TOS - People don't ban you, mindless programs do!

[HiFly]

Did you know that your account is scanned regularly for "copyrighted content" by a computer without a conscious? I know that I talked to live chat about this and not the abuse hotline by phone but what do you expect at 2AM? So why am I here? Two reasons first off I don't like it when a program is given an all access pass to determining who gets banned and who does not. In the military and government circles it's called civilian oversight. If someone had bothered to look at the video instead of just the name they would have seen it....

The I Am Legend @ public_html/home_data/IAmLegend/IAmLegend.* was not a rip of the Hollywood version, only a fool would post rips to ! The I Am Legend that friends and I produced was created in October 2006 for an Introduction to Visual Effects Cinematography Class. WE came up with the story and based it off of the original book. The hollywood rendition of it does not even come close to the book, in fact it's just a rip off of the first 'i am legend' film called The Omega Man (1957). Enough ranting, here is our original version.

Originally Posted by email From BlueHost

Attention *Insert real name here*:

Your web hosting account for cgsfxartist.com was deactivated
(reason: terms of service violation). Your data may still be temporarily available even though your web site may not be functioning. If you feel this deactivation is in error, please contact support as soon as possible.

Kon [2:00:29 AM]: Welcome to our real-time support chat. I am answering more then one chat session at once so please be patient.. How can I help you today?
HiFly [2:00:29 AM]: Why has my account been suspended? It says that it's a TOS violation, what exactly was the violation?? Domain: cgsfxartist.com
Kon [2:00:51 AM]: whats your main domain and i will look into it for you.
HiFly [2:00:58 AM]: cgsfxartist.com
Kon [2:02:02 AM]: Thank You.. Please be patient. I will look into this issue.
HiFly [2:02:07 AM]: Thank You.
Kon [2:03:59 AM]: You must remove all copyrighted content: public_html/home_data/IAmLegend/IAmLegend.*
HiFly [2:04:12 AM]: I made that move before hollywood!
[2:04:16 AM]: download it!
[2:04:25 AM]: *movie
Kon [2:04:46 AM]: do you own the copyright?
HiFly [2:04:51 AM]: yes!
[2:04:58 AM]: it's just named the same thing!
[2:05:06 AM]: we made it BEFORE they did!
[2:05:30 AM]: check out the index html in that folder
Kon [2:05:34 AM]: Thank You.. Please be patient. I will look into this issue.
HiFly [2:05:38 AM]: thanks
Kon [2:26:16 AM]: it seem you will need to contact our abuse team
[2:26:17 AM]: Abuse Department
Report SPAM, fraud, or anything suspicious to abuse@bluehost.com for investigation. We will immediately terminate any account we feel has been in violation of any of our terms of service.

Telephone:
Main Line: 888-401-4678
Outside the U.S: 801-765-9400
Telephone support is available
Monday - Friday 8 AM - 5 PM (MST)
HiFly [2:26:28 AM]: why?
[2:26:45 AM]: that is my short film. did you not watch it????
Kon [2:27:30 AM]: it would not even play the codex is not correct
[2:27:38 AM]: you will need to contact our abuse team
HiFly [2:27:53 AM]: bad codec you mean?????
[2:28:00 AM]: there are TWO versions!
[2:28:03 AM]: flash and mov
[2:28:07 AM]: did you try BOTH?
Kon [2:28:50 AM]: look you will need to contact our abuse team i can not help you
HiFly [2:29:10 AM]: ...
[2:29:28 AM]: last question, is this an automated script that runs through and checks the names?
Kon [2:30:10 AM]: no. we have several programs that scan for names file type content and coding type.
HiFly [2:30:58 AM]: so human beings do not actually check the files? they just run the programs?
Kon [2:33:03 AM]: yes, one flaged by the programs they are bauble checked by humans by the name and file extension then the account it suspended.
HiFly [2:33:34 AM]: so they do not actually check the CONTENT of the file, say watch a short clip to see what is really inside?
[2:34:46 AM]: btw bauble is not even a word to be assoicated with this situation
Kon [2:35:00 AM]: not sure that would be a question for abuse. they are the ones who suspend accounts for this type of thing.
[2:35:24 AM]: *double (Typo) sorry
HiFly [2:35:28 AM]: so you are not sure about this but you are sure about all the other answers?
[2:35:31 AM]: strange.
Kon [2:36:45 AM]: yes cause it is based upon the tech who shuts it down. its there call rather they look at it first or just flag the account by the name and extension
[2:37:05 AM]: look you will need to contact our abuse team i can not help you
HiFly [2:37:31 AM]: I know that, I'm just trying to figure out the process behind all this.
[2:37:36 AM]: thank you for your time.
Kon [2:37:44 AM]: If you give me your Main Domain on the account i will be happy to look into the issue.
[2:37:58 AM]: sorry wrong canned answer .
[2:38:02 AM]: Is there anything else I may help you with today?
HiFly [2:38:13 AM]: no.
Kon [2:38:17 AM]: Thank you for contacting our Live Chat. If you have additional questions, many answers can be found through our Knowledgebase. If you have other issues arise please let us know. Remember our World Class Support is just a click away!

