1. Purpose and Scope
This Acceptable Use Policy ("AUP") governs your use of Qontinui's services, products, and platforms (collectively, the "Service"). This AUP is incorporated into and forms part of our Terms of Service.
Qontinui is a general-purpose GUI automation platform designed to help users automate repetitive tasks across various applications. While we provide the technology, you are responsible for how you use it.
This policy outlines what we consider acceptable and unacceptable use of our Service to protect our users, our business, and third parties.
2. General Principles
When using Qontinui, you must:
- Comply with all applicable laws in your jurisdiction and any jurisdiction where your automation executes
- Respect third-party rights, including intellectual property, privacy, and terms of service
- Use the Service responsibly and ethically
- Not harm others or use the Service in ways that could damage Qontinui's reputation or expose us to legal liability
- Be transparent about your use of automation when required or requested
3. Prohibited Uses
You may NOT use Qontinui for the following purposes:
3.1 Illegal Activities
- Any activity that violates local, state, federal, or international laws
- Fraud, identity theft, or financial crimes
- Unauthorized access to computer systems or networks (hacking)
- Distribution of malware, viruses, or other harmful code
- Child exploitation or abuse of any kind
- Terrorism, extremism, or violence incitement
3.2 Harmful or Malicious Activities
- Harassment, stalking, or threatening others
- Spamming, phishing, or unsolicited commercial messages
- Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks
- Creating or distributing spam bots
- Scraping or harvesting personal data without consent
- Any activity designed to harm, disrupt, or damage systems or services
3.3 Intellectual Property Violations
- Copyright infringement or piracy
- Trademark violations
- Theft of trade secrets
- Unauthorized distribution of proprietary software or content
3.4 Anti-Cheat and Security Circumvention
- Developing, distributing, or selling tools to bypass anti-cheat systems
- Circumventing technical protection measures (DMCA violations)
- Reverse engineering security systems for malicious purposes
- Creating or promoting "undetectable bot" services
- Providing anti-cheat bypass instructions or methods
Note: We do not provide anti-cheat circumvention tools. If you choose to develop such methods, you do so entirely at your own legal risk and in violation of this AUP.
3.5 Competitive and Commercial Abuse
- Gaining unfair competitive advantages in multiplayer games or online competitions
- Automated scalping or price manipulation
- Automated ticket/item purchasing for resale (botting)
- Manipulating online polls, votes, or engagement metrics
- Creating fake accounts at scale for deceptive purposes
- Automated gambling or betting manipulation
3.6 Privacy Violations
- Collecting personal data without proper consent
- Violating GDPR, CCPA, or other privacy regulations
- Unauthorized surveillance or monitoring
- Doxing or publishing private information
3.7 Platform and Service Abuse
- Violating the Terms of Service of platforms you automate in ways that:
- Cause harm to those platforms or their users
- Expose Qontinui to legal liability
- Are clearly malicious or abusive
- Automating social media for spam, manipulation, or deception
- Creating bot networks for coordinated inauthentic behavior
- Automated content generation for misinformation campaigns
3.8 Qontinui Service Abuse
- Attempting to hack, breach, or compromise Qontinui's systems
- Reselling or redistributing Qontinui without authorization
- Creating derivative products that compete with Qontinui using our proprietary components
- Sharing account credentials or creating accounts for others
- Using Qontinui to develop competing automation platforms
4. Acceptable and Recommended Uses
We encourage and support the following uses of Qontinui:
4.1 Personal Productivity
- Automating repetitive tasks in your own workflows
- Personal data organization and management
- Streamlining your own software usage
- Learning automation and programming concepts
4.2 Software Development and Testing
- Quality assurance and automated testing
- UI/UX testing and regression testing
- Application development and debugging
- Performance testing and benchmarking
- Accessibility testing
4.3 Gaming (Responsible Use)
- Single-player games where automation doesn't violate ToS
- Your own games (game development and testing)
- Educational purposes (learning game mechanics, AI research)
- Accessibility aids for players with disabilities (where permitted by game ToS)
- Data collection for research (with proper permissions)
Important: Always check the game's Terms of Service. Many games prohibit all forms of automation. Multiplayer and competitive games almost universally prohibit automation.
