Acceptable Use Policy

Last Updated: January 13, 2024

This Acceptable Use Policy (“AUP”) governs your use of the Cato Services. We may modify this AUP by posting a revised version on the Cato Digital website. By using or accessing Cato Services, you agree to the latest version of this AUP. Unless otherwise defined herein, terms used but not defined within this AUP are defined in the Cato Digital Contract Definitions.

You are responsible for ensuring that both your use of Cato Services and the activities of your customers comply with this AUP. You may not use, or facilitate or allow others to use, the Cato Services:

• for any illegal or fraudulent activity;
• to violate, or encourage the violation of, the legal rights of others;
• to threaten bodily harm or damage to individuals or groups;
• to engage in, promote or encourage illegal activity, including child sexual exploitation, child abuse, human trafficking, or terrorism or violence that can cause death, serious harm, or injury to individuals or groups of individuals;
• for any unlawful, invasive, infringing, defamatory or fraudulent purpose including violating intellectual property rights of others, phishing, or creating a pyramid scheme;
• to distribute viruses, worms, Trojan horses, corrupted files, hoaxes, or other items of a destructive or deceptive nature;
• to violate the security, integrity, or availability of any user, network, computer or communications system, software application, or network or computing device;
• to distribute, publish, send, or facilitate:
  • the sending of unsolicited mass email or other messages, promotions, advertising, or solicitations (or “spam”),
  • obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, or indecent material,
  • violating intellectual property rights of others,
• to violate U.S. and International Export restrictions;
• to disable, interfere with or circumvent any aspect of Cato Services, or the equipment used to provide Cato Services;
• to use Cato Services, or any interfaces provided with Cato Services, to access any of Cato Services or any other third party-service in a manner that violates that services’ terms of service.

Cato Digital reserves the right to monitor activity on Cato Services for verification of these acceptable use terms, and to report illegal activities to any and all regulatory, administrative, and/or governmental authorities for prosecution.

Failure to follow any term or conditions will be grounds for immediate account deactivation without refund.

We reserve the right to refuse, cancel or suspend service at our sole discretion.

Reporting of Violations

Report violations of this AUP through our Abuse Report form located on the Cato Digital Support Portal.

Investigation and Enforcement

We may investigate any suspected violation of this AUP, and remove or disable access to any content or resource that violates this AUP. You agree to cooperate with us to remedy any violation.

When determining whether there has been a violation of this AUP, we may consider your ability and willingness to comply with this AUP, including the policies and processes you have in place to prevent or identify and remove any prohibited content or activity.

Notice of Violation

When a violation is detected, we may issue an Abuse Notification to your registered security contact (if the security contact is not configured, we will send the notification to all members on the account.)

This notification provides details of the identified issue, the classification of the violation, and a response timeframe.

Violations will be categorized as follows:

• SUSPENDED

  The service in question has already been suspended. The associated host, IP address, or network port has been blocked due to the violation.

  To restore service, you must contact our support team to address the issue. Restoration may be conditional upon the severity of the violation and any corrective actions taken.

• CEASE IMMEDIATELY

  You are required to immediately halt the activity in question. You will be provided with a response timeframe of 15 minutes or 1 hour, depending on the severity of the violation.

  If the activity does not cease within the given timeframe, we reserve the right to suspend the relevant host, block the associated IP address, or deactivate the network port without further notice.

• WARNING

  For less severe infractions, a warning may be issued, providing you an opportunity to address the violation within 24 hours. Continued non-compliance, however, may escalate the response to CEASE IMMEDIATELY or SUSPENDED.

Response Obligations

Upon receipt of an Abuse Notification, you must comply with the notification terms and timeframes. Failure to respond may result in the immediate suspension of services, termination of your account, or other appropriate actions as determined by the severity of the violation.

Repeated violations of the AUP may result in progressively stricter enforcement actions, including but not limited to service suspension and permanent account termination.