Have a Great day! Kon.

PS: For those of you who were wonder what the hell a Bauble is. Wiki has an answer.

[Local Rate]

It's even more frustrating when your host (not this one, a previous host) deletes a file that they deem to be breaching copyright when you (a) own the copyright (b) the copyright is the first thing that is screened and (c) is a title so far from Hollywood it would take a labotomised moron to think it was a Hollywood title.

I contacted the host who, when confronted, admitted that they had made a mistake. I demanded that they reinstate the file because I really didn't want to spend my time reuploading a 30mb file. They couldn't, they had simply deleted it...gone. So I told them to stick their hosting and went with someone else.

Ironically, 6 months later they sent me an email asking me for a testimonial they could put on their site. They didn't like the testimony I gave them and to my knowledge, never used it (probably due to copyright issues with my references to Disney's Mickey Mouse).

As for your issue, I think it's a lesson for us all. In this paranoid world that we live in it would be wise to know that the titles of ALL creative works are the sole copyright of Hollywood and big business. And be careful also of using any words that might be in the dictionary when forming your file name. I'd suggest that we all revert to binary. That'll sort out the 01100010011000010111001101110100011000010111001001 10010001110011!

[HiFly]

Good thing these scanners don't come with AI, if they did they might start trying to figure out what's in the ones and zeros

[areidmtm]

When signing up with bluehost, you agreed that they can disable any account even if they suspect a copyright violation. This is to cover their butt and yours. If you really do own the copyright, you should be able to get it worked out with the abuse department.

It sucks to have your site disabled, but they are required by law to disable your account if they feel that there is copyrighted material on the server. Bluehost has over 700,000 domains to look at. One person, or even a group of people can do this type of job. A script looks for file names and then alerts a person to look at it. I'm sure that not everyone has seen the Hollywood movie or even could tell the difference. Although looking at your movie, I could obviously tell the difference and I have not see the Hollywood move, but the name may be copyrighted, I don't know. But that's not the point, even if they think that it's in violation, then they have to block it. The tech support person can only tell you why. He can't fix the problem, only the abuse department can do that.

http://www.bluehost.com/terms_of_service.html

Originally Posted by TOS

Violations of Intellectual Property Rights
Any violation of any person's intellectual property rights, rights of privacy, rights of publicity or other personal rights is prohibited. Bluehost.com is required by law to remove or block access to content appearing on or through the Services upon receipt of proper notice of copyright infringement (see "Copyright Infringement Notice Information" below).


Copyright Notice Infringement Information
In accordance with the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, Bluehost.com has adopted a policy that provides for termination of websites hosted by Bluehost.com that are found to infringe on copyrights of third parties. If a copyright holder believes that there has been a violation of his or her copyright on a website that is hosted by Bluehost.com or its subsidiaries, and the copyright holder wants Bluehost.com to remove the website or disable the material in question, Bluehost.com will remove the website or disable the material if the copyright holder provides us with all of the following information:

1. A signature of a person authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed. Identification of the copyrighted work that is claimed is being infringed, or, in the case of claimed infringement of multiple copyrighted works, a representative list of such works.

2. Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or is the subject of infringing activity and that should be removed or access to which should be disabled, with information reasonably sufficient to permit us to locate the material.

3. Information reasonably sufficient to permit us to contact the person giving the notification, such as an address and telephone, and, if available, an electronic mail address at which such person may be contacted.

