Hello everyone,
i'm in a dilemma. I had started this website/group at MSN Groups, called "Just Computers" , and they have temporarily taken it off, but emailed me and told me that it's been permanently taken off. They accuse me of teaching people how to hack, or to just have information of hacking.
Alright, hacking/security was just a 10% part of the website, on which, i had mentioned 2-3 posts like "How to Secure your computer", the same one i had posted here. Also, the one on TCP/IP, and some other general security info. But the other content, and the pain with which i had made it and spent time on it was immense. There were a 100 members in one month or so, and i was looking forward to expand it. I'm very angry and am considering taking legal action against them.
I am too lazy to read their TOS, i guess i'll hire a lawyer, and consider what are the options i can sue them under, if any. What do you guys advise ? Here's the corresspondence, it started with me emailing them asking them to change the category of my group because it was wrongly listed:
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Message 1, from me:
First Name: Mac
Last Name:
E-mail address: simpleandpure@hotmail.com
Web Page Cited: http://groups.msn.com/justcomputers
UserAgent: Mozilla/4.0 (compatible; MSIE 5.01; Windows NT 5.0)
Remarks: Hello, The problem is that my group is listed in the HTML category, which i believe is blatantly inappropriate. I tried the help section which stated that MSN changed the settings if it believes a certain category is appropriate, i fail to understand the concept. I'm the group manager and have created the group with some understanding and purpose. The group caters to a big range of computer-related topics and confining it to a HTML-content based group will limit it's infinite ability to reach and help. Therefore, i wish it to be listed in the "User Groups" category. Thanks, Mac
P.S. - This has really put a big low on the traffic that the group was possible to have attracted. Please act immediately. (Manager)
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Reply from them :
Hello Mac,
We have found your group “Just Computers” to be in violation of the MSN Code
of Conduct for containing informations on hacking. Because this violation is
serious, we must preserve the contents for possible future investigation,
therefore you will not be given the opportunity to reopen the group.
Kindly do not start a new group with the same purpose. And we hope you find or
create a new group, within legal parameters of course, and which meets your
needs.
Sincerely,
Herufelbel
MSN Groups Customer Support
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Hello there Herufelbel,
Im really disappointed with the way the query is being handled.
I'm pretty sure that there was no violation of any sort, i/we were not providing any material relevant to hacking purposes which is/was explicit in any form. It was related to security, and aimed at people wanting to learn it. It was simple methods on how to search google, secure your computer, general information on TCP/IP.
In any case, this group has taken a lot of time and effort for me to create. It has been sincere hardwork from my side. I will feel very sad if you still do not understand what i'm trying to convey. If you want any/all of the material removed related to security, i am ready to do so. And you can keep a regular check on it for as long as you want.
But please, please do not make it unavailable, it's a result of a lot of hard work, please. Let it be just one more chance. If i had known in the first place that my group was violating your terms, i wouldnt have sent any problems to you, or trying to bring it in to your notice. Also, i have emailed MSN to feature this one in Cool Groups a few days ago. I think that proves i wasnt trying to do anything negative. If i want to do this, i can re-open a group and start again, telling people about hacking, but my aim is not that, that is why, i ask you to yourself delete what you consider inappropriate or let me do it.
Just for your information, do a search on "Groups Home", and you'll find more than a 100 results on hacking.
I hope you understand.
It's my sincere effort. Atleast give me my material. It was a lot of effort and hardwork on my part.
Thank you again
Mac
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Havent' got a reply to this yet, i had emailed them yesterday.
I'll probably wait for another couple of days, but what can be done after that ?
What options do i have ?
-inv