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Canadian Domain Registry Pulls Plug on Free Speech
An anonymous reader writes "The staff of a Canadian political candidate bragged today that he had managed to shut down a website critical of his involvement in a fundraising scandal, by having the country's registrar of domains pull the DNS records for the site. Criticism from bloggers and free speech advocates has been negative, and is coming from across the political spectrum."
from one of the blogs:
.ca domain name with anonymous details, the domain name can be removed under the CIRA's rules. However, one first needs to point it out (as Joe Volpe's campaign did).
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UPDATE (supplemtary info): There's more information to the story. The deletion of the domain name was in full compliance of rules of the CIRA (just because it's a rule, doesn't make it right). Supposedly, if one registers a
This doesn't necessarily make it right, however. .
Whatever. Everyone assumed that it was a huge abuse of power, when in reality it was just someone using a tactic that anyone can use. Complaining that someone isn't following the rules, and following an established procedure to remedy the situation.
As usual, people get all up in arms, bloggers go nuts, emails and phone calls are made... and then we find out nothing really wrong was done.
The big public relations screw up was bragging about it on a mailing list. But otherwise, he didn't do anything that ANY political campaign wouldn't have done in the same situation.
"Strike me down, and I shall become more powerful than you could possibly imagine"
I hadn't heard of this fundraising scandal until now. Oops?
This is not, in any way, shape or form, a free speech issue.
...... this is the first rule he's since since he launched his leadership campaign that he had tried to have enforced. Hopefully, it's the start of a trend.
CIRA's rules clearly state - and have for as long as *I* can remember - that annon registrations are not acceptable. THat was, and IS, grounds to pull the DNS records.
If there is *any* story here, it should be how the hell did the site get registered in the first place, given that it didn't meet the most basic requirements.
As for Volpe? He has my congradulations
You are aware, aren't you, that Mike Hunt is a joke name? Like Mike Hawk, Dick Hertz, Ben Dover? Read it out loud, laugh a little, and then you can do some more snooping to see that the address and phone number are fake too.
didn't provide accurate information when registering it. .... then it's not quite the free speech issue it's made out to be.
Actually, it is a free speech issue, but not for the obvious reason. There are times when people critical of the government or corporations often need anonymity. Especially if there is nothing illegal about the site, then I find its removal offensive.
HIV Crosses Species Barrier... into Muppets
So truth isn't a valid defense any more, then?
No, it is a free speech issue, or more correctly a censorship issue. The politician used a rule to have the site shut down (the site had been registered anonymously). How many other sites with incomplete or anonymous registration info did he request to have shut down? None? Just the one critical of him? That sounds like censorship to me... just because he worked within the framework of the system doesn't make it (morally) wrong.
"It takes considerable knowledge just to realize the extent of your own ignorance." - Thomas Sowell
Hold up! So if you accept a government job, are you forced to sign away your right to free speech? Of course he has the right to say it. There may be a political price to pay, but at least it wasn't libel where there could be a criminal offense. He just stated a fact.
First - "George Bush is a f..king moron" is an opinion, not a fact.
And yes, as a matter of fact, when you accept certain jobs, you DO loose your right to express your opinion (but not to HAVE it).
The Official Secrets Act here in Canada as an example - I'm sure there's an equiv in the States and most other places. I may know something aobut what's going on in the world because of my access to classified information, and my opinion may be better formed than yours because of it, given that I know more aobut the situation. But you can be sure that my ass will be thrown in jail if I give it.
If part of your job is in a higher level of government where you are concerned with the political ramifications of statements you make - where you can affect the political, economic, and physical safety of your country when your job is to ENHANCE it - you bet you ASS you give up the right to say anything except government policy.
It is Liberal bullshit, arrogance, and blatant anti-americanism that has been responsible for things like the Softwood Lumber dispute to drag on for years and years.
Are Captain's Quarters, Pajama's Media and Little Green Footballs "across the political spectrum?" All three are so far to the right they make most American Republicans look like Trotskyites.
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Also, you do not give up such a right to oppose the government, although to exercise your right might harm your career. If what you are saying were true, it would be absolutely impossible to have any kind of reasonable democratic debate; as an example, the question of how strongly to go into Europe has divided British cabinets through time. For the sake of a larger peace, and also for the sake of democracy, cabinet members have been allowed to campain against government policy without even being demoted.
Wikileaks, no DNS
Exactly! The .ca TLD is such a pain in the ass, not even worth going for. Even if there are more available "good" names in the .ca TLD, what good is it if the .ca and .com are two different entities ? Most people will mix them up anyways, and end up visiting the .com instead, wondering where their beloved beaver-taming website went. I don't own a single .ca domain, don't feel like putting up with CIRA, primarily because anything in this country is buried deep in bureaucracy (thus light-handed corruption). I'll skip the lengthy, circle-jerk canadian registration process and get my instant $6.95 domains from Godaddy instead, as I have done for years.
Canada's a nice place to live, but fuck is our government ever near-sighted.
-Billco, Fnarg.com