How your URLs help power Gadhafi's regime

[Renew Deal]

Ever use Bit.ly or Ow.ly to shorten a URL inside Twitter? Or Tru.ly to verify someone's identity? Or Letter.ly to send email newsletters? You probably aren't aware of it, but you've been indirectly helping support a crazy-ass North African dictator.

A story in last Friday's Wall Street Journal points out the now painfully obvious fact that all .ly domains use the country code top-level-domain (ccTLD) assigned to Libya. To obtain a .ly address on the Web, you must fork over $75 to a registrar approved by Libya Telecom and Technology, which is run by the government of Libya. In other words, you're putting money in Gadhafi's pocket.

Of course, $75 is chicken feed compared to all the other money in Gadhafi's pocket. But when you're at not-war with the man, it's the principle that counts. As the Journal's Jess Bravin points out, many would-be Libya foes have used URL shortening services like Bit.ly:
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Don't blame them, or even Bit.ly or Ow.ly. Blame adverbs. They're the real culprits for our dependence on ".ly."
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http://www.infoworld.com/t/cringely/libya-links-and-you-how-your-urls-help-power-gadhafis-regime-530