| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 10:51 AM | | Dear community,
I received a DMCA copyright notice from dreamhost.com and they have taken down the website. The unfortunate thing is I do not have backup of the database as well.
Yes it was foolish of me not to take disc database backups.
Below is the copy of the email I received.
Quote:
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I do not mind them disabling the hosting, but all I am asking for access to my server so that I can backup my database atleast. I will delete all copyright material and put it back up.
We were mentioned in the press as the website of the student, for the student and by the student. A scanned copy of that can be reproduced if you need it.
We also were Online forum partners with TiE summit 2007, the WORLDS LARGEST entrepreneurs conference. more details on http://www.tiesummit.org
I say the above just to put in perspective that we are a legit forum and our purpose is not to spread copyright material but to help students.
The forum is a very famous educational resource for management students across the country.
I have emailed them apologizing and asking for getting the backup of the database atleast.
Quote:
Quote:
I have emailed them back pleading for the database.
All i wish to have is a few hours access to my account so that I can backup my database and files. Complying with the law is assured as I do not intend to break it in any way.
This is my hardwork of years and years and yes my career depends on it.
What Can I do to get back the database?
Please do not reply with "You fool, you must've taken backups" . I am regretting not doing that already.
The site has a alexa ranking in the top 28,000 sites in the world.
I wonder whats going to happen to this ranking until I get a reply from the dreamhost team.
Does anyone have similar experiences, do they reply to the mail or hiring a lawyer is the only recourse?
Also,I use Google Apps to access my emails. The mx-name changes were done in dreamhost hosting so that I can use google mail for sending and receiving mails, so if I change the dns to some other server to put up a notice about the problems explaining it to the current members, I will STOP receiving emails.
There MUST BE A WAY out of this. Any suggestions ?
Last edited by managementparadise; 05-21-2008 at 10:53 AM.
Reason: qutotes added
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| Posted by Mike in FL, 05-21-2008, 11:29 AM | | Quit hosting illegal stuff like an idiot?
If they took the site down for something illegal, there is absolutely no way they are giving you access to any of it.
And since you have been booted, you are not a customer. Hosts tend not to give server access to non-customers.
The crap you're emailing them is nothing they haven't heard a million times before, so I wouldn't hold your breath while waiting for a reply.
Here's a list of things commonly done by people that aren't too bright:
1. Host a garbage site with illegal content.
2. Don't backup the account for WHEN (not if) it gets terminated.
3. Expect a host to give them access to site containing the content that got it shut down in the first place.
4. Start a thread at WHT, knowing it will accomplish nothing, especially when you know you are in the wrong.
Imagine if there were people dumb enough to do everything on that list.
If your site was important, which it obviously isn't, you wouldn't have jeopardized it with that crap in the first place.
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 11:43 AM | | Dear Mike in FL, If you have the whole thread then here are some Pointers
a.) The site in question was NOT intended to host illegal stuff. It is an educational resource for students and focusing on the core activity of helping students it might have missed moderation of illegal activity.
b.) If it were a crappy site it wouldnt be online forum partner at TiE summit which is The WORLDS LARGEST ENTREPRENERUS CONFERENCE and which visted by the most influencial people in the business world including private equity and venture capitalists, HINT : You did not check tiesummit.org yet i guess.
c.) Leveraging contacts and talking to CEO's and directors of various companies from the past 2 days, I have realised that I might have the right to demand for my database ATLEAST to review the content in question.
I come here to seek a solution, not to get insulted. Please humor on some other thread, as I have enough to worry about the current situation of saving my company than backslapping replies.
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| Posted by Steve_Arm, 05-21-2008, 11:47 AM | | Here is the juice:
They are right in anyway, I believe the last thing is to drop some money under
the table and get your illegal content back.
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 11:51 AM | | I dont mind paying the damages / penalty for overlooking moderation of illegal content.
That will be lesser a headache than hiring an attorney which will be the last resort as I dont intend to give up on something that took me years to build.
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| Posted by Mike in FL, 05-21-2008, 11:53 AM | | A forum where anyone can upload ebooks, unmonitored, is exactly that. Playing stupid like you're doing here, and with Dreamhost, doesn't change anything.
If it wasn't crap, it wouldn't have just been taken down under those circumstances. Your site wasn't even worth monitoring the content, so quit pretending it was important.
You also can't seriously claim that it was important if it wasn't backed up.
Read the TOS. You don't have any rights to anything.
You're in this position because you're stupid. Period.
