Acceptable Use Policy

The purpose of this AUP is to:

• Ensure compliance with the laws of the Republic of South Africa.
• Define unacceptable uses of Fire-IT's services and website.
• Protect the integrity and security of Fire-IT's network.
• Specify consequences for engaging in prohibited activities.

Fire-IT respects the rights of clients and users to freedom of speech, expression, access to information, privacy, human dignity, religion, belief and opinion, as protected by the South African Constitution. Fire-IT will not interfere with these rights unless required by law, if they are exercised for unlawful purposes, or if they threaten harm to others or the integrity of Fire-IT's network.

• Clients are responsible for securing their accounts and preventing unauthorized access or misuse of Fire-IT's services.
• Clients must not respond to or engage with unsolicited emails or spam; Fire-IT is not liable for any consequences, such as being added to bulk mailing lists.
• If a minor is authorized to use Fire-IT's services, the parent or legal guardian is fully responsible for the minor's online conduct, access control and any misuse, including transactions entered into by the minor.

Fire-IT's services may only be used for lawful purposes. Any use - including the transmission, storage or distribution of content via Fire-IT's network - that violates South African or international law is strictly prohibited. Prohibited activities include, but are not limited to:

• Violating laws prohibiting child pornography, obscenity, discrimination (including racial, gender or religious slurs), hate speech, or content inciting violence, hatred or bodily harm.
• Abusive behaviour such as defamation, harassment, stalking or threats against individuals within or outside South Africa, including Fire-IT staff.
• Infringing intellectual property rights, including unauthorized use of copyrighted materials, trademarks or trade secrets, and illegal downloads of pirated content, software or media.
• Violating privacy rights by collecting or sharing personal data without consent.
• Fraudulent activities such as pyramid schemes, impersonating another individual or client, phishing, or conducting transactions on behalf of another without authorization.
• Breaching South Africa's exchange control regulations.
• Selling, distributing or transmitting pirated or illegal software.
• Sending unsolicited bulk email (spam), maintaining mailing lists without recipient permission, or continuing to send email after a recipient requests removal.
• Failing to secure mail servers against public relay, allowing third parties to send email without authorization.

Any activity that jeopardizes the operation, security or integrity of Fire-IT's network or any third-party network is strictly prohibited, including but not limited to:

• Attempting to gain unauthorized access to Fire-IT's network or bypassing Fire-IT security measures.
• Using Fire-IT's equipment to circumvent authentication or security protocols of any host, network or account (hacking or cracking).
• Manipulating or forging TCP/IP packet headers (spoofing) or email/newsgroup headers.
• Attempting to breach or access another user's computer, software or data without their explicit consent.
• Disrupting Fire-IT's services through denial-of-service (DoS/DDoS) attacks, network flooding, unauthorized network probes (scanning or nuking), or unsolicited mass mailing.
• Knowingly distributing or linking to content or software containing viruses, trojans, worms, malware, botnets or other harmful components.
• Monitoring data or traffic on Fire-IT's network without explicit written consent from Fire-IT.
• Operating services or applications with known security vulnerabilities, such as those susceptible to traffic-amplification attacks (e.g. recursive DNS or SMTP relay).
• Failing to respond promptly to a denial-of-service attack after notification, or neglecting reasonable preventative measures.

Fire-IT prohibits the use of its services to harm or attempt to harm minors, including hosting, possessing, distributing or transmitting unlawful material such as child pornography.

Fire-IT's Uncapped Fibre services are designed exclusively for home and personal use. Reselling these services is strictly prohibited, and they may not be used to provide or resell network services to others, including:

• Operating as a Wireless Internet Service Provider (WISP).
• Hosting shell accounts.
• Providing services such as email, news, download, VPN or sandbox services.
• Operating home or private servers for mail, HTTP, FTP, IRC or multi-user forums.
• Providing network services to third parties.

Sharing of Uncapped Fibre services with individuals or entities outside the subscriber's household is not permitted.

Users residing outside South Africa, temporarily or permanently, are subject to the laws of their country of residence. Fire-IT will assist foreign law enforcement agencies with investigations, upon presentation of a legal order or mutual legal assistance request, by providing relevant user data.

Fire-IT maintains strict policies against illegal content and abuse, with a 24-hour response commitment for abuse reports. Reports of child exploitation material, sexual offences, illegal activities under South African law, or AUP violations must include the URL, a description, the source IP and a timestamp.

Content takedown requests must be submitted in writing to abuse@fire-it.co.za, following Electronic Communications and Transactions Act procedures. Fire-IT can only address content hosted on Fire-IT infrastructure - social media platform content and search-engine results are outside Fire-IT's control.

• Fire-IT reserves the right to amend this AUP at any time without prior notice.
• Fire-IT may take action against any individual or entity violating this AUP or engaging in illegal activities, to the fullest extent of the law, and may investigate and act against other forms of abuse not listed herein.
• Fire-IT may monitor user and network traffic to ensure site security and prevent unauthorized tampering or damage.
• Fire-IT may suspend or terminate services if the safety or integrity of its resources is at risk, and may remove content deemed offensive, indecent or objectionable at its sole discretion.
• Fire-IT does not guarantee the security of data transmitted over its network. Clients are responsible for safeguarding their data, and Fire-IT is not liable for loss or damage resulting from security failures.
• Failure by Fire-IT to enforce this AUP does not waive its right to enforce it later or take subsequent action.