Major domain registrar and web hosting provider Network Solutions has suspended the site of an anti-Islam movie, according to the International Herald Tribune. The web site, promoting the Dutch movie "Fitna," or "Struggle" in Arabic, currently displays a notice of suspension of service. A link to the Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy is available at the web address; the company guidelines include a sweeping prohibition against "material [considered] to be fraudulent, obscene, lewd, lascivious, filthy, excessively violent, harassing, or otherwise objectionable, whether or not such material is constitutionally protected." The movie, produced by a nationalistic, Parliament-represented Dutch party, is expected to draw the disapproval of the Muslim communities in the country and abroad.

ICANN-accredited Network Solutions, with decades-long history and millions of registered domain names on its tab, is the latest company to suspend a web site under the pressure of what some might call common sense, and others unilateral censure. In a similar case last month, domain registrar Dynadot suspended the wikileaks.org URL on request of Swiss Bank Julius Baer, after the site published documents that allegedly revealed money laundering practices at the bank.

In January, Network Solutions was also accused of "front-running": the practice of  registering the domain names, that are checked for availability, using the company's free domain name search. The allegations have since been cleared by company representatives.

While Network Solutions' motivations in this latest case of internet censorship are easily understandable, one starts to wonder whether the people behind the Sealand data-haven idea weren't up to something.

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