconfigured or left unsecured in a way that allows it to be used by third parties to violate this Policy.
13. Commercial servers on residential service. Operating a server of any kind on residential service for commercial purposes or for use by the general public, including web, email, file, or game servers. Personal, non-commercial use such as home automation, private game hosting, or remote access to your own devices is permitted provided it does not generate traffic that interferes with other customers. Certain ports are blocked network-wide as described in our Internet Broadband Disclosures.
14. Network interference. Using French Broad Fiber services in any way that interferes with the use of the French Broad Fiber network by other customers or authorized users, or that places an unreasonable burden on the network.
15. Theft of service. Obtaining or attempting to obtain service by any means or device with intent to avoid payment, or tampering with any French Broad Fiber equipment, including the optical network terminal or the router provided by French Broad Fiber.

Customer Responsibilities

You are responsible for all use of your French Broad Fiber service, whether or not you authorized that use. This includes use by family members, guests, and any other person or device connected to your service. By accepting service from French Broad Fiber, you agree to ensure that everyone who uses your service abides by this Policy. Complaints about users of your service will be forwarded to you for action.

You are also responsible for securing your side of the connection. You agree to:

• Keep any wireless network you operate protected with a strong password and current encryption, and keep the devices connected to your service updated with security patches.
• Keep your account credentials confidential and not share them with anyone outside your household.
• Notify French Broad Fiber promptly if you believe your service, equipment, or account has been compromised or used without your authorization, or if you become aware of or suspect unlawful copying or distribution of illegal content through your service, and use reasonable efforts to stop it.
• Use only equipment that complies with applicable law and does not harm the network, and remove any device that French Broad Fiber identifies as harmful.

Monitoring and Enforcement

French Broad Fiber has no obligation to monitor the use of its services or the content transmitted over its network. However, French Broad Fiber reserves the right to monitor traffic and usage to the extent necessary to operate the network, to protect the security of the network and its customers, to investigate complaints or suspected violations of this Policy, and to comply with the law. French Broad Fiber will cooperate with law enforcement and may disclose customer information in response to lawful requests, as described in our Customer Privacy Policy.

If French Broad Fiber determines, in its sole discretion, that this Policy has been violated, French Broad Fiber may take any action it deems appropriate, including issuing a warning, blocking or filtering the offending traffic, removing or disabling access to the offending material, and suspending service. French Broad Fiber will generally attempt to contact you before suspending service, but may suspend service immediately and without notice where it believes the violation poses a risk to the network, to other customers, or to third parties, or where the violation is illegal. Suspended service will not be restored until the violation has been resolved to French Broad Fiber’s satisfaction. French Broad Fiber may also terminate your service for a violation of this Policy in accordance with the termination provisions of the Agreement. As provided in the Agreement, a violation may result in a non-refundable investigation fee of up to $250, and reconnection fees may apply if service is disconnected for a violation and later restored.

Network Management

Information about French Broad Fiber’s network management practices, performance characteristics, and commercial terms, including the ports we block to protect the network, is published in our Internet Broadband Disclosures.

Contact for Reporting Abuse

Any party seeking to report a violation of this Policy may contact us via email at abuse@frenchbroademc.com. Please include the date and time of the activity, the IP address involved, and any logs or other evidence available.

Contact for Copyright Infringement

French Broad Fiber complies with the Online Copyright Infringement Liability Limitation Act of 1998, 17 U.S.C. § 512 (the “Act”). As required by the Act, we have a policy that reserves our right to terminate service to subscribers who repeatedly infringe copyrights. If we receive a determination that any subscriber or account holder has infringed another’s copyright through the use of our system or network, we reserve the right to terminate service to that subscriber after receiving notice of any further copyright infringement by that subscriber. French Broad Fiber accommodates and does not interfere with standard technical measures to identify and protect copyrighted works, subject to the limitations of the Act.

Notices and counter-notices related to claimed copyright infringement should be directed to the following designated agent:

DMCA Designated Agent
French Broad EMC
3043 Highway 213
Marshall, NC 28753
Phone: 828-649-2051
abuse@frenchbroademc.com

Last Modified: October 8, 2026