Hi Folks,
Its a sad day in hell when a public hospital blocks access to the IAPS website. Let me explain……
One of the IAPS Forum Moderators (3 year moderator) was recently hospitalized and had an extended stay at his local hospital. During his stay at the hospital, he had brought his laptop along to quell the usual boredom of hospital recovery life. On the first night my moderator was able to go to our main website as well as check our forum to make sure everything was ok. The next morning and afternoon all was still well. That evening, our main website was blocked as well as all of his L2TP VPN access while on the hospital wifi network.
Being the inquisitive and thorough moderator that he is, he decided to investigate the matter more in depth. He forwarded a copy of the Baptist Hospital (Jacksonville, FL) wifi terms and conditions that you are forced to agree with before you can use their network. Here is what those terms read:
Welcome to Baptist Health WiFi
Please review the agreement and if you agree to its terms and conditions click “Guest Access” at the bottom of this page.
WELCOME! This is a legal agreement (“Agreement”) between you and Baptist Health System, Inc. and its wholly-owned subsidiaries (collectively, “Baptist”) governing your access to and use of the PUBLIC WIRELESS INTERNET SERVICE (this “Service”) offered by Baptist to its current patients and visitors.
By clicking your acceptance or by accessing or using this Service, you (i) represent that you are currently a patient or visitor at Baptist (a “Baptist Invitee”), (ii) are over the age of 18 (or, if you are under the age of 18, that you have obtained your parents/guardians permission to use this Service and agreement to all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement), and (iii) ACKNOWLEDGE THAT YOU HAVE READ ALL OF THE TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF THIS AGREEMENT, UNDERSTAND ALL OF SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND AGREE TO BE LEGALLY BOUND BY EACH AND EVERY ONE OF SUCH TERMS AND CONDITIONS. If you are not a Baptist Invitee and/or you do not agree to all of the terms and conditions of this Agreement, you are prohibited from using or accessing this Service.
Consent To Monitoring. This Service is not offered for commercial purposes, but is offered solely for the convenience of Baptist Invitees. Accordingly, you have no expectation of privacy or security with respect to the use of this Service. Baptist reserves the right to (but is not required to) monitor your access to, use of and communications, transmissions and activities in connection with this Service, and may disclose any such information to legal authorities or any other individual or entity for purposes of ensuring your compliance with this Agreement and applicable law, cooperating with legal authorities and otherwise protecting Baptist’s rights, property and interests. Security Risks.There are privacy and security risks associated with wireless communications and the Internet in general. Baptist makes no assurances that your communications or activities will be or will remain private or secure, and Baptist assumes no responsibility in that regard. You, and not Baptist, are solely responsible for your own privacy and security in using this Service, and for implementing any protection you deem to be appropriate to protect and secure your privacy, and your activities, hardware, software and systems.
Authorized Use Of This Service. You are authorized to use this Service solely while you are a Baptist Invitee, subject to the terms and conditions of this Agreement. You are fully responsible for your acts and omissions while using this Service (including your access to or transmission of any content, information and other materials), and you shall bear all risks arising in any way out of your access to or use of this Service. You shall not use this Service to engage in any inappropriate, immoral, illegal, infringing, tortuous, harmful, dangerous or otherwise prohibited conduct or any conduct that might otherwise interfere with Baptist’s or any other individual’s or entity’s operation, use or enjoyment of this Service or any other service, system or property. Your use of this Service requires you to be a “good Internet citizen” when using this Service. . Unless you have received written authorization from Baptist, you shall not utilize a video capture device or webcam while using this Service, nor shall you transmit via this Service any audio, video or photographic image of a Baptist patient, employee, contractor or professional staff member while s/he is either on Baptist premises or providing services for the benefit of Baptist or its patients. (It is the policy of Baptist to protect the privacy of its patients, staff and employees. Accordingly, Baptist does not generally permit the use of audio-recording or visual/video equipment on its premises.) You shall not use this Service to engage in any inappropriate, immoral, illegal, infringing, tortuous, harmful, dangerous or otherwise prohibited conduct or any conduct that might otherwise interfere with Baptist’s or any other individual’s or entity’s operation, use or enjoyment of this Service or any other service, system or property. Your use of this Service requires you to be a “good Internet citizen” when using this Service.
