Web Hosting Issues

By Eric Goldman

Cooley Godward LLP

1. What is Hosting?

· Collocation (bandwidth + server oversight)

· Hosting (server + collocation + other services)

· Co-Branding (extending the boundaries of the website to third party pages)

· Service Outsourcing (third party providing functionality under branding)

2. Service Levels.

· Server Response Time

· Bandwidth Throughput Capacity

· Server Uptime

· System Redundancy/Service Restoration

· Security

3. Website Data.

· Collocation/Hosting:

- Maintaining trade secrets

- Delivery and analysis of data

· Co-branding/Service Outsourcing: “Ownership” of Data

- “Joint Ownership”—what does this mean?

- Describing rights to use data

4. Other Issues.

· Termination and transition to new provider

· Sysop liability