Acceptable Use Policy

This Acceptable Use Policy (the “AUP”) sets out the rules that govern your use of services provided by Host4Geeks LLC (“Host4Geeks,” “we,” “us,” or “our”). It applies to all customers, end users, and anyone using the Services through your Account.

The AUP is part of, and is incorporated by reference into, our Terms of Service. Capitalized terms used but not defined here have the meanings given to them in the Terms of Service. Violation of this AUP is a material breach of our agreement with you and may result in immediate suspension or termination of Services, without refund, and may be reported to law-enforcement authorities where appropriate.

We may update this AUP at any time to reflect changes in our Services, the legal landscape, or the threats we observe. The “Last Updated” date at the top of this document reflects the most recent revision.

1. Your Responsibility

You are responsible for all activity that occurs on or through your Account and Services, whether or not authorized by you. This includes activity by your customers, end users, employees, contractors, and anyone you grant access. You agree to:

• Use the Services only for lawful purposes and in compliance with all applicable laws of the United States and any other jurisdiction in which you, your end users, or your content may be located.
• Take all reasonable steps to secure your Account and Services, including using strong passwords, applying security updates, and following industry best practices for any software you install.
• Cooperate with Host4Geeks in investigating suspected violations of this AUP and in responding to abuse complaints.
• Ensure that anyone using your Services on your behalf complies with this AUP.

2. Prohibited Content

You may not use the Services to host, store, transmit, link to, or otherwise make available any of the following content. This list is illustrative and not exhaustive.

2.1 Illegal Content

• Any content that violates applicable law, including criminal, civil, regulatory, or sanctions law.
• Child sexual abuse material (CSAM), child exploitation material, or any content that sexualizes minors, in any form. We report such content to the National Center for Missing & Exploited Children (NCMEC) and to relevant authorities, and we cooperate fully with law-enforcement investigations.
• Content that promotes, incites, or facilitates terrorism, violent extremism, or the violent overthrow of any government.
• Content that infringes copyrights, trademarks, patents, trade secrets, rights of publicity or privacy, or other intellectual-property or proprietary rights.
• Content distributed in violation of trade or sanctions controls administered by the United States or other competent authorities.

2.2 Harmful and Malicious Content

• Malware, viruses, worms, Trojan horses, ransomware, spyware, keyloggers, rootkits, and any other malicious code.
• Phishing pages, fake login portals, brand-spoofing pages, or any content designed to fraudulently obtain credentials or personal information.
• Tools, scripts, or instructions designed to facilitate unauthorized access to computer systems, networks, or accounts (including credential stuffing, password cracking, and exploit kits).
• Stalkerware, doxing materials, or content that facilitates harassment, threats, or violence against any individual or group.

2.3 Adult and Age-Restricted Content

Lawful adult content is permitted only where (a) all individuals depicted are adults at the time of recording, (b) appropriate age-verification and record-keeping requirements under applicable law (including 18 U.S.C. § 2257) are met, and (c) the content is not otherwise prohibited by this AUP or by the laws of any jurisdiction in which it is accessible. Host4Geeks may refuse or terminate Services hosting adult content at our discretion.

3. Prohibited Activities

3.1 Spam and Unsolicited Communications

• Sending unsolicited bulk or commercial email (“spam”), including email that violates the CAN-SPAM Act, GDPR, CASL, or any other applicable anti-spam or marketing law.
• Operating mailing lists, listservs, or marketing campaigns without verifiable, granular, opt-in consent from each recipient.
• Forging headers, falsifying sender information, or otherwise disguising the origin of any communication.
• Maintaining open mail relays, open proxies, or any service that facilitates anonymous abuse.
• Hosting websites or content advertised through spam (so-called “spamvertised” sites), even if the spam was sent from elsewhere.

3.2 Network Abuse

• Port scanning, vulnerability scanning, or penetration testing of systems you do not own or for which you do not have explicit written authorization.
• Denial-of-service (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service (DDoS) attacks, whether initiated, hosted, controlled from, or aided by our Services.
• Operating command-and-control infrastructure for botnets, malware, or coordinated abuse.
• Using the Services to intercept, monitor, manipulate, or disrupt network traffic that does not belong to you.
• Hosting Internet Relay Chat (IRC) servers, networks, bouncers (BNCs), or related services. IRC clients used solely for legitimate end-user purposes are not affected.
• Operating Tor exit nodes, public anonymizing proxies, or similar services on the Services.

3.3 Resource Abuse

Host4Geeks plans are sold with specific resource allocations, including CPU, RAM, disk I/O (IOPS), bandwidth, inodes, entry processes, concurrent connections, and similar parameters. The allocations applicable to your Service are defined per plan and disclosed on the relevant product page, in your Order, or in the client portal. You may not:

• Sustain resource usage beyond your plan’s allocation, or use the Services in a manner that materially degrades performance for other customers.
• Run distributed computing, scientific computing, GPU/CPU-intensive simulation, or similar workloads on Shared, Semi-Dedicated, Reseller, or Managed WordPress plans. These are intended only for plans designed for such workloads.
• Operate file-storage, backup-only, media-sync, or “seedbox” style workloads outside of plans specifically marketed for those purposes.
• Bypass, circumvent, or attempt to disable resource limits, fair-use policies, or security controls.

We may suspend, throttle, or require an upgrade for any Service that exceeds its allocation or whose usage pattern is incompatible with the plan.

3.4 Cryptocurrency Mining

Cryptocurrency mining and related activities are prohibited on all Host4Geeks Services. This includes:

• CPU, GPU, or memory-based mining of any cryptocurrency.
• Browser-based mining scripts and so-called “cryptojacking,” whether opt-in or otherwise.
• Hosting mining pools, mining proxies, mining stratum servers, or related coordination infrastructure.
• Storing or hosting wallet daemons or full-node software for the purpose of staking rewards in a manner that materially uses Service resources.

