Acceptable Use

MakerShake exists to give makers a useful, trustworthy place to publish, discover, and discuss digital products.

This policy explains:

• which projects, products, content, and conduct are prohibited;
• how community and messaging features may be used;
• how profiles, content, and accounts may be reviewed;
• what MakerShake may do when a violation is identified;
• how unlawful or abusive content can be reported; and
• how affected users may challenge certain moderation decisions.

MakerShake may review content before or after publication using automated systems, manual review, user reports, technical signals, third-party information, and other reasonable trust-and-safety measures.

Publication or continued availability on MakerShake does not constitute approval, verification, certification, endorsement, investment advice, or recommendation by MakerShake.

This policy applies to all use of MakerShake, including:

• project and product profiles;
• submitted website URLs;
• automatically generated profile content;
• titles, descriptions, tags, and categories;
• logos, Open Graph images, and screenshots;
• maker and founder profiles;
• external links;
• public email links;
• private contact forms;
• comments and replies;
• upvotes and shares;
• saves and bookmarks;
• follows;
• direct messages;
• in-app notifications;
• “Available for work” signals;
• “Available to remix” signals;
• funding-status signals;
• fundraising notes;
• investor-oriented discovery features;
• built-with information;
• analytics and engagement;
• website audits and feedback; and
• any other content, interaction, or functionality made available through MakerShake.

You are responsible for content and activity associated with your account.

You must not submit, publish, promote, link to, send, or otherwise make available content, products, or services that are unlawful under applicable law.

This includes content or activity that violates applicable:

• criminal law;
• intellectual-property law;
• consumer-protection law;
• data-protection law;
• competition law;
• financial or securities law;
• sanctions law; or
• other applicable legal requirements.

MakerShake may restrict or remove content when required by law, a competent authority, a court order, or following a sufficiently substantiated notice.

MakerShake has zero tolerance for child sexual abuse material, sexual exploitation of minors, grooming, or products or services intended to facilitate such conduct.

You must not submit, publish, send, promote, or link to:

• child sexual abuse material;
• sexual content depicting minors;
• content sexualizing or exploiting minors;
• grooming services or tools;
• instructions for accessing or distributing such material;
• sexualized synthetic or manipulated depictions of minors; or
• other unlawful material involving the sexual abuse or exploitation of children.

MakerShake may immediately remove relevant content, restrict associated accounts, preserve relevant information, and report or disclose information to competent authorities where required or legally appropriate.

Do not send suspected child sexual abuse material to MakerShake by email or through a report form. Provide the information necessary to identify its location instead.

You must not list, promote, distribute, send, or link to products or services involving:

• malware;
• ransomware;
• spyware;
• credential stealers;
• keyloggers;
• malicious browser extensions;
• unauthorized cryptominers;
• botnets;
• exploit kits;
• fake software updates;
• malicious downloads;
• phishing kits;
• tools primarily intended for unauthorized access; or
• services primarily designed to compromise, disrupt, surveil, or damage systems or users.

Legitimate security, research, testing, administration, and educational tools may be permitted where they have a credible lawful purpose and are not promoted or intended for unauthorized use.

MakerShake may request further information concerning security-related products.

You must not submit, promote, distribute, or send:

• fake login pages;
• credential-harvesting services;
• deceptive authentication flows;
• account-takeover tools;
• deceptive domains;
• brand impersonation;
• fraudulent support pages; or
• products intended to deceive users concerning who operates or endorses them.

You must not impersonate:

• MakerShake;
• DOMU.STUDIO;
• another maker;
• another company;
• a financial institution;
• an investor;
• a government authority;
• a payment provider; or
• any other person or organization.

You must not falsely imply sponsorship, verification, endorsement, employment, partnership, or affiliation.

You must not list, promote, send, or facilitate:

• fraud;
• fake shops;
• advance-fee scams;
• romance scams;
• fake giveaways;
• pyramid or Ponzi schemes;
• fraudulent investment opportunities;
• crypto scams or rug pulls;
• fake customer-support services;
• misleading subscriptions;
• hidden or unauthorized charges;
• fake scarcity or urgency;
• deceptive affiliate schemes;
• fraudulent fundraising;
• fake job or freelance opportunities; or
• other schemes intended to obtain money, data, property, access, or services through deception.

