CloudCone terminated me for Tor exit node "excessive abuse complaints"

I ran a Tor exit node on a budget VPS So I thought it would be cool to run a tor exit on this cheapo CloudCone vps I got for like 8 bucks lol 2tb bandwidth seemed plenty well turns out exit nodes eat bandwidth like crazy who knew First month: 14 abuse complaints mostly DMCA some guy said I was hacking his facebook I forwarded everything to CloudCone abuse desk like you're supposed to Second month: they changed their tos to ban exit nodes retroactively?? Or so they said but I checked and the actual tos said "relay nodes prohibited" not exit nodes and the aup said "no tor" but not specific Anyway third month they terminated me for "excessive abuse complaints" even though I was responding to all of them within 24 hours and none were valid Total cost: lost annual prepay, probably 200 hours dealing with complaints, one very confused fbi contact that was actually polite Would not recommend unless you have lawyer money or provider specifically allows it

AS-REFERENCE: CloudCone peers via Cogent and HE in Los Angeles, no direct IX presence.

MTR from my HostHatch box to their gateway:

HOST: vela-test Loss% Snt Last Avg Best Wrst StDev
1.|-- 198.51.100.1 0.0% 10 0.4 0.5 0.3 0.9 0.2
2.|-- 203.0.113.45 0.0% 10 12.1 14.3 11.9 28.4 5.1
3.|-- ??? 100.0 10 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0

Peer better. Their network is single-homed through a budget blend, abuse desk likely outsourced to same tier-1 support handling billing tickets.

Data: 14 complaints/month is low for exit node. Median for my measured exits: 47/month.

Clinical conclusion: provider was technically capable, contractually ambiguous, operationally unprepared.

Hey folks, stepping in with a quick moderation note.

This thread's staying open because there's genuine technical value here, but I'm going to ask everyone to keep provider naming factual and avoid piling on. @cpanelliw780's experience is valid documentation, not a call to arms.

If anyone has direct experience with providers who explicitly permit exit nodes in their ToS, that's helpful data. Otherwise let's keep this focused on the technical and contractual aspects.

Pro tip: the ToS/AUP distinction you found is actually common and exploitable.

Here's how to check before you buy:

1. Search the ToS for "Tor", "relay", "exit", "anonymous proxy"
2. Search the AUP separately — sometimes only one document prohibits
3. Email sales directly: "Do you allow Tor exit nodes?" Save the reply
4. Check if they have a dedicated abuse page with actual process

Heads up: Oracle Cloud free tier technically allows Tor exits in their ToS. Their AUP is vague. However, you'll burn through the 10TB monthly cap fast, and they will throttle after.

I ran one for 8 months. Steps:
1. Sign up for free tier
2. Open support ticket documenting intent
3. Set up reduced exit policy (no port 25, 22, 80)
4. Monitor bandwidth daily — I used vnstat

Terminated eventually? No. Throttled to 50Mbps? Yes. Worth it for learning? Absolutely.

Your CloudCone case sounds like they wanted you gone and used the nearest convenient clause. The ToS/AUP mismatch suggests their legal wasn't involved in drafting.