TOS and my site

[foc]

HI,

My site is gambling related but only as an information site only. I do advertise casinos, poker rooms and so forth. However, I do not take bets/wagers or offer any gambling on my site.

I was told by fellow webmasters in my industry that they are hosted with gator and that I should not have any issue. Yet, I was denied service even after explaining the nature of my site and was in my mind "pre-approved". Then the security dept. denied being hosted.

Could anyone explain why this could be? Do you not allow ANY sites with gambling content?

Thank you

[ixape]

I believe the law can be iffy with advertisement of gambling sites so this may be the reason HostGator doesn't want it on their network.

[GatorChrisD]

I do apologize, but per Texas state gambling laws, we can not allow gambling sites on our network that deal with real money. Advertising shouldn't be a problem as long as it's a small ad, but if your site is dedicated to offering ways to gamble we would be unable to host it. If you can provide me with the ticket number you have, I would be happy to look into your specific site further to see if there is any violation.

[foc]

HI,

Can I privately message you in regards to this?

I have a few sites to show you that ARE being hosted with you that are primarily online gambling related in the same field as my own. This is only one of many however so I feel discriminated on the part of hostgator and need to file accordingly due to this info.

As was said to me "I had the same situation with my account. You just need to email their support and explain that you are only promoting gambling and that no actual gambling will take place on your domain."

This is the case.. so who do I need to work this out with so we dont have to go much further. Its the fact I was denied in the first place that really got me on edge. The process has cost me much of my time.

[GatorChrisD]

The sites you pm'd me do not have any actual gambling on them, and therefore are fine to host. Please provide me with your ticket ID so that we can review your exact content.

[EarlyOut]

Sounds like HG needs to make up its mind. Imagine a site that has no actual gambling on it, but consists of nothing but links to real gambling sites. Is that OK, or not?

[GatorChrisD]

That depends on the content you are linking to. Gambling is illegal in many states, and must be fully compliant with all state & federal laws before we can allow it. There is zero tolerance for any sites directly gambling from our network as this is against Texas state laws.

[EarlyOut]

Still not clear. If there's no actual gambling occurring on the site hosted by HG, but that site consists entirely of links to sites, hosted elsewhere, that do conduct actual gambling, does that violate the HG TOS, or not? Is that "gambling from our network?"

[GatorChrisD]

Again, that depends on the content you are linking to as not all online gambling sites are legally compliant. Gambling is not allowed on our network at all, and sites linking to or promoting illegal activities are not permitted either. *Most* domains linking to gambling sites will be fine to host on our network, however there are some that are not. These will need to be reviewed on a case by case basis. If you can provide specific URL's we would be happy to review the matter and approve or deny your specific domain.

[EarlyOut]

My point is simply that when a policy is vague, you're asking for trouble. As you're quickly discovering.

[GatorChrisD]

The policy is very clear, linking to or promoting illegal activity is not tolerated, nor is gambling on our network. As long as the sites are not involved in either, they should be fine on our network. If you need this expressed in simpler terms, you can not host anything that violates state or federal laws on our network.

Foc's hosting was previously denied, I will not grant authorization to host here without reviewing the content first. Foc, please PM me the ticket number if you would like your content reviewed further.

[EarlyOut]

If the policy were clear, the original poster wouldn't be confused, and there would be no need for someone from HG to review individual sites to determine whether they comply or not.

[ldearing]

sometimes policy can only be broad and reviewed on a case by case basis... especially when dealing with fed/state/local laws that themselves arew often broad.

Just an opinion... I think Gator is doing a necessary and good job of dealing with this. If this were my hosting business, I'd want to proceed in very much the same manner.

[EarlyOut]

If it were my hosting business, I'd state it more bluntly. "You can't have a site that conducts gambling in any form that violates Federal or Texas state law, and you can't have a site that contains links to any other site that conducts gambling in any form that violates Federal or Texas state law."

The current vagueness is in the "links" realm. Just within this thread, I've seen the policy stated in two ways that directly contradict each other. And this has come up in other contexts: "My site doesn't tell anyone how to do any hacking, but just has links to places that do," or "My site doesn't offer any pirated software, but has links to sites that do." The advice seems to be a little different every time.

I think HG should nail it down, and personally, I'd go for the broader prohibition: no bad stuff, and no links to bad stuff.

[foc]

Did not see there was a discussion on this . However I have one fellow in my field who had 4 sites that promote gambling like mine. However, I was removed and closed down from gator as soon as I setup my account. It made me furious and then I was told that should have never happened. Hopefully Chris will see the situation and explain it to me

[foc]

Does anyone know if Chris gets weekends off? I would assume so but just in case I wanted to ask

[striddy]

Originally Posted by foc

Does anyone know if Chris gets weekends off? I would assume so but just in case I wanted to ask

No, Chris works 7 days a week, and generally 20 hour shifts.

[foc]

Ty Chris for all your help. I wil signup soon and hope with what you mentioned I will be able to get it setup this time