Profiles must accurately describe the product, its operator, core functionality, and material pricing information.

You must not make materially false, deceptive, fabricated, or unsupported claims about a project, maker, company, or product.

This includes claims concerning:

• functionality;
• ownership;
• pricing;
• availability;
• security;
• privacy;
• regulatory approval;
• accessibility compliance;
• customers;
• users;
• downloads;
• views;
• engagement;
• revenue;
• funding;
• valuation;
• investment;
• partnerships;
• integrations;
• awards;
• testimonials;
• reviews;
• performance;
• AI capabilities; or
• commercial results.

You must not use:

• fabricated testimonials;
• fake reviews;
• manipulated screenshots intended to deceive;
• fabricated statistics;
• fake customer logos;
• fake engagement;
• false investor logos;
• synthetic endorsements;
• deceptive AI-generated content; or
• misleading comparisons.

AI-generated content is subject to the same rules as human-created content.

MakerShake may allow makers to display funding-status signals such as “Bootstrapping,” “Open to funding,” or “Actively raising.”

You must not use these features to:

• falsely claim that you are raising capital;
• misrepresent funding already received;
• fabricate investors or investment commitments;
• misrepresent valuation, revenue, traction, or financial results;
• impersonate an investor;
• create fake investor interest;
• advertise fraudulent investment opportunities;
• unlawfully offer or solicit securities;
• circumvent applicable financial-promotion or securities rules; or
• mislead users about MakerShake's involvement in a financing transaction.

MakerShake funding signals are discovery and communication features only.

They do not constitute verification of the company, funding round, financial information, investment suitability, or legal compliance.

MakerShake does not endorse, broker, arrange, recommend, or guarantee an investment.

You must not submit, publish, send, or promote content that unlawfully infringes:

• copyright;
• trademarks;
• design rights;
• patents;
• database rights;
• trade secrets;
• software licenses;
• publicity rights; or
• other intellectual-property or proprietary rights.

Prohibited activity may include:

• unauthorized software copies;
• pirated content;
• counterfeit products;
• unauthorized logos or screenshots;
• cloned products presented deceptively as original;
• unauthorized redistribution of protected content;
• products primarily intended to circumvent lawful access controls; or
• deceptive use of another party's branding.

You must have the necessary rights or permissions for logos, screenshots, images, descriptions, quotations, and other protected material you publish.

You must not use MakerShake to promote, distribute, facilitate, or conduct unlawful collection, exposure, monitoring, sale, or misuse of personal information.

This includes:

• doxxing;
• unauthorized tracking;
• unlawful location monitoring;
• stalkerware;
• covert surveillance;
• unlawfully obtained credential databases;
• unlawful facial-recognition databases;
• publishing unlawfully obtained personal information;
• selling unlawfully obtained data;
• deceptive collection of personal information; or
• tools designed primarily to circumvent lawful privacy protections.

Products that process personal data must be described accurately and must comply with applicable privacy and data-protection laws.

You must not use MakerShake to publish, send, facilitate, or direct:

• credible threats;
• stalking;
• targeted harassment;
• coordinated abuse;
• doxxing;
• blackmail;
• extortion;
• incitement to violence;
• unwanted sexual harassment; or
• content intended to intimidate or seriously harm another person.

You must not repeatedly contact another person after they have made clear that contact is unwanted.

This applies to comments, contact forms, direct messages, public email links, and other MakerShake communication features.

You must not publish, send, or promote unlawful content that incites hatred, discrimination, hostility, or violence against a person or protected group.

You must not use MakerShake to promote or facilitate:

• targeted violence;
• unlawful violent organizations;
• unlawful racial or religious hatred;
• unlawful incitement to discrimination or violence;
• genocide denial where unlawful;
• glorification of serious violence where unlawful; or
• products primarily designed to organize violent abuse.

MakerShake may consider relevant context, including whether material is documentary, educational, journalistic, artistic, academic, or counter-speech.

You must not publish, send, promote, or link to terrorist content or services intended to facilitate terrorist activity.

This includes content that:

• solicits participation in terrorist organizations;
• advocates terrorist offences;
• glorifies terrorist activity where prohibited;
• provides instructions for committing terrorist offences;
• solicits financial or material support for terrorism; or
• otherwise falls within applicable legal definitions of terrorist content.