And you got a solution. I told you to stop hosting illegal content like an idiot. If you can't do that, get used to this happening.
If you don't like people pointing out that you're an idiot on public forums, maybe you should stop being one on public forums?
You clearly registered here just to start new threads, and bump old threads, about a problem you inflicted upon yourself by being stupid.
You're 100% wrong. You screwed up in every possible way you could. You got what you deserved.
Which part of that is so hard for you to understand?
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| Posted by Mike in FL, 05-21-2008, 11:55 AM | | Hire an attorney to get back illegal content??? Are you really that brain-dead? I guess that answer would be, "yes," considering the situation you're in.
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| Posted by unixorn, 05-21-2008, 11:57 AM | | http://abuse.dreamhost.com/copyright/
Termination
DreamHost reserves the right to terminate any account found to be engaging in copyright infringement at any time, with or without prior notice. Multiple legally uncontested DMCA Notifications are typically considered evidence of infringement, and are usually grounds for termination as well.
ter·mi·nate - [tur-muh-neyt]
verb (used with object) 1. to bring to an end; put an end to: to terminate a contract.
2. to occur at or form the conclusion of: The countess's soliloquy terminates the play.
3. to bound or limit spatially; form or be situated at the extremity of.
4. to dismiss from a job; fire: to terminate employees during a recession.
verb (used without object) 5. to end, conclude, or cease.
6. (of a train, bus, or other public conveyance) to end a scheduled run at a particular place: This train terminates in New York.
7. to come to an end (often fol. by at, in, or with).
8. to issue or result (usually fol. by in).
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| Posted by cloudrck, 05-21-2008, 12:11 PM | | You did that when you failed to keep backups, which cost a few bucks a month.
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 12:15 PM | | For your information there are ebooks which are free for distribution and I am not denying paying charges for damages arising because of the carelessness of moderators.
The database backup was made but on DREAMHOST itself apart from the regular backups that they themselves maintain.
Your assumption that the forum was filled with illegal content is absolutely wrong. A person would think of the associations and media partner deals we have had with business schools and organizations before asserting that our site was similar to a warez portal.
Now the only thing that i repeatedly hear is your assumption that I am stupid, and it doesnt make sense for an intellectual like you to argue with a stupid person like me, so please keep out and let someone else who can offer or think of a solution reply to this thread.
PS : I DID NOT MAINTAIN DISC BACKUPS, We regularly dumped backups on the server.
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| Posted by Evolver, 05-21-2008, 12:19 PM | | Well your only option is to offer them money to retrieve the DB or file a Counter Notification Letter so they reinstate the site. If its reinstated then download the data.
Well this post will also show that if you as a website owner took 5 min out of your day to download a back up of your DB you wouln't be in such dire stratis if a host closes your account.
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 12:22 PM | | Yes I am ready to pay money for the database but do not know whom to contact as the emails are ignored and they do not offer phone support.
Know anyone whom I can get in touch with ?
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| Posted by Mike in FL, 05-21-2008, 12:26 PM | | That's not up to you.
That's like getting caught robbing a house and thinking you have the option to pay for the TV you were stealing, instead of going to jail.
Then it's not really a backup, is it?
Here's a free clue: If you don't have all of the content in your possession, you have NEVER backed it up.
Who said it had to be filled with it? I guess you think kiddie porn would be okay too, as long as 90% of the site is legal?
Who you partner with doesn't excuse your actions. Grow up and take some responsibility. You are 100% at fault and now you're paying the price.
I wouldn't call that an assumption, since every single time you post, you prove it true.
It's hilarious that you would post THAT immediately after claiming that you being stupid was an "assumption."
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| Posted by Ashley Merrick, 05-21-2008, 12:31 PM | | I do wonder why if your site is so big and so important that it was hosted with DreamHost...?
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 12:39 PM | | I am not a lawyer nor a comic to back slap your sadistic sense of humor. I am in no mood to argue my side of the story either.
I am here to seek contacts who can help me get in touch with dreamhost to find out a solution.
People competent will read between the lines and learn that I was at fault for
a.) not maintaining backup discs and
b.) I overlooked moderation of illegal content.
To this :
a.) I am ready to pay the damages
b.) I seek contact in dreamhost to negotiate a way out.
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| Posted by Mike in FL, 05-21-2008, 12:41 PM | | Who cares? Where in Dreamhost's email do you see, "... unless you're willing to bribe us"?
A smarter person would have figured out that being ignored is a good sign that they don't plan on wasting any more time with you.
