Wikipedia:Sandbox/Archive

Multimedia deletion

Since April 2005, Exetel has been deleting all multimedia content on user websites with common extensions such as .avi, .mp3, .wmv, and .mov unless the customer chooses to opt-out of the nightly deletion. In order to opt out all the customer needs do is ask that their account be exempted by sending Exetel an e-mail stating that they are "the copyright owner, have permission of the copyright owner or that there is no copyright on the files." Despite this requirement being detailed on the user webspace setup page, Exetel's Hosting FAQ states that in December 2006 one of the top 10 questions asked was "Why do my media files keep getting deleted from my free web space?" The FAQ further states that a pro-active policy is a necessary reaction to the MIPI's actions in March 2005 aganst another ISP (People Telecom) and the actual finding of guilty against a second ISP in July 2005 (ComCen).

A recent Ars Technica article questioned whether an automatic deletion policy was necessary or appropriate, but noted that Australia's copyright legislation may be to blame.

While customers may have asked where their files have gone, there is no indication of any concern over the policy. On various website forums including Whirlpool the only threads regarding this issue date from June 2007 when the Boingboing and Ars articles appeared and most Exetel customers who have posted seem unconcerned.