I had someone contact me and wanted me to move a vbulletin site to a different host. I asked them what was wrong with the first host? They said that they will not host the site because it has peoples names and pictures and slander about them. So I did a search on the site and found he is having a fight with some other people and the other people made a site with his name as the url - www.hisname.com and it is a vbulletin fourm devoted to slander about him. So I guess his repose is to do the same and set up a site about them. So he wants to move this site to a host in the U.S. which he says is the only one that will host it and it turns out the host is the same host the other people are using. I told him I am not going to touch it.. But it made me curious. Couldn't the party being slandered just contact the host and have them take it down ? and the url that is his name and devoted to slandering him couldn't he just have it taken from them by contacting the register?
Hosts can choose who they want to do business with and what type of sites they want to host. Sometimes hosts don't want the hassle for the small amount they get from hosting. You cannot take the domain name by just contacting the registrar. You need to go through the courts or file and be successful in a UDRP action.
^Thanks for the reply and the info. So a person cannot get a site taken down because of slander similar to how sites get taken down for copyright infringements?
There is big difference between copyright infringement (DMCA) and trademark infringement (UDRP). There is no standard procedure for taking down a site purely for "slander" other than via a court order, however, each host gets to set it's own tos and decide if they want to get dragged into a legal battle. That is the hosts option and they are not required to do anything without a court order.
And remember, slander isn't necessarily illegal. "Bill Clinton got a blowjob from a fat chick" is slanderous in many ways but illegal in no way. For one its true. For two he's a public figure. For three, it doesn't personally identify the fat chick so she has no case. For four, my intention was not to cause anyone's reputation harm but to provide an example of how slander isn't illegal. Of course I'm in the US and your country's law may vary.
To begin with it's not slander, it's libel, so different rules apply. Second, it's a civil matter, libel isn't illegal. Neither is slander. (Unless they're being committed in the furtherance of a crime.) A takedown request might work in this case. If not it would take a libel suit to a) have the site taken down and b) recover any damages.