4. A statement that the person giving the notification has a good faith belief that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent, or the law.

5. A statement that the information in the notification is accurate, and under penalty of perjury, that the person giving the notification is authorized to act on behalf of the owner of the exclusive right that is allegedly infringed.

[breakingball]

I have not see the Hollywood move, but the name may be copyrighted

For the record, names (titles) can't be copyrighted, though in some cases they may be trademarked.

http://www.copyright.gov/help/faq/fa...ect.html#title

[felgall]

The best solution when uploading something for which you own the copyright but where an automated process may misidentify it is to let BlueHost know in advance so that they can confirm that it doesn't breach copyright and tell the automated process not to flag it.

You may have to repeat the process if you change the file since detecting changed files is trivial.

[Local Rate]

I'm not looking to start any fights, or cause any ruffled feathers here but the TOS cited clearly states that access to any file would be removed AFTER the copyright holder had actually contacted BlueHost, met a bunch of criteria proving they are the copyright holder and the account holder had been notified of the ALLEGED copyright infringment.

It seems that in HiFly's case none of the procedures listed in the TOS was actually followed, but his account was deactivated by a draconian and zealously configured bot without any human intervention.

I may be missing the point, and apologise if I have, but it seems that the issue is not that BlueHost actually disables accounts of those users who breach another person's copyright, but rather that it disables the accounts without investigation of legitimate copyright holders who have merely dared to use a title that may or may not be similar to the title of steaming pile of Hollywood manure. Despite being a fraction of the length and a closer dramatisation to the original book (which I've actually read) than the Will Smith vehicle of the same name.

Had WarnerBros contacted BlueHost to say that HiFly was hosting a pirated version of their movie, and then BlueHost checked the location, identified the file as the file indicated by WarnerBros and actually viewed it for comparison, then contacted HiFly in a bid to decide whether or not he had the right to distribute the file (it happens). Only after full investigation should the account be disabled.

It seems that the disable-first-ask-questions-later-don't-bother-checking bot is a cop out shortcut and indicative of a lazy, poorly organised or understaffed admin system.

I know you guys aren't BlueHost and as such, please don't see this as a pop at you guys, or even BlueHost. The bot technique is a widespread problem and not limited to BlueHost. The way that the issue is dealt with is the real problem. Why must a legitimate copyright holder go through the hassle of contacting the "Abuse Team" - it really should be the other way round. Especially so if an account holder contacts the support channels, you should never be fobbed off like that.

Incidentally I have in the past 12 months contacted an ISP after my copyright was infringed, being in the UK I used Directive 2001/29/EC of the European Parliament which is the EU equivalent of DCMA. The ISP in question (1and1) required that I proved that I was the copyright holder (they were photographs) which I did, and after investigation they instructed the infringer to remove my work from their site or be disabled. That is how it should be done, not automatically by some bot on the whim of the titles matching.

Um, I think that's all I have to say...

No wait.....

Yup, I'm done

[areidmtm]

Originally Posted by Local Rate

I'm not looking to start any fights, or cause any ruffled feathers here but the TOS cited clearly states that access to any file would be removed AFTER the copyright holder had actually contacted BlueHost, met a bunch of criteria proving they are the copyright holder and the account holder had been notified of the ALLEGED copyright infringment.

The file wasn't removed, the site was disabled until the user could talk with the abuse department to straighten it out.

[HiFly]

Originally Posted by felgall

The best solution when uploading something for which you own the copyright but where an automated process may misidentify it is to let BlueHost know in advance so that they can confirm that it doesn't breach copyright and tell the automated process not to flag it.

You may have to repeat the process if you change the file since detecting changed files is trivial.

Once again Felgall, your advice is logical and should have been followed in the first place.

My objective here is not to accuse Blue Host of complete and total wrong doing but to point this circumstance out to anyone who resides with Blue Host, is considering signing up, or works for Blue Host tech support. Perhaps in the future a script could disable access to a certain file/directory to fix the problem then notify the client instead of just disabling the entire site?

All in all, what has been done here is not wrong just backward.

PS: I've been with 1&1 too, don't sign up with them!

::::EDIT:::::
I have called up the number given to me in the chat, apparently they don't/can't handle this stuff only abuse@bluehost.com can.