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 12:41 PM | | Dreamhost did the initial transition when the site was just a startup and as it grew we upgraded to their VPS because we were satisfied with them until they took the site down without warning.
Last edited by managementparadise; 05-21-2008 at 12:42 PM.
Reason: grammer
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 12:43 PM | | Since when did paying for damages become synonymous to bribing?
I am going to ignore your responses from now on, you can go nuts with your sarcasm
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| Posted by cloudrck, 05-21-2008, 12:48 PM | |
....
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| Posted by Evolver, 05-21-2008, 12:49 PM | | http://whois.domaintools.com/dreamhost.com
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 12:52 PM | | I've tried that already, their phones are on answering machines.
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| Posted by unixorn, 05-21-2008, 01:09 PM | | If the ebooks were not copyrighted, you still have no complaint with Dreamhost, you would have to take it up with the person mentioned in the DMCA notice. Dreamhost, like any other company is required by law to address DMCA complaints and it appears they addressed it in line with their terms of service.
PS: Backing up data and storing it in the same place as the account that is backed up is not a backup.
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 01:18 PM | | I had a talk with the lawyer who filed the complain. She mentioned that they only asked the host to remove the link they had asked for and it was dreamhosts decision to take the site down in complaince with their tos if i wanted the database i need to request it to my host.
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| Posted by unixorn, 05-21-2008, 01:21 PM | | Which takes you right back to Dreamhosts terms of service, they don't have to do anything at this point.
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| Posted by Evolver, 05-21-2008, 01:43 PM | | Well you could contact the BBB and put in a complaint about them not wanting to give back your data Does it say in their TOS that the data will be destroyed?. DH might want give you your data back to get the complain resolved or they might just ignore it.
Send in a DMCA Counter Claim and hopefully they reinstate your site before the other party sends in another DMCA notice. This might give you time to access your files.
Use Google cache to retrieve as much data as you can and rebuild the website.
If your career and lively hood depends on this then pay a lawyer to try to get back your data.
And please lets not hear any more name calling aa most of us don't care to read "idiot", "no you're an idiot", "no I'm smart one here" back and forth. I'm sure the OP has learned a lesson from this and just wants to make things right and rebuild his site.
Last edited by Evolver; 05-21-2008 at 01:46 PM.
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| Posted by cloudrck, 05-21-2008, 01:45 PM | | That BS BBB complaint isn't going to stick because they are covered by their TOS.
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| Posted by RossH, 05-21-2008, 01:54 PM | | A super important site that is visited by the worlds leading CEOs and management yet you chose a $6/month hosting plan for it. I sure hope these people don't rely on you for important decision making or it could explain a few things in the business world.
Anyway I'd try emailing the owners and if that doesn't work get a proper attorney to write up a letter of demand. You can try the guys here:
+1.7147064182
+1.2139471032
+1.9096260377
sage@newdream.net
josh@newdream.net
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| Posted by Mike in FL, 05-21-2008, 01:55 PM | | Are you kidding? This is the exact opposite of a BBB issue and only someone that knows they're in the wrong would try to make it one.
Is this the type of crooked stuff you do when you're wrong? Or do you just suggest others do it when you get the uncontrollable urge to give out horrible advice?
People that pull that crap are a big part of the reason why it's hard to take the BBB reports seriously.
They already made it clear that's not happening. The account termination itself has nothing to do with DMCA arguments.
It's not name calling when it's 100% on the mark.
But how about this: Let's not hear any more bad advice. Would that be okay?
Did you read the thread? Every single post indicates that he hasn't learned anything.
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 01:58 PM | | Seems we are getting somewhere now
Is there a software to download the cache from google or is doing it manually the only option. I will hire some people for manual work if there is no software that can be purchased to automate the process.
Also, have got in touch with a lawyer in singapore. Will be hearing from him tomorrow.
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 01:59 PM | | No, it wasnt on 6 $pm , it was on VPS , 130 $ upwards pm.
Thanks for the contacts
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 02:11 PM | | Is there a software to download the cache from google or is doing it manually the only option. I will hire some people for manual work if there is no software that can be purchased to automate the process ??
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| Posted by Steve_Arm, 05-21-2008, 02:17 PM | | Search in google like this: cache:mydomain.com
and basically download what you can
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| Posted by managementparadise, 05-21-2008, 04:41 PM | | am going to take a nap for a while. would be better to think with a fresh mind. will be back in a few hours
Have emailed the owners of dreamhost thanks to RossH
and put 3 people working on downloading cache.
Any clue how long the cache remains with google ?
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