I Need A Lawyer

[Seraphim]

Can anyone here quickly recommend a good internet specialized lawyer [other than the one advertised here]? I'm looking for someone that deals with net based breach of contract issues.

This is just one stop along the way for me today. Feel free to PM me.

 

[Theo]

I'd check the local Yellow pages, find someone located where you intent to prosecute.

 

[Dale Hubbard]

Breach of contract doesn't necessarily mean you need an internet specialist. Get a consult with a Portland non-tort. Yellow pages.

 

[Seraphim]

Does this sound normal to anyone? A web hosting company casually terminates a good standing hosting account, without any form of notice. They then point a web network of 250 sites to a "this account has been terminated" web page. Then, I call them to find out what the hell is going on, and they say sorry, we can't talk about it over the phone, please email our legal department. Then, poof, 12 hours later everything is back online, and I get an automated email message saying "welcome back". I then call to find out what happened, and no one knows anything, however they would like me to add another credit card, despite the card they have on file being valid.

WTF? 5 years worth of search engine rankings just flashed before my eyes, and no one knows why? What a day!

 

[Bender]

you have Cpanel?
this could have been a high traffic/CPU usage issue.
your sites might have consumed more than the allowed resources at a given time, the account was blocked automatically, and reinstated on the next count.
If you have 250 web sites, my suggestion is to get a dedicated server

 

[Domainator]

you have Cpanel?
this could have been a high traffic/CPU usage issue.
your sites might have consumed more than the allowed resources at a given time, the account was blocked automatically, and reinstated on the next count.
If you have 250 web sites, my suggestion is to get a dedicated server

This happened to me on one of my sites. Credit card company was doing a security test, overload the server, and boom they shut me down for a day....

 

[Seraphim]

I don't think it was a CPU usage issue.

My account is paid in full, but suddenly they need a "new" credit number [despite just successfully charging the one they already have]? Does that sound a little strange to anyone? The card they have on file is good for another couple years. I'm wondering if they just got hacked? I've been with them for 5 years, and I've never been yanked offline without notice, or not been given an answer regarding my account over the phone.

 

[b.a]

250+ sites on shared hosting is not good idea also if some of these sites are using databases. As @Bender said, get a dedicated server

 

[Seraphim]

250+ sites on shared hosting is not good idea also if some of these sites are using databases. As @Bender said, get a dedicated server

I agree. My host has been solid, but today is proof I got lazy, and way too comfortable. Time to get more secure.

I make a lot of money on the back of search engine rankings, and being offline for any length of time can be a death sentence for revenue. This is the sole reason I invest in domains, to move away from depending on search traffic.

 

[jberryhill]

Make sure you show your lawyer the terms and conditions of your hosting agreement. If your agreement guaranteed 24 x 7 x 365 uptime, or permitted claims against consequential damages, it would be an unusual hosting agreement.

 

[jdk]

Or if you decide you do not want to get a dedicated server, get several hosting accounts with the host on several different servers of theirs. This way if one server is down and you have 3-4 accounts with them, this will only affect 25% of your sites and not your full 250 sites.

But I would find out what happened. They owe a reason to you. At the end of the day, if they guarantee 99% uptime and the short downtime of several hours still keeps them above their uptime, I doubt you can do much. I am sure they have something in their regarding uptime and partial refunds and not being liable for loss of wages during downtime.

You mentioned it said this account said ("this account has been terminated" web page.) They can not terminate your account and point to a page like this. If anything it was on a page saying this account is suspended while they investigate what they need to. I am quite surprised they even did this. Usually you will get an email about any offenses and need to rectify them within 24-48 hours before they disable your account.

I am no legal expert so if you feel they are in the wrong, most attorneys will do free consults to see if you have a case or not.