Livedrive is an online cloud backup and sync storage service that was purchased by j2 Global in February this year. It appears LiveDrive has recently started closing down user accounts without any warning, not all accounts mind you, only those which have apparently exceeded the terms of LiveDrive’s storage policy.
It seems rather strange that users can breach LiveDrive’s advertized “unlimited” online backup policy by… um… storing too much.
LiveDrive is responding to customers who have complained about the move, saying, “Currently Livedrive services are under review, our website does state unlimited back up, however this could change with the reviews taking place. Currently the storage is limited to 1 TB. There are plans for a fair usage policy to be introduced which may affect this.”
It seems there may be some confusion between the terms “backup” and “storage”, although, to me, the two terms are mutually interchangeable. Are they saying that a ‘backup’ is somehow different to ‘storage’? How can users backup any amount of data they like but only store some of it? How does one backup their data without storing it?
Perhaps LiveDrive could clarify the situation by couching their policies in less ambiguous terms. But then, they would no longer have the drawing power of “unlimited” in their advertising, would they.
This is yet another example of why users, and especially corporate users, are reluctant to utilize these cloud services to backup (or store) their precious data. Acquisitions happen, policies change, and it’s often the users who suffer.
According to unconfirmed reports; if affected account holders kick up enough of a fuss, LiveDrive will restore access so critical data can be retrieved. However, bandwidth is throttled to such an extent that it’s virtually impossible to download anything. At any rate, if I were a LiveDrive user, I’d be making sure the same data was stored (or backed up) in another location.
How predictable is this kind of behaviour? I’m presently using MyPC BackUp on two computers but their customer service scares me sometimes. The second computer came with Sugar Sync with a small amount of storage and an option to upgrade for a fee which I thought was too high. Eventually, even the free version was changed to a fee paying product with a deadline to avoid file deletion.
Here’s the simple thing – never fully trust something that is Unlimited as there’s usually always a catch. At the end of the day Unlimited doesn’t exist everything has a limit. Some web hosts claim to offer unlimited hosting and will keep adding space but even then there’s a limit. There’s usually a fair usage or something to stop people abusing it e.g. Unlimited texts/call plans tend to actually have a limit
After purchasing a lifetime unlimited backup powered by Livedrive today my account was canceled and all backup information gone. I would advise anyone considering Livedrive’s cloud storage to think twice. In my opinion they have no concern for the agreements with users. And no I was not a high bandwidth or storage user. This kind of behavior has no place in any kind of business.
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