STOCKHOLM--(BUSINESS WIRE)--As a Swedish web host shut down the Greenpeace parody site Nestespoil.com after a law suit from Neste Oil, competitor Binero invited Greenpeace in, with the new site Nestespoilreturns.com. Binero considers the EU E-commerce directive 2000/31/EG and the consequent local laws to be absurd and that all sites must be allowed to have their legality tried by authorities. Current laws put web hosts, ISPs and other middle men at risk of being sued for damages unless they immediately shut down sites in unclear cases. Large corporations can stop sites simply by threatening middle men and we believe this is a threat to free speech.
- We at Binero believe that our customers have the right to be judged by the courts, we cannot take responsibility for determining whether a website is legal or not. Today we may be sued for high damages unless we just shut down everything we are asked for - we may even be required to pay for sizeable legal costs even if we shut down a site directly, says Bineros CEO and founder Anders Aleborg.
Binero hosts several hundreds of thousands of websites. The web host has previously refused to answer authority inquiries about the customer thepiratebay.se when the questions were put without legal grounds. Greenpeace set up the site Nestespoil.com as a parody of the big Finnish oil company Neste Oil site www.2011.nesteoil.com. After Neste transmitted a lawsuit to the former hosting company, the company immediately closed the site.
- It was natural for us to invite Greenpeace. Oil companies should not be able to stop the parodies, free expression of opinion without commercial purposes only by threatening a middleman, says Anders Aleborg.
Greenpeace set up the site Nestespoilreturns.com at Binero, now with the band, "This parody site is bullied by Neste Oil." Binero is concerned over the obligations of the Swedish EU-harmonized e-Commerce Act 18 Section puts on intermediaries:
- If we get a warning letter, we are forced to act as police and try decide whether a site is illegal. If we do not close the site, it can be claimed that we would have been in bad faith. Even more absurd is that a company can bring injunctions against us. The proof requirements are low, probable cause and we will receive no notice. Suddenly, we are embroiled in a trial where we may be required to pay for expenses. It is pure Kafka, we cannot monitor our clients hundreds of thousands of websites, says Anders Aleborg.
If you have an opinion on Neste Oil's behavior, you can leave them here with Greenpeace: http://www.greenpeace.org/finland/en/What-we-do/Neste-Oil--driving-rainforest-destruction/FAQ-on-palm-oil-and-biofuels/Send-feedback-to-Neste-Oil/
Binero AB is a hosting and domain vendor aiming to be Sweden’s friendliest web host. Among other things, the company has no binding periods, no period of notice, monthly payments and a total transparency to the servers. Binero has been recommended by Råd & Röd magazine and 2005, 2006 and 2008 by Internetworld magazine, which 2009 and 2010 elected Binero “Best swedish web host“. www.binero.se
Press photos: http://www.binero.se/omoss/pressinformation