[ ! ] The Sugarbuzz Project

Runhosting is crap.

Nov 4, 2007 Blogging

(this is a conversation I had with tech support for my wordpress themes site)

thesugarbuzzproject: Why has my website been redirected to your homepage? I assume that you are part of the company/reseller that I had my hosting through.

You are now speaking with TJ of Sales Department.

TJ: Hello

TJ: Your domain has not been redirected to our homepage

TJ: it forwards to our page because of an error on your site

TJ: 404 or 403

TJ: please let us know your domain name

TJ: yep — a 403 error

TJ: sugarbuzzthemes.mywebcommunity.org

thesugarbuzzproject: 403 error?

thesugarbuzzproject: could you please explain that?

TJ: yes

TJ: forbidden

thesugarbuzzproject: why would that be?

TJ: This is caused by the presence of the forbidden on our servers string “amazon.com”

TJ: it is repeated twice within your html code

TJ: I am sorry but you will need to remove it

TJ: to have your page display

thesugarbuzzproject: ok…but i have a question.

TJ: of course

thesugarbuzzproject: doesn’t the account allow me to offer my own advertising?

thesugarbuzzproject: according to the TOS i believe it was within the allowed guidelines

TJ: yes, it does

TJ: but unfortunately we have been having much trouble with users on free accounts

thesugarbuzzproject: I am an affilliate with amazon.

TJ: making links to sites like amazon, ebay, etc.

TJ: for malicious reasons

TJ: (e.g. phishing sites)

thesugarbuzzproject: i understand that.

TJ: this is why this has been disalbed for security reasons

thesugarbuzzproject: ok.

TJ: thank you for your understanding

thesugarbuzzproject: so i can’t actually use my own affiliate program advertising…

thesugarbuzzproject: even though it is within the allowed tos.

TJ: well, you could, if you would remove these strings

thesugarbuzzproject: so i can’t link to amazon.

TJ: no

thesugarbuzzproject: is there a list of unacceptable urls to link to somewhere so i can prevent this in the future?

thesugarbuzzproject: or a way that I can get the restriction lifted?

TJ: this is not just about URLs

TJ: this is about all sorts of text strings

TJ: like porn

TJ: bank

TJ: credit card

TJ: etc.

thesugarbuzzproject: i understand cross site scripting, phishing etc.

TJ: the list is huge and we also do not provide the whole of it

thesugarbuzzproject: i don’t generally publish credit card, bank, porn, etc.

TJ: ;)

thesugarbuzzproject: ok…so if I am trying to host a serious blog with advertising, i could be redirected for just about anything i put, and have no way of knowing whether it violates the rules or not.

TJ: that’s not true

thesugarbuzzproject: even though technically it’s ok with the TOS.

thesugarbuzzproject: i’m not trying to be a pain, but it sounds that way.

thesugarbuzzproject: if there’s no list of restricted url’s…

TJ: technically, it is not ok with the TOS to have forbidden words in the first place

TJ: so please do not dispute this

thesugarbuzzproject: and there is no way to know what words are forbidden….got it.

thesugarbuzzproject: sorry to be a bother.

TJ: if a person would know these words

TJ: they would know how to bypass these security checks

TJ: right?

thesugarbuzzproject: only in theory. but one can’t run a business (with advertising) appearantly without being in violation.

TJ: a business can be run under a business hosting plan

TJ: where these restrictions are not in power

TJ: same goes for the personal hosting plan

thesugarbuzzproject: so in other words, i’d have to pay for something that the TOS says I should be able to do without cost to get hosting that allows me to do whatever I want with it.

TJ: This is not true as I explained

TJ: and the restriction is not negotiable

thesugarbuzzproject: i’m not trying to get it lifted. i’m trying to understand why i can’t have a list of things i cannot do, while the TOS says that I can.

thesugarbuzzproject: i would understand if it were porn, credit cards, etc. that is illegal.

thesugarbuzzproject: but a link to amazon is not illegal.

TJ: 1. it is your guess that the TOS says you can’t do them

TJ: 2. the TOS always says security is a top priority

TJ: please do not argue this with me

TJ: I cannot provide the list

thesugarbuzzproject: i agree that security is important.

thesugarbuzzproject: # Your account content MUST comply with the parameters stated in this Agreement. Web content requirements exclude the publication of illegal content or content considered inappropriate otherwise. Customers should get in touch with a LeadHoster representative regarding any inquiries over this matter.

TJ: if you are running a normal blog, you won’t have these strings

thesugarbuzzproject: it’s a blog linking to wordpress themes, using advertising to help earn enough money to purchace a better hosting plan.

thesugarbuzzproject: i have a normal blog at wordpress.com, but they don’t allow advertisments.

TJ: How can I help?

thesugarbuzzproject: # LeadHoster does NOT allow sites that provide any content, points of distribution, or \`links\` to sites that:
- infringe on any third party`s intellectual property or proprietary rights, or rights of publicity or privacy;
- violate any law, statute, ordinance or regulation;
- are defamatory, trade libelous, threatening, unlawfully harassing, abusive, pornographic or obscene;
- contain viruses, Trojan horses, worms, time bombs, cancelbots, corrupted files, or any other similar software or programs that may damage the operation of another`s computer or property of another;
- contain Proxy, Pirated or Hacking / Phreaking Software (Warez) - Any software that is copyrighted and not freely available for distribution without cost. ROMs, ROM Emulators and Mpeg Layer 3 files (MP3) all fall under this jurisdiction; Torent sites or links to Torent sites;
- has Adult Sites (content) - Any erotic or pornographic material, links to adult sites, or advertisements for adult sites;

# Use of phishing or mimic sites are strictly prohibited on LeadHoster, any user suspected in such activity will be terminated WITHOUT refund and a legal action will be started to the final extend of the law.

thesugarbuzzproject: well, for starters, it’s silly to say i can have a legitamate advertisment, but not link to the site that i’m advertising for.

thesugarbuzzproject: and it’s also bad to think that i can put what i want (within reason), but if anything that i put on the site is on a list of banned things (which i cannot have access to AND can be changed at any time) it will be redirected AND I can get that fixed, but would have to pay.

thesugarbuzzproject: sounds a tad like extortion.

thesugarbuzzproject: but i’m sure you just work for the company, and i know it’s not your personal fault.

TJ: thanks

TJ: Sir,

TJ: If I had to explain to every single person who accused the company of extortion

TJ: that there is no way of verifying a user under a free account

TJ: while all customers on advanced plans are verified over the phone

TJ: and that we have *many* free users

thesugarbuzzproject: i’ve used other hosting that verified free users using sms text messages with a pin number.

TJ: and trust them eventually

TJ: what seemed to be the problem with that other hosting?

thesugarbuzzproject: too much downtime

thesugarbuzzproject: and eventually, i couldn’t log in to the account due to database errors.

TJ: I do not wish to argue with a reasonable person such as yourself any further

thesugarbuzzproject: i do appreciate your help.

thesugarbuzzproject: thank you.

TJ: thank you for your understanding

TJ: I hope you will manage to work this out

thesugarbuzzproject: i’m sure I will. thank you. have a nice day.

TJ: thanks, you too

TJ: bye bye

Your party has left this session.

 

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