Thread

#1 Thu, 22 Jul 2004 - 20:02

at 4:55pm today, i get an email from the people who host my website, saying that i have exceeded "normal" bandwidth usage. i have used 2gb in the past 2 days, and that my account has immediately been taken down and will be reinstated august 1st.

i had no idea that posting those ipod photos would generate such bandwidth. but hey, i remember looking through their terms of service and not once did a bandwidth usage clause come into it. no where anywhere on their site do they say that you are allowed x amount of bandwidth a month. so i decided to reply to their email.

Quote:

On Jul 22, 2004, at 4:55 pm, [their name] wrote:

Hello.
Your website has been temporarily blocked because you have exceeded �normal� bandwidth usage.
After investigating the issue, it was found you are serving up images from your website to the following URL:

[ url ]

You have served 2GB of data in the last two days.

Your site will automatically become available on the 1st of August.

Thank you,
[their name and company]
---

Subject:Re: Your website

[their name],
I hosted images of my new ipod on my personal webspace, i then posted a link to these images in an online forum. I did not do it with any malicious intent, nor specifically to use up a lot of bandwidth. the fact that many people downloaded those images is something that i thought was perfectly fair, due to the fact that prior to posting the images, i looked at the [company] terms and conditions and the [company] faq for websites and specifically the question of "Are there any limits to the number of hits on my website?" to which the answer is plainly "No."

Since there are no limits to the number of hits on my website i do not see how i can exceed "normal" bandwidth, since nowhere on your site is "normal" bandwidth defined. the only piece of information pertaining to bandwidth i can find is "Are there any limits to the number of hits on my website?" Thus the words "normal" bandwidth usage technically is null and void, since according to your very own faq, the amount of bandwidth i am allowed to use is the amount of bandwidth that is used, regardless.

I do not see how linking images to my site could be viewed as circumventing the definition of getting a hit on my website. If this is the case then i do not see why it would be a problem if i just post a link to an .html file on my website with all the images in there. Do you understand what i am trying to get at?

I am sorry that i have served 2GB of bandwidth in the past two days, i would not have served those images on the forum if i knew that there was a bandwidth limit on my account.

I do not see how i can be in the wrong, nor how i can have violated any bandwidth usage terms that i agreed upon when i first signed up for a [company] account.

i have removed the images from the forum, and hope that you will agree with me that i have not violated anything, and make my website available as soon as possible.

Thank You,
Mike Cosentino
---

Hello.

I agree with you regarding our terms and conditions � they do not go into bandwidth usage.

If you remove the images from the forums and just post a link then I would happily re-instate the website.

Thanks.
---

[their name],
The images have been removed.

I am glad we see eye to eye on this whole ordeal.
I apologize for the inconvenience, and thank you for your adultness.

Thank You,
Mike Cosentino
---

On Jul 22, 2004, at 6:15 pm, [their name] wrote:

Thank you.
The site has been re-instated.
[their name]

i think it is kinda ridiculous that they do not state anywhere that there is a bandwidth limit and then try and take an account offline because of it. they even had "this user has exceed their bandwidth" page covering my page.

one thing, they said i must remove the images and post a link. what? post a link to the images to an .html page on my site with the images in?

how is that any different? oh well.

glad that it was all worked out in just over an hour.

i needed to share that, i feel better now