Domains Run Scared From Web Startup RateMyCop

Controversial Web startup RateMyCop.com is searching for a new domain host after two other registries, GoDaddy.com and Rackspace.com, decided this week not to house the site.

RateMyCop.com went live with GoDaddy.com as the host on Monday, but by Tuesday the registry had shuttered it, claiming the site was taking up too much bandwidth. RateMyCop.com co-founder Gino Sesto then lined up Rackspace.com to host the site, but by Wednesday afternoon that company also declined. "We believe that the Web site to be found at www.ratemycop.com as described to our sales representative could create a risk to the health and safety of law enforcement officers," Rackspace senior corporate counsel Beth Sherfy wrote to Sesto.

Designed as a forum to share information about law enforcement personnel, RateMyCop.com riled police departments since the moment it launched. They complained that the site endangers police officers by publicly profiling them, and in some cases, unfairly criticizing them.

Sesto said the information about law enforcement officers came from police departments nationwide, provided in response to Freedom of Information Act requests or gleaned from their own Web sites. The Los Angeles-based site has compiled information about more than 130,000 officers around the country.

"The goal was to try to bridge the gap between citizens and police officers," Sesto said. He added that the site also was intended to shed light on complaints, which frequently don't get much publicity. "If you were to file a complaint, it's really behind closed doors," he said. "Why not have more transparency? It's Web 2.0; everything's out there."

The site launched two weeks ago on a shared server, which it's still using while the founders look for a new dedicated host.

The GoDaddy shuttering marks at least the second time in recent weeks that a domain host has shuttered a high-profile site. Last month, domain host Dynadot agreed to an injunction ordering it to take down the whistle-blower site Wikileaks.org after Swiss bank Julius Baer named Dynadot as a defendant in court. Julius Baer's complaint was about documents posted to Julius Baer, but Dynadot agreed to take down the site in exchange for dismissal from the case. The judge in that case later overturned the injunction due to concerns that it unconstitutionally infringed First Amendment free speech principles.

While court orders shuttering a site can violate the First Amendment, private companies like GoDaddy and Rackspace are under no obligation to provide hosting services. "They can voluntarily choose to reject this kind of content if they want," said Sam Bayard, assistant director of the Citizen Media Law Project at Harvard Law School's Berkman Center for Internet & Society.

GoDaddy.com said its decision to take down the site was driven solely by financial concerns. The company said the site exceeded the $14.99-a-month server usage Sesto had contracted for. "Basically, he was paying for compact car, when he really needed a semi-truck," Elizabeth Driscoll, vice president, public relations at GoDaddy.com said. But Sesto said that a customer service representative told him Tuesday the site was taken down for "suspicious activity."

Rackspace declined to comment on RateMyCop, saying it does not reveal information about any specific clients. But a spokeswoman sent a link to Rackspace's acceptable use policy, which says users may not publish material that "creates a risk to a person's safety or health, creates a risk to public safety or health, compromises national security, or interferes with an investigation by law enforcement."

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