Handling abuse notifications

Filing an abuse notification with a Leaseweb company

Notifications can be sent through email. Submitting your notification to the correct entity, through the correct email address, is the fastest way to have your notification processed, as notifications are processed 24/7 by our Abuse Handler tool.

For information regarding email addresses and requirements, please see the Abuse Procedures. 

Reasons for receiving Abuse notifications

You are responsible for the use of the services you ordered with Leaseweb. As Leaseweb mainly provides unmanaged hosting, the responsibility of solving abuse issues on the server, or the web hosting, lies with the customer. For more information regarding responsibilities, please refer to Leaseweb’s General Conditions (7. Use of Services and Equipment) and policies (Chapter C. Abuse Compliance policy). 

Steps to take after receiving an abuse notification

If you have received a notification, it is essential that you act upon the notification as quickly as possible, at least within the given deadline. Failure to do so could result in service interruption.
Please note that you have to react to any abuse notification received, you can always use the communication area of the notification to contact the Compliance/Abuse Prevention department regarding your notice.

Email

The notification is directed at the Abuse Contact and looks like below. In this email, you can find the link to the Abuse Handler in order to follow up on your abuse notification. Please resolve the issue that is reported and navigate to the Abuse Handler area of the Customer Portal:

1. Resolve the reported issue
2. Navigate to the Customer Portal area to manage abuse notifications for your account (https://secure.leaseweb.com/abuse-reports/)
3. Click the Resolve this Report button
4. Clarify which steps you took to resolve the issue
5. In case your services have been interrupted because you have failed to provide a resolution by using the above button or any feedback, please mark the issue as resolved and use the communications tab to request the release of your services. Creating a support ticket for this effect will only delay the process.

In case you can not resolve the issue, or do not agree with the notification, and require further communication with the Compliance team, please navigate to the ‘Communication’ tab in the Abuse Handler. In case of a false positive, please mark this as a solution.

 Click here to expand: Example Abuse notification email

******************************************
This is an automated email about your abuse notification.
Please do not reply to this email.
This email was sent from a no-reply address and your reply will not be delivered.
******************************************
Dear Leaseweb customer,

We would like to inform you that Leaseweb Netherlands B.V. has received an abuse notification regarding IP address(es) assigned to you. To view the complete details of the abuse notification, please visit: XXXXXXXX.

We kindly urge you to take appropriate remedial action to ensure that the reported content is removed and/or the reported activity is ceased before the following deadline: [Date and time].

Please note that failure to take timely action may, without any further warning, result in an IP block of the reported IP address or a complete suspension and/or termination of your account with Leaseweb.

If you feel that the notification is not valid, or if you need assistance from someone in the Abuse Prevention department, please use the above link to submit an update or provide further information.

You can also use this link to submit your feedback so that we can improve the way in which Leaseweb Netherlands B.V. processes abuse notifications. For further information, please visit www.leaseweb.com/abuse.

Sincerely,

Leaseweb Netherlands B.V.

******************************************
Original notification is placed below
******************************************
Here you can find the original notification

Customer Portal

An email is sent to the Security/Abuse Contact, or when Abuse Contact is not filled into the main contact, informing that there is a new abuse ticket. Please make sure both are filled out and updated on a regular basis. If needed, there is the possibility to fill out two email addresses under Security/Abuse Contact to receive notifications on.

If you require more than two people to receive notifications, please consider an email group and add that group as a contact.

In the Customer Portal, you can locate the abuse notifications (as shown below), but a direct link is also provided in the abuse notification email. 

 Click here to expand: the Customer Portal

You will then see an overview of your abuse notifications. The ones that are on ‘Open’ have not been resolved yet, ensure to address these within the set deadline in order to avoid any possible service interruption.

Please resolve the issue that is reported and click ‘Resolve this Report’:

1. Resolve the reported issue
2. Click Resolve this Report and choose the appropriate/closest solution from the suggestions 
3. Clarify which steps you took to resolve the issue by using the communication tab

In case you can not resolve the issue, or do not agree with the notification, and require further communication with the Compliance team, please communicate through the designated field.

Consequences of not responding

Please respond within the given deadline to the respective ticket you received. Not responding to a notification could result in a block of the involved IP address (es) and/or blocking the switch port(s) of the respective server(s).

If you require additional time, please use the Communication tab to file such a request before the deadline expires. Please note, that the Compliance department can approve or decline such requests at its sole discretion.

Steps to take when IP address(es) or switch port(s) seems to be blocked

IP address (es) and/or switch port(s) are blocked if no response is provided within the given time, or if the issue appears not to be resolved (for example when the reported content is still online). In case you find your IP address or switch blocked due to an abuse notification, please do the following:

1. Resolve the issue mentioned in the abuse notification
2. Update the ticket in the Abuse Handler, using the communication tab provided, explaining the actions you took to resolve this issue
3. Mark the notification as resolved by clicking the button ‘Resolve this Report’.
4. Request an un-nulling using the communication tab in the Abuse ticket. If you do not place the request to un-null your IP address, the IP will continue to be nulled. Creating a support ticket for this effect will only delay the process.

Checks to ensure reported content is removed

Leaseweb considers the notified content to be removed if a 404 error or a Not Found error is displayed. Please note that when the ticket has been reported with a solution but the content is still online, this could result in a block of the involved IP address (es) and/or blocking the switch port(s) of the respective servers. You are also responsible for marking the issue as resolved by using the button “Resolve this Report”, simply removing content/addressing the notice without any reply to the notification may result in service interruption.

Steps to take when you do not agree with an abuse notification

Please respond through the communication tab of the original ticket by submitting a formal counter notice and explain in steps why you feel the notification is invalid. It is possible your explanation is forwarded to the reporter of the notification to retrieve their view on the notification.

In case of a DMCA complaint for customers of Leaseweb USA, Inc., please provide us with a correct and complete counter-notification form and send it to counternotice@us.leaseweb.com. For more information see U.S.C. 512(g)(3).

For some types of abuse such as child pornography, the Leaseweb company does not allow any counter-notices. For these types of abuse, you are required to resolve the notification before engaging the relevant Leaseweb company in a discussion.

Steps to take when the content reported in the notification is not found on your server/web hosting

Please respond through the communication tab of the original ticket to inform the Compliance department which steps you took to locate the content. If necessary, information will be requested from the reporter of the notification.

Contacting the Compliance department regarding your notification

Please respond through the communication tab of the original ticket. A Compliance Officer will respond to your inquiry as soon as possible, but no later than within 48 hours. If no such ticket exists, or if you have a general inquiry about Leaseweb’s abuse prevention policy, please send an email to abusedesk@global.leaseweb.com with the following subject: [abuse contact request]