Indemnification. . You shall indemnify, defend and hold harmless Baptist and its subsidiaries, agents, distributors, service providers and affiliates, and their respective officers, directors, members, shareholders, employees and volunteers from and against any and all claims, actions, demands, liabilities, costs and expenses, including without limitation, reasonable attorneys’ fees and litigation costs, resulting from or in any way arising out of (i) your breach of any provision of this Agreement or any representation or warranty you provide herein, (ii) your use of this Service or (iii) your negligent acts or omissions or willful misconduct in connection with your use of this Service. Baptist reserves the right to take exclusive control and defense of any such claim subject to indemnification by you, in which event you will cooperate fully with Baptist in asserting any available defenses.
Unauthorized Use. . Without limiting any other available right or remedy, Baptist reserves the right to: (i) take such actions as it deems, in its sole discretion, to be appropriate to protect against violations of this Agreement or abuse of this Service and to otherwise protect its interest (e.g., removing offending material, temporary or permanent filtering, blocking access, and suspending or terminating the Service or your access to the Service), and (ii) investigate immediately and involve and cooperate with appropriate authorities regarding any illegal or unauthorized activities involving this Service. You shall be liable to Baptist for any damages incurred or amounts that are required to be paid by Baptist that arise out of or are related to your violation of this Agreement, including, without limitation, damages paid to third parties, cost of repairs or replacements, and reasonable attorneys’ fees and costs of enforcement.
Disclaimer of Warranties. THIS SERVICE IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, “WITH ALL FAULTS”, AND “AS AVAILABLE”. BAPTIST DISCLAIMS ALL WARRANTIES AND REPRESENTATIONS OF ANY KIND, WHATSOEVER, WHETHER EXPRESS, IMPLIED OR STATUTORY, INCLUDING, BUT NOT LIMITED TO, THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF INFRINGEMENT, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND TITLE. THERE ARE NO WARRANTIES THAT EXTEND BEYOND THE FACE OF THIS AGREEMENT, AND NO ADVICE OR INFORMATION GIVEN BY BAPTIST OR ITS EMPLOYEES SHALL CREATE ANY EXPRESS OR IMPLIED WARRANTY, UNLESS EXPRESSLY SET FORTH IN WRITING AND SIGNED BY YOU AND A DULY ELECTED OFFICER OF BAPTIST. IF APPLICABLE LAW DOES NOT ALLOW THE EXCLUSION OF SOME OR ALL OF THE ABOVE IMPLIED WARRANTIES, THE ABOVE EXCLUSIONS WILL APPLY TO YOU TO THE EXTENT ALLOWED BY APPLICABLE LAW. While the Internet provides access to many valuable local, national and international sources of information and entertainment, the Internet is not regulated and, therefore, also provides access to some sites and information that some individuals (or some minors’ parents/guardians) may find inappropriate, objectionable, offensive, controversial, inaccurate, out-dated or unverified. You (or your parents/guardians, if you are a minor) assume full responsibility for and risk in any way arising out of your access to and use of this Service and the Internet, and you are solely responsible for evaluating the suitability, appropriateness or legality of any informational content, materials, products and services you may encounter online. If you are a minor, your parents/guardians are responsible for monitoring your access to (and setting appropriate standards concerning your) use of this Service and the Internet. Baptist may, but need not, provide screening or blocking of certain materials and/or Internet sites. Software products that enable screening of particular materials and information are commercially available and widely advertised in public media, including on the Internet.
Limitations of Liability. ACCESS TO AND USE OF THIS SERVICE IS PROVIDED SOLELY AS A COURTESY TO AND FOR THE CONVENIENCE OF BAPTIST INVITEES AND DOES NOT IMPOSE LIABILITY OF ANY KIND OR IN ANY AMOUNT ON BAPTIST, INCLUDING WITHOUT LIMITATION, LIABILITY FOR ANY DIRECT, INDIRECT, SPECIAL, CONSEQUENTIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE OR EXEMPLARY DAMAGES (INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, LOST PROFITS, LOSS OF BUSINESS, BUSINESS INTERRUPTION, LOSS OF DATA, OR OTHER SIMILAR DAMAGES) ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT OR THIS SERVICE; EVEN IF BAPTIST IS ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES. IF FOR ANY REASON ANY OF THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY IS HELD TO FAIL IN ITS ESSENTIAL PURPOSE OR IS OTHERWISE DEEMED TO BE UNENFORCEABLE, THEN THE MAXIMUM AGGREGATE, CUMULATIVE LIABILITY OF BAPTIST, ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THIS AGREEMENT AND THIS SERVICE, SHALL NOT EXCEED YOUR DIRECT DAMAGES, IF ANY, UP TO FIFTY DOLLARS ($50). THE LIMITATIONS IN THIS SECTION SHALL BE DEEMED TO APPLY TO ALL CAUSES OF ACTION AND ALL LEGAL THEORIES WITHOUT REGARD TO WHETHER THE DAMAGES ARISE FROM BREACH OF CONTRACT, BREACH OF WARRANTY, NEGLIGENCE OR OTHER TORTS, OR ANY OTHER CAUSE OF ACTION, HOWEVER STATED. THIS SERVICE IS OFFERED TO YOU FREE OF CHARGE IN CONSIDERATION OF YOUR AGREEMENT TO THE FOREGOING LIMITATIONS OF LIABILITY, AND SUCH LIMITATIONS ARE MATERIAL TO BAPTIST’S DECISION TO PROVIDE THIS SERVICE TO BAPTIST INVITEES AND AN EXPRESS CONDITION OF YOUR ACCESS TO AND USE OF THIS SERVICE. You have the right to not access or use this Service and the option to obtain substantially similar access to the Internet via any commercial Internet provider. Accordingly, this Agreement shall not be construed in any way as an adhesion contract between the parties, but shall constitute a legally binding agreement between you and Baptist.
