Should terrorist groups and/or sactioned companies be allowed to own domains?

[RJ]

This article raises a question about imposing sections on the registration of domain names from countries covered by U.S. trade sactions.

Electronic companies rethink global presence

Published Thu, May 29, 2003
By ADAM GELLER, AP Business Writer

NEW YORK (AP) - When Farhad Kashani posted his resume on Monster.com, the unemployed executive didn't expect to become entangled in the U.S. government's effort to isolate its political enemies.

The nation's largest Internet job board decided on its own to purge resumes of some references to Iran, Cuba and other countries covered by U.S. trade sanctions. Kashani, of Los Altos, Calif., worried that would mean striking out two university degrees and his first job in Iran.

Though Monster ultimately relaxed its policy following an outcry from some jobseekers, the situation points to a new conundrum: How far must online and information companies go to comply with sanctions?

....

Monster and other companies that trade solely in information - and depend on widespread accessibility - are now struggling to try on the sanctions slipper.

It doesn't always fit comfortably.

Figuring out the boundaries of sanctions "gets complicated when you move into the electronic age," said Michael Malloy, a former official at the U.S. Treasury's Office of Foreign Asset Control, one of two government agencies charged with manning sanctions.

That's because electronically based businesses, particularly those relying on the Internet, are available to virtually anyone with few options for limiting that access, experts say.

...

The changing climate has also raised questions about whether sanctions should apply to companies registering Internet domain names for groups like al-Qaida or individuals who appear to be based in sanctioned countries, said Michael Geist, a professor specializing in Internet law at the University of Ottawa.

Denying domain names to people based on sanctions would be difficult. VeriSign Inc., which owns registration service Network Solutions, does not limit who can register because it is often difficult to tell where a customer is actually located, spokesman Chris Parente said.

"A lot of times going online and getting a domain name is an awfully automated process, so you're not going to know who the user is going to be," he said. "What do national boundaries mean when you're in cyberspace?"

Full story at http://www.beaufortgazette.com/24hour/technology/story/902298p-6283966c.html

 

[kohashi]

quite a debatable topic. I think domain names should be available for all, terrorist or irani (person from iran?). I dont promote terrorism, i hate it as most, if not all, of you do. But the minute we set boundaries on who can do what or from where online... that will open the flood gates. It will only open the door for more regulation and more unhappy people. Starting stuff like this will cause a problem. Let them spend their money and probably put it in a western market. At least that 8$ will be out of there hands. But regulation of the internet by governments will be its downfall.

thats my view on the topic.

 

[Darkfire001]

I think Im sort of split over the situation. I dont want a huge amount of legal restrictions placed on the internet, but if these terrorist groups are able to meet and plan activities on the internet that could lead too more organization between terrorist groups which is defintley something we dont need in the day and age.

 

[kohashi]

Well if they do it online, its easier to intercept, crack into and decrypt their communications. Its much harder to get reconaissance from a cave. If they use the net as a medium, it means if enough people hate them, there could easily be a 24/7 Distributed Denial of Service attack on their server... im sure someone would complain, but I am sure many governments would advocate it