Cryptosmith

A recent article on Wired News by AP writer Anick Jesdaunin talks about the problem of trigger-happy Internet Service Providers (ISPs) who are inclined to take a customer off-line at the first hint of “trouble” – where trouble is defined as any complaint that sounds scary: porn on non-porn vendors, copyright infringement, or posting “hacker tools.

Jesdaunin notes that the problem is especially bad with social sites like MySpace or Facebook, and cites examples with Flickr and YouTube. There’s also an example where GoDaddy (my current hosting company) took a site off-line when someone complained that the site was hosting “hacker tools.” The GoDaddy agreement forbids posting hacking tools or the promotion of hacking. The particular incident seems hazy: GoDaddy claims they tried to contact the site owner before taking the site off line but couldn’t find him. The owner disputes this.

I admit this all has a ‘chilling effect’ on my speech. ISPs really need to establish a protocol for taking a site off line as opposed to making it solely at their discretion.

In the perfect world I’d immediately start shopping for a better ISP – one with a tighter agreement that gives me better protection.

I also consider this a ‘security’ problem in that it threatens the availability of my site just as much as a hacker attack.

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