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Libya Takes Hard Line On Link Shortening Domains

Posted by CmdrTaco on from the still-don't-like-shorteners dept.

Hugh Pickens writes "BBC reports that Libyan government has removed an adult-friendly link-shortening service from the web, saying that it fell afoul of local laws in a crackdown that could come as a blow to other url shortening services such as bit.ly, which is particularly popular on Twitter where all messages have to be limited to 140 characters. 'Other ly domains are being deregistered and removed without warning,' says Co-founder of vb.ly Ben Metcalfe. 'We eventually discovered that the domain has been seized because the content of our website, in their opinion, fell outside of Libyan Islamic/Sharia Law.' Alaeddin ElSharif from NIC.ly, the body that controls Libyan web addresses, told vb.ly co-founder Violet Blue that a picture of her on the website had sparked the removal. 'I think you'll agree that a picture of a scantily clad lady with some bottle in her hand isn't what most would consider decent or family friendly,' says ElSharif. 'While letters "vb" are quite generic and bear no offensive meaning in themselves, they're being used as a domain name for an openly admitted "adult-friendly url shortener." It is when you promote your site being solely for adult uses ... that we as a Libyan registry have an issue.'"

3 of 354 comments (clear)

  1. Wait until they see this one. by BenFenner · · Score: 5, Funny

    http://5z8.info/refugee-murder_g6m3x_cockfights

  2. VB by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Funny

    While letters 'vb' are quite generic and bear no offensive meaning in themselves

    He's obviously not a software developer.

  3. Re:The Picture in Question by Barefoot+Monkey · · Score: 5, Funny

    I wouldn't even call her 'scantily clad'

    While not being an expert, Islam in general expects at least modest dress for women that includes not having bare arms. So the definition of scantily clad is region dependent.

    Thank God for the USA, where the right to bare arms is enshrined in the Consitution.