Your Questions About Web Host Ratings

How do you feel about ” To Catch a Predator” on NBC?

1. Advertisers Wary of ‘To Catch a Predator’

NBC’s sting-operation segments “To Catch a Predator” have scored solid ratings and created positive buzz among viewers, but the network appears to be scaling back its commitment to the program — because the content reportedly makes advertisers uneasy.

So far this year NBC has filmed only one sting operation for the program — which airs as a segment of its “Dateline NBC” newsmagazine — compared with seven last year.

The most recent episode, on July 25, included six national spot ads, significantly fewer than normal for a show in NBC’s prime time, according to The New York Times.

“Some advertisers say they are wary of being associated with the show’s content, in which men lured to a house by the promise of a sexual encounter are instead surprised by [host Chris] Hansen and then arrested,” the Times reports.

And Andy Donchin, a director at the ad agency Carat USA, told the Times: “We’re all concerned with what content we’re associating ourselves with.”

The program’s producers work with a pedophile watchdog group, Perverted Justice, whose members pose as underage Internet users and converse with adults in chat rooms. If a conversation turns sexual, the “underage” Web surfer agrees to meet the adult in person. When the adult arrives at the meeting place, he is confronted by Hansen and a film crew and arrested by local police.

The program — which first aired in November 2004 — is currently facing two lawsuits, one stemming from a suicide.

Perverted Justice maintains that Louis Conradt, a prosecutor in Terrell, Texas, engaged in sexual conversations online, but he did not show up at the meeting place. Police obtained an arrest warrant, and as officers and “Predator” crewmembers approached his home, Conradt shot himself in the head on Nov. 5, 2006. His sister filed a lawsuit against NBC in July, seeking $105 million in damages.

In the other suit, former “Dateline” producer Marsha Bartel asserted that she was fired because she opposed what she called the program’s unethical production practices. She contends that Perverted Justice did not keep accurate transcripts of the online conversations between the predators and the watchdog group’s members.

Brian Montopoli of the CBS News Public Eye blog — and a former staffer at the Columbia Journalism Review — has maintained that the program is in some cases a form of entrapment.

He has also argued that while legal punishment of predators is left to police and prosecutors, airing the suspects on national television is already a form of punishment that the media has no right to inflict.

In addition to the bad publicity and advertiser reticence, “Predator” is also expensive to produce, according to the Times.

Regarding the network’s seeming reluctance to commit to the show, Brad Adgate, senior vice president for research at the ad-buying agency Horizon Media, told the Times: “NBC’s probably thinking about what their return on investment is, and might be thinking it’s better to move on.”

Website Help Anyone? Domain Name or Server?

I’m planning on creating a website similar to www.ratemyteacher.com but no for teachers. Anyway I don’t really know much on making website but this is just a little project. Main question is that when looking for web site host I encounter much more than domain names like servers and such. For a webiste that is userbased and has ratings and such would I need a server?

Is 000space any good?

I’m thinking about alternative web hosting for my tutorial site, and I’m just wondering how good 000space is. The ratings on free-webhosts.com were disabled, so I’m not sure what to compare it to. Also, does it have an inactivity limit? I didn’t see this on their site…

Please don’t recommend any paid services. I’ve been using free services to build up traffic for my brand and I’m not ready to invest money in it yet. I really could care less if it’s five dollars or even one dollar. No means no.
Guys, I specifically told you I need free. I’m specifically using free services until I get enough traffic to warrant an upgrade. I’m not stupid. I won’t pay for something I don’t need.

Can i sell my dot.com web address?

I currently own what I think is a good name a feedback / ratings website www.ratedon.com – I have this through a hosting company – so can I “sell” it by giving it up or transferring it to someone else?

If so, any tips on the best way to sell such a thing?

Thanks!