Network Solutions Suspends Site of Anti-Islam Film

h4rm0ny notes the furor over an anti-Islamic movie due to be released on the Web in the next week. After Pakistan disrupted YouTube worldwide over an interview with right-wing Dutch MP and filmmaker Geert Wilders, Network Solutions, acting as host as well as registrar, has suspended Wilders's site promoting the 15-minute film "Fitna" (a Koranic term translated as "strife"). The site now displays a notice that it is under investigation for possible violations of NetSol's acceptable use policy. According to the article the company's guidelines include "a sweeping prohibition against 'objectionable material of any kind or nature.'" The article describes the site's content before NetSol pulled the plug as a single page with the film's title, an image of the Koran, and the words "Coming Soon." No one but Wilders has seen the film to date. The Dutch government has distanced itself from the film, fearing Muslim backlash. A million Muslims live in The Netherlands. Wilders's party, which controls 9 of 150 seats in the Dutch parliament, was elected on an anti-immigration platform.

Comments

Re:I am a Muslim and I renounce all violence and t

[Anonymous Coward]

> Making negative blanket statements about 1.2 billion VERY VERY diverse Muslims on Earth is also hate crime...

No, it isn't, and fuck you for thinking that it is.

Re:I declare Network Solutions a bad citizen

[Xtravar]

This demonstrates the problem with allowing private organizations to serve as the gateway to the network. The nets, like the roads, should be a public resource; otherwise, they're going to be filtered by the views and fears of those entities providing access. Oh yeah, like Iran, and China, and all the other governments that filter their net connections. Yeah, I know, "but that couldn't happen in the U.S.A.!"

I guess I'd prefer that a private organization be sued and/or lose business to a less restrictive organization than a debate/pandering over this in the Senate. The government should ensure that there is competition we can go to in such cases, not to provide the service itself or strong arm private organizations.