Virginia Tech® home

XG Testbed Portal Acceptable Use Policy

The CCI xG Testbed is a platform designed to allow researchers from academia, industry, and government to experiment with wireless and mobile network technologies and protocols with a focus on cybersecurity, intelligent and autonomous systems, and experiments.

Any individual accessing the Platform (“User”) may do so only for a Permitted Use, as defined below and only as otherwise permitted under this AUP. 

The CCI xG Testbed administrators may terminate access to the Platform for any individuals or organizations: 

  • Who violate any of these terms.
  • Whose use of the Platform, in the sole judgment of the CCI xG Testbed administrators, poses a threat to the CCI xG Testbed’s access to or right to use licensed or unlicensed spectrum, or the safety, security, and integrity of the Platform, other Users, or any third partie
  • For for any reason or no reason, at any time.

Authorized Users

  1. Individuals who are affiliated with institutions (such as a college, university, secondary school, public library, museum, foundation, government agency, research center or corporation, scholarly societies and for-profit organization) associated with CCI, as well as industry and subject matter experts (SMEs) that maintain valid CCI xG Testbed usage credentials.
  2. Other users of specified interest who have been granted access to CCI xG Testbed services and tools from CCI xG Testbed authorized personnel.

Scope

  1. CCI grants a non-exclusive, non-sublicensable, non-transferable right to the User to use the CCI xG Testbed. User’s right of use is restricted to their own evaluation and testing purposes only. Any use for other purposes such as — but not limited to — commercial purposes or “as a Service” is excluded. Any violation of these restrictions of use shall be subject to discontinuation of use and claims of compensation.
  2. CCI is under no obligation to develop the CCI xG Testbed and/or to release any update or upgrade with regard to the latter’s hardware and software components.
  3. The User shall ensure best efforts to secure by technical and legal means user account access for authorized Users only. CCI xG Testbed resources shall not be used by any other party. The User shall not decompile, reverse engineer, disassemble, translate, integrate, adapt, create derivative works or updates of, or attempt to derive the source code of the CCI xG Testbed software, or any part thereof.
  4. The User shall not copy or modify the CCI xG Testbed software or parts thereof.
  5. CCI reserves the right to modify these terms and conditions and will announce such modifications on its website. The User shall check the website at regular intervals, as CCI is under no obligation to inform the User of such modifications individually.
  6. The User is aware of, and acknowledges that the CCI xG Testbed contains third-party components subject to additional terms and conditions, e. g., open-source software. User commits itself to comply with such terms and conditions applying to such third-party components.
  7. Nothing in this license agreement is intended to restrict any third-party rights. The User shall ensure that third- party rights shall not be affected or infringed by its use of the CCI xG Testbed.
  8. This license agreement does not generate any obligation for CCI to create or maintain services that run outside of the CCI xG Testbed.
  9. If the User is interested in a commercial use of the Testbed or a use that is otherwise not covered by this license agreement, the User can contact the point of contact indicated in Section Contact to obtain information regarding possible terms and conditions of an additional agreement covering such additional use of the CCI xG Testbed.
  10. The User shall not be entitled to enter into agreements on behalf of or with effect to CCI or to create other obligations for CCI.
  11. CCI offers testbed resources based on a fair usage basis. CCI aims to provide a stable, high-quality service. If there is evidence that the actions of Users are adversely affecting this (including reserving resources for long periods), the CCI support team is empowered to take reasonable measures to terminate or reprioritize usage and revoke User access to protect the overall operation of its services. Implicated Users will be contacted by the CCI team as early as is reasonable.
  12. The User agrees that the CCI xG Testbed administrator can monitor all connected systems and traffic for vulnerabilities and conformance to the acceptable uses, and Users will cooperate with CCI and any third party involved should any violations or breaches be noticed. CCI can suspend or stop network connectivity or systems without notice if such violations are found or suspected.

Technical Requirements

The actual software and hardware requirements for using the CCI xG Testbed depends on the specific usage scenario and test purpose. 

The use of the NextG Testbed is at the User’s sole risk and responsibility. 

The User acknowledges that CCI is unable to ensure that the CCI xG Testbed is, or will remain, available uninterrupted. CCI shall not be liable if the User installs or runs software on the Testbed which does not run properly.

Users' Responsibility

Users will be responsible and liable for any and all activities under its account. The User commits that he or she will:

  1. Comply with any instructions relating to the use of the CCI xG Testbed;
  2. Not use the CCI xG Testbed in a manner that (or is likely to) adversely affect the provision of the CCI xG Testbed or that might perturb, interfere, distort or damage the xG Testbed;
  3. Not use the CCI xG Testbed to use, distribute, receive, store or communicate any material which is illegal, unlawful, offensive, abusive, indecent, defamatory, obscene or menacing, a nuisance or a hoax or any other type of material likely to cause offense;
  4. Not use the CCI xG Testbed to send or transmit content or material that consists of or contains virus software;
  5. Not use the CCI xG Testbed in a manner that might damage the reputation of CCI;
  6. Not share his/her credentials to access the CCI xG Testbed with a third party and/or non-authorized individuals;
  7. Not use the CCI xG Testbed in any manner that violates copyright, trademark, confidentiality, privacy, or that  infringes the intellectual or industrial property rights of CCI or any third party;
  8. Not provide any content into the CCI xG Testbed that breaches or could breach the law, public order, public morality or any third party rights;
  9. Nnot remove, change or obscure any copyright notice displayed on the CCI xG Testbed and its components;
  10. Not copy, use, reverse engineer, amend, disassemble, disintegrate, decompile, or otherwise attempt to reconstruct, identify, discover or derive the source code, underlying ideas, underlying user interface techniques or algorithms or disclose any of the foregoing, or in any other way interfere with any software (or parts thereof) provided as part of the CCI xG Testbed;.
  11. Not use the CCI xG Testbed infrastructure for spying or attempting to invade their privacy or the privacy of others.;
  12. Not attempt to disrupt the working of CCI xG Testbed infrastructure or any other system.;
  13. Acknowledge any result (scientific publication (i.e. paper, poster, demo, white paper)) derived from CCI xG Testbed  and cite “CCI xG Testbed.”

