It turns out an Islamic extremist website was actually being hosted right here in the Untied States:
On March 25, a Taliban Web site claiming to be the voice of the “Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan” boasted of a deadly new attack on coalition forces in that country. Four soldiers were killed in an ambush, the site claimed, and the “mujahideen took the weapons and ammunition as booty.”
Most remarkable about the message was how it was delivered. The words were the Taliban’s, but they were flashed around the globe by an American-owned firm located in a leafy corner of downtown Houston.
The Texas company, a Web-hosting outfit called ThePlanet, says it simply rented cyberspace to the group and had no clue about its Taliban connections. For more than a year, the militant group used the site to rally its followers and keep a running tally of suicide bombings, rocket attacks and raids against U.S. and allied troops. The cost of the service: roughly $70 a month, payable by credit card.
The Taliban’s account was pulled last week when a blogger noticed the connection and called attention to it. But the odd pairing of violently anti-American extremists and U.S. technology companies continues elsewhere and appears to be growing. Intelligence officials and private experts cite dozens of instances in which Islamist militants sought out U.S. Internet firms — known for their reliable service and easy terms that allow virtual anonymity — and used them to incite attacks on Americans.
I deal with these hosting companies all the time. I have even dealt with ThePlanet before. This happening is no shock. A lot of their stuff is actually automated, and they handle hundreds, if not thousands of websites, so they really can’t keep an eye on things. I really don’t blame them either. If we are going to get on companies for enabling people to push a message, then we need to start looking at FOX news and every station that carries Limbaugh.
Of course there is something this article doesn’t mention. There’s a thing called “reseller accounts” in the hosting world. That is where someone foots the monthly bill to rent out an entire server from a company like ThePlanet. They then rent off pieces of that server to other sites a month. It’s not a bad way to make a little extra cash. So there’s a chance that ThePlanet wasn’t even directly involved, but rather these people were actually being hosted through a middle man.