Web Hosting Talk : Web Hosting Main Forums : Web Hosting : Publishing my own blacklists

[777]

If I were to publish sites with lists of people, things, hosts, countries, sport clubs or whatever else that I don't like, for whatever reason would I get in trouble somewhere and with someone?
Just wondering...

[azurehost]

If you start posting like religions you don't like, countries ect - You will get in ALOT of trouble. You've got to make sure that you don't put anything on your site that could be considered "racist" ect.

- Azure

[Loon]

It depends who they are, if it's anybody with the resources or money to make a legal case then you need to be careful and make sure that anything you claim can be proven, other than that, free speech is a wonderful thing.

I wouldn't rule out other forms of "trouble" though, DDoS attacks etc, again it depends who these people are that you list.

[ldcdc]

I thought about that too and I concluded that it's a lot safer to publish positive reviews or not publish at all. However, I must say that negative reviews have a real value (in any domain) and that if no one would risk and say negative things, it would be very difficult to assess quality, beauty etc.

[777]

By the way, it would be nothing obviously illegal, at least in most places.
...and I am not racist at all, just to make that clear although I believe you were not saying that.
Apparently the best place to have that site hosted would be the US, where freedom of speech is well supported, but what about privacy laws and regulations? Here in Europe it would be quite a problem.
And of course I would not list terrorist groups, I leave that to the governments.

[Loon]

I also think that if you're talking about companies and such then there's the saying "there's no such thing as bad publicity" to remember.

Say you have situation A

You use a company and their service is bad, ok .. lesson learned, you wont use them again and wont be running around to recommend them to other people, so will they get anymore business from you, directly or indirectly? no.

Then situation B

You use that company and their service is bad, so you post about it all over your busy website for all your visitors to see. Now no matter how much you might be ranting about them in your post, you've just let hundreds mabye thousands of people know about them who perhaps before never even knew they existed, just from the sheer exposure they will probally gain at least one customer along the line from that, especially if it's something that seems like a great deal, some people will follow a link, forget what you said, and probally sign up anyway. So now, they are thanking you.

That's what i think anyhow. People are sheep, they follow others, the more interest there is in a website, product, service or anything else the more business they will get, even if that interest stems from bad experiences.

[ldcdc]

People are sheep, they follow others, the more interest there is in a website, product, service or anything else the more business they will get, even if that interest stems from bad experiences.

Or maybe that's just another myth...

[777]

make sure that anything you claim can be proven

Actually, I wouldn't be making any claim, I would just say that I don't like some people, cars, actors, etc.

And BTW, I understand that it could be a strong advertisement for some, but that's not the point, especially because you can't really tell for sure if you are doing good or bad.
I would just saying what I think, without saying why. Would I be ok? Or would that be only in countries with a highly protected freedom of speech? (Maybe only the US!)

PS: I am not American nor do I live there but my servers could.

[morehost]

Maybe you can get into a lot of trouble... some might think your reviews are biased and are based on your personal enemity and similar things...
Anyways if you are planning to do this, I think you must present it as a personal blog or something and not a professional or company's view

[mpalamar]

Originally posted by azurehost
If you start posting like religions you don't like, countries ect - You will get in ALOT of trouble. You've got to make sure that you don't put anything on your site that could be considered "racist" ect.

Racial/hate/parody sites are legal in the USA. It's protected via the first amendment but against most TOS/AUP of hosting companies. If you really want to setup a blacklist type site, be careful about naming specific people/businesses unless it is true and you have facts to backup your statements. The government will not go after you but when you start naming names of people/businesses you open up some civil liability.

[JOLowe]

They are legal in the USA, but that won't stop a host from putting rules against it in their terms of service.

[777]

be careful about naming specific people/businesses unless it is true and you have facts to backup your statements

Right! We are getting closer to the point.

The government will not go after you but when you start naming names of people/businesses you open up some civil liability.

The whole point is in fact to point out names, and I shouldn't need any evidence because it's just that I dislike the people or whatever. Do I have to prove why I don't like them?
Why shouldn't I be freely allowed to say I like Putin and not Kerry, the ocean and not the rivers, green and not blue, meat and not fish, Pepsi and not Coke, Angelina jolie and not Madonna, 007 and not Rambo, Mini and not Renault, American football and not volleyball, the snow and not the sun, Mr X and not Mr Z, Madrid and not Barcelona, Martini and not Perrier, Henman and not Federer, and so on........
And when I say freely I mean without any sort of civil liability, I would never go against a government of course.

[ximat]

Have you visited BestBuySux.org or PayPalSucks.com?

They both do what you are wanting to do. They have one target scope, but they are still doing what you want to do!

Pay close attention to the legal disclaimer on BBSux.org. It defines the legality of it in accordance with the 1st Ammendment.

[777]

Thank you ximat!
Those are good links.
I also know www.famousidiots.com.
It's not exactly what I want to do, I understand I am not clear enough, but I don't know what I can do therefore I don't know what to do!
Anyway I think that I could lawfully write a blacklist of people and things, just because I don't like them, at least in the US.
The question would then be:
would it be ok to have the servers in the US, where I am assuming the site would be legal, although I would be uploading data from abroad (EU)?