According to one Dallas based IT support company (name withheld for time being) when your data resides on their servers it is their ‘intellectual property.’ Confused? We were too. The company provides hosted servers for their customer’s use. One customer in particular is attempting to migrate to a new provider (i.e. us), but the hosting company is claiming they cannot have “their” data until they purchase it from the hosting company. They are in the process of having their lawyers draft an intellectual property license. They also have supplied their customer with a $30K+ bill for the license. Still confused? We are too.

Moral of the story? Always keep a back-up of your data. In the event your current hosting provider has a fire, loses it, deletes it or (as in the case) loses their mind ~ your business won’t be at risk.