This prohibition applies regardless of the cryptocurrency, mining algorithm, or whether the activity is described as “light,” “experimental,” or “personal.” Violations result in immediate suspension.

3.5 Fraud and Financial Crime

• Fraud, money laundering, terrorist financing, sanctions evasion, or any activity that violates anti-money-laundering, know-your-customer, or financial-crime laws.
• Operating Ponzi schemes, pyramid schemes, high-yield investment programs (HYIPs), Ponzi-style “matrix” programs, or similar schemes.
• Carding, credit-card-number generation, stolen-card marketplaces, and other payment-fraud activity.
• Counterfeit goods, fake identification documents, and forged certifications.
• Unlicensed sale of regulated products (such as pharmaceuticals, controlled substances, firearms, or financial instruments) where licensing is required.

4. Activities Permitted Subject to Conditions

The following activities are permitted, provided they comply with all other terms of this AUP and applicable law:

• Virtual Private Networks (VPNs) and Proxies: Operating VPN or proxy services for legitimate purposes (including reselling) is permitted on plans suited to the workload (typically VPS and dedicated). You remain fully responsible for all traffic and abuse originating from your service and must respond to abuse reports promptly.
• Gambling and Gaming: Lawful gambling and gaming sites are permitted where the operator holds all licenses required in every jurisdiction in which the service is offered. We may request copies of licenses at any time.
• IRC Clients: Use of IRC client software solely by the account holder for legitimate purposes (such as connecting to existing networks) is permitted. Operating IRC servers, services, or BNCs is prohibited under Section 3.2.
• Adult Content: As described in Section 2.3.
• Security Research: Bona fide security research is permitted only against systems and networks you own or for which you have prior, explicit, written authorization. The Services may not be used to attack, probe, or exfiltrate data from third parties.

5. Email-Specific Rules

Whether or not you use Host4Geeks email Services, the following apply to any email originating from our network:

• Maintain accurate, opt-in consent records for every recipient, and provide a working unsubscribe mechanism in every commercial message.
• Authenticate outbound mail with SPF, DKIM, and DMARC where applicable to the sending domain.
• Respect feedback loops, bounce signals, and complaint thresholds set by major mailbox providers.
• Do not send through the Services to lists you have purchased, scraped, harvested, or rented from third parties.

Persistent complaint rates, blacklist listings, or evidence of non-consensual sending will result in suspension of email functionality.

6. Copyright and DMCA Notices

Host4Geeks respects the intellectual-property rights of others and complies with the United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (the “DMCA”) and similar laws. We will respond to properly submitted notices of alleged infringement and may, in appropriate circumstances, disable access to, or remove, allegedly infringing content.

6.1 Notice of Alleged Infringement

Send DMCA notices to our designated agent at [email protected] with the subject “DMCA Notice.” A valid notice must include:

• A physical or electronic signature of the person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the right alleged to be infringed.
• Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed.
• Identification of the material claimed to be infringing, with sufficient information to locate it (such as the full URL).
• Your contact information, including name, address, telephone number, and email address.
• A statement that you have a good-faith belief that use of the material is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.
• A statement, under penalty of perjury, that the information in the notice is accurate and that you are authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

6.2 Counter-Notice

If you believe content was removed or disabled in error, you may submit a counter-notice to [email protected] that contains the elements required by the DMCA.

6.3 Repeat Infringers

It is our policy to terminate, in appropriate circumstances, the Accounts of customers who are repeat infringers.

7. Reporting Abuse

To report a violation of this AUP, send a detailed report to [email protected]. Where possible, include:

• The full URL, IP address, or domain involved.
• A description of the activity and the AUP provision(s) you believe have been violated.
• Relevant timestamps in UTC, log excerpts, email headers, or other supporting evidence.
• Your contact information so we can request additional information if needed.

Anonymous reports are accepted but may be more difficult to investigate. We do not share reporter information with reported parties without consent, except where required by law.

8. Investigation and Enforcement

Host4Geeks reserves the right, at our sole discretion, to investigate any suspected violation of this AUP and to take any of the following actions, with or without notice:

• Issue a warning.
• Throttle or rate-limit affected Services.
• Remove, disable access to, or modify offending content.
• Suspend or terminate the affected Service or your entire Account, without refund.
• Charge applicable fees (for example, for clean-up, mitigation, or response to abuse complaints).
• Report the activity to law-enforcement authorities, regulators, payment processors, registries, blocklist operators, or other affected parties.
• Pursue civil or criminal action for damages.

In cases involving an immediate or material threat to our network, our customers, third parties, or any individual, we may act without prior notice. We will use reasonable efforts to notify you of the action and the basis for it as soon as practicable.

9. Cooperation with Law Enforcement

Host4Geeks cooperates with law-enforcement and other governmental authorities in connection with valid legal process. We may disclose customer information in response to a lawful subpoena, warrant, court order, or equivalent legal process, or where we believe in good faith that disclosure is necessary to prevent imminent harm or to investigate suspected fraud, abuse, or violation of this AUP.

10. Changes to This AUP

We may update this AUP from time to time. The “Last Updated” date at the top of this document reflects the most recent revision. Material changes will be notified by email or through the client portal at least thirty (30) days before they take effect, unless a shorter period is required to address a security or legal issue. Your continued use of the Services after the effective date constitutes your acceptance of the updated AUP.

11. Contact Us

For questions about this AUP, or to submit a report or legal notice:

Host4Geeks LLC
340 S Lemon Ave, Walnut, CA 91789, United States

• Abuse Reports: [email protected]
• Legal Notices / DMCA: [email protected]
• General Support: [email protected]