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  1. #1
    Member WebEdit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    60

    Web Host Responsibility

    Hello,

    I'm writing an article on Web Host responsibility and I'm interested in everyone's opinion.

    What level of responsibility do you think web hosts have for the following:

    *Allowing web sites that spam/download viruses and adware ala MCI hosting www.send-safe.com.
    See: http://www.spamhaus.org/news.lasso?article=158%E2%80%9D

    *Providing security for web sites they host in terms of protecting them from DDOS attacks or from domain hijacking ala Panix.com's hijacking via Melbourne IT's mistake.
    See: http://hostsearch.com/news/panix_news_2462.asp

    *Hosting illegal (offshore legal) or immoral sites such as those that provide pirated software, hacking information, racist sites, information on making bombs or weapons, pornography or child pornography, exposing personal information without consent, or political extremist sites- ala Islamic jihad sited or kill the Iraqi sites.

    Should web hosts be held accountable for any of this stuff? Where do you draw the line? How does a host who has 80,000+ sites manage all the content for illicit stuff?

    Opinions?

    Dave

    HostSearch.com

  2. #2
    Registered User
    Join Date
    Feb 2005
    Posts
    3

    Sustained 2 Cents

    Well in my opinion the way web masters of today have gone are towards the shady side of town.

    It has lamost become impossible to provide webhosting for customers with out having those "bad seeds" in every batch.

    TOS & AUP agreements have to be fine tuned each year if not each month due to the high security demand webmasters put on us the providers.

    Our responsibility is to keep the servers secure and clean at ALL cost. We have a commitment to the other customers that might be sharing a host on a server or even dedicated fo rthat matter not to mention the moral obligation one takes when starting a web hosting company.

    At sustainedhits we pride ourselves on these values and try to provide a friendly relaxed enviornment to our customers and it is sad to say that the "big dogs" have lost this meaning along with customer service being tossed out the window.

    Again just my .02
    Sustainedhits.com Reliable Web Hosting

  3. #3
    Member WebEdit's Avatar
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    60
    Well thought out and well-said.

  4. #4
    1PlanHost
    Guest
    While current U.S. laws offer some protection to U.S. providers from liability against customer content and actions, we do have a moral responsibility and also a civic responsibility to protect our customers.

    Remember that protection against liability is very relative when it comes to customer content and actions. If a hosting company knowingly hosts spammers, hackers or sites involved in illegal activities then by all means they should be held responsible. It was a shame that MCI knowingly hosted the large spam operation and only stopped when so much public pressure was placed on them to do so. In my opinion, they should have been fined a large amount for knowingly hosting that spam operation.

    As far as preventing DDoS attacks? Good luck! A hosting company can and should provide as best protection as possible against DDoS but prevention is not possible as far as I am aware. We can protect the network, servers and data during a DDoS attack but that often means shutting services down temporarily. Domain hijacking is a seperate activity than DDoS and of course should be guarded against and prevented.

    Bottom line is, companies that knowingly host illegal sites and support illegal activities should be held responsible. They key word of course is "knowingly." We do check customer web sites on a regular basis to ensure they are in compliance with our TOS but most offenders are caught by our paying careful attention to bandwidth, space usage charts and server log files. If we see some unusual activity on these then we will go investigate further.

    Our TOS is more strict than most hosting companies in terms of the types of sites we will not host. This is from 9 years of experience and even then we have to review and update the TOS every 6 months or so just to keep current with the latest scams. Last year we added "online banking services, Internet lotteries and online pharmacies or sites that directly sell prescription or non prescription drugs and pharmaceuticals are prohibited." Phishing scam sites are the biggest problem right now. They have sincerely gone wild in the past few months and it is way past time for all of us hosts to figure out a solution to stop the madness.

    Best Wishes for a .Net Success!

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