From time to time, we receive notice from various government or private authorities about erroneous claims of copyright and other intellectual property that may be intentionally hosted or hosted on our servers or network. A web host plays a very limited but extremely important role in upholding intellectual property rights and maintaining a balance with freedom of expression. This article discusses the role of a web host when responding to a copyright infringement complaint and what resources they can seek to resolve the issue.
Send a notice to the violator
The first step a hosting provider typically takes is to contact the customer against whom the complaint has been received and ask them to submit a response as to why their account should not be limited or suspended for hosting infringing content. Based on the client’s response, the host can either resend the response or request more information. Service providers must protect themselves from being caught in the crossfire or between violators and authorities.
account suspension
When there is a serious threat of fraud or significant financial loss, a service provider may suspend the account or stop all services, pending investigation or customer response. This is to mitigate the risk of consequences potentially infringing content may have on your business or the world at large. Incidents where copyright violation results in phishing or phishing scams or cheating or phishing, then the hosting company bears a heavy responsibility to ensure immediate account termination. Account suspension means that the account becomes inaccessible and frozen, but the files continue to reside on the hosting server. This may be useful for future investigations or inquiries into any crime or violation.
Account cancellation or data deletion
If the web host feels that the data is an immediate threat or cannot be controlled, the content may be deleted or permanently removed from the hosting account. The hosting account will be terminated and all files will be completely deleted so that there is no chance of further damage. In the event of such action, most web hosts will refuse to provide a refund for the unused period of service and the amount will be forfeited by the customer. The company’s terms are usually quite clear about these cases and what action the web host will take in the event of a TOS violation.
Provision of records and forensic information
In addition to taking direct action against an infringer, a hosting provider can also provide valuable evidence and data to investigating authorities. This can be particularly helpful in matters involving fraud or crime.
Web hosts cannot be judges
Although a service provider can take many proactive steps and prevent infringing information from traveling further, web servers cannot assume the role of judge and act against a customer without proper justification. While there is no law or precedent for web hosts to deal with such matters, there is no question that they may need to use their discretion and may also need to take legal opinions before taking drastic action. As an intermediary, service providers are protected by conduit laws to insulate them from litigation in the event of cybercrime or tortuous acts by their clients.