Last night I was bashing BlueHost for suspending Zazz’s site, but there’s something that I need to applause BlueHost for — Matt Heaton is standing firm on not hosting adult sites. Not because they chew through bandwidth, but it is simply not ethical.
Bluehost does not and will not tolerate adult material of any kind on our servers. Sometimes profit comes second and personal responsibility and ethics come first. I am not telling other hosts to not provide adult hosting services, but I wish that they would come to that conclusion on their own.
Adult material hurts people in so many ways that I won’t even argue the point here. Aside from my own beliefs about why it is wrong, I don’t think that any clear thinking individual would argue for the merits of porn. It is a business that I will never practice or enable through our network.
As a Christian myself, maybe I should also look out for hosts that actually value ethical believes. Maybe I should check out that I am not hosted on the same box that also serves adult content.
On the other hand, as adult hosting is a big business, would “ethical hosting” be a specific niche in the future, where customers with strong ethical believes are willing to pay more to be on a server that is considered “clean”?
In fact if you google for Christian hosting, you’ll find that it is no way a new idea. Some explicitly state their Christian belief and mission statements on their front-page, and some only has the word “christian” on their trading name. Some are obviously oversellers, and some are just ridiculously expensive.
The same might also apply to “eco hosting” (yeah, google it as well). When ethics should come first before price, there are always hosting companies that are ready to sell you a plan.
What then about the religious differences? Shall I host my sites with some operators that I don’t agree with? As a Christian I believe the salvation comes through Jesus Christ, who died on the cross as ransom for many, once for all, and there will be no more revelation. Would it conflict with what I believe if I host with BlueHost, whom I suspected is affiliated with Mormons, who believe a later revelation to Joseph Smith?
I think that would drag too far from the intention of this website. But maybe someone would like to discuss?
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As a Christian also, I would say having a later revelation conflicts. However, I would not have a problem doing business with a company owned by someone who held this belief. Testing everyone I do business with to see if their world view matches mine would be an arduous and legalistic task to endure and one that I don’t think Christ would want. I guess it’s the “in the world” not “of the world” approach. I applaud you for bringing this up, though. Provokes some interesting thought.
how is adult defined online in hosting?
would “ethical hosting” be a specific niche in the future, you ask?
funny that you should mention that, because here’s my situation right now. I’m looking for a hosting company to develop a web site using PHP, and I’m completely overwhelmed by how many different hosting sites provide the features I need and have a great reputation. So now I am specifically looking at personal issues and delving into the background of the CEOs of various hosting companies to get a clearer sense for which company is right for me. I’m still vacillating between bluehost, godaddy, and green geeks, though.
So yes, because nowadays every hosting company offers you more features than you could possibly handle for almost free, it looks like ethical hosting and eco hosting may be just what a hosting company needs to stand out.
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