Hey all,

Quick question -

I have been approached by a new client to overhaul his existing website. His hosting and domain have expired within the past week. The hosting company in question produced the same website for him some time ago.

They are now refusing to send him the old site unless he renew his hosting and domain with them for a further year... I have suggested alternative domain and hosting options that are a fraction of the cost he was paying and is being asked to pay. He obviously want to go with this new option.

Would it not be the case that the old website is his property and as such they should forward the site to him in a compressed archive by email?

Any thoughts would be appreciated!

Thanks!

Is the domain in question registered by the client himself or did the hosting/web company register in their own name on his behalf?

I would have a serious issue with anyone acting on my instructions i.e registering a domain for me and then holding me to ransom. You normally have about 30 days grace in which to renew an expired domain so IF the client registered it himself he can easily renew. No idea is a contract in place or anything like that so just my opinion.

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Yes and no!

It would normally be the case that the client would own the website, yes.

However, it wouldn't be normal for the hosting company to do anything with that data *after* a contract has expired (other than delete it, of course).

The normal scenario would be that the client retains ownership of the data, and the responsibility to have a local copy of it should he decide to move elsewhere. Any backup facility, or and out-of-contract backup facility would be a feature of a hosting plan, and the latter would be an extremely unusual one.

If the hosting company in question is really a managed services company (we'll set up your site, and maintain it for you) then the lines are a bit blurred, but, again, it would be unusual for them to have any service to offer the client *after* the contract expired.

Ultimately the client is the owner of the data and is, therefore, responsible for it's upkeep. If he outsourced that to a managed services company then he should have some provisions in place for what happens once the contract expires (i.e. have a local copy of his data).

Is there something you're not telling us that makes you think the company (now out of contract) is obliged to do anything (like a contract with specific features like a backup>email service on contract termination, or something along those lines)?

Is it a regular hosting company (most of whom state the user is responsible for the content backups)?

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The Hosting company in question did everything - build, register domain, organise hosting. The site was live with them for two years.

how long has the service period lapsed? You're paying a host for hosting, not an eternal backup of your files. The responsibility is with the website owner for keeping their files imo

Normally I would totally agree - But this is the classic case of a guy running a small business entrusting the web development company with all aspects of his online pressence. He's not technically literate to backup the site. He contacted me yesterday. The hosting expired last week.

I honestly think that any progresive web service would honour their clients wishes - even ones cancelling a service by simply mailing them the files they were paid to produce in the first place. There's absolutely no effort required in what he asks.

As a matter of interest, would anyone here who provides hosting do the same?

HI Folks

If the site is still live on the 'net then you might be able to grab a copy of it... depends very much on the type of site (simple html - easy to grab, complex database, not so easy!)

I'm not a lawyer - but, purely for the sake of a good reputation, I've always given any ex-customers copies of their sites (on cd, or 3.5" floppy in the early days <g>)

After all - only minimal effort is involved in comparison to the goodwill generated - and to have a 'dog-in-the-manger' attitude just looks petty and spiteful...

The more computer-savvy clients tend to ask for a site backup when the site goes live...

HTH
Adrian

In addition to developing websites for clients, I also in most cases, host my client's sites on my own dedicated server. If I was the hosting company in the above scenario, I would send release copy of the site.

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Achieve IT - Web Design & SEO Galway

Good points all round!

Just out of curiosity - is the new hosting bill extortianite?

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