ISNIC – Internet á Íslandi hf., which manages the registry for the .is country code, was forced to shut down a website on grounds of its content for the first time in the company’s history last night because terrorist organization Islamic State (IS) was using the domain .is.
“The majority of ISNIC’s board made this decision … on the grounds of Article 9 of ISNIC’s Rules on Domain Registration, which states: ‘The registrant is responsible for ensuring that the use of the domain is within the limits of Icelandic law as current at any time,’” ISNIC said in a statement.
ISNIC’s managing director Jens Pétur Jensen told ruv.is that he is sad about having been forced to shut down a website and about IS having picked the .is domain. The company will make sure that the organization doesn’t try to reopen the website or open others like it.
The website was established in September, at which point ISNIC didn’t know what it stood for. Jens explained that thousands of websites with the .is country codes are established each year and that the process is automatic, no person has to authorize the content.
