Moving away from web agency

Rails
1

Hi

We are having issues with our currentl web agency who have built our
website on ASP using Ruby on Rails. Forgive my ignorance if I have this
the
wrong way around, this is not my area of expertise! Can someone tell me
what I need to do in order to change agency? They are being obstructive
in
providing web files or information. We are currently hosted by Rackspace
who we would like to stay with but through a different agency.

Any advice much appreciated.

Many thanks,
Sally

2

On Monday, October 28, 2013 9:59:25 AM UTC,
[email protected] wrote:

Hi,

ASP and ruby on rails are 2 very different things - ASP is one of
Microsoft’s technologies for building web sites. Unless this was a very
unusual project it wouldn’t be combining both ASP and ruby on rails.

At a bare minimum you’ll need a copy of the source code as it currently
is
and the data from your database. If you’ve got access to the rackspace
servers then you’ll have a copy there (if you’re lucky then this will
also
include the full history of the source code). Things will generally be
easier if they will arrange some sort of handover to whoever next works
on
your site.

Fred

3

Hi Sally,

ohh - that is always a sad situation (when buyer and seller does not
meet each others expectations)

If your current web agency did sell your website solution on the Ruby On
Rails ‘buzz-word’ - and in fact did build “something” using ASP they do
sound like an agency worth exchanging <:/

Like Frederick C. wrote - get your code off of the Rackspace servers
(I guess they would even throw in a helping hand towards securing the
code-base for you)

Best of luck

Cheers,
Walther

Den 28/10/2013 kl. 10.59 skrev [email protected]:

4

On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 2:59 AM, [email protected]
wrote:

We are having issues with our currentl web agency who have built our website

Have you chosen a new agency yet? Because it sounds like you
need technical guidance and hands-on assistance at this point
to deal with determining and securing what’s on your server.

Your new agency would be the best ones to provide that.

Good luck,

Hassan S. ------------------------ [email protected]

twitter: @hassan

5

Absent any agreement to the contrary, “the act of creation defines a
copyright with the author … no registration is needed for this right
to be in place … rights can only be transferred or licensed
deliberately … any rights not explicitly licensed or transferred
remain with the author”. (Loose paraphrase of the Copyright Action of
1976.)

Walter

6

On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 7:47 PM, Walter Lee D.
[email protected]wrote:

Absent any agreement to the contrary, “the act of creation defines a
copyright with the author … no registration is needed for this right to
be in place … rights can only be transferred or licensed deliberately …
any rights not explicitly licensed or transferred remain with the author”.
(Loose paraphrase of the Copyright Action of 1976.)

Quite so, the author being the agency in the OP’s case. Depending on how
a
contract is written, however, this may have been a “work for hire”
situation, in which case the OP’s company is the copyright owner. It’s
tricky, and obviously there is lots we don’t know. Still stand by the
advice of OP to seek legal advice immediately. (Which I know you were
not
discounting, Walter.)

7

I just want to caution the OP. You may not own the code. It depends upon
who retains copyright, and licensing, etc. If you have paid the agency
for
their work, which you should do if you have a contract, you may have a
right to the source code, or you may not, again, depending on your
contract. Just taking the code by copying it off your server could very
well be a breech of contract. You should consult an IP lawyer
immediately.

On Mon, Oct 28, 2013 at 2:00 PM, Hassan S. <

8

Yes. I was stating a sort of worst-case scenario, where no contract
exists, and thus the defaults are for the people writing the code to own
it – lock, stock and barrel. A good IP lawyer (not just your general
counsel) is an important place to start.

Walter