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Security & Ecology Policy
Natural8 SECURITY AND ECOLOGY POLICY (“SEP”)
Table Of Contents
- OVERVIEW
- ACTIONS FOR BREACH OF NATURAL8 SEP
- USE OF BOTS
- USE OF REAL-TIME ASSISTANCE (RTA)
- CIRCUMVENTION
- ACCOUNT SHARING
- GHOSTING
- TRESPASSING
- ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT OF VIP GAMES AND TOURNAMENTS
- COLLUSION
- PREDATORY BEHAVIOUR
- BUM HUNTING
- CHIP-DUMPING
- MULTI ACCOUNTING
- USE OF REMOTE DESKTOP & SCREEN SHARING PROGRAMS
- USE OF VPN/PROXY & LOCATION MASKING PROGRAMS
- USE OF VIRTUAL MACHINES & EMULATORS
- RATHOLING
- USER SOLICITATION
- OFFENSIVE USER PROFILE
- DATA MINING
PREAMBLE
BREACHES
PREAMBLE
1. OVERVIEW
1.1. The Security and Ecology Policy (the "SEP") as maintained and operated by the Natural8 Security Team (“The Security Team”) should be read by you, the End User (the “User”), before playing on Natural8 and the GGNetwork (“Network”). Your decision and acceptance to play on Natural8 is a confirmation of your acceptance of the terms of the SEP.
1.2. Natural8’s ethos is that a healthy and safe User ecology is paramount to providing enjoyable poker games. To this end, we have implemented several security measures to foster and maintain a healthy ecology and ensure that Natural8 Users are provided with a safe and secure environment. The items outlined below state what is being monitored, how it is being monitored, and any potential actions taken by Natural8.
1.3. We reserve the right to make immaterial changes to the SEP. If we make any material changes to SEP, we will give you as much prior notice of such changes as is reasonably practicable but, in any event, you will be notified of material changes before they come into effect. Material changes will be communicated to you via email with a summary of the material changes to these Conditions. You will also receive a pop-up message when you login, directing you to review the completely updated SEP. After reviewing the updated terms and conditions, you will be prompted to “Agree” to the updated SEP to continue to use our services. Your continued use of the services after being notified of the material changes, and after indicating your acceptance of the updated SEP, will be considered by us to be your acceptance of the changes. If you do not agree to the material changes, then you will not be able to continue to use the services.
2. ACTIONS FOR BREACH OF NATURAL8 SEP
2.1. The Security Team’s paramount objective is to provide a safe and healthy poker environment and will always aim to educate Users at the outset. In the event of a severe breach (or repeated breaches), your account may be locked to allow for an investigation of the alleged breach. While your account is locked, access to your account, log in, gameplay, withdrawal, deposits, or inter-wallet transfers may be restricted.
2.2. Actions that can be taken against Users for confirmed breaches, based on the accumulated information available to us, are one, or a combination of the following:
a) WARNING: A written notice;
b) REWARD REMOVAL: Removal/reduction of your promotional rewards;
c) SUSPENSION: Temporary suspension of your account;
d) ACCOUNT CLOSURE: Permanent closure of your account;
e) PERMANENT BAN: Permanent ban from Natural8;
f) CONFISCATION: Seizure of funds to compensate victims of any prohibited/fraudulent activities (loss of funds due to use of Bots or other Third Party Programs, loss of funds owing to Collusion, loss of funds due to Bum Hunting). Seizure of funds may not only include funds in your poker wallet but in your main wallet as well as any pending withdrawals.
2.3. Regarding the results of any investigations, The Security Team’s decisions are final. The Security Team reserves the right to determine whether or not a breach of the SEP has occurred. By agreeing to our SEP, you hereby accept The Security Team’s said right of decision and determination.
BREACHES
3. USE OF BOTS
3.1. A bot plays without human intervention or reduces the requirement of a human to make decisions. A human must decide what action to take and the exact size of any bet or raise. Any tool or service which reads the current game state and gives a User aid on decisions is strictly prohibited.
3.2. Natural8’s software package contains certain features designed to detect the use of automated programs that enable gameplay based on Artificial Intelligence.
3.3. Natural8’s software may perform any or all of the following scans to detect the use of illicit automated programs and ensure that a “cheat-free” environment is maintained:
a) Scan of all active software applications while accessing the client.
b) Scan of all active processes while our software is being used.
c) Scan of all activities for the potential use of Artificial Intelligence.
