Death Threat Domain Names: Registrar Says Killjulianassange.com Will Not Be Removed

BoingBoing has a quick post up today claiming that "Registering death threats as domain names is the hot new thing in psychopathic anti-Wikileaks action!"

According to vivantleakers.org -- a new site created to track "cyber-bullying domain names of wikileaks associates" -- multiple death-threat domain names have been registered going after Wikileaks director Julian Assange. Killjulianassange.com and julianassangemustdie.com are recently registered examples, although they have no content on them at this time.

Go Daddy, the site which registered both killjulianassange.com and julianassangemustdie.com said there is nothing that can be done about either site while they are contentless. Go Daddy registers a domain name every .8 seconds -- any domain name can be registered and there is no human intervention.

"Unless and until there is content associated with killjulianassange.com there is no way for us to know what that means," said Christine Jones, Go Daddy's General Counsel. "There's no way to judge whether there's going to be something done with that domain name or if it is going to be violating any rule."

In the past week, Go Daddy has received numerous calls regarding the death threat domain names, but the company has no intention of taking action at this time. The one exception to this, Jones said, would be a domain name death threat for the President, "if the secret service contacted us, we would almost certainly take action on those domain names."

Assange is no stranger to death threats of the old fashioned kind either. In an online chat with the Guardian Assange wrote that anyone making threats against his life should be charged with incitement to murder: "The threats against our lives are a matter of public record, however, we are taking the appropriate precautions to the degree that we are able when dealing with a superpower."

Domain name attacks have become increasingly popular in a wide range of scenarios.

To prepare for an allegedly forthcoming WikiLeak which will supposedly reveal troves of highly sensitive information, Bank of America reportedly bought up scores of domain names that are critical of the bank and CEO Brian Moynihan.

Comments

[Sans Octavian]

12:22 AM on 01/18/2011

Julian Assange is not a hero by any stretch of the imagination. He is merely a person who received stolen (as well as private) correspondence and published them. That is it. There are no heroics in that.

[Garrett Schaefer]

10:49 PM on 01/18/2011

Bullshit. He took risks publishing information that the masses have been CRYING for.

[joseph449008]

10:10 AM on 01/19/2011

He was in solitary confinement for several days. Did he give up after that? Most people would've questioned whether it's all worth it. Here's what he said: "My convictions are unfaltering. I remain true to the ideals I have always expressed. These circumstances shall not shake them. If anything, this process has increased my determination that they are true and correct."

[trojoe]

02:07 PM on 01/17/2011

Julian Assange = Hero

[BuySaleDomains]

02:00 PM on 01/17/2011

Go Daddy really in tricky situation!

[Peter Arneke]

11:07 AM on 01/17/2011

Strange to see that it´s allowed to register death treaths in the US as domains.
I found www.killthepresident.com, www.killthequeen.com and www.killtheking.com.

There is also www.killbush.com, www.killsarahpalin.com and in Russia www.killputin.ru.

I feel offended by such domains.

[Theresa N]

09:34 AM on 01/17/2011

It is criminal what this country is trying to do to Julian Assange. It is worse than Nixon having Daniel Ellsburg's pyshiatrist's office searched. It is also terrible how the mainstreep press has dealt with this when they should have been the ones supporting and publishing it. This president promised openness and instead we have a very closed, secretive government, getting more closed by the day. I only hope for him that he finds sanctuary somewhere.

[TFlint]

03:59 PM on 01/17/2011

Don't you just miss president Bush's open government? All those bare faced lies!

[jasev01]

09:42 PM on 01/16/2011

so he is allowed freedom of speech but no one else is.  Interesting.

[chedet]

10:59 PM on 01/16/2011

Because freedom of speech includes death threats? You have forgotten what happened in Arizona then.

[jasev01]

11:20 PM on 01/16/2011

yes actually it does, until the constitution is changed

[SPQR1052]

07:59 PM on 01/16/2011

What is the problem?  Domain names registrations are protected under  I and II amendments. 

Speaking of.... I was amazed when I went a few minutes ago to g´Godaddy and registered:

http://www.killsarahpalin.com/

$;250K  and it is yours....  CASH ONLY. 

And don't forget  the right of every citizen to be a capitalist and engage in free enterprise. 

[SPQR1052]

10:54 AM on 01/17/2011

Arizona REPUBLICAN of twenty-five years and from  a family of VIRGINIA REPUBLICANS dating back to the 1800s. I also was a precinct cpt for the senior senator from Arizona in 2000m and in fact untill the Sarah Roll out he had my support as a republican and DAV. 

Liberal on social issues you  betcha I am.

[Chuck Dick]

07:34 PM on 01/16/2011

I am an almost former Bank of American customer. As soon as the treasure trove of secret information is released, I'm off to my local credit union. Tired of getting nickel-and-dimed by that useless company.

[Motorgoon]

11:20 PM on 01/16/2011

Speaking of BofA, did you hear the new way they are making the big bucks? Every time you swipe your debit card and it comes back declined-for whatever reason- theres now a $2.00 fee.

[stygianrenegade]

06:39 PM on 01/16/2011

Someone got their information from me.... lol, I emailed godaddy on the 10th, got a response back on the 12th and posted it to my twitter.

"There is no content currenlty resolving on the domains killjulianassange.com and julianassangemustdie.com.

