re: #62 iceweasel

It doesn’t work that way. The hosting company usually gives the person in violation of their TOS the opportunity to first remove the offending content (unless it’s child porn or something like that.) Typically they’ll suspend the offender’s account until they do so. Usually it takes repeated violations before they’ll lose their account entirely. (I’m only talking about cases involving libel, harassment, and the like.)

As to legal action, I can assure you from personal experience that if you’ve gotten the libelous material removed or deleted, it only further bolsters your legal case that the person did in fact harass you or libel you.

In the U.S., you can issue a DMCA takedown notice to the ISP, and typically its gone without appeal.