Acceptable use

1. Purpose and scope

This policy applies to all services provided by Upkyo, including web and WordPress hosting, cloud, VPS and dedicated servers, domain names, professional email, cloud backup and the mobile app, and to everyone who uses them: the customer, its end users, employees, contractors and its own customers.

The customer is responsible for all use of its services, whether authorized or not, including when a website or server has been compromised by a third party. Terms defined in the Terms of Service have the same meaning in this policy.

2. General principles

You must use the services lawfully, fairly and with respect for the rights of others and the security of networks. Any content or activity that violates the laws of the United States, the laws of the country where you are established, the laws of the country where our servers are located in the European Union, or the laws of the countries your services target is prohibited.

The examples in this policy are not exhaustive. Upkyo reasonably determines whether content or an activity violates this policy or exposes Upkyo, its customers or its partners to legal, technical or reputational risk.

3. Illegal content

You may not store, publish, transmit or make available through the services, among other things: content that infringes intellectual property rights, trademarks, trade secrets or rights of publicity; defamatory, threatening or harassing content; content inciting violence, terrorism, hatred or discrimination where the law prohibits it; intimate images shared without the consent of the people shown; unlawful disclosure of personal data or identity documents; the illegal sale or promotion of drugs, weapons, prescription medicines, forged documents or counterfeit goods; online gambling without the required licenses; and any content whose possession or distribution is a criminal offense.

Content that is legal in one country but illegal in the United States or in the country where our servers are located remains prohibited on our services.

4. Child sexual abuse material

Upkyo has zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material, including content that is artificially generated or altered, and for any content that sexualizes minors, facilitates their exploitation or links to such material.

When we become aware of such content, we remove or disable access to it without delay, immediately terminate all services on the account without notice or refund, and preserve the relevant evidence. We report it to the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children, NCMEC, as required by United States federal law, and to the competent authorities, including those of the European Union countries concerned. We cooperate fully with law enforcement.

5. Fraud and deceptive practices

All fraudulent or deceptive activities are prohibited, including scams, impersonation of a person or brand, fake online stores, pyramid and Ponzi schemes, false investment promises, use of stolen payment methods, money laundering, sanctions evasion, opening Upkyo accounts under a false identity, and any attempt to deceive Upkyo, its partners or third parties.

6. Phishing and malware

You may not host, distribute or facilitate: phishing pages or any imitation of a third-party service designed to collect credentials, financial or personal data; viruses, ransomware, trojans, worms, spyware, exploit kits or any other malicious code; command and control servers for botnets; hidden mining scripts that run without visitors’ knowledge; or tools whose main purpose is to commit intrusion or fraud.

A compromised website distributing such content, even without its owner’s knowledge, may be isolated or suspended immediately to protect visitors and the platform until it has been cleaned.

7. Spam and bulk email

You may not send, or have others send, unsolicited messages, including commercial emails to recipients who have not consented where the law requires consent, or bulk messages on forums, social networks or messaging apps. Your mailings must comply with the CAN-SPAM Act, the GDPR, the ePrivacy Directive and the laws of the recipients’ countries.

In particular, the following are prohibited: using purchased, rented or harvested lists; failing to include a working unsubscribe link or to honor unsubscribe requests; forging headers, senders or subject lines; relaying mail through third-party servers without permission; and promoting a website or address hosted by Upkyo through spam sent from any network.

Hosting and professional email services are designed for correspondence and transactional email, not for mass campaigns. Sending is subject to the limits shown in the client area or in the plan documentation. For newsletters and campaigns, use a dedicated email marketing service. Upkyo may block outgoing mail from an account that generates complaints, abnormal bounce rates or a blocklisting.

8. Network and system security

You may not compromise the security or integrity of any network, system or account, whether it belongs to Upkyo, another customer or a third party, including by: accessing or attempting to access it without authorization; bypassing authentication, firewalls or resource limits; intercepting or monitoring traffic not intended for you; spoofing IP addresses, MAC addresses or headers; brute-forcing passwords; exploiting a vulnerability without the owner’s permission; or deliberately disrupting other customers’ services.

You must keep the software, plugins and themes on your services up to date, use strong passwords and promptly fix any reported vulnerability. If you discover a vulnerability in Upkyo services, report it responsibly under our Security Disclosure Policy.

