Copyright & Notice-and-Notice Policy

Sheernox Technology Group ("Sheernox", "we", "us", or "our"), an unincorporated sole proprietorship registered in the Province of British Columbia, Canada, operates digital infrastructure including web hosting, virtual private servers (VPS), cloud platforms, domain name systems, and managed network services.

Sheernox respects the legitimate intellectual property rights of copyright holders worldwide while rigorously upholding the statutory due process, digital privacy rights, and legislative balance enacted under Canadian law. This Copyright & Notice-and-Notice Policy sets forth our compliance procedures under the Canadian Copyright Act (R.S.C. 1985, c. C-42, as amended), delineating the rights and obligations of copyright owners, Sheernox subscribers, and our designated compliance operations.

Under Sections 31.1, 41.25, and 41.26 of the Canadian Copyright Act, Canada maintains a statutory Notice-and-Notice regime governing internet intermediaries and hosting service providers.

Unlike the United States "Notice-and-Takedown" model under 17 U.S.C. § 512, Canadian law does not require or authorize a network intermediary to unilaterally censor, takedown, or disable access to subscriber content upon receipt of an unadjudicated infringement notice from a third party.

Instead, the statutory obligation of Sheernox as an intermediary is two-fold:

• 1.1 Notice Forwarding: Forward the statutory notice of alleged infringement to the subscriber associated with the identified IP address or hosting account without delay and without charging any administrative fee (s. 41.26(1)(a)).
• 1.2 Log Preservation: Preserve records enabling the identification of the subscriber for a statutory period of six (6) months, or twelve (12) months if formal court proceedings are initiated (s. 41.26(1)(b)).

To be processed and forwarded under the Canadian Copyright Act, a notice of claimed infringement submitted to Sheernox must strictly satisfy all statutory criteria set out in Section 41.25(2):

• 2.1 Claimant Identification: Full legal name, physical address, telephone number, and email address of the copyright owner, or an authorized agent acting on their behalf.
• 2.2 Capacity & Authority: A clear statement indicating whether the claimant is the copyright owner, or an authorized agent accompanied by proof of agency.
• 2.3 Work Description: Accurate identification of the specific copyrighted work or works claimed to have been infringed (e.g., specific software, audio, video, literary work).
• 2.4 Location Data & Timestamps: The exact location data to which the claimed infringement relates, including the uniform resource locator (URL), fully qualified domain name (FQDN), or destination IP address, accompanied by the precise date, time, and timezone (UTC or PST) of the alleged activity.
• 2.5 Infringing Action: Specification of the precise alleged infringing conduct (e.g., unauthorized hosting, peer-to-peer distribution, public performance).

Upon receipt of a notice satisfying all legal requirements, Sheernox processes and forwards the notice in accordance with the following operational protocol:

• 3.1 Technical Verification: Our abuse department validates that the target IP address or hostname was assigned to a Sheernox customer at the exact timestamp specified in the notice.
• 3.2 Direct Forwarding: We transmit an exact, unedited copy of the notice to the primary email address registered on the subscriber's account within forty-eight (48) hours of validation.
• 3.3 Claimant Confirmation: Sheernox issues an automated confirmation to the claimant confirming that the notice was successfully forwarded, or explaining why forwarding was technically impossible (e.g., IP address not in our pool, unassigned at timestamp).
• 3.4 Confidentiality Preservation: At no point during this procedure does Sheernox disclose the name, physical address, email, telephone number, or any other personally identifying information (PII) of the subscriber to the claimant.

Pursuant to Section 41.26(1)(b) of the Copyright Act, Sheernox is subject to strict statutory log preservation obligations:

• 4.1 Standard 6-Month Retention: We preserve network assignment logs and server connection records enabling the identification of the subscriber associated with the notice for six (6) months from the date on which the notice of claimed infringement was received.
• 4.2 Extended 12-Month Retention: If the copyright claimant commences formal court proceedings claiming infringement and serves written notice of the legal action on Sheernox before the expiration of the initial 6-month period, Sheernox will extend the retention of those records to one (1) year (12 months) from the date the initial notice was received.
• 4.3 Disclosure Exclusively by Court Order: Subscriber identity records retained under this section will only be released to a copyright claimant upon receipt of a binding, valid court order issued by a Canadian court of competent jurisdiction (such as a Norwich Pharmacal order).

Sheernox is a Canadian entity operating under the sovereign laws of British Columbia and Canada. The United States Digital Millennium Copyright Act (DMCA, 17 U.S.C. § 512) has no extraterritorial legal effect within Canada.

Notwithstanding the territorial limitation of US law, Sheernox respects valid intellectual property claims and handles US DMCA communications as follows:

• 5.1 Notice Conversion: If a DMCA notification contains the essential elements required under Section 41.25(2) of the Canadian Copyright Act, Sheernox treats it as a Canadian statutory notice and forwards it to the subscriber accordingly.
• 5.2 Voluntary Takedown Discretion: Where a notice reveals blatant, egregious, or malicious mass copyright infringement (such as publicly exposed torrent trackers, unauthorized commercial stream scraping, or cyberlocker distribution), Sheernox reserves the right under Section 7 of our Acceptable Use Policy (AUP) to demand immediate remediation or suspend the infringing service independently of statutory notice procedures.

If you are a Sheernox subscriber and receive a forwarded copyright infringement notice from our abuse department, please note the following crucial facts:

• 6.1 Not a Fine or Conviction: A notice is merely an allegation by a third party. It does not mean you have been sued, found liable, or ordered to pay any sum of money by a court.
• 6.2 No Payment Obligation: Under Canadian law, copyright notices cannot demand settlement fees. You are not legally required to pay any settlement fee requested in any communication.
• 6.3 Voluntary Response: You are not legally compelled to reply to Sheernox regarding the notice. However, if you believe the notice was delivered in error or concerns authorized/licensed content, you may submit an explanatory statement to our abuse department for our records.
• 6.4 Legal Counsel: If you are concerned about potential litigation, you should consult an independent Canadian legal practitioner specializing in intellectual property law.

In accordance with industry best practices and our Acceptable Use Policy, Sheernox maintains a strict policy regarding subscribers who repeatedly or willfully violate third-party intellectual property rights:

All formal notices of claimed infringement under the Canadian Copyright Act, as well as related legal inquiries, must be directed to the Sheernox Designated Copyright Compliance Agent:

Notices sent by regular mail must allow adequate transit time. For expedited statutory processing, electronic submission to abuse@sheernox.com is strongly recommended.