Is they have no idea how dates work! 🥰
July 31st is just an estimate, apparently. Could be later, could be sooner! Who knows?
This is even dumber than the PHP forced migration debacle. At least they postponed that 50 times before they gave up entirely. Setting a shit date, and then deleting stuff early... boy howdy, that's the sign of some real genius!
Hi everyone,
I am posting here because our community is entirely out of options and running against a hard deadline of July 24th.
For 15 years, a network of community archives hosting independent digital artists and niche subculture history has been hosted on DreamHost. These platforms function strictly as moderated community archives for unique, irreplaceable artwork and historical data that exist nowhere else on the internet.
Tragically, the owner has suddenly gone missing due to a severe psychiatric medical crisis in Ontario, Canada. Because of this, the hosting invoice went unpaid. We have officially launched a formal inquiry with the Ontario Government's Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) to locate his legal property trustee and have provided support with screenshots of the submission.
The Problem:
DreamHost Support (Ticket #263063689) states their policy allows "zero path forward" without the owner himself. They are scheduled to permanently delete the server data in 12 days.
Our Compromise:
We completely respect data privacy. We have told DreamHost we do not want account access, passwords, or user data. We have offered to pay the bill anonymously, buy the platform, or have a sysadmin pull only a raw zip of the user-uploaded media folder, since the hundreds of independent artists retain full, exclusive IP rights to their artwork under international copyright law.
Every request has been met with a firm, automated corporate "No."
Deleting this server won't just close an abandoned account—it will permanently destroy thousands of pieces of protected intellectual property belonging to creators who never consented to its destruction.
We just need a sliver of extra time. We are begging anyone with connections to DreamHost leadership or corporate compliance to help us get a temporary 30-day administrative hold placed on the data deletion script while the Ontario government processes the estate file.
Thank you for reading, and for any visibility you can give this.
PS: Sorry, I don't post on Reddit very often. This account is six years old, but I mainly just lurk. Because this is an urgent, time-sensitive emergency, I had to come out of the woodwork.
We want to express our sincere gratitude to the u/DreamHostCare team. Following our previous outreach, they reviewed our case and demonstrated valuable empathy by granting us a data retention extension until mid August. This extension buys our community the critical time needed to coordinate archiving efforts and continue navigating the legal channels. We are immensely thankful for their willingness to find a middle ground.
However, the core administrative crisis remains unresolved:
-OPGT Delays: We formally contacted the Ontario Office of the Public Guardian and Trustee (OPGT) on July 8, 2026, but have yet to receive a response. The agency’s bureaucracy is notoriously slow, and we are operating under tight constraints.
-Geographic Limitations: As a decentralized online community, none of our core coordinators reside in Ontario. We are unable to physically visit their offices to escalate this matter in person.
For security and privacy reasons, we will not be disclosing the owner’s full name, his city, or the specific medical facilities here, as we strictly adhere to anti-doxxing policies.
Our request to the community:
Because we are exhausted of standard options, we are open to unconventional suggestions to establish contact with an estate trustee or expedite this process. If you have experience navigating estate crises in Ontario, or if you have advice on alternative channels to locate a court-appointed guardian, please contact us.
https://www.reddit.com/r/DataHoarder/comments/1utz8go/help_us_pause_the_clock_dreamhost_is_about_to
