Verified Hosts and Other Hosts

[ExileAlexC]

Discussed thoroughly here: http://www.mc-market.org/threads/41307/

This is about creating a verified hosts section in the "Hosting" Forum
My "little" snippet from above:


Hello Everyone,

First off, I would just like to say these opinions that will be listed below are my own thoughts (Alex C) and do not reflect the ideas of ExileServers and you might want to get a snack to eat while you read .

I am just going to just jump into this here. tjrgg told me about this thread, so I will just voice my opinions. First, I think there should be 1 staff member fully responsible for verifying hosts and 1 person that checks the specified guidelines(I will list the ones I think there should be below.) and confirms the decision with the 1st person. These people should have to past relation to each other and HAVE to have a good knowledge about hosting companies and how they work. Preferably someone who runs or has run a hosting company before. Their account should not be a company account but rather a personal account (My personal is MCHosting). There should only be 1 Forums called Hosts that contains two sub-forums "Other" and "Verified". Now the guidelines to what can be a considered "Verified" hosting company:

1. Must have been SELLING for 3 months (Must Provide Invoice proof)
2. Must have been a member on MCM for 3 months
3. Must be a legally registered company (Must provide Documentation or Registration Number)
a. If a company argues they are legal and they are outside the US then the person appointed to the position must research the laws.
4. Must have SSL across their website, Main and Billing. (No exception) *"Lets Encrypt" doesn't count.* If a company is registered, they HAVE to pay for a decent SSL. It can be dirt cheap but not free. As long as it serves its purpose.
5. Must NOT have any nulled licenses or panels. (WHMCS will be checked indefinitely for Nulled versions.)
6. Must NOT be fraudulent or not give services as promised

Verified hosts should NOT be based on support. If a host has bad support but has all of the above, then they are verified. The only instance is if a host is advertising false claims and is not providing the promised product, then that would result in the host being removed from the Verified Host. (And a nice small email sent to the state the the company is registered in and the IRS)


Now let me get off my high horse as being part of a big host.
Last year I was able to run a host for 6 months. In that time, I was able to abide by ALL except one of the above guidelines to be verified. The only guideline I didn't meet was the registered company. To be honest, it is EXTREMLY hard to get registered only after 6 months of running. Just in my state, I HAVE to pay $800 tax per year regardless of how little or big income I made through the company. The problem is that the market is just way too crowded and if there is no way to separate the bad hosts from the good, then it will only get worse.

To reply to some of the ideas above...

• There should NEVER be a rating system to verify hosts, the verification process should be minimal and be kept "In-House" to avoid user bypassing restricts to double-vote. The rating system should only be to rate the hosts quality and performance.
• No testing livechat agents or staff. Waste of time and doesn't prove anything to verify them.
• Crappy OVH servers or Voxility-grade hardware that's costs a fortune(I rented a 16gb ram box for up to $250 per month from them, lul), the hosts can choose whatever hardware they want as long as they don't false advertise their products. In the end if their a bad host, then well...the reviews on the thread will reflect that.
• Template or custom. A host is a host.Though it gets quite annoying seeing that "FlatHost" theme around(Every host was there at some point)

Overall, it just needs to be safe for the members of MCM to use the service. Any host deemed a Security Flaw should not be Verified. Looking to see if the Host removed the Install folder for Multicraft is a great idea. There should also be a lot more testing into their network to certify that they are safe from easy unauthorized access to client data and information.



Well that's about all my opinions regarding all of this. I might have missed a few points, if so let me know and I can elaborate anything I missed or explain more. If you want to contact me personally please PM my main(MCHosting) and not this account. I am up to help out with anything that might get this integrated into MCM.

Regards,
Alex C
www.ExileServers.com

 

[Latouth]

This could help a lot, especially with the network/server security. I've seen way to many new hosts (dozens at least) who have improper file permissions on their servers, allowing any customer to read sensitive information such as MySQL passwords.

Then tell the skrub hosts?
None the less, good idea but it would kill so many host maybe just a "Verified Host" badge so they look more reputable.

 

[Ajdin]

Yes, but it's illegal to operate a company and no register it. Any legitimate conpany would be registered.

It's also illegal to sell Minecraft plugins without stating it on your tax forms but people still do it.

It's also illegal to sell builds, Minecraft accounts, etc. I'm pretty sure you also posted something about getting accounts back.
So you can't really use that as a argument...

 

[Produce]

True, but there is a small limit to what you can do as business without doing taxes on it. Minecraft Account selling also does not violate a law, it violates a EULA that I've not agreed to, I'm under 18. It's not illegal to sell stuff that's under a certain amount per month/year, but hosting is a very slippery slope when it comes to legality. If a client hosts something super illegal it comes back on you personally rather than a company.

OK so what's the issue? If said owner is willing to take liability.... in the UK I can register a limited partnership and become a legal business but the liability falls to me and my partner still. There is 0 difference.

 

[Produce]

Good. You're registered. I just want the 14 year olds who make up fake info into a paypal account to not be able to advertise hosting on here.

No actually we are not registered. I said I can.... we are a new company so even by law in the UK I have 3 months to register and only if I pass the earnings barrier. If the requirement is 3 months trading before verification then there is no risk of this anyway.

 

[ExileAlexC]

My whole idea of this is to not get rid of skrub hosts (I used to be one), It is to get rid of companies that are not secured and endanger client data by not having the knowledge of securing dedicated servers. And it's only getting worse because of Forums allowing the unsecure hosts to advertise on their websites. But then again, A lot of hosts pay $10 per sticky a week, and if there is a limit of 4 threads for the section thats $40 per week and if all the sticky's are taken up for the month thats $160 per month which covers a decent sized dedicated box for MCMarket.

No actually we are not registered. I said I can.... we are a new company so even by law in the UK I have 3 months to register and only if I pass the earnings barrier. If the requirement is 3 months trading before verification then there is no risk of this anyway.

Lucky you, In California I have to pay $800 minimum tax per year even if I only profit $2.