Base de Conhecimento

Email Fair Use Policy

1. Purpose

This Fair Use Policy (“Policy”) ensures the fair and consistent use of Netcom’s email systems across all customers.
It is designed to protect service quality, maintain server performance, and prevent abuse of shared resources.
All customers using Netcom email services (including webmail, IMAP, POP3, SMTP, and mobile access) must comply with this Policy.

2. General Usage

• Netcom’s email services are intended for normal business or personal communication.

• The service must not be used for bulk mail, mass marketing, or automated messaging without prior written consent.

• Customers must take reasonable measures to secure their accounts and avoid any activity that could compromise the stability or security of the platform.

Excessive or abusive use that negatively impacts other users or the network may result in temporary suspension, rate limiting, or additional charges.

3. Mailbox Limits & Storage

• Each hosting plan includes a defined total mailbox storage allocation (e.g. 10GB, 25GB, 50GB, 100GB, or “unlimited” within reasonable limits).

• “Unlimited” refers to fair and reasonable usage within standard business needs and is subject to system capacity and monitoring.

• Accounts that use excessive storage, or maintain large volumes of old mail or attachments, may be asked to archive or reduce mailbox size.

• Mailboxes are intended for active use. Storing large volumes of backup data, system logs, or non-mail files is not permitted.

We reserve the right to impose storage limits, request data cleanup, or migrate inactive data to archive storage if usage exceeds reasonable thresholds.

4. Message Sending Limits

To prevent spam and maintain deliverability:

• Each mailbox may send up to 500 emails per hour or 2,000 per day, depending on server configuration.

• Emails sent to large recipient lists (over 50 addresses) may be throttled or flagged for review.

• Bulk or automated emails must use approved mailing list software or transactional email services (e.g. MailChannels, Mailgun, or similar).

• The service must not be used for unsolicited marketing, spam, phishing, or high-volume transactional mail without prior written consent.

Violations may lead to immediate suspension to protect server reputation and email deliverability for all customers.

5. Inbound Mail & Filtering

• All inbound mail is automatically scanned for viruses, malware, and spam.

• Messages identified as potentially harmful may be quarantined or rejected.

• Customers are responsible for managing their spam filters and checking quarantined messages regularly.

• Excessive automated inbound traffic (e.g. system-generated notifications, mailing list subscriptions) may be limited.

6. Authentication & Security

• Customers must use secure, unique passwords and update them regularly.

• Shared mailboxes or credentials should be avoided; if required, they must be used responsibly and monitored.

• Compromised accounts (e.g. through phishing or malware) may be disabled without notice to prevent further abuse.

• We recommend enabling multi-factor authentication (MFA) where available.

7. Prohibited Uses

Customers must not use our email systems to:

• Send unsolicited or bulk commercial messages (“spam”).

• Transmit harassing, offensive, defamatory, or illegal content.

• Host or distribute malware, phishing links, or fraudulent material.

• Harvest, scrape, or collect email addresses without consent.

• Operate as an open relay or use external SMTP servers to bypass sending limits.

• Send chain letters, pyramid schemes, or similar schemes.

Detected abuse will result in immediate suspension and may be reported to relevant authorities.

8. System Performance & Automated Access

• The service is optimised for standard desktop and mobile email clients (e.g. Outlook, Apple Mail, Thunderbird, iOS Mail, Android Mail).

• Excessive simultaneous IMAP connections, rapid polling, or constant synchronisation requests may degrade performance and could be rate-limited.

• Use of automated bots, data scraping tools, or continuous archiving scripts is strictly prohibited.

9. Account Suspension & Enforcement

• We reserve the right to temporarily suspend or restrict accounts that breach this Policy or cause system disruption.

• Repeated or severe violations may lead to permanent termination of the email service.

• If unlawful activity is detected, we may cooperate with law enforcement or regulatory authorities.

• Any decision to suspend or terminate an account will be at Netcom’s discretion, following reasonable investigation.

10. Data Retention & Backups

• Daily backups are performed for disaster recovery purposes only and are not intended as a substitute for customer data management.

• Deleted emails may only be recoverable for a limited period.

• Customers remain responsible for maintaining their own offline or local backups.

11. Fair Use for “Unlimited” Plans

“Unlimited” mailboxes or storage refers to fair and reasonable usage within typical business requirements.
We may intervene if usage significantly exceeds that of a typical business account, including but not limited to:

• Excessive simultaneous users or devices.

• Storage use exceeding 50GB per mailbox or 1TB total without prior agreement.

• Continuous archiving or storage of non-email data.
  Where usage is deemed excessive, we may recommend an upgrade, apply fair limits, or migrate data to higher-capacity storage.

12. Monitoring & Compliance

• We monitor system performance, sending patterns, and spam activity to ensure fair service levels.

• Content of emails is not actively monitored, except where required by law or for spam/malware detection.

• Logs and metadata may be retained temporarily for operational and security purposes.

13. Changes to This Policy

We may update this Fair Use Policy periodically to reflect service improvements, regulatory changes, or operational adjustments.
The latest version will always be available on our website, and significant updates will be communicated to affected customers.

14. Contact

For clarification or reporting of potential abuse, please contact:
Email: help@netcom.co.uk
Abuse reports: abuse@netcom.co.uk