DMCA and Copyright Policy

BITFOO LLC · Version 1.0 · Effective

Guide to the document

In Plain Language

A short summary of what follows. It is here to help you understand this policy, not to replace it.

  • If someone is infringing your copyright on our network, tell us at dmca@bit.foo and we'll act on it.
  • Send a proper notice. There are things the law requires you to include. If they're missing we can't act, and Section 3 lists them.
  • What we can do depends on the service. On shared hosting we can remove the specific file. On a virtual server we can't — we don't administer it — so we pass the notice to our client with a deadline and suspend the server if nothing happens.
  • We tell our client. They get a copy of the notice, including who sent it, so they can respond if they think it's wrong.
  • If you think a notice about your content is wrong, you can push back. Send us a counter-notice and, unless the complainant sues, we put the content back.
  • Repeat infringement ends the account. Every valid notice counts against it, consequences escalate at each one, and at the fifth we terminate. Flagrant cases don't get five. We don't take terminated repeat infringers back.
  • Don't send notices in bad faith. Knowingly misrepresenting that something infringes carries liability under US law.

This summary is not part of the policy and has no legal effect. The numbered sections below are the actual policy and govern in full.

The policy

1. Scope

1.1 BITFOO LLC (“Bitfoo,” “we,” “us”) respects copyright and responds to notices of claimed infringement under the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, 17 U.S.C. § 512.

1.2 This policy covers copyright. Trademark complaints, impersonation, and other intellectual property or content complaints are handled under our Abuse Policy — send those to abuse@bit.foo.

1.3 We are a service provider, not a publisher. We do not create, select, or monitor the content our clients store on our services. We act on notices; we do not adjudicate copyright disputes, and we have no way to determine who is right.

1.4 We apply this process to all copyright complaints, wherever the complainant or the content is located. You do not have to be in the United States to use it.

1.5 Standard technical measures. We accommodate, and do not interfere with, standard technical measures used by copyright owners to identify or protect copyrighted works, as that term is defined in 17 U.S.C. § 512(i)(2).

2. Our Designated Agent

2.1 Notices of claimed copyright infringement should be sent to our designated agent:

Copyright Agent BITFOO LLC 146 East King St, Unit #1283 Lancaster, PA 17602 United States

Email: dmca@bit.foo Telephone: +1-717-807-5686

2.2 Email is strongly preferred. It is faster and it timestamps automatically. Postal notices are accepted but will be slower.

2.3 Our agent is registered with the United States Copyright Office and listed in its public DMCA Designated Agent Directory.

2.4 Send notices to the agent. A copyright notice sent to our general support, sales, or abuse addresses may be delayed and may not be effective under the DMCA. Where we receive one elsewhere we will pass it to our agent, but the timelines in Section 4 run from when the agent receives it.

3. Sending Us a Notice

3.1 To be effective under the DMCA, a notice must be in writing and include all of the following. These are statutory requirements, not our preferences:

  1. A physical or electronic signature of the copyright owner or a person authorised to act on their behalf.

  2. Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed, or a representative list where multiple works are covered by one notice.

  3. Identification of the material claimed to be infringing, with enough detail for us to locate it — a full URL is best. “Somewhere on this server” is not enough.

  4. Your contact information — name, address, telephone number, and email address.

  5. A statement that you have a good faith belief that the use is not authorised by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

  6. A statement that the information in the notice is accurate, and, under penalty of perjury, that you are authorised to act on behalf of the copyright owner.

3.2 Incomplete notices. If a notice is missing required elements, we may decline to act on it and will tell you what is missing. This is not obstruction — an incomplete notice does not trigger our obligations and acting on one exposes us and our client.

3.3 Identify the material precisely. The single most common reason we cannot act is a notice that does not say where the material is. Give us the URL.

3.4 One work per line, or a representative list. Where many works are involved, a representative list is acceptable.

4. What We Do When We Receive a Notice

4.1 Our targets. We aim to acknowledge a notice within one business day and to act on a valid notice within two business days. We act faster where the infringement is clear-cut or the harm is ongoing. These are targets, not guarantees.

4.2 What we can do depends on the service, and we are direct about this because it affects how quickly material comes down:

Shared hosting. We can access the account’s files and will remove or disable access to the specific material identified. Where the material cannot be isolated, or where the account has been used substantially for infringement, we may disable the account until it is resolved.

Virtual private servers. These are administered by our client, not by us. We do not have practical or appropriate access to remove individual files from a client’s server. On receiving a valid notice we forward it to the client and require removal within 24 hours. If the client does not act, we suspend the server. Where the infringement is clear-cut and the harm ongoing, we may suspend immediately and discuss it afterwards.

Reseller accounts. We notify the reseller and require action within 24 hours. If they do not act, we act directly against the affected account, and may act against the reseller’s account. See Section 6.4.

Domains. Registering a domain is not hosting content. A copyright complaint about a website should go to the provider hosting it, not to the registrar. Where we are only the registrar, we will say so and, where we can, point you in the right direction.

4.3 We disable rather than delete. Where we act on a notice, we disable access to the material rather than deleting it wherever we practicably can, and preserve it for long enough to allow a counter-notice to be filed and processed under Section 7. This is what makes restoration possible if a counter-notice succeeds. On services we do not administer, such as virtual private servers, preservation is the client’s responsibility — if you delete material in response to a notice, we cannot restore it for you.

