SmartFilter / Secure Computing Web Porn Study is "Fabricated", claims target
[You heard it here first! And I know a great deal about David Burt (censorware PR Rep) and SmartFilter's propensity for fabrication - more later]
Numbers in Secure Computing Study on Web Porn Were Fabricated and Defame the Tiny Nation of Niue
June 30, 2004 07:13 PM US Eastern Timezone
.NU Domain to Take Legal Action Against Secure Computing In Connection with Its Study on Web Porn
"This study," [said J. William Semich, President of .NU Domain Ltd.], "along with all its claims about Niue and the .nu domain name, is false and defamatory."
Full Press Release below (I have no connection with these people, except for wishing them well against censorware company phony studies)
June 30, 2004 07:13 PM US Eastern Timezone
.NU Domain to Take Legal Action Against Secure Computing In Connection with Its Study on Web Porn
MEDFIELD, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)--June 30, 2004--
Numbers in Secure Computing Study on Web Porn Were Fabricated and Defame the Tiny Nation of Niue
.NU Domain Ltd, the US-based operator of the .nu top level domain name registry, today announced that it will take legal action against Secure Computing Corporation (NASDAQ:SCUR) for making false claims that .NU Domain is hosting millions of pages of pornographic material. The company also stated that it will take legal action against anyone who republishes this inaccurate and defamatory study.
Secure Computing Corporation released a report on June 24, 2004 which it says shows the global distribution of millions of pornographic Web pages by the top 100 individual country domains. The report falsely states that "The domain of the Island nation of Niue hosts an astonishing 3 million pages of pornography on its .NU domain."
"There are no such pornographic Web pages being hosted in Niue or by the .nu top level domain, nor were there ever any such Web pages," said J. William Semich, President of .NU Domain Ltd.
"This study," he added, "along with all its claims about Niue and the .nu domain name, is false and defamatory." There are approximately 100,000 .nu domain names currently active on the Internet Worldwide. Since first launching registration services for .nu domain names on the Internet in 1997, .NU Domain Ltd has developed one of the most stringent sets of policies and terms of use of any domain name in the world. "Since then," Semich said, "we have deactivitated, revoked or removed about 6,000 names for violating our policies or US laws, including aggressive policies against pornography."
Rather than being a geographic study of Internet pornography, the Secure Computing report is merely a summation of the total number of Web page URLs the company has listed in its Web site access control filter. The more Web pages it can list in its filter the more protection it can claim to be providing, so in an apparent attempt boost the count, Secure Computing has included thousands of inactive and expired domain names, and the millions of Web pages associated with them, in its SmartFilter(R) v4 Control List. "The number of pornographic Web pages it has listed as being associated with the .nu domain name is wildly inflated as a result," said Semich.
.NU Domain has intentionally structured its use and pricing policies to discourage pornographers from using .nu domain names in their businesses. "Pornography Web site operators prefer to use the lowest cost domain names for their Web pages," said Semich. "Since they register many domain names - often thousands - for the same pornographic Web site. .NU Domain Ltd requires a two-year registration period to register a .nu domain name, for a total cost of $60 US or 60 Euro. Registrars for .com domain names charge as little as $8 US and only require a one-year registration."
About .NU Domain Ltd
.NU Domain Ltd, is a US-based private corporation located in Medfield, MA. .NU Domain is the leading commercial Top Level Domain Name Registry serving Northern Europe. It is also the only Top Level Domain in the world that can support the complete UNICODE international character set in live Web addresses without requiring the use of browser plug-ins or other changes to customer systems, using its unique patent-pending technology.
Besides its free blogging service for customers at http://www.blogga.nu, .NU Domain Ltd also offers free domain name parking services for customers who need to lock in a domain name but have no immediate plans to use it, and, for a small annual fee, the .NU InstantWeb Service which provides a quick, five-page mini Web site with blog pages, or URL forwarding for your .NU domain name to a Yahoo, AOL or other personal Web site without a unique domain name, and .NU InstantMail Forwarding so AOL, Hotmail and other mail service users can have a unique .NU mail address. You can visit .NU Domain Ltd on the World Wide Web at http://www.nunames.nu.
Contacts
.NU Domain Ltd: J. William Semich, 508-359-5600, bill[at-sign]nic.nu
Laura MacSweeney, 781-395-6420, lmacsweeney[at-sign]comcast.net
