Two weeks ago my blog went offline. I called the guy who was looking after my hosting and I didn’t hear back from him. I had noticed that he was no longer on Facebook but didn’t think much about it because he was a weird, geeky, clammy handed, developer, who was a bit odd. After a few phone calls and emails I reached out to the Business Group on Facebook where I had met him to see if they knew where he was.
A dialogue ensued and then one of the members messaged me to say he was in prison. My journey of how to get my blog back began in earnest. After much googling, with a call to Swindon Crown Court, I found out why he was in prison.
My mission was now to get my blog back without having to make any contact with him. Eventually, I was able to trace the hosting back to WPEngine based in Austin, Texas. The account was in John Drinkwater’s name and so after many phone calls, with their fabulous tech support team, and much back and forth over many days, finally their legal team dropped the bombshell and said that I could NOT have my blog back unless I produced a court order proving that it was mine. This was going to cost me lots of money in legal fees and take ages.
By this point I had enough of being nice and sweet so I sent them this hum dinger of an email:
If there is no breach of contract between JD Projects and WPEngine then why is the site not live?It is a matter of public record in the UK that John Drinkwater is in prison for 18 months and so will not be able to contact you to renew the contract. Do you need evidence of this? How long does it take until the contract is breached?I have an email dialogue between JD and myself where he transferred my site to WPEngine and invoices that clearly state that he is reselling hosting so therefore the ownership of the site shouldn’t require a court order to prove the Intellectual Property of the site belongs to me. Would the evidence of this dialogue suffice as satisfactory proof that he does not own the intellectual property?1.) The website has been in existence since 2010 and only hosted by WPEngine for one year2.) The domain is registered in my name and has been since it’s conception3.) The blog is purely about me and my lifeI have sought legal counsel and they have advised me that a court order is a disproportionate response to demonstrate ownership.Therefore I seek to find other evidence to demonstrate that I own the intellectual property of the blog, which I hope will satisfy the transfer of information.I can supply:1.) Emails of our dialogue regarding the blog and the content which clearly demonstrate that the blog is mine.2.) Invoices from JD projects clearly demonstrating a hosting arrangement3.) Proof that John Drinkwater is currently serving 18 months in prison for child pornographyWould this be enough to satisfy WPEngine that blog is in fact owned by me and cause WPEngine to terminate the contract with JD Projects? Perhaps you could consider it a company policy not to do business with registered child sex offenders and I am sure as an organisation you don’t want to find that WPEngine was being used by John Drinkwater to host images of child pornography for his sexual satisfaction and that of other child sex abusers. Surely, on ethical grounds and as a stand against the sexual abuse and sexual exploitation of children WPEngine should morally and ethically terminate the contract with John Drinkwater, a convicted pedophile.As an active parent blogger in the International blogging community, which would be outraged to discover that WPEngine are protecting a convicted pedophile and providing him access to images of my children, instead of returning the site back to me – it’s rightful owner.Indeed, my husband an officer in the Royal Air Force; a Chinook pilot, with 8 tours of Afghanistan, 3 in a Iraq, Sierra Leone, Bosnia and Kosovo to name but a few, who has served alongside US servicemen protecting the rights and freedom of Western Democracy is deeply distraught that images of his children could fall back into the hands of this monster. [Noted this was a little over the top but I was fighting for my blog – godammit!]I look forward to a mutually satisfactory outcome in this matter which doesn’t result in a convicted pedophile have unlimited access to images of my young children for his gratification when he is released from prison. The site contains many images of my young children and I think it should be returned to me so that I can be assured of their protection and safety and that they do not remain in the hands of a convicted child pornographer on his release from prison.
