I may use a host in the near future for a web site which I hope to finish soon.

I need to know what kind of protection and guarantees there are for any design and code and database that would get uploaded to a host computer.

After all the time and effor put into a web site, how can a host guarantee that design, code and database is not copied and used elsehwere.

I'm kind of new at this, so sorry for any dumb questions.

Thanks,
EA

Originally posted by adornoe
After all the time and effor put into a web site, how can a host guarantee that design, code and database is not copied and used elsehwere.
EA

A host doesn't guarantee that...you need to protect your pages with something similar to PHPPageProtect at http://php.warpedweb.net/ if you want to secure it... otherwise any schmoe can copy it...it isn't your hosting providers responsibility to protect your site from rippers......it's yours

Maybe you misunderstood me, or maybe I'm misunderstanding your reply.

I'm talking about administrative staff at the host level I realize that there are some things that I can do to copy-protect a page at presentation level.

I don't understand how I can protect my web site components from a host.

Thanks again,
EA

It comes down to the trust level for a business... there really isn't anyway to prevent it. As your host, he has access to all your files. The main thing is to go with someone who has a good reputation. Hosts for the most part, will probably never even see your site unless a complaint is lodged against it. Personally, we don't have time to go look at all of our clients sites.... I wouldn't have time to do any work! If you choose a reputable host, this is probably the last thing you need to worry about.

I don't believe there's any way to prevent a host from copying or viewing any files/databases, as they have full control and access to the server your site is on.

But of course, if they had actually taken material from your account and used it somewhere else that would be illegal.

Thanks.

I'll have to research any host I go with.

EA

adornoe,

Check out some of the hosts that have been around forever and have great reputations; pair.com, futurequest.com, site5.com, venturesonline.com, I dont think you'll have a problem with any of those. Best of luck though.

-Matt

That's why, when I was younger and dumber, and got an account at see eye host, (their real name which sounds like what I spelled is banned) I made sure I deleted my files 2 months before my three months of prepayment was up. I figured they weren't smart enough to have more than 30 days of backups. I prolly didn't need to worry about their backups at all, knowing how bad they sucked.
but remember that, if you discover your host sucks, and want to leave. It is worth paying for the extra month, AFTER you have already moved and deleted your files for your own piece of mind.

As a web hosting company, ripping your desing, code, or data is the last thing we would do.

In the first place we won't have any time to view your website unless there is either a complaint about your site or you contact us to get help and we need to see the site to reply to you.

If we need a new design for our website, or for another customer, we will take time to create it, we won't stell the one from you or another customer. Same for code. And your data is yours, we have nothing to do with it.

It would just be sad if some other company was doing such crappy things, but unfortunately there are probably a couple of them that does...

you can always get a your own colocated server , where only you have the password , then no one gets your data but you , this probably isnt an option , but i had to suggest . Anyways , this would make it were you are the only person with access to the server, you would be your own host . Also , most facilities have 24 hour monitoring , guards , you can even purchase a locking cabinet , and put it inside a lock cage =] ....now thats security

I don't know about that but I can tell you how to protect your site once it is online.

there is that unbreakable JAVA script that doesn't let you "right click" of course you can always go to View - Source, but few people know of that

Those who want to copy your code knows that :P

If you want to protect your code, you need to encrypt it... oops that is not feasible yet :(

Any host that would steal your code will also be dishonest in other areas. The trick is that it is very hard to know if a host will be honest or not. As has been mentioned above, the best thing to do is to base you decision on a host's reputation.

BM

Even then, it's difficult to tell the reputation of a host, unless you read a lot in here or other related forums. It's not like a phone company: you know the available phone companies available and you know their reputation because everyone has a phone... but not everyone has a website (not counting all the personnal home pages on Geocities and the like)

There are a few companies on this board (other than my own of course) that I would trust with no problems but that's only because they've been around a while and have proven themselves.

I've wondered this too. Though most webhosts are probably honest, there are always the TimPD's running websites that cannot be trusted.

Here's what I'd suggest to try and protect your code/design from an unscrupulous host...
1) put a copyright on all pages you want to protect
2) Remove all files BEFORE cancelling your acct. If using C Panel, also empty Trash folder.
3) Use a large hosting company. A large and busy host will have less time to look at your files.
4) Encrypt your files
5) Pray

Just to add in my 2 cents worth .. there IS software to encrypt your web page ... #1 it does not allow you to view the source code ... but if you really want to and do find it then it has a JS header and then complete garbage after that (ie: encrypted) ... I am not sure about the speed, or processor load, but it looks quite impressive ...

And since I don't trust the 'pirates' on this forum with my own page link here are links to some software that does it for you ...

Remember that some of thes encrypt Only for the end-user browser ... and some of them encrypt on server and browser ...

http://www.share2.com/htmlencr/
http://www.atompark.com/products/tlp.htm
http://www.minihttpserver.net/htmlg/index.php
http://www.protecthtml.com/product/wp/index.htm#sample

The last one has some samples so you can see it in action ...

As with all things, some products are better some are worse .. so shop around ...

Originally posted by HingyGuy
And since I don't trust the 'pirates' on this forum with my own page link here are links to some software that does it for you ...

Remember that some of thes encrypt Only for the end-user browser ... and some of them encrypt on server and browser ...

http://www.share2.com/htmlencr/
http://www.atompark.com/products/tlp.htm
http://www.minihttpserver.net/htmlg/index.php
http://www.protecthtml.com/product/wp/index.htm#sample

The last one has some samples so you can see it in action ...

As with all things, some products are better some are worse .. so shop around ...

Thanks for those links; but to those who may not be able to buy those, you can do it free with des3, blowfish, rsa, etc... the same thing that SSL certificates are encrypted with.

Yeah .. but this is a package solution ... by using the algorithms u mentioned .. u need to actuually write something to implement it ...

http://pobs.mywalhalla.net/

debug, that's different. that's if you intend to distribute your php source. when you run php pages, it is already converted to html before sending to the client side. Therefore, in this case, they are trying to look at preventing someone on the client side from stealing your pages. That software won't help .

Thanks to all who replied to my question.

I like the different ideas and opinions. I also appreciate the links provided regarding the subject.

It's only last week that I discovered this site and I know I'll be coming here often for questions and ideas.

Thanks to all,
EA