Moving away from web agency

rubyonrails-talk
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

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.

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 Cheung 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

4

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,

5

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.

6

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

7

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.)

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