4.4 Telling you what we did. Where we act on your notice, we may confirm to you that the material has been removed or access to it disabled. This is a courtesy rather than an obligation, and we do not disclose our client’s identity, their contact details, or anything else about their account.

Where you file a notice and our client responds with a counter-notice, we will provide you with a copy of it and tell you when the material will be restored. That one is a legal requirement and we will always do it — see Section 7.

4.5 Nothing here limits our right to suspend or terminate under our Acceptable Use Policy or Terms of Service, which we may do independently of this process.

5. Telling Our Client

5.1 When we act on a notice, we notify the affected client and provide them a copy of the notice, including the complainant’s contact information.

5.2 We do this because the law requires it and because it is the only way a client can exercise their right to counter-notice. If you send us a notice, expect your contact details to reach the person you are complaining about.

5.3 We do not disclose our client’s identity or contact details to the complainant. If you need them, that requires legal process.

6. Repeat Infringers

6.1 We terminate repeat infringers. This is a requirement of the DMCA and we take it seriously.

6.2 How we count. A valid notice that is not successfully counter-noticed counts as one strike against the account.

  • A strike counts whether or not the client removed the material promptly. Complying with a notice is expected; it does not erase the notice.

  • A strike is removed where the client files a valid counter-notice and the complainant does not pursue the matter.

  • We do not count notices that fail the requirements in Section 3.

6.3 Strikes attach to the account, not to an individual service. Cancelling one service and buying another does not reset anything.

6.4 Resellers. Strikes arising from a reseller’s end users accumulate against the reseller’s account. If you resell our services, you are responsible for what your customers do, and repeated infringement by them puts your account at risk. Police your own customers.

6.5 What happens at each strike. Consequences escalate, and every strike has one. Nothing about this process is a free pass.

Strike What we do
1 Notice forwarded, removal required, formal warning
2 Second warning, and written notice that the account is now at risk
3 Service suspended until you acknowledge the notice and confirm the material is gone
4 Final warning and suspension. We tell you plainly that the next strike ends the account
5 Account terminated

6.6 We may act sooner. Where infringement is flagrant, wilful, commercial in scale, or where an account appears to exist substantially for infringement, we will terminate without working through the table above. The strike count is a floor on our response, not a ceiling.

6.7 Duration. Strikes are counted for 24 months. We retain the full history regardless, and where an account shows a sustained pattern of infringement we may take that whole history into account even if individual strikes have aged out.

6.8 No coming back. An account terminated under this Section will not be reinstated, and we will not knowingly provide services to the same person or business again.

6.9 No refunds. Termination under this Section is termination for cause. Prepaid fees are not refunded. See our Refund and Cancellation Policy.

7. Counter-Notices

7.1 If material of yours was removed or disabled and you believe that was a mistake or a misidentification, you may send us a counter-notice at dmca@bit.foo.

7.2 To be effective, a counter-notice must include all of the following:

  1. Your physical or electronic signature.

  2. Identification of the material that was removed or disabled, and the location where it appeared before removal.

  3. A statement under penalty of perjury that you have a good faith belief the material was removed or disabled as a result of mistake or misidentification.

  4. Your name, address, and telephone number.

  5. A statement that you consent to the jurisdiction of the United States federal district court for the district in which your address is located, or, if your address is outside the United States, for any judicial district in which we may be found, and that you will accept service of process from the person who sent the original notice or their agent.

7.3 Incomplete counter-notices do not start the clock. If elements are missing we will tell you, but we cannot act until we have a complete one.

7.4 What happens next. We forward your counter-notice to the original complainant. If they do not tell us they have filed a court action seeking to restrain the activity, we restore the material between 10 and 14 business days after receiving your counter-notice. Restoration is automatic — you do not need to ask again.

7.5 Where the original complainant files suit, the material stays down and the dispute is between you and them. We are not a party to it.

7.6 If the complainant withdraws. Where a complainant tells us in writing that they are withdrawing a notice — because the matter was resolved directly, a licence was found, or the notice was sent in error — we restore the material and remove the associated strike. You do not need to file a counter-notice to reach this outcome, and resolving a dispute directly with the rights holder is usually faster than either of you dealing with us.

8. Notices Sent in Bad Faith

8.1 Under 17 U.S.C. § 512(f), anyone who knowingly materially misrepresents that material is infringing, or that it was removed by mistake, may be liable for damages — including costs and attorneys’ fees — incurred by the alleged infringer, the copyright owner, or us.

8.2 We may decline to act on notices that are automated bulk submissions without substance, plainly invalid, or repeatedly and demonstrably inaccurate. We review everything we receive.

9. Our Records

9.1 We keep a record of every notice and counter-notice we receive, including what we did and when.

9.2 These records are retained for the life of the account and for at least three years after it closes. They exist so that we can apply Section 6 consistently, and so that we can demonstrate we have done so.

10. Changes

10.1 We may update this policy. For material changes we will give at least 30 days’ notice by email to account holders and publish the updated policy with a new version number and effective date.

10.2 Changes required by law may take effect immediately on publication.

11. Contact

Copyright notices and counter-notices: dmca@bit.foo

BITFOO LLC — Copyright Agent 146 East King St, Unit #1283 Lancaster, PA 17602 United States Telephone: +1-717-807-5686

Trademark and other complaints: abuse@bit.foo · Legal: legal@bit.foo