Re: NetSol web site suspension

[David Farber <dave () farber net>]

________________________________________
From: Miles Fidelman [mfidelman () meetinghouse net]
Sent: Monday, March 24, 2008 10:45 AM
To: David Farber
Cc: ip
Subject: Re: [IP] Re:   NetSol web site suspension

David Farber wrote:
> From: Jonathan Zittrain [zittrain () law harvard edu]
>
> I can't tell whether NetSol is acting here in its capacity as a
> registrar, registry, or web hosting provider.  It looks like the
> registrant is getting all three services from Network Solutions, and
> that the suspension, despite the "domain temporarily unavailable"
> message, may be of NetSol's hosting rather than of the domain
> name.
I think Jonathan is right about this.  I did a little digging the following:

1. Starting with the whois record for www.fitnathemovie.com at netsol
does not say anything about a suspension, it does say:

Visit AboutUs.org for more information about FITNATHEMOVIE.COM:
http://www.aboutus.org/FITNATHEMOVIE.COM

It also shows an IP address of 205.178.145.65, which clicks through to
ARIN which shows:
*fitnathemovie.com*


* 205.178.145.65*
*Record Type:*          IP Address

InQuent Technologies Inc. INQUENT-2 (NET-205-178-128-0-1)
                                  205.178.128.0 - 205.178.191.255
Network Solutions, LLC NSLLC01 (NET-205-178-145-0-1)
                                  205.178.145.0 - 205.178.145.255





And if you click on the show registry data, you get:

Domain Name: FITNATHEMOVIE.COM
   Registrar: NETWORK SOLUTIONS, LLC.
   Whois Server: whois.networksolutions.com
   Referral URL: http://www.networksolutions.com
   Name Server: NS35.WORLDNIC.COM
   Name Server: NS36.WORLDNIC.COM
   Status: clientTransferProhibited
   Updated Date: 26-feb-2008
   Creation Date: 26-feb-2008
   Expiration Date: 26-feb-2009


2. using the DNS stuff tools

- whois takes you to NetSol
- it shows the same nameservers
- DNS lookup shows the same 205.178.145.65
<http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?ip=205.178.145.65>

3. The IP is registered to Inquent.com - when you go to www.inquent.com
you're redirected to a resellers.networksolutions.com - reinforcing
Jonathan's surmise that NetSol is providing hosting.

4. You go to 205.178.145.65
<http://www.dnsstuff.com/tools/whois.ch?ip=205.178.145.65> and you get:
an "under construction page"

5. What's interesting is that if you go to www.fitnathemovie, you get a
page that says:

This site has been suspended while Network Solutions is investigating
whether the site's content is in violation of the Network Solutions
Acceptable Use Policy. Network Solutions has received a number of
complaints regarding this site that are under investigation. For more
information about Network Solutions Acceptable Use Policy visit the
following URL: http://www.networksolutions.com/legal/aup.jsp

Sort of suggests that it's set up as a name-based virtual host on
NetSols's page.

So... sure looks like it's a suspension of the site, not of the DNS
registry.  Doesn't look like anything is stopping the folks from putting
up a site elsewhere and creating an A record for it, either at NetSol or
by designating other nameservers.

6. One little kicker, is that if you follow the link on NetSol's whois page:

"Visit AboutUs.org for more information about FITNATHEMOVIE.COM:
http://www.aboutus.org/FITNATHEMOVIE.COM";

You get to a page that says:

23rd March English version release
Network Solutions has censored fitna the movie's website.
fitnathemovie.co.uk is an anti - Fitna The Movie site.
http://www.fitnathemovie.co.uk

where it says (remember, this is listed as an "anti-... page"):
t should be fairly obvious by now that there is no "Fitna" movie. No
movie to insult Islam or Muslims or anyone else for that matter. The
month of April is upon us, we all know the month of April starts with
the *1st April* and that day is famous for (practical) jokes.

Whether true or not, it is an interesting example of how simply announcing something can lead to huge
waves of protest (can you say "orange alert")

Cheers,

Miles











"Visit AboutUs.org for more information about FITNATHEMOVIE.COM AboutUs:
FITNATHEMOVIE.COM <http://www.aboutus.org/FITNATHEMOVIE.COM>

- a quick perusal with the tools at DNSstuff.com yields two nameservers:
|ns35.worldnic.com.
ns36.worldnic.com.
if I recall properly, these are the default nameservers at NetSol - if
you host your DNS records and/or website at NetSol, I believe these are
the nameservers that NetSol users

-


|

-------------------------------------------
Archives: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/247/=now
RSS Feed: http://www.listbox.com/member/archive/rss/247/
Powered by Listbox: http://www.listbox.com