Mitt Romney’s Internet link to Sharia law
A shortcut to the 2012 Republican hopeful's website is controlled... by the Libyans!
Topics: Mitt Romney, War Room, 2012 Elections, Internet Culture, Islam, Politics News
URL-shortening services have become an essential and ubiquitous internet tool, in large part because of Twitter’s character limit. Many of them — including Bit.ly, the most popular — use the .ly domain, because it’s only two characters and you can make cute little words — like Bit.ly — with it. But very people knew before today that .ly is the official domain of the nation of Libya. Which means it’s governed by Libyan law. Or, as a fear-mongering would-be GOP nominee for president might call it, Sharia law.
Early this morning, Libya shut down an “adult-friendly” URL-shortening service called vb.ly, run by Violet Blue and Ben Metcalfe. (Their crime against decency: Blue’s scandalously bare arms.) And since June of this year, Libya has forbidden non-Libyans from registering .ly domains with less than 4 characters.
Alex Pareene writes about politics for Salon and is the author of "The Rude Guide to Mitt." Email him at apareene@salon.com and follow him on Twitter @pareene More Alex Pareene.
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