If I can not cancel a web hosting account, am I liable?

A long time ago, I created a web hosting account. The host was horrible - they never responded to emails, and their servers were always down.

I emailed them several times saying that I wanted to cancel my service. They ignored the emails. Eventually the credit card I was using to pay expired, and I figured when the billing was rejected, they'd automatically cancel the service.

A few months ago, I found out the site was still online, and it is running up a tab for my "hosting".

I asked this before, and was told to just keep a copy of the emails I sent asking to cancel. The problem is, this was soo long ago I do not have any copies of the emails available.

I also looked up an address for this "company", but found the address to lead to a yard care business.

About two weeks ago, their site seemed to have went down for good. Trying to access the site just comes up with a page unavailable message.

Since I had no way to contact them, am I in any way liable for the unpaid hosting?

Also, if I do have any liability, would I only be liable for the unpaid hosting, or would they be able to try to collect damages too?

Emails are only a partial proof. Where are the located? Do you have a physical address? Do some investigating with tools like WHOIS...

http://www.networksolutions.com/whois/in...

Options available (in the U.S. anyway)...

1) Send a registered, certified letter. That way you've got a physical paper trail with a receipt. Mention in the letter that you're going to seek resolution via the legal system if they don't respond.

2) Look into free arbitration services. They're typically listed in the web pages for the judicial system in your area.

If you tried to contact them to cancel the contract (it'd help if you still had the emails to prove it), then you aren't liable.