Non-Profit Program Supplemental Terms

These Non-Profit Program Supplemental Terms (“Program Terms”) apply to an approved participant’s use of a benefit or Service provided through the Cathrix Non-Profit Program (the “Program”). They supplement the General Terms of Service (the “General Terms”). If a matter is not specifically addressed here, the General Terms apply.

1. Scope and Discretionary Approval

1.1 Program Nature

The Program is intended to provide infrastructure support for non-commercial educational, research, community, or public-benefit uses. An application is a request for consideration, not a binding contract or a reservation of capacity.

1.2 Sole Discretion and Risk Control

Meeting the published criteria does not guarantee approval. Cathrix retains final, sole discretion to approve or decline any application based on non-public vetting standards, risk controls, and available capacity. If an applicant has any prior adverse records (including but not limited to misrepresentation and malicious abuse), the application will be rejected. If such records are discovered after approval, the Service will be terminated immediately.

2. Eligibility, Verification, and Responsibilities

2.1 Participant Status, Approved Use, and Proactive Notification

An approved applicant, whether an individual, student, or entity, who continues to satisfy the criteria for the category under which the application was approved is a “Participant.” A Participant must use each Program Service strictly for the approved non-commercial purpose. If a Participant no longer meets the applicable category criteria, they must notify Cathrix within 7 calendar days after ceasing to meet those criteria. Malicious or intentional failure to report a loss of eligibility within that period constitutes severe abuse and will result in immediate termination and placement on a permanent ban list.

2.2 Annual Review

Cathrix may conduct an annual review, or verify at any other time, to confirm the Participant’s identity, operational readiness, and continued satisfaction of the criteria for the category under which the application was approved.

2.3 Minimum Age and Program-Specific Exception

Notwithstanding the age-of-majority requirement in the General Terms, solely for participation in the Program, an applicant who is at least 16 years old may be the account holder and enter into the applicable Program agreement in their own name without the consent of a parent or legal guardian. Applicants under 16 are not eligible for the Program.

This Section replaces the age-of-majority requirement in the General Terms only for Program participants. All other provisions of the General Terms remain unchanged.

2.4 Citizenship and Residency Requirements

To be eligible for the Program, an applicant must hold citizenship or legal resident status in Canada, China (People’s Republic of), Hong Kong SAR, Japan, South Korea, Taiwan, or the United States.

For the purposes of this Program, a “legal resident” includes both permanent residents and temporary residents. To qualify as a temporary resident, the applicant must be legally authorized to remain continuously in the applicable jurisdiction for a period exceeding six (6) months. Standard short-term visitor visas do not fulfill this requirement; however, validly authorized extensions or changes of status (such as a Canadian Visitor Record or an approved U.S. Form I-539) that permit a continuous stay of more than six months are acceptable.

2.5 Resource Inactivity and Reclamation

To ensure fair distribution of limited capacity, Cathrix monitors for resource inactivity. Indicators of inactivity include, but are not limited to, zero substantive network traffic, or extremely low and unchanging CPU and memory usage.

If a resource remains inactive for 21 consecutive days, Cathrix will notify the Participant and schedule a reclamation in 7 days. If the Participant provides a reasonable explanation that Cathrix deems acceptable, the resource will not be reclaimed on the basis of that inactivity determination. This outcome does not limit any right Cathrix may exercise under another provision of these Program Terms or the Agreement.

If a resource is reclaimed under this clause, the Participant may not reapply for the Program for 6 months. This reclamation is purely an administrative measure; it does not constitute an adverse record and will not result in the Participant being placed on any ban list.

3. Program Services and Fair Use Limits

3.1 Fair Use Notice and Correction

The fair use requirements in this Section apply to both Compute and IP Transit. For an ordinary fair use violation, Cathrix will notify the Participant and provide a reasonable opportunity to correct it. If the Participant fails to correct the same or a recurring violation after three cumulative notices, the continued violation constitutes severe abuse, and Cathrix may immediately restrict or terminate the affected Program Service. Conduct that independently constitutes severe abuse is not subject to this notice and correction process and may result in immediate restriction or termination.

