ABC - SAN FRANCISCO ISP SHUTS DOWN WEBSITE AFTER DISNEY COMPLAINT

An Internet service provider in San Francisco has shut down a website that posted recorded excerpts by right-wing talk-show hosts on ABC affiliate KSFO in which they endorsed torture of Iraqi prisoners, called for the hanging of New York Times editor Bill Keller and other journalists, and urged callers to mock Islam, according to MediaPost's online website, OnlineMediaDaily.com. The trade publication said that the ISP, 1&1 Internet, acted after receiving complaints from ABC Radio that the posted material violated the Walt Disney Company's copyright. However, the operator of the site, who goes by the online name "Spocko," insisted that the audio postings represented "fair use" and maintained that Disney had acted because KSFO advertisers whom he had contacted, including Netflix, MasterCard, Bank of America, and Visa, have already withdrawn advertising from the station. ABC and Disney declined to comment.

05/01/2007