U.S. authorities order the shutdown of over 73,000 public websites.

Using vague language concerning "abuse" of some sort, in an unprecedented move of censorship, U.S. law enforcement officials have apparently ordered the shut down of a free website hosting service called "Blogetery.com". The shutdown involves over 73,000 websites and blogs, primarily opinion sites run by private citizens.  Blogetery.com has been hosted by BurstNet for the last 7 months.

On Friday, July 9th, Blogetery.com disappeared from the internet. On the following Monday, Blogetery.com received the following email:

"Due to the history of abuse and on going abuse on this ‘bn.***********’ server.

We have opted to terminate this server, effective immediately. This termination applies to: bn.affiliateplex.com

Abuse Department
BurstNET Technologies, Inc"

After further communication with BurstNet, Blogetery received the following:

"Bn.xx*********** was terminated by request of law enforcement officials, due to material hosted on the server.

We are limited as to the details we can provide to you, but note that this was a critical matter and the only available option to us was to immediately deactivate the server."

And then, even later, a supposed "clarification":

"Please note that this was not a typical case, in which suspension and notification would be the norm. This was a critical matter brought to our attention by law enforcement officials. We had to immediately remove the server."

BurstNet has responded to requests for further info with the following:

“We notified him [the Blogetery owner] when we terminated it [the server], and we refunded him his money to his account, because he has other servers with us If he wants the refund to his card, we can easily do that. However, it should be the least of his concerns,” A BurstNet representative later confirmed.

“Simply put: We cannot give him his data nor can we provide any other details. By stating this, most would recognize that something serious is afoot.”

Is this to become a "test case" in a wider crackdown on opposing opinion by the Obama administration?  One seriously doubts that the current White House, given it's penchant for acting without actually doing even minimal investigation on a subject, would have taken the time to monitor all 73,000 websites before they decided to have them shut down on a wholesale basis.

It has long been reported that President Obama wants the power of an internet "kill switch", with the ability to shut down the internet in the United States in the case of "national emergency".  The current political climate in Washington, D.C. is apt to give him just that power, given the amount of power they have transferred from private to government hands in the mere 19 months Obama has been in office.

Those who attempt to access Blogetery.com, or any of the thousands of hosted websites which use Blogetery, are treated with the following cryptic message:

"After being BurstNet customer for 7 months our server was terminated without any notification or explanation.

We're trying to resolve the situation.

You can find details in this thread on webhostingtalk forum."

http://blogetery.com/

Thanks to "TorrentFreak.com" for contributing to this article.

Bangladesh blocks Facebook - A lesson against government control

The Nation of Bangladesh's chief telecommunications regulator, Zia Ahmed, has ordered the social networking site Facebook blocked within his nation, because he says the site allows the publishing of caricatures of Islam's prophet Muhammad. Bangladesh is a Muslim majority nation.

Pakistan, also a predominantly Muslim nation, has previously blocked Facebook for the same reason.

In the United States, citizens have free access to the internet, with no central government control. If the public isn't vigilant, this may not always be the case. Senator Jay Rockefeller (D-WV) introduced legislation last year that would give the President "emergency control" over the internet within the United States, with the ability to completely shut down the medium during a "declared emergency".

I'm not certain that a "declared emergency" would be the right time to shut down what has become an important source of information and communication in the United States, and I'm not certain any President should have that power.

Rockefeller's bill has recieved stiff opposition, and has been taken to back to the "drawing board" several times for re-write with the hopes that revised versions will be better accepted by congress. Still, the threat of government control of the internet remains.

As recently as this month (May, 2010), the Federal Communication Commision (FCC), which currently controls broadcast television and radio, and the nation's telephone system, made moves to assert control over the internet by declaring it a public utility. This clears the way for FCC control over the internet, which is a clear "end run" around both Congress and Federal Courts, which have taken a "hands off" approach to the internet.

Allowing government control of the internet sets a dangerous precedent. Imagine logging on and finding the President or some Federal agency has declared an emergency, and you are no longer able to access your email, work files, business records, pay bills, handle your bank accounts, etc. Shutting down sites like Facebook is just the tip of the iceberg.