German registrar bans Web site
By Declan McCullagh
Staff Writer, CNET News.com
February 11, 2003, 5:54 PM PT
update A domain name registrar in Germany has deleted the registration for a gruesome U.S.-based online photo gallery that featured stomach-wrenching images from autopsies and medical procedures.
Computer Service Langenbach, which operates the Joker.com registrar in Dusseldorf, Germany, yanked the Ogrish.com domain name from its database this week in response to a request from a German prosecutor, said the hosting service and the owner of the site Tuesday.
"I've never heard of a case where a registrar can disable a domain over content," said Ted Hickman, who runs Virginia-based ProHosters.com. "I certainly won't be registering any domains at Joker.com...We'll host anything that's legal in the U.S. It's not our job to determine whether content is acceptable to others."
Neither Computer Service Langenbach nor the German embassy in Washington responded to inquiries. A search on the domain Ogrish.com in the Whois database lists it as "disabled by government."
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