As your complaint addresses the issue of wording of the domain name itself, we are unable to take action at this time. The complaint either needs to be taken up with the domain name owner directly, or should be filed in a UDRP or court proceeding.

If you find that you are unable to contact the registrant because the contact information given in the Whois database is invalid, please write to [e-mail] and let us know.

Regards,

Spam and Abuse Department
GoDaddy.com
ARID
"
Funny how it works like that. :D
Thank you guys for puttin this out here though, I still feel that content or no content, the site name itself violates the GoDaddy TOS and should end up removed just on principal.

[SPQR1052]

07:43 PM on 01/16/2011

Anyone can register a domain. I just did . 

http://www.killsarahpalin.com

[pjones006]

12:41 PM on 01/17/2011

Why are you redirecting it to Dail Kos?

[FrancisII]

02:08 AM on 01/19/2011

But apparently anyone can't design a decent website. What a mess.

[SPQR1052]

07:46 PM on 01/16/2011

$ 250K  and it is yours....  CASH ONLY. 

[jheinze007]

05:22 PM on 01/16/2011

Oh, so screw the little people, they can be threatened, but not the President! How is that justified?
I understand that a threat to the Commander in Chief is extremely serious, but is not another human life just as valuable? After all, the president is human as well! I say, any death threat to anyone, should be taken seriously and this is coming from someone, whose life was in the utmost of grave danger once!

[StChasDem]

08:59 AM on 01/16/2011

Lots of sick people out there.

[CantorSets]

05:03 AM on 01/16/2011

If there's an Aussie responsible for harming democracies around the world it's not Julian Assange, it's Rupert Murdoch.

Be interesting if someone registered killrupertmurdoch.com as a domain name. See how long that one lasted. See if the same rules apply when it's not Julian Assange but a so-called leader of business.

[FredKnowsBest]

12:21 PM on 01/16/2011

How about the Aussie, who registered killbush.com

Domain killbush.com:
Whois Privacy Services Pty Ltd
Domain Hostmaster, Customer ID : 79313859816200
[e-mail]
PO Box 923
Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 AU

Administrative contact:
Technical contact:
Billing contact:
Whois Privacy Services Pty Ltd
Domain Hostmaster, Customer ID : 79313859816200
[e-mail]
PO Box 923
Fortitude Valley QLD 4006 AU
Phone: Phone: [phone]
Fax: Phone: [phone]

Record dates:
Record created on: 2005-01-17 19:01:45 UTC
Record modified on: 2010-07-06 22:00:01 UTC
Record expires on: 2012-01-17 UTC

[Alien Nation]

07:43 AM on 01/17/2011

Childish. Why kill him when we can lock him in prison for war crimes. Death is the easy out.

[Siebenstein]

04:17 AM on 01/16/2011

They got to be kiddin, again tjhe "Free Speech" thingy??

Utterly rediculous.

[Harold Darling]

03:53 AM on 01/16/2011

Domain name threats are perfectly legal; for the US Supreme Court ruled that the mere advocacy of violence is legal under the First Amendment [Brandenburg v. Ohio, 395 U.S. 444 (1969)

In this country, free speech means that people can say just about anything.

[joseph449008]

09:20 AM on 01/16/2011

Brandenburg v. Ohio is not so clear on that. I quote: "Freedoms of speech and press do not permit a State to forbid advocacy of the use of force or of law violation except where such advocacy is directed to inciting or producing imminent lawless action and is likely to incite or produce such action."

So if the website killjulianassange.com is inciting imminent murder, then it's illegal -- especially if Julan Assange were to be killed.

It's ironic, though, that wikileaks.org can't be hosted in US DNS servers, but domains that incite murder can. Some double standards just boggle the mind sometimes.

[jasev01]

09:59 PM on 01/16/2011

the word you miss is imminent.  This is not imminent.

[Alien Nation]

07:44 AM on 01/17/2011

"Let me be the first to say this plainly: These Judges deserve to be killed," Turner wrote on his blog on June 2, according to the FBI. "Their blood will replenish the tree of liberty. A small price to pay to assure freedom for millions."

And then he did this:

The next day, Turner posted photographs of the appellate judges and a map showing the Chicago courthouse where they work, noting the placement of "anti-truck bomb barriers." When an FBI agent appeared at the door of his New Jersey home, Turner said he meant no harm.

Turner's lawyer says the following in his defense:
"He gave an opinion. He did not say go out and kill," defense attorney Michael Orozco said last week after unsuccessfully seeking bail. "This is political hyperbole, nothing more. He's a shock jock."

[Infonary NewsWebsite]

01:33 AM on 01/16/2011

WikiLeaks founder Julian Assange could end up at Guantanamo Bay if he is extradited to Sweden, his lawyers will argue next month, according to legal papers they released Tuesday.

He would be at risk of mistreatment or even execution, they will argue, saying that means Britain cannot extradite him without violating his human rights.

Follow news on Julian Assange at http://www.infonary.com/julian-assange

[Harold Darling]

03:55 AM on 01/16/2011

Way off-topic--for the issue that is being discussed is domain name threats not Assange's extradition to Sweden

[xanxia]

05:22 AM on 01/17/2011

Thank you. I didnt know they were taking it this far.