Hotmail incinerates customer files

http://zdnet.com.com/2100-1104_2-5226090.html

By Evan Hansen
CNET News.com
June 3, 2004, 2:03 PM PT
News - ZDNet

"Legal experts said there is generally little recourse for consumers in the event of data loss on services such as Hotmail, which are typically covered by terms-of-service agreements that provide broad liability exemptions.

"In general, consumers are out of luck," said Ira Rothken, an attorney based in San Rafael, Calif., who has litigated such cases in the past. "Frankly, it's understandable. There are always going to be glitches that lead to data loss."

He said consumers can protect themselves by ensuring that valuable files are adequately backed up. Some Web-based e-mail services, such as Yahoo Mail, allow customers to download e-mail to their desktops and retrieve them using a PC-based e-mail client such as Microsoft's Outlook. Online storage services such as IBackup, Xdrive and Connected also provide file backup services for a monthly fee.

Raghu Kulkarni, a spokesman for IBackup, said demand for online storage services is growing. The privately held company serves thousands of customers who subscribe to service packages that run from $3 to $800 a month. The most popular plan costs $14.95 a month for a 4GB backup plan.

But he offers a sobering note: Online storage companies don't guarantee customers a fail-safe backup system.

"We do not provide a 100 percent guarantee that the backup will take place," he said. "That cannot be guaranteed by anyone. That's just because of the nature of the Internet--it's very difficult to provide a 100 percent guarantee.""