Acceptable Use Policy

Last updated: March 1, 2025

Introduction

This Acceptable Usage Policy ("AUP") outlines the rules and guidelines for the appropriate use of dotCanada.com's services. It is designed to protect our server resources and maintain a high-quality service for all customers in our shared hosting environment. By using our services, you agree to comply with this policy. Violations may result in account suspension or termination.

1. Lawful Purpose

dotCanada.com reserves the right to refuse service to anyone using our networks or servers for unlawful purposes. You agree to use our services only for lawful purposes and in accordance with our Terms of Service and this Acceptable Use Policy.

2. Customer Responsibility

You are responsible for:

• Uploading website files and/or providing and setting up any website content. dotCanada.com is not responsible for modifying, correcting, or updating website material.
• The content of any postings, data, or transmissions. This responsibility extends to any individuals or entities given access to the account by you.
• Maintaining the confidentiality of login and billing information. dotCanada.com is not liable for any account disputes that may arise between various parties holding account login information.
• Monitoring bandwidth use to ensure your website does not exceed the bandwidth allocated for your account(s). dotCanada.com will use its best efforts to email customers who are at or near their bandwidth utilization limits, but we do not take responsibility if email notification(s) are not received.
• Ensuring your account does not consume more server resources than permitted in this AUP.
• Ensuring your account does not exceed the storage limits outlined in this AUP.
• Understanding that hosting space is intended for normal use only, limited to web files, email, and content of the hosted websites, not for storage of media or other data. Hosting space may not be used as offsite storage for electronic files or for third-party electronic mail or FTP hosts.

3. Prohibited Activities

The following activities are strictly prohibited on dotCanada.com services:

3.1 Illegal Activities

• Any activities that violate Canadian, U.S., or other applicable national, provincial, or local laws or regulations
• Distributing, storing, or transmitting material that infringes on intellectual property rights, including copyrights, trademarks, and patents
• Unauthorized access to other systems or networks (hacking)
• Distribution of malware, viruses, or other harmful code

3.2 Content Restrictions

• Pornography and sex-related merchandising
• Sites containing or linking to obscene, defamatory, or threatening content
• Content that promotes illegal activities
• Hate speech or content that discriminates based on race, sex, religion, nationality, disability, sexual orientation, or age
• Material illegal under Canadian or U.S. law
• Pirated software, warez, and/or copyrighted materials
• Sites containing or linking to material that may be considered detrimental to public health, safety, or welfare

3.3 System and Resource Abuse

• Exceeding the resource limitations of your hosting plan
• Using more than 2% of server resources for a period of 30 seconds or longer
• Using more than the allowed number of inodes for your service plan
• Using hosting space for storage of media or other data not directly related to your website
• Using hosting space as offsite storage for electronic files or for third-party electronic mail or FTP hosts

3.4 Email and Communication Abuse

• Sending unsolicited bulk email (SPAM) from or to our servers
• Using a return email address maintained on dotCanada.com servers for SPAM
• Using SPAM to advertise a site hosted on dotCanada.com's network
• Email harvesting or collecting email addresses without consent
• Sending emails with attachments greater than permitted limits
• Using any email account that exceeds storage or quantity limits

3.5 Server Misuse

• Running unauthorized server or network services
• IRC servers
• Proxy servers
• Auto-surf sites
• Peer-to-peer file sharing applications or services
• Bitcoin mining or other cryptocurrency mining operations
• Game servers or online gaming services
• VPN servers or services

4. Resource Usage Guidelines

4.1 Web Hosting and WordPress Hosting

4.1.1 CPU and Server Resources

• Maximum CPU usage: No more than 2% of total server CPU resources for periods exceeding 30 seconds
• Maximum concurrent processes: 20
• Maximum PHP execution time: 60 seconds per script
• Maximum memory allocation per process: 256 MB

4.1.2 Storage and Files

• Maximum inodes (total files and folders): 100,000
• Maximum inodes per directory: 20,000
• Maximum single file size: 1 GB
• Maximum concurrent FTP connections: 10

4.1.3 Database Limitations

• Maximum database size: 1 GB per database
• Maximum database connections: 30 concurrent connections
• Maximum database queries: 3,000 per hour
• Maximum database changes (insert/update/delete): 1,000 per hour

4.1.4 Email Limitations

• Maximum email account size: 250 MB per account
• Maximum emails per account: 10,000
• Maximum email size: 20 MB (including attachments)
• Maximum outgoing emails: 300 per hour
• Mailing lists: Limited to 500 subscribers with a minimum 6-second interval between emails

4.1.5 Cron Jobs

• Minimum interval between cron job executions: 15 minutes
• Maximum number of cron jobs: 15 per account

4.2 VPS Servers and Dedicated Servers

4.2.1 VPS Server Resource Allocation

• Allocated CPU cores: As per selected plan
• Allocated RAM: As per selected plan
• Allocated storage: As per selected plan
• No restrictions on CPU usage within your allocated resources
• Maximum inodes: 1,000,000

4.2.2 Dedicated Server Resource Allocation

• Full access to all server hardware resources
• No restrictions on resource usage except as required by hardware limitations
• Responsibility for server security and performance optimization

4.2.3 Network Limitations

• Fair use policy applies to bandwidth
• DDoS protection included but subject to reasonable limitations
• IP allocation subject to ARIN justification requirements

4.2.4 Email Policy for VPS and Dedicated Servers

• Outbound email subject to anti-spam monitoring
• IP reputation management required
• SMTP rate limiting may apply to prevent abuse

5. Email Policy

5.1 General Email Usage

• Email services are provided for normal correspondence only
• Mass mailings are restricted and must comply with all applicable anti-spam laws
• Each individual email account is limited to 250 MB and 10,000 emails
• No individual email may exceed 20 MB including all attachments

5.2 Anti-SPAM Policy

Sending unsolicited commercial email (SPAM) is strictly prohibited.

