VeriSign Seeks Greater Power To Help Law Enforcement Around The Globe Censor Websites They Don't Like
from the this-is-a-problem dept
We've discussed in the past how VeriSign helped make it easy for ICE to seize domain names that use the .com and .net domain names. And now it looks like the company would like to expand those censorship-helping powers to seize domain names of websites at the request of law enforcement around the globe, even without a trial or any sort of due process. The company claims it gets lots of requests from non-US law enforcement for such things. Of course, the proper response is that VeriSign should tell them to pound sand. Instead it's seeking broad powers to help governments censor websites. Scary stuff. Even worse, the company seems to be burying this request in a larger request to be able to take down "malicious" sites, such as those that are spewing malware. That makes it more likely that these powers will be granted. Once again, a reminder that when you have a few private intermediaries who act as gatekeepers, it only serves to enable censorship. Seems like it's time to route around such central gatekeepers.Filed Under: censorship, centralized control, domain names, seizures
Companies: verisign
