Background
As video becomes more popular and even necessary for churches and ministries, web hosts are clamping down on media use online. For example, a ministry purchases 750GB in server space from a web host. The web host has a secret restriction on the amount of video and audio that the ministry may not violate. This limit is a tiny 5GB. That's right, only 5GB for audio and video files.
You might ask, "Why buy 750GB of space if you can only use 5GB for media?" Good question. They don't want you to think about that, or even know about the restriction. Hosts often hide a clause in the contract so they can sell you a huge amount of space while allowing you to use only a fraction (1/150th in this case.) Here's a real example from a web hosting agreement that has no mention of media restrictions anywhere else in the contract:
Customer agrees that Customer shall not use excessive amounts of server resources.
So what is considered "excessive?" The host defines “'excessive amounts of server resources' as using any form of server resource in a manner which noticeably hinders the quality of any service." So what does that mean? That's the point. The host can decide at any time if you are using "excessive amounts" space, even if you paid for the storage. Sneaky contracts like this are used to clamp down on bandwidth-heavy media use when the host oversells their servers.
Think of it this way: A farmer has ten acres to sell. He sells seven to you and seven to someone else. When you attempt to build on your land you are shocked to find that someone else has already built on four of your acres! You confront the farmer who points you to this part of the land contract: "Buyer shall not use excessive amounts of land resources." Web hosts are notorious for overselling their server space - read: scamming you into buying space they do not own. Research suggests that they descended from the guys who used to sell tourists the Statue of Liberty and the Golden Gate Bridge.
Solution
A number of free media hosting services have popped up online that, with a little work, will solve this problem. Here are my top five:
5 - YouTube
 While YouTube is the undisputed free video hosting leader, the limitations are crippling for ministry purposes. Length limits of 10 minutes make this a poor option for churches with services and sermons.
4 - Vimeo
 Allows you to upload 500MB per week and supports high definition videos. Of course at only 500MB, you won't be able to add a lot of HD content each week.
3 - Viddler
 This is a cool service because they allow you to add notes to the timeline of the video. You can even attach video comments. Like Vimeo, videos must be 500MB or less, but with Viddler, you can upload as many videos you want at any time. Viddler supports more file types for upload than most, including avi, mov, mpg, mp4, wmv, flv, and more.
2 - Veoh
 This service has no size limits and comes with cool software to upload your videos as a background service on your computer. The software can even resume broken uploads if you lose your internet connection - important if you are working with large files.
1 - blip.tv
 A unique approach to free media hosting, blip.tv offers to share profits with you from their advertising. If you don't want ads, simply turn them off. The service supports all major video formats and files up to 1GB. Uploading videos is easy, you can even connect to their server with an FTP client like FileZilla and upload videos by dragging them from your computer.
If you choose to use a free media host, or even a paid media host, keep these tips in mind:
Always keep a backup
Online services come and go. The services listed above are solid and stable, but nothing lasts forever. Keep your original media files so you can upload them to another service if one of these goes away or you find a better one down the road.
Embed the media on your site
Don't just link to the media host site, embed the content in your site for a better user experience. The media host may have content which is inappropriate for your website and linking to the media host will open your visitors to media from other creators, not regulated by you.
If you have any questions or comments please feel free to email me. I am here to help you. |
