The problem here seems to have been that ServerBeach didn't bother to make a phone call before shutting off the servers of a not insignificant customer, for what turns out not to have been a very good reason.
If they let the customer know that this really was just a mistake and is not their policy, okay, well, it's unfortunate but maybe not fatal to the relationship. But if it is their policy -- and until they say otherwise, it's natural to assume that it is -- then I can see why people would have a problem with that.
> The problem here seems to have been that ServerBeach didn't bother to make a phone call before shutting off the servers of a not insignificant customer.
Well, two things:
Most hosting companies don't call for anything, and most don't even take a number. I've dealt with many. Amazon, in particular, won't call you for anything. (I know because I work at an account several orders of magnitude larger than OP that hosts with Amazon.) Google won't call you before they terminate your Gmail, as has been shown before, and that's simply because the resources required to maintain a call center don't make sense for (the almost entirely automated) hosting industry. Margins are low. Calling every customer that receives a DMCA complaint would, at an average-size host, require probably a dozen employees just making calls. This is seriously busy work, and people outside the hosting industry don't see that.
The other thing is that we keep saying "pull the plug," "shut off servers," etc -- that's a pretty drastic intervention, and I'd be shocked if that was what was done. More than likely, the IP address was just dropped from the Internet, which is rather quickly reversible. The same thing will happen if someone points a DDoS botnet at you and starts disrupting service for other customers as collateral.
> for what turns out not to have been a very good reason.
ServerBeach does not have the liberty to debate whether a reason is good or not. A valid DMCA complaint is a valid DMCA complaint; to remain "carrier neutral" and preserve safe harbor for other customers, a hosting company must act as if every complaint is valid and enforceable.
Once a hosting company makes decisions about complaints and selectively enforces, safe harbor goes bye bye and the copyright holder claims ownership of the hosting company. Then many, many customers beyond the original customer are affected, which is a really big deal at a hosting company (scope).
> But if it is their policy -- and until they say otherwise, it's natural to assume that it is -- then I can see why people would have a problem with that.
I don't disagree about having a problem with a policy. I do, however, detest the directions these conversations take. Look around this thread. I don't see a lot of "that's a bum policy," I see a lot of "what horrible people" and implications that the employees are incompetent, and so on. I do take issue with that.
If they let the customer know that this really was just a mistake and is not their policy, okay, well, it's unfortunate but maybe not fatal to the relationship. But if it is their policy -- and until they say otherwise, it's natural to assume that it is -- then I can see why people would have a problem with that.