Acceptable Use Policy

1. Purpose and scope

This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") sets the rules for using FlexDedi servers, network and related services (the "Services"). It is part of our Terms of Service, and terms such as Server and Port have the meanings given there. It applies to you as a customer and to anyone who uses the Services through you, including your users and customers. You are responsible for all activity on your Services, whether or not you authorized it.

The purpose of this AUP is to keep our network reliable for every customer and to stop it from being used to harm others. If you are unsure whether something is allowed, ask us in a support ticket before you start.

2. Prohibited content

You must not use the Services to store, publish or distribute:

• content that is illegal under laws that apply to you, to us or where the Server is located
• child sexual abuse material (CSAM), in any form
• malware, ransomware, exploit kits, botnet command-and-control software, or phishing pages and kits
• content that infringes copyright, trademarks or other intellectual property rights
• content that incites violence or hatred against people based on characteristics such as race, ethnicity, religion, disability, gender or sexual orientation, or that promotes terrorism
• intimate images shared without the consent of the people shown
• personal data obtained or published unlawfully, such as stolen databases or leaked credentials

We handle notices of copyright or trademark infringement as required by applicable law. We forward valid notices to the customer concerned, and we may terminate the accounts of repeat infringers.

3. Fraud and deception

You must not use the Services for fraud or deception. This includes scams, fake shops, payment card fraud, identity theft, impersonating other people or organizations, pyramid schemes and money laundering.

4. Email and spam

You must not send, or help others send, unsolicited bulk email or other unsolicited messages (spam). In particular, you must:

• send bulk or commercial email only to recipients who have opted in, and honor unsubscribe requests promptly
• not use purchased, rented or harvested address lists
• not run open mail relays, or relay mail for others without authentication
• not host websites or services advertised by spam, wherever the spam was sent from
• keep accurate reverse DNS and sender authentication (SPF, DKIM and DMARC) on IP addresses that send email, and process bounces and complaints

If one of our IP addresses is listed by a reputable blocklist because of your activity, you must fix the cause promptly. Until you do, we may restrict email traffic from your Server.

5. Network abuse

You must not use the Services to disrupt, attack or gain unauthorized access to any network or system, including ours. This includes:

• launching or taking part in denial-of-service (DoS or DDoS) attacks, or selling them as a "stresser" or "booter" service
• scanning, probing or testing systems for vulnerabilities without the written permission of their owner
• brute-forcing passwords or otherwise trying to access accounts or systems without authorization
• sending traffic with forged (spoofed) source IP addresses, or using IP or MAC addresses not assigned to you
• intercepting or monitoring traffic not addressed to you
• running open DNS resolvers, open proxies or other unsecured services that can be abused for amplification attacks or to hide the origin of traffic
• operating botnets or controlling compromised machines

Security testing of your own Servers is allowed, and so is testing third-party systems with their owner's written authorization. You may run VPN or proxy services for your users if they are protected against abuse, for example by requiring authentication, and you handle abuse reports about the traffic they carry.

6. Network etiquette

Good behavior on a shared internet keeps our IP addresses clean for every customer. You must:

• configure only the IP addresses assigned to you, and keep their reverse DNS accurate
• make crawlers and scrapers identify themselves, respect robots.txt and reasonable request rates, and stop when a site owner asks
• respond to abuse complaints that other networks send about your Servers

7. Cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining is allowed, like any other workload, as long as it complies with this AUP. It must run only on your own Servers, never on systems you have no right to use (cryptojacking), and it must follow the hardware rules in section 8.

8. Fair use of unmetered ports and hardware

Traffic on every FlexDedi Server is unmetered: there is no monthly cap and no egress or overage fee, inbound or outbound. You can use your full Port speed around the clock, and sustained high traffic is not a breach of this AUP: the Port is the limit. Our article on unmetered bandwidth explains how this works.

Running services for your own users is normal use, whether that means websites, SaaS, streaming, downloads, game servers, CDN nodes or VPN services. What requires a prior written agreement with us is reselling Port capacity as IP transit, meaning routing traffic for other networks or selling raw connectivity to third parties.

To protect the hardware, you must not flash or modify firmware, or run components outside the manufacturer's specifications, for example by overclocking or raising power limits.

9. Security obligations

You are responsible for the security of your Servers. At a minimum, you must:

• install security updates for your operating system and software promptly
• use strong, unique passwords or SSH keys, and remove default credentials
• disable services you do not need and restrict access to administrative interfaces
• keep your client area, API and out-of-band console credentials private
• investigate and clean up promptly if a Server is compromised

Our guide to securing a new Linux server is a good starting point. A compromised Server that attacks others is treated as abuse even if you did not start the attack, and we may isolate it until it is fixed.

10. How we handle abuse

We investigate reports received through our abuse page, from other networks and blocklist operators, and from our own monitoring. Our usual process is:

1. We review the report and, if it is credible, send you the details by email or support ticket.
2. You reply within 24 hours, explaining what you have done or will do to stop the abuse.
3. If you do not reply in time, or the abuse continues, we may restrict the affected IP address or Server, or suspend the Service.
4. We lift the restriction once the cause is fixed. Repeated violations can lead to termination.

In severe cases, we act immediately and notify you afterwards. Severe cases include CSAM, active attacks or spam runs, malware or phishing in active use, threats to the stability of our network, and orders from a competent authority. Fees continue to apply during a suspension, as set out in the Terms of Service.

11. Cooperation with law enforcement

We cooperate with law enforcement and other competent authorities when we receive a valid legal request, such as a court order. We check each request before acting on it and disclose only the information the law requires. Where the law allows, we tell the customer concerned before disclosing their information.

We may also report activity that we believe involves a serious crime, as we always do for CSAM, and we preserve data when the law requires it.

12. Reporting abuse

To report abuse involving a FlexDedi IP address or Server, use our abuse reporting page. Include the IP address, the date, time and time zone of the activity, the type of abuse and any evidence, such as log excerpts, email headers or URLs. Clear evidence lets us act faster.

We may share the content of your report with the customer concerned so they can fix the problem. Tell us in your report if you do not want your contact details passed on. For anything other than abuse, see how to reach us.

13. Changes to this policy

We may update this AUP to address new types of abuse or changes in the law. Material changes are announced as described in the Terms of Service, and the current version is always published on this page.