[Infowarrior] - Network Solutions Pre-Censors Anti-Islam Site

[Richard Forno]

Brian Krebs on Computer Security

Network Solutions Pre-Censors Anti-Islam Site

http://blog.washingtonpost.com/securityfix/2008/03/networksolutions_precenso
rs_an.html?hpid=sec-tech

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.

Network Solutions spokeswoman Susan Wade said the company has received
numerous complaints about the Web site over the past three weeks, though she
declined to discuss the exact number or nature of those complaints. She said
the company was still investigating whether the site violated its acceptable
use policy. In the meantime, she said, a decision was made to deactive the
site given the potential violence that the movie could spark. She said
Wilders could still access the site himself and was free to move or redirect
its content to another domain.

"When you look at the history and violence surrounding this particular
situation...some of the bad things that have happened or could happen, that
was part of what we were thinking in suspending the Web site," Wade said.
"We felt it was best to take it down while we continued our investigation."

Prior to the site's shuttering this weekend, its only content was a picture
of a gilded Koran along with the text "Allahu Akhbar," (God is Great), and
the words "Geert Wilders presents Fitna - Coming Soon."

The action comes after weeks of speculation about the movie's content and
its potential for sparking violent protests and outbursts of the kind that
followed the 2006 publication in several European newspapers of political
cartoons of the Prophet Mohammed that many Muslims found offensive. Earlier
this month, NATO's secretary general said he was concerned that the Wilders
movie could foment anger that could translate into added danger for troops
in Afghanistan. Protests against the Wilders film occurred this past weekend
there, according to Reuters.

Wilders, who was elected to the Dutch parliament on an anti-immigration
platform, had planned to air the video online after being turned down by
television networks. Wilders could not be immediately reached for comment.

Wade said the company hadn't received any specific threats regarding the
site, but that
Network Solutions employees had been reminded this week about observing
regular physical safety and security measures at work.

"We're taking precautions like we would in any situation," Wade said. "We
reminded employees that it is everyone's duty to make sure they badge-in,
those kinds of general things."

Fred von Lohmann, a senior staff attoney with the Electronic Frontier
Foundation, said it was the first case he'd heard of in which a U.S.-based
registrar had preemptively suspended a domain name for violating its use
policy. Still, he said, most registrars' acceptable-use policies reserve for
them right to cut off service to almost any customer for nearly any reason.

"If you're lucky, the contract might provide that you get a partial refund
for the portion of the domain registration that you haven't used," von
Lohmann said. "That's probably the best you can hope for."

To me, this raises the question of what Network Solutions would do if dozens
of people who'd registered domains through the company spontaneously decided
to mirror the controversial movie once it goes live. Wade declined to
speculate on such a situation, saying the company would respond to each
complaint on a case-by-case basis. Furthermore, there must be other sites
registered by the company that host content that violates the company's AUP
or would be seen as offensive to some individual or group.