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Real World Collides with the Internet

October 6, 2010 12:48:39.880

We usually think of "cyberspace" as its own thing, but it helps to remember that it's run by physical devices in real places. Ben Metcalfe just found that out the hard way - one of the domains they use in the .ly space (Libya) got shut down for political/religious reasons:

The domain was seized by the Libyan domain registry for reasons which seemed to be kept obscure until we escalated the issue. 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.

It also looks like it's easy to be ignorant of the law/rules in some places around the world:

An additional concern is that the clause being used here pertains to Libyan Islamic Law which appears impossible to find listed in English.

Just remember that your site or domain is running on real hardware somewhere, and if that somewhere isn't under the same legal regime that you live under, you could be in for some unpleasant surprises.

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posted by James Robertson

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