• Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
Hosting Thoughts & Reflections

Hosting Thoughts & Reflections

Sharing thoughts & experiences

Dealing with DNS Abuse is NOT a “Freedom of Speech” or “Censorship” Issue

21st October 2019 by Michele Leave a Comment

Late last week my company joined with some of the biggest names in the internet industry in announcing our adoption of a framework (PDF) on addressing DNS abuse.

For many of us the framework formally codifies what our businesses have been doing and, in some respects, it’s actually less stringent than what many of us do on a daily basis.

While most of the feedback we’ve received has been positive there have been others who take issue with what we’re doing.

They’re in two camps:

  • the “you aren’t doing enough camp” – a lot of these people want the internet infrastructure companies to act as the “internet police”.
  • the “you’re censoring the ‘net” or “this is a freedom of speech issue”

To those who call for “us” to do more all I can say is that we are not the internet police. None of us are interested in facilitating crime on our platforms, but at the same time we aren’t going to act as judge, jury and executioner. Yes, as we’ve stated, we can and we will take action to make the ‘net a better place and to remove or disable access domains etc., when we feel it is appropriate. But we aren’t going to turn our corner of the internet into a police state. I wouldn’t want to live or operate in a police state and I don’t think many of us or our clients would either.

But how about those who say that we are censoring the internet or infringing on freedom of speech?

I’ve stated publicly more than once in the past what my views are on this.

We are an actor in the internet ecosystem. We do not hold a monopoly for the services we provide and compete daily with both local and international players in the space (which includes many of the companies who have signed on to the framework).

We are not vigilantes and we have no interest in censoring anyone. However “doing the right thing” is something we should be able to do.

Should we allow paedophiles to share child abuse material?

Is it “ok” to leave domains online that are spreading malware?

We are a private company. Our business is 100% focussed on the internet. If the internet is allowed to degenerate into a cesspool then it doesn’t do us or anyone else any favours.

The most stringent protection of free speech would not protect a man in falsely shouting fire in a theatre and causing a panic.

Mr Justice Holmes, Schenck v. United States, 1919

Freedom of speech is not an absolute right.

If you equate “freedom of speech” with allowing just about any kind of activity to exist online then I’m sure you can find providers out there that can facilitate you.

It just won’t be us!

Filed Under: policy Tagged With: abuse, dns abuse, domains

Michele Neylon is the founder and managing director of Ireland’s largest registrar and hosting provider Blacknight.
Michele is an active and often outspoken member of the Internet industry both in his native Ireland and internationally.
He is actively involved in Internet policy development, and has served as a member of ICANN’s GNSO Council as a representative of domain registrars. He is also involved with policy development for several domain registries, including .IE, .EU and .US. He previously served as chair of i2Coalition and is a member of the Names and Numbers Steering committee of eco. Michele received the Irish Internet Association Net Visionary Award in 2013 and was named one of Ireland’s 30 Technology Disruptors at The Spiders Awards in 2019.

Reader Interactions

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Primary Sidebar

Recent Posts

  • A bit of Radio Advertising
  • Advertising Broadband in Print Media
  • How NOT to do Research With Companies
  • Our First Outdoor Ads Campaign
  • Humans Wanted

Recent Comments

  • Michele on A bit of Radio Advertising
  • Grandad on A bit of Radio Advertising
  • Michele on How NOT to do Research With Companies
  • John Berryhill on How NOT to do Research With Companies
  • Come Work With Us! on Humans Wanted

Upcoming Events

Oct 21
October 21 - October 26

ICANN 78

View Calendar

Blogs

  • Michele's Personal Blog

Other Sites

  • Avalon Holdings
  • Blacknight Blog
  • Blacknight Hosting & Domains
  • Blacknight Technical Blog

Recent Posts

  • A bit of Radio Advertising
  • Advertising Broadband in Print Media
  • How NOT to do Research With Companies
  • Our First Outdoor Ads Campaign
  • Humans Wanted

Recent Comments

  • Michele on A bit of Radio Advertising
  • Grandad on A bit of Radio Advertising
  • Michele on How NOT to do Research With Companies
  • John Berryhill on How NOT to do Research With Companies
  • Come Work With Us! on Humans Wanted

Blogs

  • Michele's Personal Blog

Other Sites

  • Avalon Holdings
  • Blacknight Blog
  • Blacknight Hosting & Domains
  • Blacknight Technical Blog

Archives

  • August 2023
  • April 2022
  • December 2021
  • February 2021
  • July 2020
  • June 2020
  • March 2020
  • December 2019
  • October 2019
  • January 2019
  • August 2018
  • May 2018
  • March 2018
  • November 2017
  • August 2017
  • April 2017
  • February 2017
  • January 2017
  • December 2016
  • November 2016
  • October 2016
  • August 2016
  • July 2016
  • June 2016
  • May 2016
  • April 2016
  • February 2016
  • December 2015
  • November 2015
  • October 2015
  • September 2015

Tags

advertising bloggers blogging blogs branding broadband business ces christmas communication communications conferences cpanel customer service david snead domains dotblog email employees events GDPR hiring hosting internet internet infrastructure coalition investment ireland irish language legal marketing money ntia policy portland registrars registries reviews service small business SMEs staff technology video websites

Categories

  • blogging
  • business
  • communication
  • domains
  • events
  • General
  • hosting
  • legal
  • marketing
  • policy

Copyright © 2023 · Magazine Pro on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in