3.2 Compute Resources

The default Compute allocation is 1 vCPU, 1 GB RAM, and 16 GB storage. Hardware typically utilizes AMD EPYC processors, DDR4 memory, and HDD storage, though specific hardware specifications are not guaranteed. Upon providing reasonable justification, Cathrix may approve scaling up to 4 vCPUs, 8 GB RAM, and 128 GB storage.

Fair Use Policy: Sustained high CPU utilization or excessive bandwidth usage violates the Compute fair use requirements and is handled under the notice and correction process in Section 3.1. Operating an abusive service is prohibited and, depending on its nature and severity, may independently constitute severe abuse.

3.3 IP Transit

Cathrix may provide IP Transit up to a maximum of 1 Gbps; however, we do not guarantee this speed. Based on our evaluation of your project’s actual needs, we may impose specific speed limits or monthly data transfer caps.

• Routing Scope: Transit is provided only at mutually present Internet Exchanges. Your prefixes will only be announced to our local upstreams in that region.
• Fair Use Policy: Transit must comply with our IP Transit Supplemental Terms. Sustained high bandwidth usage, excessive data transfer, or operating abusive services (e.g., public BitTorrent nodes, public Speedtest servers) violates the Transit fair use requirements and is handled under the notice and correction process in Section 3.1.

3.4 IPv6 Leasing

Randomly assign IPv6 prefixes from ARIN or RIPE NCC.

• For a RIPE /44 assignment, Cathrix will grant the Participant permissions to manually update their information in the RIPE IRR database.
• For an ARIN assignment or a RIPE /48 assignment, the Participant must contact Cathrix Support to request modifications.

Cathrix will handle the creation of RPKI ROA all allocated prefixes.

3.5 ASN Registration

Cathrix may waive or discount its internal service fee for ASN registration. The waiver or discount applies separately to each annual ASN registration contract period. The Participant must continuously satisfy the applicable Program eligibility criteria throughout that entire contract period. If the Participant ceases to satisfy those criteria during a contract period, the Participant must pay the undiscounted internal service fee for that contract period, less any amount already paid toward that fee.

The waiver or discount does not include taxes, third-party charges (e.g., RIPE NCC ASN assignment fee) or payment gateway processing fees, which remain the Participant’s responsibility.

3.6 Internet Exchange Access

Cathrix may waive or discount the one-time Non-Recurring Charges for Cathrix Internet Exchange access. The Participant must satisfy all applicable Program and Internet Exchange eligibility criteria when access is provisioned and continuously for the following 6 months. If the Participant ceases to satisfy those criteria during that period, the Participant must pay the portion of the one-time Non-Recurring Charges that was waived or discounted.

Recurring third-party costs (e.g., cross-connects) remain the Participant’s responsibility.

4. Service Lifecycle, SLAs, and Termination

4.1 Calendar-Month Renewal

Except for a Service governed by an annual contract period or another written renewal term, each Program Service renews automatically for successive calendar months while the Participant remains eligible and unless either party gives notice before the next calendar month begins. A calendar month runs from 12:00 a.m. on its first day until immediately before 12:00 a.m. on the first day of the next month, measured in Mountain Daylight Time (MDT). A Program Service that begins after the first day of a month continues through the remainder of that calendar month before entering the next renewal period.

4.2 No Service Level Commitment

All Program Services are provided “AS IS” without any Service Level Agreement (SLA). Cathrix expressly disclaims any uptime commitment, bandwidth guarantee, or data-recovery guarantee.

4.3 Modification and Termination

Cathrix may at any time, with or without cause, change, reduce, or discontinue a Program benefit. Fair use violations are handled under Section 3.1. If Cathrix detects unauthorized commercial use or a loss of eligibility, Cathrix may terminate the Participant’s access, subject to the transition-period requirements in Section 4.4.

4.4 Transition Period and Data Backup

Before terminating a Program Service, Cathrix will provide a reasonable transition period so that the Participant can backup Compute data or withdraw BGP announcements. This transition period applies when termination is based on unauthorized commercial use or a loss of eligibility. Cathrix is not required to provide a transition period in cases of force majeure, severe abuse, or legal violations, and may terminate access immediately in those cases.