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Client Usage, Abuse and Responsibility
Scenario 1: Let's say a client does activity X and it harms Person/Company A.
A) Is the host responsible for the clients actions on the server in Scenario 1?
Scenario 2: Let's say a client does activity X and it harms Person/Company A. However host is collocating and owns the hardware.
Is the host responsible for the clients actions on the server in Scenario 2?
I am looking to buy a server to host some game servers like minecraft, rust, etc (Maybe a eCommerce Shop too). However, if the project goes sour, I'd like to rent out my server to others. I'm thinking a T.O.S. specifying what is allowed or not is enough to protect me from my clients actions. I was thinking of making a field mandatory at sign up for what the server will be used for as a record. I'm afraid of loosing my hardware if a client does harmful activity, I know not all clients will be bad, but what can I do to protect myself?
Comments
@Zeal
Scenario 1:
Depends on what the provider's terms and conditions outline. For example, if it had a indemnity clause, such as that of @Francisco, then the host would not be responsible.
Taken from BuyVM:
This is a perfect example of something that will protect you in case of a naughty client.
However, if you don't have an indemnity clause, you may be responsible.
Scenario 2:
Same thing as scenario 1.
TL;DR: Make sure you add a section in your terms and conditions that outlines what you're responsible for. Otherwise, you might run into trouble from your clients' actions.
Note: This is not legal advice. I assume no responsibility for any damages caused from anything written here.
The excerpt provided from @Francisco should not be re-used in your terms and conditions. The rights to this work remain his and you'll likely receive a cease-desist notice from him if you copy it.
The problem with this is that not everything that is written in ToS has legal standing. If I write in my ToS that I will get your first born it will not be working out (obviously). But I agree that it is indeed best to outline things like this directly in the ToS so the client atleast knows about this upfront (and perhaps doesnt even bother to sue you in case of data loss EVEN IF he could win in some cases I guess).
Aldryic spent a lot of time tuning our TOS to cover our asses with things. I spent a lot of time pruning it into a simple format that's on the site as you see it.
Most people just reuse their upstreams TOS. I've seen so many TOS' that were 10 pages of random text that made no sense.
Francisco
@Ympker
The thing about having such a thing in your terms and conditions is to protect yourself in court, for example. You could say, "xxx client accepted the terms and conditions of our service, and as a result is responsible for his/her actions as stated in xxx clause," which would likely help your case.
So while it isn't always legally standing, you could argue that the client accepted your terms (to be responsible for the client's content) and thus they are given responsibility for their actions,
I'd say first inform yourself about the laws that may apply in your country and the one your server will be located. also, law of the customers country might apply.
ToS don't necessarily overrule the laws and might either not help you at all or as an opposite to that in some cases they might not even be needed because the law already has you covered. (for instance, there usually is no need to declare that something is forbidden, which is breaking the law anyway)
that said, in most countries probably neither laws nor tos are going to help you in the first place if authorities come to the datacenter with a court order and take away your box to investigate...
ToS agreement does not waive statutory rights. This is mostly applicable to personal buyers, particularly in the EU - but is worth keeping in mind for other sales as well.
It would help in regards to that with things like PayPal disputes or chargebacks, but i believe never in a courtroom.
@Falzo
Kinda reminds me of CyberBunker's story (seized servers)
Probably didn't help having a meth lab the floor below iirc?
Edit: looked it up, was MDMA.
I disagree. Host can be co-responsible for Client’s actions in some cases, especially if abuse reports were ignored and the damage was done and can be proved. No matter what’s written in the ToS.
Thanks for all those information guys or gals.
Is there some kind of rack mount server insurance out there?