Judgement Call

[cybrax]

Should a web hosting provider terminiate the account of a magic shop that provides information and equipment related to escapology as the content and products being sold may be used for illegal purposes?

[vv.bbcc19]

Please clarify with more information on the kind of products as giving opinion is a bit tricky here.
For example if the concerned site is selling illegal Drugs ,then the magic shop must be closed.
If the magic shop is selling spy cams, then it can continue.Its up to you to decide if the product sold are such lethal and antisocial or if the products can have a tolerable use as well.
Regards,

[cybrax]

Ahh well.. there's the rub. I can't tell you what products exactly without violating this forums terms and conditions. However it helps if you look, pick at the problem long enough you may shim your way to an answer ;)

Pixie dust of course is totally illegal, almost hunted to extinction by wizards and less talented magicians the last remaining clan lives under an upturned wheelbarrow at the foot of my garden.

[kinley3]

Well....It's hard to say.

If you think about it, there are lots of things you could sell or talk about that may be used for illegal purposes; almost anything, really. If you sell DVD's some of your customers may very well use them to make illegal copies of said DVD's. You've got your network security sites that show people how to make their systems more secure, but ways to make a system secure inevitably lead to people to try to figure out ways around said security. Oftentimes such things ARE indeed figured out.

That being said, I would say it has to be taken in context. Personally, I wouldn't have any problem whatsoever with a magic site that talks about escapology, if I spelled that correctly. Yes, it may be used for illegal purposes, but the people who use such a thing illegally would arguably have already committed another crime in the first place. I mean, the only way I can think of someone using escapology illegally is when they're handcuffed by the police and manage to get away using your advice. And I would argue that if such a thing happened, the chances they got the information on how to do so from your website would be negligible at best.

Just my opinion.

[essellar]

The content of the web site itself, apart from "providing equipment", ought not to be a problem in any legal sense. "Providing equipment" might be -- most jurisdictions would consider the items in question to be "housebreaking tools" with no ready legitimate purpose other than, well, their designed purpose, and such tools are generally under strict control (locksmithing permits/licenses are normally required, as is proof of bond) -- as would providing sufficient information to easily fabricate such equipment. (Filing a bit of sheet metal is one thing; if the provided information is such that it would take a full-blown machine shop and a practised hand to take advantage of the detail, then it would probably fall under the "impractical information" umbrella as far as most people are concerned -- it would be cheaper to become a locksmith and buy the things.) Again, from a strict legal perspective, a "we will not ship to ..." or "we will only ship to ..." clause would take the service provider off the hook. That being said, freedom of the press belongs, as it always has, to the fellow that owns the press, so there is no reason why a hosting provider should feel obliged to provide a forum for any site or service it thinks might encourage illicit behaviour of any sort (including rhapsodizing about cats -- something I think more hosting providers should be far more wary of).

[vv.bbcc19]

The content of the web site itself, apart from "providing equipment", ought not to be a problem in any legal sense. "Providing equipment" might be -- most jurisdictions would consider the items in question to be "housebreaking tools" with no ready legitimate purpose other than, well, their designed purpose, and such tools are generally under strict control (locksmithing permits/licenses are normally required, as is proof of bond) -- as would providing sufficient information to easily fabricate such equipment. (Filing a bit of sheet metal is one thing; if the provided information is such that it would take a full-blown machine shop and a practised hand to take advantage of the detail, then it would probably fall under the "impractical information" umbrella as far as most people are concerned -- it would be cheaper to become a locksmith and buy the things.) Again, from a strict legal perspective, a "we will not ship to ..." or "we will only ship to ..." clause would take the service provider off the hook. That being said, freedom of the press belongs, as it always has, to the fellow that owns the press, so there is no reason why a hosting provider should feel obliged to provide a forum for any site or service it thinks might encourage illicit behaviour of any sort (including rhapsodizing about cats -- something I think more hosting providers should be far more wary of).

Agree with you esellar.The example about cat is a bit fun filled at the same time thought provoking though.
No website provider would like to get busted by law.He is ready to do things abiding by the law so that the firm is safe and profitable.
Yeah.

[Sharky]

I don't know about your question, but Judgement Call would be an awesome movie title.

[cybrax]

I don't know about your question, but Judgement Call would be an awesome movie title.

If you set up lunch with Tarantino, I'll find a script....

[Sharky]

If you set up lunch with Tarantino, I'll find a script....

If you can get me alone with Sienna Miller, I'll try for Tarantino.