MakerShake will comply with valid removal orders and other obligations that apply under Regulation (EU) 2021/784 and applicable national law. Regulation 2021/784 establishes EU-wide rules for hosting providers concerning terrorist content, including binding removal orders.

You must not publish, send, promote, or link to:

• non-consensual intimate imagery;
• unlawful sexual deepfakes;
• voyeuristic material;
• sexual exploitation;
• trafficking;
• sexual content involving coercion;
• services primarily intended to generate unlawful intimate imagery; or
• intimate material published in violation of another person's rights.

You must not use MakerShake to list or promote unlawful goods, services, or transactions.

Depending on the relevant jurisdiction, this may include:

• illegal narcotics;
• prescription medicines sold without required authorization;
• unlawful weapons or ammunition;
• explosives;
• forged documents;
• stolen goods;
• trafficking services;
• counterfeit products;
• illegal gambling;
• unlicensed financial services;
• unlawful medical services; or
• tools or services intended to evade legal controls.

A product operating in a regulated area must hold any authorization, license, registration, disclosure, or age restriction required by applicable law.

You must not use MakerShake to facilitate activities or transactions prohibited by applicable sanctions or export-control law.

You must not deliberately use MakerShake to:

• conceal sanctioned parties;
• evade asset freezes;
• bypass trade or export restrictions;
• conceal prohibited ownership or control; or
• facilitate prohibited transactions.

MakerShake may restrict products or content that present a substantial and unreasonable risk of serious physical, financial, psychological, or digital harm.

This may include products that:

• provide dangerously misleading medical information;
• facilitate self-harm;
• encourage dangerous challenges;
• impersonate emergency or public services;
• facilitate serious financial exploitation;
• intentionally disable user-safety mechanisms; or
• are designed primarily to deceive vulnerable users.

A disclaimer does not automatically make unlawful or seriously harmful activity acceptable.

You must not use MakerShake or information obtained through MakerShake to send:

• unsolicited bulk email;
• bulk direct messages;
• automated promotional outreach;
• repetitive sales messages;
• deceptive outreach;
• unsolicited recruitment campaigns;
• contact-form spam;
• scraped-email campaigns; or
• other communications prohibited by applicable law.

An “Available for work” badge indicates openness to relevant professional inquiries. It does not authorize indiscriminate bulk outreach.

An “Available to remix” badge indicates openness to discussing potential adaptations. It does not authorize automated or repetitive contact.

A funding-status signal does not authorize bulk investor solicitation.

You must not use MakerShake's contact forms to:

• send spam;
• distribute malware;
• send phishing links;
• collect credentials deceptively;
• harass or threaten;
• impersonate another person;
• make fraudulent offers;
• request unlawful services;
• send irrelevant bulk promotions;
• send fraudulent investment approaches; or
• circumvent a prior request not to make contact.

MakerShake may filter, delay, reject, block, or discard submissions that appear abusive, automated, deceptive, malicious, unsafe, or irrelevant.

Repeated misuse may result in feature restrictions or account suspension.

Comments are public.

You must not use comments to:

• harass, threaten, or target another person;
• publish unlawful hate or violent content;
• send spam or repetitive promotion;
• conduct link farming;
• post phishing or malware links;
• impersonate another user;
• expose another person's private information;
• publish unlawful sexual content;
• make deliberately fabricated accusations;
• manipulate engagement;
• coordinate attacks against another user; or
• publish content prohibited elsewhere in this policy.

MakerShake may remove comments, restrict replies, apply rate limits, disable commenting, or restrict accounts.

Direct messages may be available only between eligible makers, such as users who mutually follow one another.

You must not use direct messages to:

• send bulk or automated outreach;
• send spam;
• send unlawful marketing;
• conduct unsolicited recruitment campaigns;
• harass, threaten, stalk, or intimidate;
• send unlawful hateful or violent content;
• distribute sexually exploitative material;
• send phishing links or malware;
• make fraudulent offers;
• impersonate another person or organization;
• obtain credentials, money, or personal data through deception;
• expose another person's private information;
• build external mailing or contact lists from MakerShake users; or
• circumvent an ended messaging relationship or prior request not to make contact.

Following another maker primarily to unlock messaging for prohibited outreach is itself a violation.

