Inside Online Video

YouTube Should Sue Pakistan Telecom

by Mike Abundo on February 25th, 2008

Did you notice that YouTube was down for over an hour yesterday? Turns out it was an IP hijack by Pakistan Telecom. They were trying to censor content offensive to Islam within Pakistan, as per Pakistani government orders. They accidentally spread their little hijack around the world, blocking YouTube globally.

I won’t make any judgments on governments censoring content within their own jurisdictions. Regardless of your religious and geopolitical sensibilities, however, a wrong has been committed here. This is a case of one local business in one country interfering with a global business in another country. Whether the interference was due to negligence or malice makes no difference.

The Pakistani government can run its own country as it sees fit, but Pakistan Telecom must be held accountable for interfering with YouTube’s operations. YouTube should sue Pakistan Telecom.

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POSTED IN: Censorship, YouTube