The company was asked what process it would adopt if it found that any of its clients were storing child pornography images on their servers.

The inquiry was made in the wake of an iTWire  story about reverse proxy and DDoS protection provider Cloudflare saying that it would not stop providing services to a client even if it had clear indications that the site in question was hosting child pornography. The company said it had a process it would follow and it would not act out of step.

Following the massacre of 50 Muslims by a white supremacist in New Zealand last week, British security expert Kevin Beaumont had pointed out that Cloudflare was providing services to the website 8chan where users store images of child porn.

According to this policy, customers have to take action if they discover "inappropriate and illegal content" and prevent it being routed to, passed through or stored on the Akamai network.

The company said it reserved the right to terminate or suspend services to such clients if continuing to provide services violated existing law or harmed its network, services or other customers.

Part of the AUP reads: "Akamai also reserves the right to co-operate with legal authorities and third parties in the investigation of alleged wrongdoing, including disclosing the identity of the party that Akamai deems responsible for the wrongdoing.

"Akamai will endeavour to provide notice to [the] customer prior to suspension or termination of Akamai services but may immediately suspend or terminate in instances where continued provision of services would have a material adverse effect on Akamai.

"Akamai shall not be liable for any damages of any nature suffered by any customer, user, or any third party resulting in whole or in part from Akamai's exercise of its rights under this AUP."