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We, the Undersigned, endorse the following petition:

DEMAND for ANSWERS: Why are ISPs forced to carry terrorist web sites?

Target: John Ashcroft, Attorney General of the United States, Office of the Attorney General,
Sponsor: Johnathan Galt
  • Signatures: 222
  • Goal: 20,000
  • Deadline: 5-15-2003
DEMAND for ANSWERS from the U.S. DoJ and the Customs Service: "Why are ISPs forced to carry terrorist web sites"?

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Number Date Prefix Name City State Zip/Postal Code Country Does freedom of speech include soliciting funds to murder people overseas? What should be done?
225 8:00 pm PDT, Jun 26 Ms. Anonymous Paradise Valley Arizona 85253 United States I don't believe freedom of speech includes seeing innocent people tortured and killed for something that they haven't done. Most of these victims are people who are seeking peace and not war. We must let the terrorists know that we will not agree to any ransom by them showing innocent people being killed and that that method doesn't work. Killing innocent people isn't going to get a response and would have an adverse affect and that they won't get the result they want through terror.
224 5:21 pm PST, Jan 22 Mr. jeremiah simms Atlanta Georgia 30350 United States no, it needs to stop NOW we should decide on what should be done
223 9:20 pm PST, Nov 21 Mr. myles hayes kings park New York 11754 United States no we are enabling our own destruction by doing this stop it now block all terrorist pro media attempts it is time to take our country back from terrorists
222 7:42 pm PDT, Jun 19   Nick Irwin Birmingham Alabama 35243 United States Freedom of speech is a two-way street. You have to give a little to get a little. Government should do a better job of tracking information sent through terrorist websites.
221 6:11 am PDT, May 1 Ms. stephanie lessard Derry New Hampshire 03038 United States no gov.should upstep efforts to make this a criminal offense
220 11:24 pm PDT, Apr 28   Suzanne Bar-Tal Misgav Am   12155 Israel No If you take the terrorists off the air they loose an iternatioal forum designed to itimidate and gloat!
219 3:31 am PST, Mar 28   Rachel Kleypas-sparrow norwich   nr1 2rh United Kingdom I don't believe freedom of speech includes seeing innocent people tortured and killed for something that they haven't done. Most of these victims are people who are seeking peace and not war. We must let the terrorists know that we will not agree to any ransom by them showing innocent people being killed and that that method doesn't work. Killing innocent people isn't going to get a response and would have an adverse affect and that they won't get the result they want through terror.
218 8:58 am PST, Mar 16 Ms. Toni Sokoloski Marstons Mills Massachusetts 02648 United States no its a crime to murder people, arrest people for it.
217 8:59 pm PST, Feb 27   John Bechtold Saint Petersburg Florida 33713 United States i cant believe this is really possible!wtf! action should be taken in the form of no mercy!
216 2:46 am PST, Feb 22   Steve Klein x Armed Forces Americas 00000 Canada x x
215 6:40 pm PST, Feb 20   Anna Asbury Louisville Kentucky 40214 United States No --
214 4:53 pm PST, Feb 18 Mr. Curt Herman Coldwater Michigan 49036 United States no, how sick it is that this would come up. take it off.
213 6:43 pm PST, Feb 4   Spencer Hughes Deep River Iowa 52222 United States Freedom of speech should be protected everywhere, unless it is harmful. If the specific terrorists are known killers, then it doe not include. However, if they are suspected "terrorists", and no proof has been found against them, then, yes, freedom of speech does apply. ISPs should do whatever they want to. It is their servers, after all.
212 2:12 am PST, Feb 4   Christina Ellyson Hampton Virginia 23669 United States This is outrageous! It amounts to solicitation to commit murder. Allow ISP's to shut down and de-fund terror.
211 3:52 pm PST, Jan 21   C Lisa Jackson Portland Oregon 97225 United States no much
210 8:37 pm PST, Jan 11 Ms. Anonymous Hoquiam Washington 98550 United States ??????? ????????
209 6:43 am PST, Jan 8   Chandra Patel Bristol Tennessee 37620 United States no cut the tie
208 12:24 pm PST, Jan 7   Anonymous Crestwood Kentucky 40014 United States Did you goofs ever consider that the government wants the sites up so they can get info on WHO and WHAT they are doing?!?! NOTHING...let the government track them!
207 6:30 pm PST, Jan 2 Ms. Anonymous Macon Georgia 31211 United States NO! Terrorists with websites should be tracked down and prosecuted and new sites denied. At the very least, the sites should be taken down if the owners can't be tracked down.
206 9:58 pm PST, Dec 8   Anonymous Castleford Armed Forces Americas 00000 United Kingdom no stop
205 8:51 am PST, Dec 8 Ms. Brenda Schenk Hoquiam Washington 98550 United States Obviously it does, because that is sadly what has been happening. It's such a shame that our freedom of speech is being used to neglect & abuse & murder people. How sad, how very sad. I'm not sure. But there has to be some thing that we can do to not promote neglect, abuse, murder, torture, etc.
204 7:49 am PST, Nov 24   Thomas Pirovano Bern Armed Forces Americas 00000 Switzerland yes All things
203 10:32 pm PST, Nov 16   Rachel Ryan Savannah Georgia 31401 United States nope that is called premeditated murder, I believe. The US government should have no say in what can and can not be available through individual internet providers
202 10:42 am PST, Nov 16   Jodi Baldwin Baltimore Maryland 21225 United States No, FREEDOM OF SPEECH was meant to protect life not to help end it. It needs to be taken off immediately. If they want it on the net then let them post elsewhere, I have Muslim friends and none of them find it important or even interesting to view those types of pages. No ONE religion is better than another and they need to get over it.
201 9:31 am PST, Nov 11   Ms Zentura Casper Wyoming 82604 United States No. Stop it.

