No Fitna, but Plenty of Fools

UPDATE: Ok, now it’s being stated that the UK site linked below is a hoax itself, and that it’s not owned by Geert Wilders. Sorry you missed all that ad cash Geert… I’m unlinking until I get to the bottom of this.  I guess that makes me the fool. I should know better than to jump on something before I”ve had my am coffee.

There’s been a ton of controversy about Geert Wilders movie “Fitna” which was supposed to criticize Islam in a short fifteen minute feature. Well here’s Fitna, hosted at the UK site since the US host, Network Solutions, pre-emptively blocked it.

That’s right, there isn’t a movie. Geert’s criticism of Islam consists entirely of the reaction to the idea that someone would make a movie critical of Islam.

If you are wondering about the strikeout above, originally it was thought there were two sites, one in the UK to mirror the US site, but it turns out that the UK site is a fraud, either a Muslim trying to counter, a deranged leftist, or possibly just an opportunistic ad spammer capitalizing on the controversy and buzz.

This part  below still stands, it’s clear that Freedom of Speech is stifled by Network Solution’s actions to block the site. From the BBC:

Mr Wilders wrote a commentary in a Dutch newspaper on Saturday.

“The film is not so much about Muslims as about the Koran and Islam. The Islamic ideology has as its utmost goal the destruction of what is most dear to us, our freedom,” he wrote in De Volkskrant.

“Fitna is the last warning for the West. The fight for freedom has only just begun,” he said.

He had been using Network Solutions to promote the film.

But on Sunday, Network Solutions said it had received a number of complaints that were under investigation.

It said the site was suspended until it was established whether the content of the site violated Network Solutions’ terms of acceptable use.

The reactions should be instructional to all, from the quailing functionaries of European government to the idiot left trying to submerge Fitna by making fake Fitna movies saying they are sorry. (Just a side note, everybody already knows that leftists are a sorry lot, they don’t have to say it.)

The reactions of the Islamic world protesting and readying Fatwahs demonstrates how sensitive and intolerant they are, and the reaction of Network Solutions in pre-emptively censoring the site in the US should be instructional to anyone who uses them as a host. (I would move now if I did — any bloggers using Network Solutions should flee to another host…)

UPDATES: 

More at Hot Air

More at Jihadwatch

More at Jawa Report, They are calling Network Solutions.

UPDATE: Network Solutions Small Business Blog The post I’ve linked to is interesting… I’m sure small business’ aren’t interested in a service that will pre-emptively take them down for posting that they might post something controversial…

The upshot of all of it should be some good funds for Geert’s party just from the ads at the site, and greater support amongst his constituents in the Netherlands.

I knew this company name was ringing bells. Network Solutions was originally the only US registrar for Domain Names — now there are multiple, From Wikipedia:

Network Solutions started as a technology consulting company in 1979, with approximately 30 employees, and focused its efforts on applications development.

Network Solutions was acquired by Science Applications International Corporation (SAIC) in 1995 and listed on NASDAQ in 1997.

John Dillon reports in MediaFilter.org, “Initially, the service was subsidized by the government. But, in May 1993, the National Science Foundation privatized the name registry (InterNIC – Internet Network Information Center) and paid NSI $5.9 million to administer it. In September 1995, NSI instituted the fee system. A few months earlier, it had been bought out by Science Applications International Corp (SAIC).”

In 2000, Network Solutions was acquired by VeriSign, Inc. for $21 billion.

In 2003, Network Solutions was acquired by Pivotal Equity Group

On February 6, 2007, Network Solutions announced that General Atlantic, a private equity firm, entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Network Solutions from Najafi Companies (formerly Pivotal Private Equity). Although terms of the deal were not released, the Wall Street Journal reported in a story on May 30, 2007 that the price tag was “around $800 million.”

In 2003 nearly 90% of the company’s revenue was from domain-name registrations, said Network Solutions Chief Executive Champ Mitchell. Since 2005, the company has added 69 services and products and today these new offerings are fueling Network Solutions’ growth. Now only 45% of the company’s revenue comes from domain-name registrations.

At the end of July, 2007, Network Solutions had 6,659,150 domains under management and was in the top five wholesale domain registrars following Go Daddy with 19,709,215 domains and eNom with 7,646,676 domains. Tucows, the largest publicly traded registrar, has 6,622,982 domains under management with its recent acquisition of ItsYourDomain.com. Melbourne IT, a publicly traded company located in Australia, trailed with 4,664,019 domains under management.
In addition to being a wholesale registrar, Network Solutions provides web services such as web hosting and website design.

So Network Solutions is now owned by a global growth equity firm, General Atlantic, on their page they have a contact email at the bottom.

“Najafi” is also a name with Persian/Shia etymology, meaning “of Najaf” if I am interpreting right. It’s also noteworthy that when global equity firms buy companies, they typically leave old management in place and just insert their controlling influence in the board of directors.

Also note that while Network Solutions is blocking free speech across America and the world, they are just fine with hosting the DNS/URL for terrorist organization Hizbullah.

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