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  1. #1
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    Web Hosting Ethics

    Are there any specific ethical issues that you think need to be addressed by the web hosting industry as a whole?
    What do you think about unethical business practise and customer service? Should there be a multinational industry organisation to address such issues?
    Registration of web hosts to prevent fly-by-nighters?

  2. #2
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    A few thoughts:

    #1) Statements hosts make on their website should be treated just like printed advertising and contracts. If they are false, the host needs to be held accountable.

    Prime examples include:

    - If you claim 24/7 support, you need to answer support requests every hour of the day, not just "accept" them
    - If you claim 99.9% uptime, have the stats to prove it or remove it.
    - If you say "our" on your site, it should refer to your people, bandwidth and hardware, not those of your host or datacenter. If it's not your service, state who's it is.


    #2) Hosts should be required to be licensed by the state/province they do business in and be held legally accountable for their actions like any other industry. The problem with this is nobody (rightfully) wants to "regulate" the internet, so no matter what states or the industry does, in the end it's still up to the consumer to learn what to look for (or look out for).


    Of course, someone here on WHT made a great statement recently (sorry, can't recall the thread) that most people wouldn't buy food from some unknown vendor selling it dirt cheap on the street. Why do people purchase hosting from hosts they've never heard of and/or can't validate from a trusted source?
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  3. #3
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    I thoroughly agree. There are a great number of hosts who claim to have 24/7 support but only accept support requests 24/7, answering them when next online.

  4. #4
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    #2) Hosts should be required to be licensed by the state/province they do business in and be held legally accountable for their actions like any other industry. The problem with this is nobody (rightfully) wants to "regulate" the internet, so no matter what states or the industry does, in the end it's still up to the consumer to learn what to look for (or look out for).
    I don't agree at all with this one. Almost every medium of communication in the world is regulated and controlled, usually very strictly and unforgivingly. The Internet is a great place, and it would be totally different if there were governing bodies, and this is not something we should even consider supporting if we want our current privileges to remain intact.

  5. #5
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    Well I am not sure about regulating the internet bar what the law enforcement do already to stop piracy, child porn etc.

    But I do agree that the hosting industry badly needs regulation. :-)

  6. #6
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    I agree that internet buisnesses should need to be registered with the state they run from.

  7. #7
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    Originally posted by SniperDevil
    I don't agree at all with this one.
    Then maybe you didn't read it right. I'm talking about regulating the hosting businesses and the people running them, not the medium they use to transmit data. I specifically said nobody (rightfully) wants to "regulate" the internet. That means we/they are RIGHT in not wanting to regulate the internet.

    Regulation has nothing to do with the medium. Banks, realtors, medical professionals, auto shops, restaurants, etc, are all held to certain standards by the locality they do business in. All I'm saying is hosting businesses should be regulated and governed in exactly the same way.
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  8. #8
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    Then maybe you didn't read it right. I'm talking about regulating the hosting businesses and the people running them, not the medium they use to transmit data. I specifically said nobody (rightfully) wants to "regulate" the internet. That means we/they are RIGHT in not wanting to regulate the internet.

    Regulation has nothing to do with the medium. Banks, realtors, medical professionals, auto shops, restaurants, etc, are all held to certain standards by the locality they do business in. All I'm saying is hosting businesses should be regulated and governed in exactly the same way.
    All things lead up to greater things. By governing the hosting business specifically, you are in effect regulating the Internet as a whole, and this should not be acceptable. This will turn into regulating other types of Internet businesses, and eventually even controversial sites. That's where things like this (exceptions to the rule) end up.

  9. #9
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    I think the point of the poster was not to so much govern hosts in terms of what they can and cant do... but more so making sure that fly by night hosts dont steal peoples money, and that hosting companies are legal business's instead of some teenager with a reseller account. Just my 2 cents.

  10. #10
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    I agree with SniperDevil. I hardly picture regulations placed on hosting businesses without consequences of affecting other online industries.

    This is where "freedom of internet" will end...

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  11. #11
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    Originally posted by TheWalrus
    I think the point of the poster was not to so much govern hosts in terms of what they can and cant do... but more so making sure that fly by night hosts dont steal peoples money, and that hosting companies are legal business's instead of some teenager with a reseller account. Just my 2 cents.

    Only two things will save you from "fly by night hosts":

    1) Costly barriers to entering hosting industry

    2) Online users running background checks on hosts before purchasing plan


    As far I know, neither one exists right now. And to be honest, I don't think they will in the near future.

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  12. #12
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    Originally posted by SniperDevil
    All things lead up to greater things. By governing the hosting business specifically, you are in effect regulating the Internet as a whole, and this should not be acceptable. This will turn into regulating other types of Internet businesses, and eventually even controversial sites. That's where things like this (exceptions to the rule) end up.
    So, because it's a virtual business it's somehow exempt? A business is a business, it shouldn't be granted an exception simply based on it's venue. The regulations should be placed on the business itself, NOT on the customers. To give an example, when you go to a restaurant, that restaurant is subject to regulations. Those affect the business practices of that establishment (serving spoiled food, keeping clean kitchens, etc), not the choices of food you can select. This equates directly back into the web hosting market, because a regulatory body should exist to guarantee that a hosting business maintains certain standards for service and support levels. That is what is being requested, not some sort of organization policing the content of sites on the net...
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  13. #13
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    Maybe there should be, instead of a legal umbrella for web hosts, a sort of moral umbrella that credible web hosts could join.

  14. #14
    Just My Opinion,

    but regulating the hosting industry, if at all possible, wouldnt be such a bad idea. However, regulating the entire internet would be near impossible, and even if an organization could manage to do it, the internet would never be the same.