DEMAND for ANSWERS: Why are ISPs forced to carry terrorist web sites?

Islamist Terrorism in the USA -- on the Internet hosted by American ISPs.

ISPs are being forced by someone in the U.S. Government to carry websites devoted to terrorism. These organizations have been officially designated by the U.S. Dept. of Justice as terrorist. They have websites hosted by American ISPs, which collect money for terror and recruit in direct violation of U.S. laws!
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http://news.independent.co.uk/world/middle_east/story.jsp?story=286656
Hamas uses website to fund suicide bombings
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http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0502/0502qassam.htm
Is an American ISP hosting terrorist web sites?
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Hamas Continues Raising Funds Via Internet in the USA
http://www.israelnn.com/news.php3?id=22567
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Firm blocks controversial Web sites temporarily
http://www.chron.com/cs/CDA/story.hts/metropolitan/1393564
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http://www.enterstageright.com/archive/articles/0502/0502ispterrorist.htm
Some group inside the U.S. Government is requiring ISPs to host the sites! The ISPs cannot take them down.
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Is the American government requiring American companies to host terrorist web sites?
By Jeremy Reynalds
May 13, 2002

With the situation in the Middle East close to boiling, two American Internet Service Providers are claiming that the government is requiring them to continue hosting web sites promoting terrorist groups and activities.

Let me explain. Last week I reported a story concerning the possible hosting by a Houston-based Internet Service Provider of a Hamas terrorist web site that's asking for donations to buy guns and ammunition. After calling the company for comment, I also e-mailed CEO Robert Marsh and asked him why his company was hosting such a site.

Marsh responded by e-mail, "We host a large number of web sites, directly and indirectly. We had no knowledge that we were hosting these sites. We don't want to host these types of sites and as we are made aware of them, we remove these offensive sites immediately. We here at Ev1 and Rackshack were deeply affected by the events on September 11th, and would never do anything to aid those people. Thank you for bringing this issue to our attention."

Being aware that the Hamas has been designated an illegal terrorist group by the United States government, I also alerted the Houston FBI. An agent took down all the information I gave him and told me to expect a call the next day. I never received any call back from the FBI and when the offending web sites weren't removed I initially figured that maybe the folks at Everyone's Internet weren't as "deeply affected " as they had made out.

