

How to PlayNice.ly with Libyans - adamcharnock
http://playnice.ly/blog/2010/10/07/keeping-the-ly-in-playnice-ly/

======
atari
I'm kinda over the whole .ly domain thing. Find a new cool-sounding TLD where
there isn't the risk of having your domain seized because of possible
violations of Sharia law.

------
Kilimanjaro
Should we decide to bomb Ghadafi again, all of you would be sorry to pick such
a retarded option for a domain.

Cyber war is just one flick of a switch.

Btw, weplaynicely.com is available.

------
praptak
"They came first for the vb.ly and I didn't speak up because I wasn't a sex-
positive url shortener..."

------
dfranke
From the rules for .IO domains that he links to (emphasis mine):

"No .IO domain may be used, directly or indirectly, for any purpose that is
sexual or pornographic or that is against the statutory laws of _any Nation_ "

It's obvious that they don't enforce this as written, but wow... talk about a
lawyer's nightmare.

~~~
pak
IIRC, wildlife codes in the US have a similar provision. It's against the law
in the US to violate wildlife laws of any other country.

~~~
dfranke
Here's the law:
[http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode16/usc_sec_16_0...](http://www.law.cornell.edu/uscode/html/uscode16/usc_sec_16_00003372
----000-.html)

"It is unlawful for any person... to import, export, transport, sell, receive,
acquire, or purchase in interstate or foreign commerce... any fish or wildlife
taken, possessed, transported, or sold in violation of any law or regulation
of any State or in violation of any foreign law"

So you're correct, and it's a badly-written law, but I think any reasonable
judge would interpret it as being restricted to violations of foreign laws
_committed on that country's soil or waters_. If Elbonia passes a law against
stepping on ants, and you squash one on the sidewalk outside your house in the
US, I don't think you're in jeopardy from this.

In the case of the .IO domain regulations, a similar interpretation doesn't
make any sense. Packets don't go through customs.

~~~
randallsquared
Right, but it does mean that if any law was broken anywhere in the chain from
procurement to you buying it, you're guilty of breaking US law. A truck driver
was speeding on a road in Elbonia while delivering Elbonian packing rat pelts
for the leather that eventually became the couch you purchased on Amazon and
had delivered? You're guilty. With laws like these, there's just no way you
can know how many times you've broken the law this week.

~~~
dfranke
In this particular case, they have some decent _mens rea_ protections. You're
only criminally liable if you "know" that a law was broken, and only civilly
liable if "in the exercise of due care [you] should know". Your broader point
stands, of course.

------
viggity
Or you could just make sure that the Libyan's plutonium transaction with Doc
Brown goes smoothly, then they won't take away your domain.

In all seriousness though, I'm surprised it has taken this long for the
Libyans to revoke someone's domain. And I'm shocked bit.ly wasn't the first to
go.

Money trumps though, perhaps bit.ly is paying extra "fees" to NIC.ly? Did some
rich libyan really want vb.ly?

