Acceptable Use Policy

Last updated: [PUBLISH DATE] · Version: 0.1 (first draft — not yet legally reviewed, not yet published)

This policy is part of the Terms of Service and governs what you may and may not do with a Hostable server or account.

1. Prohibited content and use

You must not use Hostable to host, transmit, or facilitate:

• illegal content or activity under the laws of England and Wales or the laws applicable to you;
• malware, exploit tools, DDoS tooling, or anything designed to attack other systems (including other Hostable servers);
• content that sexually exploits or endangers minors — reported immediately to the relevant authority (NCMEC in the US, IWF in the UK) and results in immediate, permanent account termination with no notice;
• content infringing someone else's copyright or trademark — see the DMCA/Copyright Policy for the takedown process;
• phishing, credential harvesting, or impersonation of Hostable, another user, or a third party;
• cryptocurrency mining unrelated to the Minecraft server itself;
• anything that would put excessive, disproportionate load on shared infrastructure at the expense of other free-tier users.

This includes a plugin or mod you've installed on your own server (Paper, NeoForge, or Fabric) — see the Terms of Service §5 for the disclosure that we don't vet third-party plugins/mods before you install them, and that doing so is at your own risk. It also applies to any domain you attach to a server (see Terms of Service §1) — content prohibited under this policy is prohibited regardless of whether it's reached through a hostable.games subdomain or a domain you brought yourself.

2. Boost/reward abuse

The ad and survey boost mechanism must be completed genuinely by a human. The following will result in the boost being reversed and, on repeat, the account suspended:

• automated/scripted ad or survey completion (bots, click farms);
• multiple accounts created to farm boosts beyond the intended one-per-person limit;
• exploiting a bug in the boost mechanism rather than reporting it to security@hostable.games.

3. Network abuse

• No port scanning, brute-forcing, or attempted unauthorized access to other users' servers or Hostable's own infrastructure.
• No using a Hostable server as a relay, proxy, or VPN endpoint for traffic unrelated to the Minecraft server itself.
• Every server includes a remote console for running administrative commands against your own server (see Terms of Service §1) — this rule applies to that access too: it may only be used to administer the server it belongs to, never to reach or attack another user's server or Hostable's own infrastructure.

4. Email and marketing (if we ever email you beyond transactional mail)

UK / EU — PECR / ePrivacy

Marketing email requires your prior consent, or the "soft opt-in" (existing customer, similar products, given a chance to object at collection and in every message). Every marketing email carries an unsubscribe link. Transactional email (password resets, boost confirmations, security notices) is sent regardless of marketing consent, because it isn't marketing.

United States — CAN-SPAM Act

CAN-SPAM is opt-out, not opt-in: marketing email doesn't require prior consent, but every marketing email must include a working unsubscribe mechanism honored within 10 business days, accurate header/from information, and clear identification as an advertisement where applicable. This is a separate standard from the PECR opt-in rule above — we apply whichever is stricter based on where you're sending from being unclear, i.e. we default to the PECR opt-in standard for everyone rather than maintain two different consent states. [Confirm this default with counsel — noted as the simpler, safer default rather than a final legal conclusion.]

5. Reporting abuse

Report a violation to abuse@hostable.games. We aim to acknowledge within 5 business days. Include the server/account identifier and what you observed; we can't act on a report we can't locate.

6. Enforcement

We may warn, rate-limit, suspend, or terminate an account for violating this policy, at a severity proportionate to the violation, except for child-safety content (§1) which is always immediate and permanent.