All commercial emails must comply with applicable anti-spam laws, including:

• Clear identification of the sender
• Accurate subject lines
• Valid physical address of the sender
• A clear method to opt-out of future communications
• Prompt handling of opt-out requests

5.3 Mailing Lists

• All mailing lists must be "confirmed opt-in"
• List owners must maintain evidence of subscriber opt-in
• All mailing lists must provide simple unsubscribe mechanisms
• Mailing list software must include throttling capabilities to prevent server overload
• Maximum of 500 subscribers per mailing list
• Minimum of 6 seconds interval between emails

6. Security Requirements

6.1 Account Security

• You are responsible for maintaining the security of your account and website
• All passwords must be kept secure and changed regularly
• You must promptly update any software you install to patch security vulnerabilities

6.2 Vulnerability Management

• All web applications must be kept up-to-date with security patches
• Applications with known vulnerabilities may be disabled without notice
• You must respond promptly to security notifications from dotCanada.com

6.3 Malware and Harmful Content

• Content that contains malware, viruses, or other harmful code is prohibited
• Sites that distribute hacking tools or instructions are prohibited
• Sites that have been compromised must be cleaned promptly or may be suspended

7. Backup Policy

7.1 Backup Restrictions

• Backup generation during peak hours (5AM to 11:59PM EST) is not permitted
• Only one backup copy may be stored on server at any time, and for no longer than 24 hours
• Hosting accounts may not be used as backup storage for external sites or services

7.2 Customer Responsibility

• You are responsible for maintaining your own backups of all website content and email
• dotCanada.com does not guarantee the availability, integrity, or recoverability of any data
• Critical data should be backed up to a location separate from your hosting account
• We ALWAYS recommend that customers copy all content of a website to a local computer and strongly suggest that customers make an additional copy (off our servers) to ensure the availability of the files

7.3 Backup Services by Plan Type

7.3.1 Web Hosting and WordPress Hosting

• dotCanada performs courtesy backups of shared hosting accounts
• Backups are not guaranteed and are performed for disaster recovery purposes only
• Accounts exceeding 20 GB or 200,000 files may be excluded from automatic backups
• Customers are strongly advised to maintain their own regular backups

7.3.2 VPS and Dedicated Servers

• Automated backups are not included by default but are available as an add-on service
• Customers are responsible for implementing their own backup strategy
• External backup storage can be purchased as an additional service

8. Monitoring and Enforcement

8.1 Content Monitoring

• dotCanada.com does not proactively monitor customer websites or email content
• We will investigate suspected violations when reported
• We reserve the right to review any content hosted on our servers to verify compliance with this AUP

8.2 Enforcement

• dotCanada.com is the sole arbiter in determining AUP violations
• We may suspend or terminate services found to be in violation of this AUP
• In cases of serious violations, suspension may occur without prior notice
• For less severe violations, we will make reasonable efforts to notify you and allow you to take corrective action

8.3 Reporting Violations

• Suspected AUP violations should be reported to abuse@dotCanada.com
• Reports should include detailed information about the suspected violation
• We will investigate all credible reports

9. Third-Party Complaints

9.1 Copyright and Intellectual Property

• dotCanada.com follows the requirements of applicable intellectual property laws
• We will respond to valid and complete notifications of alleged copyright infringement
• Repeat infringers may have their accounts terminated

9.2 Other Complaints

• Complaints regarding content hosted on our servers will be investigated
• We reserve the right to remove content that violates this AUP
• We may forward complaints to the relevant customer for resolution

10. Consequences of Violations

10.1 Remedial Actions

dotCanada.com may take any of the following actions in response to AUP violations:

• Issue a warning
• Temporarily suspend services
• Permanently terminate services
• Remove or disable access to violating content
• Require compensation for administrative costs or damages

10.2 No Refunds

• Accounts terminated for AUP violations are not eligible for refunds
• Any prepaid fees will be forfeited if an account is terminated due to policy violations

10.3 Reinstatement

Reinstating suspended services may require:

• Removal of all violating content
• Written assurance of future compliance
• Payment of any outstanding fees or penalties
• Implementation of measures to prevent future violations

11. Emergency Measures

We reserve the right to take any proactive steps we deem necessary to maintain the security, connectivity, performance, and services of our customers, including but not limited to actions requiring us to deactivate websites, shut down our network, or review the content on websites to evaluate the reason for perceived behaviors.

In rare instances, we may need to completely delete a website or account because of some significant failure, security breach, or other emergency. In such cases, we do our best to backup a deleted website, but we cannot ever guarantee a full restore of a website.

12. Changes to this Policy

dotCanada.com reserves the right to modify this Acceptable Use Policy at any time. Changes will be effective when posted online. Continued use of our services after changes to this AUP constitutes acceptance of the modified terms.

13. Contact Information

If you have questions about this Acceptable Use Policy or need to report violations, please contact:

dotCanada.com
299 Northfield Dr. East
Suite 1A Upper
Waterloo, Ontario
Canada N2K 4H2
Email: abuse@dotCanada.com