MakerShake may impose message-size limits, rate limits, spam controls, or other safeguards and may restrict or remove messaging access following abuse.

If you receive an abusive message, you may use MakerShake's reporting functionality. Ending the relevant follow relationship may also prevent new messages where the product is configured that way.

You must not use an “Available for work” badge deceptively.

For example, you must not enable it where:

• you are impersonating the maker;
• you have no authority to offer the services;
• the offer is fraudulent;
• the badge is used primarily to harvest data deceptively; or
• inquiries are redirected to an unrelated or unsafe service.

The “Available to remix” badge does not grant permission to copy:

• code;
• designs;
• text;
• branding;
• databases;
• datasets;
• images; or
• other protected material.

You must not represent the badge as creating a license, partnership, endorsement, or waiver of rights.

You must not:

• create a project profile without authorization from the relevant owner or representative;
• claim another person's project;
• impersonate a founder, maker, company, studio, employee, investor, or rights holder;
• create deceptive duplicates;
• falsely claim an official relationship with a project;
• use another person's identity or photograph deceptively or without necessary authorization; or
• redirect inquiries to an unauthorized party.

MakerShake may request evidence of ownership, control, employment, authorization, or representation.

You must not deliberately submit:

• duplicate profiles;
• multiple variants of the same project solely to obtain additional visibility;
• empty or placeholder profiles;
• automated mass submissions;
• profiles created primarily for backlinks;
• inaccessible or abandoned sites;
• unrelated landing pages;
• SEO spam;
• meaningless content; or
• keyword-stuffed or deceptive profiles.

MakerShake may merge, reject, edit, restrict, or remove such profiles.

The website address you submit must point directly at the public homepage of the project itself. You must not submit:

• link shorteners or other redirect-hiding services;
• link-in-bio or link-aggregator pages;
• IP-literal addresses, non-standard ports, or addresses containing credentials;
• private, internal, or non-publicly reachable hosts;
• parked, empty, or for-sale domains; or
• addresses that redirect to a destination unrelated to the listing.

MakerShake screens the final destination reached after redirects, not only the address as pasted.

To limit automated and bulk abuse, the number of projects a single account can submit within 24 hours is limited. Attempts to work around that limit through additional accounts are treated as circumvention.

You must not artificially manipulate:

• project views;
• outbound clicks;
• search position;
• featured placement;
• categories;
• tags;
• popularity signals;
• analytics;
• upvotes;
• shares;
• saves;
• followers;
• comments;
• contact submissions;
• referrals;
• investor-discovery placement; or
• other MakerShake engagement or ranking signals.

Prohibited techniques include:

• bots;
• click farms;
• automated refreshing;
• coordinated fake traffic;
• misleading redirects;
• fake referral traffic;
• fake accounts;
• multiple accounts used to engage with your own projects;
• vote exchanges;
• follow exchanges;
• save exchanges;
• comment exchanges;
• engagement pods intended to distort rankings;
• paying for artificial engagement; or
• exploiting ranking or rotation mechanisms.

MakerShake may filter, discount, recalculate, or remove activity that appears artificial.

Categories, tags, and technology information must reasonably describe the project.

You must not:

• use irrelevant popular tags solely for exposure;
• misrepresent technologies;
• falsely claim integrations;
• use protected brand names deceptively;
• keyword-stuff profiles;
• falsely claim a project was built with a particular provider; or
• deliberately categorize a project to mislead users or MakerShake's ranking systems.

MakerShake may correct or remove categories, tags, and technology information.

Project links must lead to the genuine website or resource reasonably associated with the listed project.

You must not use MakerShake links to:

• conceal an unsafe destination;
• redirect visitors deceptively;
• send visitors to phishing or malware;
• initiate unwanted downloads;
• display fake security alerts;
• create browser traps;
• trigger abusive pop-ups;
• imitate another website;
• replace a previously legitimate destination with a harmful one; or
• redirect visitors to materially unrelated content.

MakerShake may check submitted or published URLs and may restrict projects whose destinations become deceptive, unsafe, unlawful, materially misleading, or unavailable.

Published listings are re-screened periodically for as long as they remain online, so a destination that becomes unsafe, unlawful, or unreachable after publication can be detected and restricted. A listing whose re-screening produces a clear-cut result may be unpublished automatically.