3.4. If our scans reveal a suspicious application or process, our software may scan the associated files to compile a composite mesh (a profile that characterizes the files associated with the application or process) to be matched against profiles for known illicit automated programs.
3.5. Actions taken for breaches: PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
4. USE OF REAL-TIME ASSISTANCE (RTA)
4.1. Every decision made at the poker table should be made unassisted.
4.2. Real-Time Assistance (RTA) is defined as any external assistance which either provides users with an unfair advantage over their opponents, or influences their decision-making in real time, or allows them to play in a manner they otherwise would not be able to replicate.
4.3. External assistance includes, but is not limited to, software, apps, websites, physical reference materials and digital reference materials. Referring to charts of any kind during play is strictly prohibited.
4.4. Actions taken for breaches: SUSPENSION, PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
4.5 The following reference material is allowed: a basic pre-flop chart that defines starting hands to play from each starting position. If reading materials contain stack size, relative positions, or any User-defined situations then they are not permitted.
4.6. Actions taken for breaches: PERMANENT BAN and/or CONFISCATION
5. CIRCUMVENTION
5.1. Natural8 prohibits Users from making fraudulent or unlawful use of their software.
5.2. Natural8 prohibits Users from breaking into, accessing, or attempting to break into the software and/or Network with malicious intent.
5.3. Natural8 prohibits Users from exploiting or attempting to exploit software bugs within the client for personal/mutual gain.
5.4. Natural8 has developed and employs sophisticated proprietary technology intended to seek out and identify offending Users.
5.5. Actions taken for breaches: PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
6. ACCOUNT SHARING
6.1. Natural8 prohibits the sharing of accounts. Users may only access accounts registered by themselves.
6.2. Natural8 prohibits sharing a significant volume of hands/results with anyone else to analyze or hunt other users.
6.3. Natural8 prohibits sharing accounts as it affects the integrity of leaderboards and promotions.
6.4. Actions taken for breaches: REWARD REMOVAL, PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
7. GHOSTING
7.1. Users are strictly prohibited from playing on behalf of someone else or allowing someone else to play on their account.
7.2. The use of software to share hole card information with other individuals in real-time is strictly prohibited. Further discussed in section 15. USE OF REMOTE DESKTOP & SCREEN SHARING PROGRAMS
7.3. Actions taken for breaches: PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
8. TRESPASSING
8.1. Natural8 strictly prohibits users previously banned from any Network skin from returning on any account on any Network skin account.
8.2. Actions taken for breaches: CONFISCATION
9. ENHANCED ENFORCEMENT OF VIP CASH GAMES AND TOURNAMENTS
9.1. Users involved in any of the following financial relationships are strictly prohibited from playing at the same VIP cash game tables as their associates: staking, swaps, profit-sharing, or any bankroll sharing agreement.
9.2. Verified Nickname players and players that have been requested to provide personal documents for Real Name conversion are strictly prohibited from creating and/or playing on any new accounts, and creating and/or playing on any pre-existing accounts other than their Verified Nickname accounts, on any Network skin.
9.3. Users are strictly prohibited from making deals, including off-client deals, at the Final Table of select tournaments, including the Super MILLION$ High Roller.
9.4. Actions taken for breaches: 30-DAY SUSPENSION, PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
10. COLLUSION
10.1. Collusion is the behavior in which two or more Users conspire to gain an unfair advantage over their direct opponents or an entire field of opponents in cash games or tournaments. General rules regarding collusion are:
a) Users’ hands must be played independently, in their own best interests.
b) Users must not share information about poker hole cards in real-time with other Users under any circumstances.
c) Users must refrain from “soft playing”, which is defined as intentionally playing hands in a non-aggressive manner against certain opponents (e.g., friend, backer, or any other person of interest). The only exception to this rule is an in-the-money (ITM) bubble situation and multi-handed situation after the money bubble in which one or more Users are all in.
d) In tournaments, Users must not scheme with other Users to gain an unfair advantage over the field.
10.2. Natural8 reserves the right to impose certain penalties including, but not limited to, restricting participation to certain poker tables or tournaments. Moreover, given a reasonable amount of suspicion, Natural8 reserves the right to investigate, block or terminate the suspected accounts at any time, even during gameplay.