4.4 Research and Education
- Academic research on GUI automation
- Teaching automation concepts
- Human-computer interaction studies
- Machine learning research and dataset generation (with proper permissions)
4.5 Business and Enterprise
- Robotic Process Automation (RPA) for your own business processes
- Internal workflow automation
- Data entry and migration (where authorized)
- Application integration (where you have rights)
5. Gray Areas - Use with Extreme Caution
The following uses are not explicitly prohibited but carry significant risks. If you engage in these activities, you do so entirely at your own risk:
5.1 Online Games (Non-Competitive)
- Risk: Most online games prohibit automation in their ToS
- Consequence: Account bans, loss of purchased content, legal action
- Our Position: Not recommended; violates most game ToS; high ban risk
- If you proceed: You accept all consequences including permanent bans
5.2 Productivity Tools with Restrictive ToS
- Some SaaS platforms prohibit automation
- Check each platform's ToS carefully
- Violations may result in account termination
5.3 Data Collection and Scraping
- Many websites prohibit scraping in their ToS or robots.txt
- May violate CFAA (Computer Fraud and Abuse Act) in some cases
- Respect robots.txt and ToS
- Obtain explicit permission when possible
6. Gaming-Specific Guidelines
Given that many Qontinui users are interested in gaming automation, we provide these specific guidelines:
6.1 Always Check Game ToS
Before automating any game, read its Terms of Service, EULA, and community guidelines. Look for clauses about:
- Automation and bots
- Third-party software
- Unfair advantage
- Macros and scripts
6.2 Competitive vs. Non-Competitive
Never use automation in competitive contexts:
- Ranked matches or competitive modes
- PvP (Player vs. Player) scenarios
- Leaderboards or tournaments
- Any situation where you gain advantage over other players
Even in non-competitive scenarios (PvE grinding, resource farming), automation usually violates ToS and risks bans.
6.3 Anti-Cheat Systems
Do not attempt to bypass anti-cheat systems. This includes but is not limited to:
- EasyAntiCheat, BattlEye, Vanguard, etc.
- Game-specific detection systems
- Server-side bot detection
- Behavioral analysis systems
Circumventing anti-cheat may violate the DMCA and other laws. We do not support or condone this activity.
6.4 Games Where Automation is More Acceptable
Consider automation primarily for:
- Single-player games without online components
- Sandbox/creative games (check ToS)
- Your own game projects (development and testing)
- Games that explicitly allow automation (very rare - verify carefully)
6.5 Account Ownership and Value
Consider the value of your game account before automating:
- Years of progress can be lost to a ban
- Purchased content may become inaccessible
- Some bans are permanent and irreversible
- Account bans may extend to IP addresses or hardware IDs
7. Enforcement and Violations
7.1 How We Enforce This Policy
We enforce this AUP through:
- User reports and complaints
- Automated monitoring for egregious violations
- Legal requests from third parties
- Public evidence of misuse
7.2 What Happens if You Violate This Policy
Depending on the severity and nature of the violation, we may:
- Issue a warning for first-time or minor violations
- Suspend your account temporarily
- Terminate your account permanently
- Ban you from future use of the Service
- Report illegal activity to law enforcement
- Cooperate with legal proceedings against you
- Take legal action against you if your actions harm Qontinui
7.3 No Refunds for Violations
If your account is suspended or terminated for violating this AUP, you are not entitled to any refund of subscription fees or payments.
7.4 Appeals
If you believe your account was suspended or terminated in error, you may appeal by contacting jspinak@alum.mit.edu with:
- Your account information
- Explanation of why you believe the decision was incorrect
- Any relevant evidence
We will review appeals on a case-by-case basis but reserve the right to make final decisions.
8. Reporting Violations
If you become aware of violations of this AUP by other users, please report them to us at:
Email: abuse@qontinui.com (or jspinak@alum.mit.edu)
Include:
- Description of the violation
- Evidence (screenshots, links, etc.)
- User information if known
- Date and time of occurrence
9. Legal Compliance
9.1 Laws and Regulations
You must comply with all applicable laws, including but not limited to:
- Computer Fraud and Abuse Act (CFAA) - U.S. federal law
- Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA) - Anti-circumvention provisions
- GDPR - European data protection
- CCPA - California privacy law
- CAN-SPAM Act - Anti-spam law
- Wire Fraud Statutes - Fraud and deception
- Local computer crime laws in your jurisdiction
9.2 International Users
If you use Qontinui outside the United States, you are responsible for compliance with your local laws, which may be more restrictive.
10. Changes to This Policy
We may update this Acceptable Use Policy from time to time. We will notify users of material changes by:
- Updating the "Last updated" date at the top
- Posting a notice on our website
- Sending email notifications for significant changes
Your continued use of the Service after changes take effect constitutes acceptance of the updated AUP.
11. Questions and Contact
If you have questions about what constitutes acceptable use, or if you're unsure whether a particular use case is permitted, please contact us before proceeding:
Email: jspinak@alum.mit.edu
Website: qontinui.com
📌 Key Takeaways
- Be Responsible: You are accountable for how you use Qontinui
- Check ToS Always: Read and comply with terms of any application you automate
- Avoid Competitive Advantage: Don't use automation to gain unfair advantages over others
- No Circumvention: Don't bypass anti-cheat or security systems
- Respect Laws: Comply with CFAA, DMCA, GDPR, and all applicable laws
- When in Doubt, Ask: Contact us if you're unsure about a use case
- Recommended Use: Focus on single-player, testing, productivity, and educational uses