Termination of Agreement or Service. This Agreement shall remain in effect so long as Baptist continues to provide this Service (in whole or in part) to Baptist Invitees unless earlier terminated by Baptist, which Baptist may, without cause, do so at any time. Baptist may, at any time and for any reason, without notice to you, change, limit, suspend or otherwise discontinue this Service (in whole or in part) or your access to this Service. In such event, your rights to use this Service shall immediately be modified accordingly or shall immediately cease.
Miscellaneous. . Baptist reserves the right to modify this Agreement at any time without prior notice to you. Your continued use of this Service following any such modification shall constitute your acceptance of its revised terms. This Agreement and your use of this Service shall be governed by the laws of the State of Florida, without regard to the conflict of law principles thereof, and Baptist shall have at all times the right to seek any and all legal or equitable relief (including, but not limited to, injunctive relief) available to it under applicable laws. The federal and State courts sitting in Jacksonville, Duval County, Florida shall have exclusive jurisdiction over all controversies or claims arising out of this Agreement or your access to or use of the Service, and you irrevocably submit to the personal jurisdiction of such courts in such matters. The disclaimers of warranty, limitations of liability, monitoring and disclosure and indemnification provisions of this Agreement, and such other provisions that by their terms are reasonably intended to survive termination of this Agreement, shall survive termination of this Agreement. This Agreement is solely between you and Baptist and does not create any third-party beneficiary relationship with any other individual or entity. This Agreement constitutes the entire agreement between you and Baptist regarding its subject matter, and it supersedes any prior or contemporaneous agreements between you and Baptist regarding its subject matter. Any notices given by you to Baptist must be given by postal mail to Baptist Health, 800 Prudential Drive, Jacksonville, Florida 32207, Attention: Information Services Department. The subject headings hereof are for convenience only and do not in any way limit the provisions of this Agreement. If any provision of this Agreement is found to be invalid by any court of competent jurisdiction, the invalidity of such provision shall not affect the validity of the remaining provisions of this Agreement, which shall remain in full force and effect. No waiver of any term or condition of this Agreement shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such term or condition or any other term or condition of this Agreement.
In a nutshell, what this says is that they are watching and monitoring at all times what your doing and where you are going. My moderator was blocked for what reason? What harm does the IAPS site do? How did it violate any terms of a hospital’s wifi terms? We’re not a hostile site, we don’t promote any illegalities, we don’t allow riffraff on our networks, and we strive 7 days a week to promote net neutrality and a censorship-free world.
Upon leaving the hospital and returning home, my moderator connected to his home network and tried to sign in to his vpn service only to be once again blocked. After many hours of deleting and reinstalling the vpn services, cleaning out his computer, and everything else he could think of, he finally discovered what the problem was. The hospital wifi network had installed (without his consent or permission) a small script that disabled parts of his computer that controlled both his dial-up networking (which controls part of the vpn service) and which sites he’s allowed to visit while on their network. The biggest problem with this policy besides the total censorship-state that hospital is running, is installing an actual script without the consent of the user that was persistent even when a user left the hospital network and returned home.
Is this the censorship world that we are becoming? When even a religious based hospital resorts to total censorship? My moderator deleted the script without thinking when he eventually found it. When himself and I were discussing the incident, he told me he’s due back at the hospital this coming week and he’ll get me a copy of that script that they put on your computer. I’ll tear the coding apart when he sends it over to me and I’ll post the raw code on the blog here so every can see exactly what a totalitarian pro-censorship society looks like. Its truly disgusting to see a supposed “free society” under a dictatorship like this. People generally go to a hospital to be fixed up, not to have their civil liberties cut to shreds.
)
