Acceptable Use Policy

Acceptable Use Policy

General

Burning Diode (“The Provider”) provides retail Internet related technology services to commercial and non-commercial end users (“Customers”).  This AUP is designed to set guidelines for the fair, legal and ethical use of our services.  Burning Diode makes use of third party services when appropriate to provide services to Customers and every effort will be made to ensure that our AUP is no less restrictive than any third party service we utilize.  When applicable, third party agreements may be provided to our Customers and must be accepted before service can commence.

Public Network

Burning Diode provides access to the global public Internet.  All Customers are granted equal access to all Internet services however bandwidth and data transfer may be metered/limited according to the service level purchased.

Private Networks

In some cases one or more private (not publicly routable) networks are used to provide internal services such as network backups, DNS resolution, control, access to private storage pools and other services.  Under no circumstances may a Customer intentionally bridge the public and private networks together.  The Customer may not provide public access to any private networks through the use of VPN or any other tunneling/routing method.  Furthermore no Customer may attempt to use any private network resources for purposes not explicitly allowed by the services they have purchased.

IP Addresses

All IP addresses are owned by Burning Diode and/or by a Third Party network provider and leased to Burning Diode.  IP addresses are non-transferable and Customer retains no ownership/control over such IP addresses.  Attempts to use any IP address not assigned to the Customer are a direct violation of this agreement.  Due to high demand for scarce IPv4 address space, IPv4 allocations must be justified according to ARIN policies.  In the event that it is determined that justification for IPv4 addresses was improperly stated we reserve the right to revoke those IPv4 address assignments.

Prohibited Uses

The following list provides some general prohibited uses of Burning Diode and Third Party services that are violations of our AUP.  This list is in no way complete or comprehensive and in some cases sound judgment must be exercised on the part of the Customer.  It is advisable to contact Burning Diode before using our services for any questionable activity.

  1. Unlawful Activities:  Burning Diode Services or any Third Party service offered by Burning Diode shall not be used in violation of any criminal, civil or administrative violation of any applicable local, state, provincial, federal, national or international law, treaty, court order, ordinance, regulation or administrative rule.  This includes but is not limited to the following list of common violations:
    1. Unlawful gambling activities
    2. Threats, harassment and/or abuse of any individual, organization or business
    3. Fraudulent activities
    4. Terrorism or any activity advocating human violence
    5. Unlawful investment plans, unlawful financial activities, Ponzi schemes or linking to and/or advertising such services
  2. Child Pornography and Harm to Minors:  The Services of Burning Diode or any related Third Party Services shall not be used for the storage, transmission, creation, publishing, use or any other activity related to child pornography, sexual solicitation of minors or promotion of harm to minors.
  3. Unsolicited Email:  The use of Burning Diode or any related Third Party services to send mass unsolicited e-mail (“SPAM”) is prohibited.  This prohibition includes the direct sending of such messages, support of such messages via web page, splash page or other related sites, or the advertisement of such services. The falsifying of packet header, sender, or user information whether in whole or in part to mask the identity of the sender, originator or point of origin is also prohibited.
  4. Email Bombing: The sending, return, bouncing or forwarding of email to specified user(s) in an attempt to interfere with or overflow email services.
  5. Proxy Email:  The use of Burning Diode’s Services and/or related Third Party Services as a proxy system to forward email to unrelated Third Parties.
  6. UseNet SPAM:  The use of Services to send, receive, forward, or post UseNet unsolicited email or posts.
  7. Unauthorized Network/System Attacks:  The use of the Services and/or Third Party Services for hacking, cracking, attacking, gaining access to, breaching, circumventing or testing the vulnerability of the user authentication system or security of any host, network, server, personal computer, network access and control devices, software or data without express authorization of the owner of the system or network.
  8. Threatening Material or Content:  The Services of Burning Diode and/or Third Party Services shall not be used to host, post, transmit, or retransmit any content or material that harasses, or threatens the health or safety of others.  Burning Diode reserves the right to decline to provide Services and/or Third Party Services if the content is determined to be obscene, indecent, hateful, malicious, racist, defamatory, fraudulent, libelous, treasonous, excessively violent or promoting the use of violence or otherwise harmful to others.
  9. Violation of Intellectual Property Rights:  The Services and/or Third Party Services shall not be used to publish, submit/receive, upload/download, post, use, copy or otherwise reproduce, transmit, retransmit, distribute or store any content/material or to engage in any activity that infringes, misappropriates or otherwise violates the intellectual property rights or privacy or publicity rights of Burning Diode or any other party, including but not limited to any rights protected by any copyright, patent, trademark laws, trade secret, trade dress, right of privacy, right of publicity, moral rights or other intellectual property right now known or later recognized by statute, judicial decision or regulation.
  10. Distribution of Malware:  The storage, distribution, creation or use of malware, including but not limited to virus software, root kits, password crackers, adware, keystroke capture software and other software normally used in malicious activity.  Entities engaging in legal, legitimate activities using one or more of these prohibited devices must request and be granted permission to do so.
  11. Phishing:  The act of using any technological means under false pretenses to collect personal information.
  12. Violation of Agreements relating to Third Party Services:  Any activity which violates any Third Party Service agreements whether known or not to the Customer.
  13. Denial of Service Attacks:  Any activity to implement or assist in the implementation of a denial of service attack. Burning Diode absolutely prohibits the use of Services for the origination, propagation or control of denial of service attacks (“DoS”) or distributed denial of service attacks (“DDoS”). Customers may not utilize the Services to perform DoS or DDoS mitigation activities (such as service proxying or data scrubbing) which may result in attracting inbound denial of service attacks toward the Services.
  14. Adult Only Services:  While not expressly forbidden, special considerations must be taken into account when providing adult only services and content to the public.  Any Reseller or Customer wishing to use Burning Diode’s services to provide adult only services must first obtain permission from Burning Diode.  Alternatively a dedicated server with dedicated IP address(es) may be leased from Burning Diode for the purpose of providing legal adult only services without express permission.
  15. Other Acts:  Any act(s) which knowingly attracts attacks against our Services.  Any act(s) which knowingly generate negative publicity towards Burning Diode are also prohibited.

Reporting Violations

Burning Diode accepts reports of alleged violations of this AUP via email sent to abuse@burningdiode.com.  Reports must include the name and contact information of the reporting party, IP address or URL allegedly in violation and the description of the violation.  Unless otherwise required by law, Burning Diode owes no duty to Third Parties reporting alleged violations.  Reports of violations will be reviewed and if necessary, appropriate action will be taken.

If it is believed that a customer may be in violation of any applicable law, Burning Diode will report that violation to the appropriate legal authorities when required by governing law.

Resolution Steps for Violation of Acceptable Use Policy

Step 1: Notify the Customer of alleged violation and afford the Customer the opportunity to respond with additional details or refute the allegations.

Step 2: Notify the Customer of action that must be taken to resolve the violation.

Step 3: Failure by the Customer to respond in a timely manner and/or failure to take appropriate action may result in suspension and possible termination of services without refund.