A recent warning by blogger Ben Metcalfe sent out shortly after the seize of one of his domains (a .ly one, AKA Libya), also reported here, alerts that .ly domain holders may be looking at a crusade of sorts against their URLs shorteners. These are being shut down, unless attuned with the Libyan Islamic/Sharia Law, a particular regulation that seems to have a very ‘broadminded and modifiable’ nature.

It’s something we’re all familiar with, having witnessed the evolution of web access spread throughout the world.  Our editor Mark “Rizzn” Hopkins saw this particular setback coming some time ago.  He remembers “back in 2008, Sean, Steven, Art an I (on a podcast with RWW’s Frederic Lardinois) discussed the chaos that would ensue should Bit.ly suddenly get a little unpredictable with their NIC [the domain registry and controlling body for the Libyan domain space]  policy (as dictators are wont to do).”

As you can see, this subject has raised concerns even two years back, and now seems to almost come true on cue. This is all happening in the light of the shut down of vb.ly, owned by a sexual content writer, and a suggested forewarning towards bit.ly and ow.ly.

Vb.ly has been shut down due to nothing short of links to supposedly inappropriate sexual content. In addition this action’s blurry compatibility with the actual NIC regulations, it reveals a now realized potential for domain owners – particularly business owners – to substation serious damage.

Here goes a free domain.