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  1. #1

    Heres A Pickle...

    Hello,
    We have someone who signed up for hosting with a domain that has "torrent" in it. So I emailed him reminding him that we do not host any illegal files. Here is his reply:

    "no i wont host any illegal files only torrent files i have no
    responsibility for what the users post and i wont host any illegal
    files"


    Should we or are we even allowed to host him?


    Best Regards,
    Former owner of 275mb, DKMHosting, and Easy-Upload

  2. #2
    Join Date
    Oct 2003
    Location
    Israel
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    133
    I personally wouldn't. Seems like he wants to put those illegal files and then will probably claim it was his users fault, not himself.

    - Tomer
    Christmas time is among us, get your loved ones Designer Fragrances

  3. #3
    Maybe point him to your terms of service where it says he IS responsible for ther files in his account. I wouldn't host it though.

  4. #4
    Join Date
    Jan 2003
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    127.0.0.1
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    135
    You should point him to your AUP regarding "illegal files...blah...blahh.." and would be subject to immediate termination without refund. You do have a AUP (or TOS) right?

    Torrent files are (usually) quite large and they will likely hit their bandwidth limit. Even if its a crack site (small files, many hits).

    Worst case, you get a Cease and Desist letter.
    Best case, they are legit and become one of your best customers.

  5. #5
    Helllo,
    We decided not to host the website.


    Best Regards,
    Former owner of 275mb, DKMHosting, and Easy-Upload

  6. #6
    Join Date
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    You beat me to it John, but my reply was going to be, "heck no."



    Bailey
    Let's Connect on Twitter! @thatsmsgeek2u || Fighting mediocrity one thread at a time.

  7. #7
    Join Date
    Dec 2004
    Location
    United Kingdom
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    1,758
    That was a wise choice not too host him, Could have led to all sort of problems, I guess thats another reason not to automated signups.
    Regards,

  8. #8
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
    Location
    Philadelphia, Pa
    Posts
    948
    In a similar case, just remind him that he IS responsible for whatever is placed on his account. Then monitor the account pretty heavily.

    There are great and legal ways to use torrents. I'm guessing he wasn't looking to do any of that, though.

  9. #9
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
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    Philadelphia, Pa
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    948
    Ooops, double post

    Just kidding, I'm really just trying to get closer to that custom avatar

  10. #10
    Join Date
    Jan 2005
    Posts
    443
    If he wanted to run a legit torrent site, he would not have responded with the "I'm not responsible" bit.

  11. #11
    Know thy enemy!

    Torrent files themselves are not illegal content by most TOS/AUP - unless you specifically say that "hosting of .torrent files" is against policy.

    The .torrent files direct the clients where to connect - their website on your server - which then redirects the client to the user who is serving the (sometimes) illegal content from their computer. It acts as a middle-man for every request from every user. The (sometimes) illegal content never passes through your server's memory.

    The reason that running torrent "trackers" can obliterate a server is the sheer amount of traffic that it takes to redirect all of the hundreds of thousands of clients to the users with the requested content.

    More than likely, a tracker website will exceed it's bandwidth limit long before exceeding it's storage limit.

    For this reason, it's generally not a good idea to allow torrent "trackers" to be hosted on your servers.

    Originally posted by netscan
    If he wanted to run a legit torrent site, he would not have responded with the "I'm not responsible" bit.
    To be fair, you're probably right about that.

  12. #12
    Join Date
    Nov 2001
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    The South
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    5,408
    Legal or not, I don't know, I won't argue that, but what I DO know is, if those .torrents contain info for trading what ARE illegal files, you will get faxes and certified letters from lawyers representing artists, etc, and so will YOUR provider, and they probably won't even look into it they'll suspend first, ask questions later I bet. So be very careful, legal doesn't necessarily mean you won't get popped anyway.
    Gary Harris - the artist formerly known as Dixiesys
    resident grumpy redneck

  13. #13
    Originally posted by netscan
    If he wanted to run a legit torrent site, he would not have responded with the "I'm not responsible" bit.
    Hello,
    Even though we already made up our minds I must say you made a very good point! Don't know why we didn't see that before!


    Best Regards,
    Former owner of 275mb, DKMHosting, and Easy-Upload

  14. #14
    Join Date
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    John I'm glad you posted about this, it was a good discussion, lots of great info.

    Bailey
    Let's Connect on Twitter! @thatsmsgeek2u || Fighting mediocrity one thread at a time.

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