However, a few days later I was e-mailed a story from the Houston Chronicle, which let me know why the web sites were still up and why the FBI hadn't called me back. However, these "answers" triggered even more questions. Marsh told the Chronicle he was unaware of the sites until recently (I suspect when I called his office and e-mailed him informing him of their existence), and that while Everyman's does not do business directly with the site operators in question, he was willing to block them anyway.

Now this is where the story gets really interesting and we need to start making calls and demanding answers. According to the Chronicle, after blocking the sites the company was contacted by the U.S. Customs Service which asked that the sites be put back on line again. Since when has the U.S. Customs Service had any form of legal authority over the web?

This time, Marsh did not return e-mails from me asking for comment. He had nothing to say to the Houston Chronicle either, on why the Customs Service wanted the sites running again. According to the Chronicle, "Marsh referred questions to a telephone number left by a customs agent. The number rang at the Customs Communications Center in Orlando, Fla., where an officer said he had no information on the case. FBI and customs spokesmen in Houston said they too had no information."

There's also apparent government involvement for another terrorist web site out there too, azzam.com. This site is filled with a lot of pro-Islamic, anti-American propaganda. Among other information, you can see quotes from Taliban officials and spokesmen such as "If a country or group violates our country, we will not forget our revenge." Another quote read, "Any enemy of the Muslims will be punished by God. The United States and Israel are enemies of Islam, and then there was "If anyone assists America and allows them to use their airspace or land routes against us then we will be forced to retaliate against them."

And rhetoric such as this is apparently being supported by an arm of the federal government, because the ISP hosts are not happy about their involvement. The hosting trail for this site eventually leads to burst.net

When I e-mailed burst.net asking why the company hosted such a site, here is the response I got from a Sean Rosler, who identified himself as being with System Administration.

"BurstNET DOES NOT voluntarily host the azzam.com web site. It has either been removed from our equipment (It hasn't) or has been left untouched by gov't official request. (My emphasis). It was formerly hosted here, was under government investigation, and was/will be removed as soon as the govt allowed us to do such. It would have been removed the instant we found out about it, had we not been instructed by the ‘powers that be' to leave it untouched ... We are a Jewish owned corporation, do you really think we want to host such crap?"

Folks, concerned Americans deserve explanations on this one. Why is the government apparently requiring these companies to continue hosting these sites? Let's contact the media, our elected officials and demand that we get some answers.

Jeremy Reynalds is a freelance writer and the founder and director of Joy Junction, New Mexico's largest emergency homeless shelter. He has a master's degree in communication from the University of New Mexico and is pursuing his PhD in intercultural education at Biola University in Los Angeles. He is married with five children and lives in Albuquerque, New Mexico. His work can be viewed here and weekly at www.americasvoices.org. He may be contacted by e-mail at reynalds@joyjunction.org.
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The US Government is breaking it's own rules by not enforcing Executive Order 13224 (blocking Terrorist Property AND PROHIBITING TRANSACTIONS WITH PERSONS WHO COMMIT, THREATEN TO COMMIT, OR SUPPORT TERRORISM). Every ISP hosting a terrorist website is in violation.
http://www.treasury.gov/terrorism.html
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In addition to signing this petition, if you are an American, you should contact *both* your senators:
http://www.senate.gov/contacting/index_by_state.cfm

and your representative:
http://www.house.gov/writerep/

and *DEMAND* an explanation from the U.S. Customs and the US-DOJ!

If you're British, contact your MP:
http://www.locata.co.uk/commons/
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For further information about the Islamist terror web:
http://www.geocities.com/johnathanrgalt/
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Note: This DEMAND for ANSWERS: Why are ISPs forced to carry terrorist web sites? petition was submitted by Johnathan Galt. ThePetitionSite.com is a free service provided to help concerned citizens rally support for issues they believe in. The opinions expressed by this petition do not necessarily reflect the views and opinions of ThePetitionSite.com or Care2.com. There is no express or implied endorsement of this petition nor any newsletter offers (except those from Care2.com) by Care2.com, Inc, ThePetitionSite.com, or our sponsors. If you believe this system is being abused, please contact customer support.

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