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March 23, 2008

Network Solutions Blocks Anti-Islam Site as Unacceptable

Link: Network Solutions Pre-Censors Anti-Islam Site - Security Fix.

Web site name registrar Network Solutions is blocking access to a site owned by a controversial Dutch politician known for his confrontational views about Islam and Muslim immigrants. The move by one of the largest companies in the domain registration business is notable, experts say, because it may be the first documented case of Internet pre-censorship by a major U.S.-based Web registrar.

The site in question is fitnathemovie.com, which is registered by Dutch Party for Freedom leader Geert Wilders. Wilders has said that he planned to post a short film on the site designed to rally support for banning the Koran in Holland. Wilders has said that Islam's holy scripture urges followers to commit violent acts.

Network Solutions imposed its block on Wilders's site Saturday evening, at which time it hosted little more than an image of the Koran on its homepage. But a company spokeswoman said Sunday evening that Network Solutions decided to pull the plug on it due to the potential unrest that could follow if Wilders followed through on his pledge to post his film on the site.

Posted by Anupam Chander on March 23, 2008 at 09:16 PM in Digitization | Permalink

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Part of the message that Network Solutions put up, in place of the "Fitna" page, read, "Network Solutions has received a number of complaints regarding this site that are under investigation." The company asserted that they were investigating whether the "Fitna" page violated their "Acceptable Use Policy."

Fair enough. The "Fitna" page most likely was seen as violating the "hate propaganda, ... or otherwise objectionable material of any kind or nature" part of the AUP.

Curiously, Network Solutions also hosts (or hosted, as of late yesterday) hizbollah.org - and the English version, "Islamic Resistance In Lebanon - Official Web Site".

We have to assume that hizbollah.org's content is universally viewed as unobjectionable, or that Network Solutions has different standards for the website of Hezbollah (or Hizbollah, or Hizbu'llah).

Posted by: Norski | Mar 24, 2008 11:13:01 AM

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