10.3. Natural8 may employ tools to detect suspicious activities related to collusion. Our tools monitor an assortment of data derived from hand histories, betting patterns and users’ general gameplay. We also look at various other sources of information as part of our investigations.
10.4. Actions taken for minor breaches: WARNING, SUSPENSION 10.5. Actions taken for repeat/major breaches: PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
11. PREDATORY BEHAVIOUR
11.1. Predatory Behaviour is defined as User activities focused primarily on engaging in unethical advantages and tactics to exploit other Users in order to gain unfair profit.
11.2. Predatory Behaviour includes, but is not limited to; Bum Hunting, Collusion, Use of Artificial Intelligence, Ratholing, Grimming, Hit-and-running, Buttoning, Promotion Abuse and other behaviors deemed unethical by consensus of the poker community.
11.3. Natural8’s promise to its Users is to provide a safe, fun, and enjoyable poker environment. Predatory Behaviour is in direct conflict with our promise, and as such, The Security Team adopts a strict zero-tolerance policy.
11.4. Actions taken for initial breaches: WARNING, SUSPENSION
11.5. Actions taken for repeat breaches: REWARD REMOVAL, PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
12. BUM HUNTING
12.1. Bum hunting is defined as the act of deliberately targeting one subset of (usually weaker) Users while avoiding giving action to another subset of (usually stronger) Users.
12.2. Bum hunting includes targeting a User by either intentionally sitting out at a table or observing Cash Game tables and only participating when the preferred User joins.
12.3. Bum hunting also includes the act of purposely targeting a User by following the targeted User’s activity. For example, being on standby in the lobby until a preferred User enters a game and then following them into the game and playing only until said User leaves.
12.4. While it is acceptable to be seated and occasionally deny action in certain circumstances, giving action to certain players while denying action to other players when you are starting tables is strictly prohibited.
12.5. Queueing, the act of intentionally seeking to avoid playing against specific players in blind registration games, such as Spin & Gold, is strictly prohibited.
12.6. Actions taken for initial breaches: WARNING, SUSPENSION
12.7. Actions taken for repeat breaches: REWARD REMOVAL, PERMANENT BAN
13. CHIP-DUMPING
13.1. Chip-dumping is defined as the act of a User intentionally losing his/her chips to another User.
13.2. Actions taken for minor breaches: WARNING, SUSPENSION
13.3. Actions taken for repeat/major breaches: PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
14. MULTI ACCOUNTING
14.1. Natural8 prohibits Users from intentionally opening/using multiple accounts on the same Network skin.
14.2. Natural8 prohibits users from playing from multiple accounts simultaneously. This includes, but is not limited to, playing on the same Cash Game table, Spin & Gold game, or the same player pool for any other games offered.
14.3. Natural8 prohibits users from playing from multiple accounts in the same tournament.
14.4. Natural8 prohibits Users registering for the same tournament multiple times to take advantage of freerolls or promotions.
14.5. If a User accidentally creates a multi-account, we will close all newly created accounts and move funds to the original account.
14.6. Actions taken for breaches: ACCOUNT CLOSURE, PERMANENT BAN, SUSPENSION
15. USE OF REMOTE DESKTOP & SCREEN SHARING PROGRAMS
15.1. Natural8 prohibits the use of any program that enables a user to remotely access others’ devices or others to remotely access the user’s device in conjunction with the GGPoker client.
15.2. Natural8 strictly prohibits the use of any program that enables a user to share one’s own screen with others or others to share their screen with the user in conjunction with the Natural8 client to gain an unfair advantage over their opponents.
15.3. The prohibited programs include, but are not limited to, the following:
- TeamViewer
- Microsoft Remote Desktop
- AnyDesk
- LogMeIn
15.4 Natural8 strictly prohibits the use of such programs as they may facilitate additional breaches of our Security & Ecology Policy (SEP), including ghosting, use of RTA, botting and multi accounting.
15.5 Actions taken for minor breaches: WARNING, SUSPENSION
15.6. Actions taken for repeat/major breaches: PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
16. USE OF VPN, PROXY, LOCATION MASKING PROGRAMS
16.1. Natural8 strictly prohibits the use of VPN, proxy or any alternative methods intended to mask one’s actual location and/or identity.
16.2. Natural8 strictly prohibits the use of VPN, proxy or any alternative methods for a user to play from a prohibited region.
