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The Pre-emptive Censor - Dotcom Loses ME.GA Domain

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Renegade:
Yep. You read that right. Before he's done anything, he's lost his domain name:

http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20121107/01581820957/mega-domain-pulled-out-under-new-kim-dotcom-venture.shtml

http://www.me.ga/ - goes nowhere now.

As we've noted, we've been avoiding stories about whatever "new" service Kim Dotcom is launching, because it all sounds like hype and vaporware to us. Until there's something real, it's all just rampant speculation, and it's a little silly how much adoration people have for an idea whose details have not been released at all. However, we will cover factual information related to the effort, and as was widely reported by others, the plan had been to use the domain name Me.ga. This had a few useful "features." First, it plays on the "mega" prefix that is so closely associated with Dotcom's offerings. Perhaps more importantly (at least, it's a key thing that many in the press covered), the .ga domain is not technically subject to control or seizure by the US (though, of course, SOPA/PIPA were intended to deal with just that kind of situation).

 However, even without SOPA/PIPA, there is still the power of diplomatic pressure, and it didn't take long for the Communications Minister of Gabon to announce that the domain was being suspended:

 "I have instructed my departments... to immediately suspend the site www.me.ga," announced Communication Minister Blaise Louembe, saying he wanted to "protect intellectual property rights" and "fight cyber crime effectively".

 "Gabon cannot serve as a platform or screen for committing acts aimed at violating copyrights, nor be used by unscrupulous people," the minister said.
--- End quote ---

Seriously? I smell a rat.

f0dder:
Who's afraid of the big bad US1?

...Gabon is, apparently.

1: synonymous with "big media fscktards".

Renegade:
Who's afraid of the big bad US1?

...Gabon is, apparently.

1: synonymous with "big media fscktards".

-f0dder (November 09, 2012, 04:22 AM)
--- End quote ---

+1

And they have good reason to be afraid...

Just a few reasons...Chemical warfare in Vietnam...
Nuclear warfare in Iraq (DU rounds)...
Afghanistan...
Iran...
Syria...
etc.
etc.
etc.

There's a lot to be afraid of.

If they are being pressured by the US, then can you blame them (for not wanting to be annihilated)?

IainB:
Some people - not me, you understand - might say that there are no surprises in this and that the British perfected this kind of State-directed political thuggery against other countries - calling it "diplomacy", and sometimes "gunboat diplomacy".
And they might point out that the Italians seem to have a State version and a privatised version called the "Mafia", and the Chinese similarly so.
And they might go on to say that that is arguably all this US/Gabon thing is, with the difference being that Corporatism (**AA) is substituted for "Mafia", and there seems to be no attempt to conceal the collusion between the powerful US State dept. and the **AA.
They might then suggest that the powers-that-be presumably must hate Dotcom awful bad to go to these lengths - rather like Monsanto's throttling control over farmers in the US and elsewhere (e.g., India) - and that it is just another manifestation of good Corporate psychopathy.
But I couldn't possibly comment.

TaoPhoenix:
What if the guy attempted to register a site in some 100 countries at once? (All the little ones) Wouldn't the news story that "all 100 countries at once denied his registrations" make waves?

In other news, those 100 small countries would then make a name for themselves, rather than what I at least perceive as harmless obscurity right now.

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