[WEB4LIB] Re: Chemistry website content change

[Minkel, Walter (Cahners -NYC)]

Folks-- Hi from School Library Journal. There seems to be a flood of domains
that have lapsed & then bought by brokers & sold to porn sites (at least
that's how I've heard it reported). Just recently both a site for children's
authors & illustrators, and another for homeschooling families, became porn
sites, to the great embarrassment of many folks in children's literature &
education. My understanding is that unscrupulous domain brokers (are there
_scrupulous_ domain brokers?) look for sites to which many other sites link,
& snap them up as soon as ownership of those domains lapses. You can
understand what a sensitive issue this is in many public & school libraries
serving kids. 

I'd like to write something about this, but I'm not certain of the best way
to approach the subject. Is anyone aware of why this is happening so
frequently these days? I have guesses, but no documentation. Are there any
authorities or organizations I could contact who could talk about it with
some expertise? All suggestions as to tracking this story down are welcome.
Thanks, W

----------------------------------------------------------------------
Walter Minkel * Technology Editor, School Library Journal * www.slj.com
wminkel at cahners.com * (212) 463-6721 * fax (212) 463-6689

> -----Original Message-----
> From:	Peter Scott [SMTP:scottp at moondog.usask.ca]
> Sent:	Wednesday, August 15, 2001 10:00 AM
> To:	Multiple recipients of list
> Subject:	[WEB4LIB] Re: Chemistry website content change
> 
> I received a bunch of messages about this one as well yesterday:
> 
> http://www.science-kids.com
> 
> Now a pornography site.