ldcdc, that is correct. The DMCA does not apply to non-US-based servers/companies. However, the Berne copyright convention does apply to most countries, as do other jurisdiction-specific copyright laws. The above practice can be easily adapted to handle just about any complaint, from copyright to complaints of hosting porn, to hatespeech, to what-have-you. It's a general outline that lets the host respond to complaints without shutting down an entire account, and / or without giving someone the ability to complain just to get a competing site off the web.

Thanks, chatterbox!

That system is actually the one outlined by the DMCA's Safe Harbor clause - it tells web hosts what they must do in order to avoid being liable for their clients' copyright violations. It's a good general practice, though, for just about any sort of complaint: receive a complaint, temporarily block or remove only the offending material, give the accused a chance to respond to the complaint, if the complainer does not follow up in a timely fashion and decide to take legal steps against the person responsible for posting the offensive materials, restore the material in question (assuming said material doesn't obviously violate the host's TOS - ie, scripts to generate spam, hosting hardcore porn or warez, anything that compromises server or network security.) It's far better than shutting down an entire account, and also far better than trying to police every bit of user-posted content.

Working in the corporate world had its pluses - one of which was going through ISO 9000 certification and sitting in on (endless, snooze-inducing) meetings where all of these procedures were discussed and worked out. I learned a lot...even if sometimes I had to drink a *lot* of coffee to stay awake