  15. #15
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    I agree. Maybe WHT users could start a moral organisation that promotes web ethics and regulates the hosting industry?

  16. #16
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    I saw a topic like this in other forum on the board. There is something like this, run by one of the web host directories. I think it could be a good start if it's standardized more. The problem is, it's fine for us all to say this is a good idea, but can any host really start something like this? Seems a bit contradictory, at least
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  17. #17
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    Contradictory? Hows that? I think I am proposing an umbrella organisation that incorporates hosting comapnies both big and small which would aim to regulate the industry to combat fly-by-night hosts, try to stamp out fraud and maybe make the umbrella organisation have a quality assurance program or something similiar. An umbrella organisation that is run by webhosts for webhosts that helps regulate webhosts.

  18. #18
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    A few hosting companies getting together to push others out of the market? Even if it's in good interest, that is the textbook definition of a cartel

    In all seriousness, I think it's a great idea, but needs a third party involved somehow. That would boost the reputability of the organization greatly.
    Former owner of A Small Orange
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  19. #19
    A few hosting companies getting together to push others out of the market? Even if it's in good interest, that is the textbook definition of a cartel
    Something like confideration

  20. #20
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    Well personally I'm not a big fan of regulatory organisations and tend to prefer to let the market sort itself out. It usually does eventually, although there is undoubtedly some suffering while it goes through the process of doing so.

    There are laws against fraud, false advertising etc. and these apply equally to all businesses. I don't believe there's any need for additional (or lesser) controls on web hosting than for any other business. These laws do, perhaps, need to be applied more frequently to the web hosting industry than they currently are and, in fact, I believe the trend is that they are being applied more than they were as the industry's profile increases.

    I'll agree that some regulatory organisations have a certain degree of success but others - particularly here in the UK - often just nanny things to justify their own existence and interfere with what would otherwise be a relatively happy 'free' market.

  21. #21
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    By governing the hosting business specifically, you are in effect regulating the Internet as a whole, and this should not be acceptable. This will turn into regulating other types of Internet businesses, and eventually even controversial sites.
    That kind of attitude is exactly what's been keeping internet businesses from being properly regulated (exactly as other businesses are) for years. Stop trying to bring site content or constitutional issues into this because they have nothing to do with it.

    This isn't about site content or freedom of speech, it is about the business practices of an individual or company operating in a specific location. In the US and most of Europe, states or territories regulate insurance companies, auto shops, restaurants, hospitals, grocery stores and more, all for consumer protection. The reason you can (for the most part) walk into an unknown restaurant or hospital and expect a certain level of service (not that you'll get it, but you can expect it) is because regulations specific to those industries exist and are enforced by local government.

    There is no reason whatsoever that a web host should be exempt from regulations protecting consumers from blatant false advertising, theft or fraud, but legislators and enforcement agencies are afraid to take firm action because "it's the internet".
    Last edited by SROHost; 05-31-2004 at 01:06 PM.
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  22. #22
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    Originally posted by SROHost
    There is no reason whatsoever that a web host should be exempt from regulations protecting consumers from blatant false advertising, theft or fraud, but legislators and enforcement agencies are afraid to take firm action because "it's the internet".
    Agreed, but isn't that just application of the law? All business is and should be subject to the trading laws etc. Does hosting (or the internet) need a specicific regulatory body to control it? I don't believe so.

  23. #23
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    So, because it's a virtual business it's somehow exempt? A business is a business, it shouldn't be granted an exception simply based on it's venue. The regulations should be placed on the business itself, NOT on the customers. To give an example, when you go to a restaurant, that restaurant is subject to regulations. Those affect the business practices of that establishment (serving spoiled food, keeping clean kitchens, etc), not the choices of food you can select. This equates directly back into the web hosting market, because a regulatory body should exist to guarantee that a hosting business maintains certain standards for service and support levels. That is what is being requested, not some sort of organization policing the content of sites on the net...
    Obviously its venue DOES matter, that's why there are different regulations for selling food, at say, the street corner in a big city, or at a sit-down, more formal restaurant.

    The Internet is the Internet, and if we want it to remain in its current state (relaxed, capitalistic, and encouraging of new businesses), regulatory institutions should not be introduced. There are countless examples of things like this happening, and you can apply it to other mediums as well, such as television (which the FTC regulates here in America; they are getting stricter and stricter until entertaining comedians and shows won't be able to say 'darn' on Cable).

    That kind of attitude is exactly what's been keeping internet businesses from being properly regulated (exactly as other businesses are) for years. Stop trying to bring site content or constitutional issues into this because they have nothing to do with it.
    Uh... what do you think they are, if not constitutional issues, here in the USA? You are proposing that a legal authority govern the practices of business on-line. That will, in effect, also govern zine subscriptions on-line, hell even porn subscription (even if for purely legal porn), and then what will happen? They will introduce something like the Patriot Act for the Internet, which claims that they can request credit card information and personal details of customers of said industries, such as they are doing at privatized airports worldwide.

  24. #24
    Originally posted by timdorr
    A few hosting companies getting together to push others out of the market? Even if it's in good interest, that is the textbook definition of a cartel

    In all seriousness, I think it's a great idea, but needs a third party involved somehow. That would boost the reputability of the organization greatly.
    I like the idea. However, it would make it too hard for hosts who are just starting out.

  25. #25
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    we need something not like icann but some solid guide lines this is something hopefully only time will tell and maybe we best watch our reseller accounts

    just a thought
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