Users' obligations regarding data backup in the event of possible software conflicts

The User shall use reasonable efforts to check if there might be conflicts with its software intended to be tested and run within the CCI xG Testbed before the installation of such use. 

The User will make backup copies of all of its software and data before the first installation within the CCI xG Testbed and will repeat such backup procedures in regular intervals in order to exclude/reduce the possibility of data losses resulting from software malfunction.

Warranty

  1. CCI shall use reasonable efforts within its actual and legal possibilities that the CCI xG Testbed provides the essential functionalities as described in the NextG Testbed description, always provided that the CCI xG Testbed has not been modified, has not been used with incompatible software and provided that no other reasons within the User’s sphere of influence affect the executability of the CCI xG Testbed. The User is obliged to report any defects discovered in the CCI xG Testbed without delay by e-mail or letter to the contact address provided under Section Contact. CCI shall be entitled to use such feedback unrestricted in time, content and place for optimization and development of the CCI xG Testbed.
  2. CCI shall take no warranty obligation whatsoever with respect to the CCI xG Testbed, and any other claims, losses, liabilities, damages, costs and expenses attributable to any failure to conform to any warranty.
  3. CCI’s warranty is excluded if faults or defects are caused by unauthorized modification of the CCI xG Testbed, by inappropriate or culpable handling, by combination with inappropriate hardware or software, or by use of inappropriate software, regardless if caused by the User or any third party.
  4. Warranty claims — if any — will expire after a statutory period of limitations amounting to 12 months.

Liability

  1. CCI’s liability in case of violation of obligations and tort shall be limited to wilful intent. Only in instances  of personal damages or violation of essential contractual obligations (cardinal obligations) will CCI also be liable for damages resulting from negligence. In any case, CCI’s liability will be limited to the foreseeable, contractually typical damages.
  2. The User acknowledges to be solely responsible to safeguard its access information (both credentials and passwords) provided by CCI to access the Testbed. The User will take sole liability in case of loss of or damage to such access information and for any and all damages resulting from — temporary or permanent — inaccessibility and loss of data and software uses within the Testbed by the User.
  3. CCI takes no responsibility or liability for any damage caused due to a breach of User’s obligations according to this license agreement. This exclusion of liability explicitly extends to damages arising to the User from the inaccessibility of the User data and software. The User is aware that in case of modifications or manipulations of the Testbed, CCI reserves the right to exclude the User from any further use of the Testbed without prior notice.

Privacy

I understand that CCI xG Testbed administrators can may collect and use information about me and my usage of the Platform in order to maintain, improve, and administer the platform; provide platform support; verify my eligibility to use the Platform; and as otherwise permitted or required by applicable law. 

To the extent permitted by applicable law, including laws related to access to public records, CCI xG Testbed Administrators will employ reasonable safeguards to protect the identities of Users and the confidentiality of their data.

 AERPAW administrators may attempt to provide isolated computer and storage resources for a limited amount of time to facilitate 

User efforts to maintain confidentiality of data, but it is the User’s responsibility to arrange for the provision of such resources. 

Any such resources are offered on an as-is basis, without gurantee of any kind.

Radio frequency (RF) communications over the air, cannot, by their nature, be protected from interception by third parties; Users must take appropriate precautions with any sensitive data that they transmit. 

CCI xG Testbed does not represent its ability to handle any User data in accordance with any particular specialized legal, accreditation, or industry requirements for data privacy or security, ( such as the Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act (“HIPAA”) and Users shall not use the Platform to store or transmit data if such requirement would apply

Data Storage

CCI xG Testbed does not provide guarantees with respect to the reliability of the storage it provides; it is Users’ responsibility to make copies of data that is important to them.

Other Circumstances

The CCI xG Testbed administrators reserve the right to exercise judgment with respect to the use of the Platform and its resources and to restrict or terminate access as they see fit.

Live Limited Access/ In-Person Access

By going through some technical material and cooperative agreements, after some initial level-setting, qualified experimenters can be provided with in-person testbed sessions in which they will have live access to a specific predetermined subset of equipment that requires awareness of the equipment operational risks.

Users must understand that CCI xG Testbed will provide a debrief about the specification and operation of the particular equipment and I understand the risks associated with the particular equipment. 

Consequences

In addition to the other consequences described herein, violation of these policies may result in any or all of the following:

  • Revoke  User’s access to CCI xG Testbed;
  • Revoke User’s access to the radio frequencies used by CCI xG Testbed;
  • Terminating a User’s experiment, including deletion of data associated with it;
  • Disabling User accounts and/or institution access;
  • Informing the user institution about the User’s violations of the policies herein; and/or
  • Rreferral to applicable law enforcement authorities.

Contact

To report a suspected violation of this policy, contact the CCI xG Testbed administrator at cci.xg.testbed.admin@cyberinitiative.org