This poll is for web hositng companies only....

Do you use this service????
If you answer "NO" could you tell me why you don't use the service?



Anyone know if there are any other services out there like this?

Or, if this service isn't any good would it be worth while for a few hosting companies to get to gether and make a similar serverice. I think they should offer a public list of the hosting companies that use this service... What do you think?

Michael

Indeed. I really wish more companies would be using them. It would benefit all of us. We have had problems with spammers before and this would certainly help get rid of the freaks.

I just signed up but wanted to see if it was a waste of time.

The way I figure it, if everyone would use it life could be much easier. :) Thus, the reason for this poll. To see how many companies actually use it..

Michael

We joined and used it a little bit at first, but our lawyer had some concerns about the legality of us posting information there, or using information we obtained from there, so we dropped it.

our lawyer had some concerns about the legality of us posting information there, or using information we obtained from there

Hrmmm.......

What type of lawyer is this? There is absolutely nothing illegal or wrong about reporting crooks.

This is simply a database where all of us can log what users have done: SPAMM, FRAUD, CHARGEBACKS, ETC.

I just can't see why this would concern your lawyer. If a user is a crook and decides to spam, the least we can do is report him/her. It is then completely up to the discretion of the next host to provide them with an account.

Well lets say you offer 30 days money back guarantee. And i join your hosting company...dislike the service and take my money back. Than you come to idea to revenge and post my domain name overthere = nop one else will host me than.

Second if you list someone as a spammer youll be probably faced with a sue ..and than you have to bring up evidences that are strong enough in the court. = thats why the laywer didnt see hostabuse as a good thing.

In EU you couldnt set up such a thing...it may be legal in the states. :)

Originally posted by Angel78

Second if you list someone as a spammer youll be probably faced with a sue ..and than you have to bring up evidences that are strong enough in the court. = thats why the laywer didnt see hostabuse as a good thing.

Do not agree. We have hard evidence. What more evidence that getting about 50 or 60 emails in less than 24 hours from pissed of users who got the spam? What more evidence than linking those email messages from the upset users with the script? Compare that to our credit card batch at the time the customer signed up among other things. We have compelling proof.

As far as hosts posting inaccurate info, well that is a risk that we all have to take. That does not mean that the information will be inaccurate. What about your lenders? If you get a loan from a small company they could write anything they wanted on your credit file, couldn't they? I mean these guys at Host Abuse should screen the hosts they allow access to their system, even require an application to be filled out or something, but I still insist it is a perfectly legal and very useful system.

you could be right...but still i am afraid of hosts that could abuse this tool. You post something bad about lets say tera-byte ( this was just an ex). Second day you got listed on the hostabuse as a spammer...etc.

These Black-lists arent allowed in Europe (EU)...but as you have NTSC(Never The Same Color :)) and we have PAL it may be legal in the US.

All I know is that there has got to be a way of stopping these suckers !!!!!

yes by bringing them in the front of court...but that costs money....:( and i guess just huge hosts can alow themselves such costs

Blacklisting is illegal in the US, also.

Originally posted by bert
What type of lawyer is this? There is absolutely nothing illegal or wrong about reporting crooks.

Not necessarily true. There is a law in the U.S. called the Fair Credit Reporting Act. What this law states is that you cannot provide any credit-related information to any 3rd-party without the customer's permission.

While we certainly could post on hostabuse (or anywhere else) about a spammer or hacker, etc., posting about no-pays, host hopping, chargebacks, et. al. all fall under the provisions of the Fair Credit Reporting Act and could get our company into very hot water.

Our lawyer felt it simply was not worth the risk. We do post about spammers from time to time at hostcoalition.org, and we also will report someone who tries to sign up using a stolen credit card, but it's unlawful to post any information related to credit or monies.

Jason

Originally posted by bert
What about your lenders? If you get a loan from a small company they could write anything they wanted on your credit file, couldn't they?

I missed this in my first reply.

You are comparing apples to oranges here. Credit reporting agencies (Equifax, TRW, etc.) are government-regulated, very carefully controlled organizations. There are laws and guidelines that literally consume several volumes that these agencies must follow. There are very very specific regulations about who can submit reports, who can obtain credit reports, how reports are handled and screened, appeals processes, and so on. The credit reporting and banking industries are probably the most heavily-regulated in the country (U.S. we're talking about, of course - don't know about anywhere else).

hostabuse.org is a web site that someone (with a very good idea, I should add) set up to help out web hosts. It's not licenced, certified, or government-regulated.

As such, it's legality is questionable. While I certainly like the idea and concept, our lawyer made the decision that it would be unwise to use them.

I am well aware of the Fair Credit Reporting Act. I didn't know though that you could not report other people's negative credit history without their authorization. I like the law then :)

According to the poll, very few people is using it, which means that it is pretty useless :(

I guess there is nothing we can do to help each other then. Just have enough luck to get by without crooks.

ever heard of a novel?

just put a big notice up that says the details made available on hostabuse are fictuous... blah blah blah... you know, the usual true life tv/novel disclamer

but we all know that the facts therein are true :D