Without prior written permission, you must not:

• scrape substantial parts of MakerShake;
• systematically extract project or maker data;
• harvest email addresses;
• harvest direct-contact information;
• build external prospecting databases from MakerShake;
• create a competing directory using MakerShake data;
• use automated tools to submit profiles;
• probe private endpoints;
• enumerate user records;
• bypass rate limits;
• overload the service; or
• use protected MakerShake content to train or populate another commercial service in violation of applicable rights.

Ordinary search-engine crawling and automated access expressly permitted by MakerShake's technical settings may be allowed.

You must not:

• test MakerShake for vulnerabilities without permission;
• attempt unauthorized access;
• interfere with another user's account;
• access private messages belonging to another user;
• access private analytics or audits without authorization;
• introduce malicious code;
• disrupt service availability;
• bypass authentication;
• evade payment or subscription controls;
• exploit software errors;
• circumvent access controls; or
• reverse engineer protected components except where mandatory law permits it.

Security vulnerabilities should be reported responsibly to contact@domu.studio.

You must not exploit a vulnerability, access information that does not belong to you, or publicly disclose sensitive vulnerability information before MakerShake has had a reasonable opportunity to investigate and address the issue.

You must not evade this policy or a moderation decision by:

• creating replacement accounts;
• using another person's account;
• republishing removed content;
• changing domains while preserving the prohibited activity;
• hiding product functionality;
• using alternate redirects;
• supplying false verification information;
• disguising the operator's identity; or
• otherwise attempting to bypass enforcement.

Attempted evasion may be treated as a serious or repeated violation.

Anyone may report content they believe to be unlawful or otherwise prohibited.

MakerShake provides an electronic reporting mechanism for relevant reports.

A report should identify the content sufficiently precisely and should, where appropriate, include:

• an explanation of why the content is believed to be unlawful or prohibited;
• the precise location of the content, such as a MakerShake profile, comment, or other URL;
• supporting evidence or information;
• contact information where required or appropriate; and
• a good-faith statement regarding the accuracy of the notice where applicable.

Under Article 16 DSA, hosting-service providers must provide electronic mechanisms enabling individuals and entities to notify them of specific information considered illegal. Qualifying notices must contain enough information for the provider to identify and assess the content.

MakerShake may request additional information where a notice is insufficient to assess.

Notices are handled in a timely, diligent, objective, and non-arbitrary manner where those legal requirements apply.

Submitting a report does not guarantee removal.

Where applicable, MakerShake will treat notices from entities awarded trusted-flagger status in accordance with applicable DSA requirements.

MakerShake will also respond to binding orders from competent courts and public authorities as required by law.

Germany's Digital Services Coordinator is established within the Bundesnetzagentur under the DDG.

A person claiming official or trusted-flagger status may be asked to substantiate that status.

Where MakerShake identifies a possible violation through automated systems, manual review, reports, legal notices, authority orders, security signals, or other reliable information, MakerShake may take proportionate action.

Every submitted website is screened automatically before it can be listed. The screening covers address hygiene, redirect resolution, public malware and phishing threat feeds, a blocked-domain list maintained by MakerShake, and an automated classification of the public homepage content against this policy. Websites that pass are published instantly; weaker signals are published and queued for human review; clear-cut cases are refused at submission and can be appealed.

Address hygiene includes a set of automated technical checks on the address itself — for example hidden or invisible characters, deceptive or mixed-script domain names, brand impersonation patterns, embedded credentials, non-standard ports, link shorteners and open redirects, and other signals commonly used to disguise a destination. The screening also confirms that the domain name resolves and that the destination is reachable, and follows the redirect chain to its final landing page.

Reports submitted by users are recorded together with a fresh automated screening of the reported project and reviewed by a human.

Categories used by that classification include malware and technical abuse, fraud and scams, illegal or regulated goods and services, sexual or adult content, hate and harassment, gambling and games of chance, and political campaigning or electioneering. Domains removed for such reasons may be blocked from resubmission.

