Can Your Website Be Deleted?

[gisellebebegirl 0]

Ok.. so i was talking to my friend mandi.. she owns a site similar to my http://forums.xisto.com/no_longer_exists/ one [ everything myspace & such ] and she said that there is a rummmor going around, about sites being miseriously deleted, and i wanted to know if this is true...

ok so you know how there are myspace "sites" that distribute icons, photography, & pixels right? well according to her, your whole domain can be deleted, for uploading those on your website.. [if you didnt make them] on my site, i make everything except icons, photography & pixels.. which i gather and give people the option to upload themselves.. saying [ I did not make them, but i did take my time, to upload them & gather for you to use! feel free to link back to the site using this code ] totally not taking credit for the stuff... so i was wondering is the rummor true? could my site be deleted? if so.. i will remove the content found as soon as posible

[Saint_Michael 3]

I know that if you make a illegal Myspace account aka making a celebrity myspace then it will get deleted, but when creating your own stuff there are no rules against it. Of course anyone claiming that they are from myspace saying that they informed your hosting about illegal content those are lies as well since everything on the internet has creative common license for most stuff. So unless your friend has proof of this then the rumor does not exist so you should be fine.

[jlhaslip 4]

gisellebebegirl,

 

The best answer to give you is "yes", your site could be deleted by the Host if you violate their Terms of Service or Acceptable Use Policy. Here at the Xisto, the Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy are available in the Xisto Readme file which can be found in the pink bar on the top of the Shoutbox.

 

For easy reference, the link is HERE .

 

The Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy here at the Xisto are not unusual. Many Free and Paid Hosting Services are very conscious about the risks involved with allowing 'illegal' activities because they could be shutdown for providing these services. Copyrights are crucial. The free things you might make available on your site should be truly 'free of Copyrights' and you need to retain information about when and where you were given access and permission to distribute these items (if you did not create them). It is often as simple as emailing the 'creator' and keeping a copy of their permissions, or making note of the source of the goods. If they came from a site which publicly provides these items for free, it is good netiquette to link back to them. This would also provide the 'copyright' for the items. If anyone can go there and download them, and the site says they can be further distributed, then you will be okay with offering them for download. Having said all of that, I remind you that I am not a Lawyer, so kindly re-read the TOS and AUP once more and continue to search for better replies to these good questions.

[gisellebebegirl 0]

gisellebebegirl,

 

The best answer to give you is "yes", your site could be deleted by the Host if you violate their Terms of Service or Acceptable Use Policy. Here at the Xisto, the Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy are available in the Xisto Readme file which can be found in the pink bar on the top of the Shoutbox.

 

For easy reference, the link is HERE .

 

The Terms of Service and Acceptable Use Policy here at the Xisto are not unusual. Many Free and Paid Hosting Services are very conscious about the risks involved with allowing 'illegal' activities because they could be shutdown for providing these services. Copyrights are crucial. The free things you might make available on your site should be truly 'free of Copyrights' and you need to retain information about when and where you were given access and permission to distribute these items (if you did not create them). It is often as simple as emailing the 'creator' and keeping a copy of their permissions, or making note of the source of the goods. If they came from a site which publicly provides these items for free, it is good netiquette to link back to them. This would also provide the 'copyright' for the items. If anyone can go there and download them, and the site says they can be further distributed, then you will be okay with offering them for download. Having said all of that, I remind you that I am not a Lawyer, so kindly re-read the TOS and AUP once more and continue to search for better replies to these good questions.

if by a small chance, something is copyrighted [ i doubt it, because most sites with the same content as me, offer them.. & at some cases put their websites name on it. and nothing has happened.. big sites too.. hot lyts... wateverlife.. etc] would my site be immadiately deleted with no warning or nothing? [thats part of the rummor too]

[rvalkass 5]

if by a small chance, something is copyrighted [ i doubt it, because most sites with the same content as me, offer them.. & at some cases put their websites name on it. and nothing has happened.. big sites too.. hot lyts... wateverlife.. etc] would my site be immadiately deleted with no warning or nothing? [thats part of the rummor too]

Just because other sites do it does not make it right or legal. Do your own investigative work and make sure that you have the right to put that content on your site. Many people release their work under a Creative Commons licence, or something similar, which allows you to use the content for pretty much whatever you like, according to a few guidelines. In that case you are often able to redistribute the content.

However, a large number of people don't release their content for free to redistribute. This is where you can get into trouble. If others see you are redistributing their content, and you have no right to, then they are likely to get quite annoyed.

With regards to sites being deleted, I refer you to the following sections from the terms of service:

We may remove any material that, in our sole discretion, may be illegal or may subject us to liability.
Xisto.com's services may not be used for illegal purposes, or in support of illegal activities. Xisto.com reserves the right to cooperate with legal authorities and/or injured third parties in the investigation of any suspected crime or civil wrongdoing.

[...]In addition, Xisto.com shall have the right to terminate all services set forth in this agreement.

There is also this very straight forward, "cover every option" clause:

Xisto.com reserves the right to cancel/suspend any account(s) without prior notice.

You will find that most hosts say something similar. The problem is that they cannot be seen to be allowing illegal material to be hosted on their servers. If they are contacted regarding illegal material on one of their member's sites then they must be able to remove it as quickly as possible, and these sorts of clauses allow them to do that. They also allow for accounts being used to send spam to get deleted and other such situations.

To directly answer your question: yes, it is possible for your site to be deleted without warning, but incredibly unlikely.

[Saint_Michael 3]

Well of course if you have an account like the way qupis is set up the amount of activity could get your account deleted as well, either because you have to much or not enough to cover it. Of course it all depends where those servers are located that make a big difference, but of course now a lot of countries are cracking down on illegal websites and stuff like that.