9. Scanning, intrusion and attacks

You may not launch from or against the services any denial of service attacks, packet floods, amplification attacks, port or vulnerability scans, penetration tests or large-scale automated scraping targeting systems you do not own or have written permission to test.

Security testing of your own VPS, cloud or dedicated servers is allowed, provided it does not affect shared infrastructure or other customers. Any testing of Upkyo infrastructure requires our prior written consent.

10. Proxies, open VPNs and relays

You may not run services open to the public without access control, including open proxies, open mail relays, open recursive DNS resolvers, Tor exit nodes or VPN services available to anyone, without Upkyo’s prior written consent.

A private VPN or proxy, restricted to you or to your identified users, may be installed on a VPS, cloud or dedicated server, provided it is protected by authentication and complies with this policy. You remain responsible for all traffic passing through it. NordVPN services resold by Upkyo are subject to their provider’s terms.

11. Cryptocurrency mining

Cryptocurrency mining, storage farming, running resource-intensive blockchain nodes and any similar activity are prohibited on all Upkyo services. An exception may be granted only for a dedicated server, with Upkyo’s prior written consent.

Any mining detected without consent may result in the immediate termination of the processes involved and suspension of the service.

12. Intellectual property, IPTV and piracy

You may not use the services to infringe copyright or related rights, including by: unauthorized broadcasting or restreaming of TV channels, sports events or audiovisual content, including unlicensed IPTV services and card sharing or decryption key sharing; hosting or indexing pirated files, cracked software, key generators, or themes and plugins modified to bypass their license; running trackers or link directories dedicated to infringing content; or circumventing technical protection measures.

Notices from rights holders are handled under the Copyright Policy, in accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act. Accounts of repeat infringers are terminated.

13. Unauthorized resale

Unless you have a reseller plan or Upkyo’s written consent, you may not resell, sublet, share for a fee or otherwise make the services available to third parties, including selling hosting from a shared hosting account, reselling licenses or certificates provided by Upkyo, reselling NordVPN access, or presenting your services as provided or guaranteed by Upkyo.

When you host your own clients’ websites as part of your business, for example as an agency, you remain solely responsible to Upkyo for their compliance with this policy.

14. High-risk use

The services are not designed or certified for uses in which a failure, interruption or error could lead to death, personal injury or severe environmental or property damage, such as the operation of nuclear facilities, aircraft navigation or communication, weapons systems, life support medical devices or emergency call systems. You must not use the services for such purposes, and Upkyo disclaims all liability if you do.

15. Resource abuse

You must not use the services in a way that degrades the performance, stability or availability of the platform or of other customers. Rules on shared resources, storage, scheduled tasks and email sending are set out in the Fair Use Policy.

16. Enforcement and graduated measures

In the event of a violation, Upkyo takes action proportionate to the seriousness of the facts, the risk involved and whether the violation is repeated. Depending on the case, Upkyo may: send you a warning and a request to fix the issue within a given time; remove or disable the content concerned; restrict or block certain features, such as outgoing email; suspend the service concerned or the entire account; or terminate the service or the account.

Upkyo may act immediately and without notice when a violation poses a security risk, seriously infringes third-party rights or is clearly unlawful, or when it involves child sexual abuse material, phishing, malware or attacks. No compensation or refund is owed for a justified measure, and the customer bears the reasonable costs incurred by Upkyo to stop the abuse, such as having an IP address removed from a blocklist.

Failure to act immediately on a violation is not a waiver. Accounts terminated for a serious violation may not be reopened.

17. Cooperation with authorities and third parties

Upkyo cooperates with competent judicial and administrative authorities, anti-abuse organizations and other network operators. We may preserve data, disclose information or remove content where required or permitted by law, in accordance with our Law Enforcement Requests policy and our Privacy Policy.

Where lawful and appropriate, we forward complaints to the customer concerned so they can respond. You agree to cooperate with any investigation relating to your services.

18. Reporting abuse

To report a violation of this policy, write to support@upkyo.com with the website, IP address or email address concerned, the nature of the abuse, the date and time observed with the time zone, and any useful evidence, such as full email headers or a screenshot. Copyright complaints follow the Copyright Policy.

Every report is reviewed. To protect victims, never send us child sexual abuse material: provide only its location and also report it directly to NCMEC or to the authorities in your country. Details of how reports are handled are set out in our Abuse Policy.

19. Changes

Upkyo may update this policy to address new threats or changes in the services or the law. Changes are notified and take effect as provided in the Terms of Service.