Depending on the circumstances, action may include:

• requesting clarification;
• requesting evidence;
• correcting categories or tags;
• reducing visibility;
• removing featured placement;
• excluding a project from certain discovery features;
• displaying a warning;
• restricting commenting;
• restricting messaging;
• restricting contact forms;
• restricting analytics;
• removing artificial engagement;
• temporarily unpublishing a project;
• permanently removing content;
• rejecting or reversing a project claim;
• suspending functionality;
• suspending an account;
• terminating an account;
• cancelling paid features;
• preserving records;
• notifying affected rights holders;
• notifying relevant infrastructure, security, hosting, or payment providers; or
• cooperating with competent authorities where legally required.

MakerShake may act without prior notice where immediate action is reasonably necessary to address serious unlawful activity, active phishing, malware, fraud, child exploitation, credible threats, security incidents, or other urgent harm.

Paid status does not prevent moderation or enforcement.

Refund consequences are governed by the Terms of Service and mandatory law.

MakerShake may consider:

• the nature of the violation;
• seriousness;
• likelihood and extent of harm;
• whether conduct appears intentional;
• whether the violation is repeated;
• previous enforcement history;
• attempted circumvention;
• credibility of available evidence;
• impact on third parties;
• legal requirements;
• cooperation by the user; and
• whether a less restrictive response would sufficiently address the issue.

MakerShake may distinguish between inadvertent mistakes, genuine disputes, repeated violations, malicious conduct, and urgent abuse.

Where required by applicable law, MakerShake will provide the affected user with a statement of reasons concerning the relevant moderation restriction.

Depending on the circumstances and applicable law, this may include:

• the restriction imposed;
• the facts and circumstances relied upon;
• whether automated means were used;
• the legal or contractual basis;
• the territorial scope and duration where relevant; and
• information concerning available redress.

Article 17 DSA requires hosting providers to provide affected recipients with a clear and specific statement of reasons for qualifying restrictions imposed because information is considered illegal or incompatible with the provider's terms.

Information may be limited where disclosure is prohibited or would create a material legal, security, privacy, fraud-prevention, or abuse-prevention risk.

If you believe that a project, comment, message, account, badge, funding signal, contact feature, discovery feature, or paid feature was restricted in error, you may use the available appeal or complaint mechanism or contact contact@domu.studio.

Your appeal should identify:

• the affected account or content;
• the decision concerned;
• why you believe it was incorrect; and
• relevant supporting information.

Appeals are subject to human review where required by applicable law or where MakerShake determines human review is appropriate.

MakerShake may reject appeals that are:

• abusive;
• fraudulent;
• manifestly unfounded;
• repetitive without new information; or
• unrelated to the decision.

Where applicable, statutory rights concerning internal complaint handling, certified out-of-court dispute settlement, or judicial redress remain unaffected. These DSA mechanisms apply according to the service's legal classification and applicable exemptions.

MakerShake may suspend or terminate users who repeatedly violate this policy or frequently submit manifestly unlawful content.

Where permitted by applicable law, MakerShake may also take proportionate measures concerning people who frequently submit manifestly unfounded reports or complaints.

When assessing repeated misuse, MakerShake may consider:

• the number of violations;
• their proportion compared with legitimate activity;
• severity;
• effects on others;
• apparent intention;
• attempts to manipulate reporting or moderation; and
• the time period over which the conduct occurred.

For urgent reports involving:

• active phishing;
• malware;
• child exploitation;
• credible threats;
• serious fraud;
• active account compromise; or
• another immediate safety or security risk,

contact contact@domu.studio.

Include enough information to locate and understand the issue.

Do not email unlawful child sexual abuse material or other illegal files to MakerShake.

Provide URLs, profile identifiers, message references, or other identifying information sufficient for the material to be located and reviewed.

MakerShake may update this Acceptable Use Policy to reflect:

• changes to MakerShake;
• new community functionality;
• new abuse patterns;
• security threats;
• changes to funding or discovery features;
• legal or regulatory requirements; or
• changes to moderation practices.

The current version will be published with an updated “Last updated” date.

Where a material change affects an existing contractual relationship, MakerShake will provide any notice, consent mechanism, termination right, or other remedy required by law.

Continued use alone will not substitute for express agreement where applicable law requires express consent.

DOMU.STUDIO

Dominic Müller

Mainzer Straße 19, 50678 Cologne, Germany

Abuse and safety reports: contact@domu.studio

General inquiries: contact@domu.studio