16.3. Natural8 reserves the right to request and obtain a user’s Proof of Presence (PoP) at our discretion in order to verify their actual whereabouts.
16.4. Actions taken for minor breaches: WARNING, SUSPENSION, VPN BLOCK
16.5. Actions taken for repeat/major breaches: PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
17. USE OF VIRTUAL MACHINES & EMULATORS
17.1. Natural8 strictly prohibits the use of any virtual machines and Android emulators in conjunction with the GGPoker client.
17.2. The prohibited virtual machine programs include, but are not limited to, the following:
- Oracle VM VirtualBox
- VMware
- Parallels
- Microsoft Hyper-V
- Nox
- Bluestacks
- MEmu
17.3. Users must run the Natural8 client in an operating system that is native to the hardware device one is using.
17.4. Actions taken for minor breaches: WARNING, SUSPENSION
17.5. Actions taken for repeat/major breaches: PERMANENT BAN, CONFISCATION
18. THIRD-PARTY TOOLS
18.1. Natural8 does not permit the use of certain third-party tools.
18.2. A third-party tool is prohibited if it,
a) data mines,
(i) hands or private results (observing games without playing in order to build up a database of hand histories for future reference), and
(ii) the mass sharing of hands, private results, or playing statistics for the purpose of analysis of opponents
b) is a Heads-Up Display (HUD) i.e. a program that displays Users’ past tendencies and betting patterns,
c) assists in automatic seating or game-selection efficiency, and/or
d) is deemed by The Security Team to provide an unfair advantage over other Users.
18.3. A third-party tool is permitted if it,
a) assists only in the tiling/aligning of tables,
b) assists in creating macros and hotkey for gameplay efficiency that does not reduce the requirement of a user having to make a decision. The user must decide what action to take and the exact relative size of any bet or raise, with the macro or hotkey merely executing it. For example, a hotkey that bets half the pot is permitted. A hotkey that bets a randomized amount between half and three-quarters of the pot is prohibited.
c) is deemed inoperable in conjunction with the client, despite exhibiting characteristics of prohibited third-party tools.
18.4. Actions taken for minor breaches: WARNING, SUSPENSION
18.5. Actions taken for major/repeat breaches: PERMANENT BAN
19. RATHOLING
19.1. Ratholing includes, without limitation, incidents where a User plays short-stacked and upon hitting a certain chip threshold, the offending User intentionally leaves the table and immediately sits with a lesser stack at a new table of the same limit.
19.2. Actions taken for breaches: WARNING, SUSPENSION
20. USER SOLICITATION
20.1. Natural8 considers any attempts to solicit personal information as a threat to our Users, and strictly prohibits such behaviour. Should Natural8 determine that solicitation of personal information has occurred, we reserve the right to immediately suspend the offending accounts for further investigation, permanently ban the offending accounts, and in severe cases, take legal actions against these accounts.
20.2. Actions taken for initial breach: WARNING or TEMPORARY CHAT BAN
20.3. Actions taken for repeat breaches: PERMANENT CHAT BAN, PERMANENT BAN
21. OFFENSIVE USER PROFILE
21.1. Users should not have User profiles, i.e. nicknames and avatars, that are offensive to other Users. A common-sense policy should be used to determine what is deemed to be offensive. Examples are User profiles with political, racial, or sexual implications, those that contain insults or expletives, and celebrity impersonations.
21.2. Natural8 reserves the right, without prior notice, to replace any avatars it deems to be offensive.
21.3. Natural8 reserves the right, without prior notice, to reset any Nicknames it deems necessary.
21.4. Users that continuously update offensive user profiles can lose access to these functions.
21.5. Actions taken for breaches: WARNING, SUSPENSION
22. DATA MINING
22.1. Natural8 defines data mining as any act that leads to accumulating hand histories that were not played by oneself.
22.2. Natural8 strictly prohibits the use of any 3rd party tools to datamine or import hand histories from the poker table and/or PokerCraft.
22.3. Natural8 strictly prohibits Users granting direct or indirect access to PokerCraft data to another party.
22.4. Natural8 strictly prohibits sharing of one’s hand histories en masse to another party.
22.5. Actions taken for minor breaches: WARNING, REMOVAL OF ACCESS TO POKERCRAFT
22.6. Actions taken for repeat/major breaches: GAME REMOVAL, PERMANENT BAN
