The HSUS investigated
these complaints and found that the site was a joke created by a
student at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (M.I.T.), who had
registered it at his school under a false name. Encouraged by all the
negative attention, the student cited his right to free speech in an
attempt to keep the site online, but M.I.T. sided with the animal
protection organizations and citizens who complained, and removed the
site on December 22, 2000.
The following month, the site
resurfaced on a new host, WEB2010.com. We contacted this company to
voice our concerns, and the company removed the site on January 17,
2001.
While we were grateful to these hosts for removing the
site, history tells us that creators of offensive web sites often seek
out new hosts until they find one that has either no User s Agreement
or allows all content, no matter how offensive, permitted under the
First Amendment. The creator of the Bonsai Kitten site followed this
pattern, and the site is currently hosted by a new company that refuses
to remove it.
The Massachusetts SPCA and the FBI initiated an
investigation of the site s creator, but discovered no evidence of
actual animal abuse or the sale of bonsai kitten "products," though the
investigation remains active. If the creator is not e-mailing the
obscene materials to an unwilling audience, violating a User s
Agreement, committing the abuse depicted on site, or actually selling
products involving animal cruelty, then the site is considered free
speech and is protected by the First Amendment.
How You Can Help
Please do not
e-mail or otherwise contact the person running the site. The negative
attention he s received has fueled the posting of the site in several
locations and the formation of a group of supporters. One course of
action is to contact the Internet Service Provider (ISP) that hosts the
site. There are some exceptions, but in most cases, ISPs have removed
sites because they determined that the sites content violated their
User s Agreement. For information on how to determine the ISP that
hosts a particular site, see our web page on "What You Can Do about Web
Sites that Promote Animal Cruelty."
A more effective response to
web sites that depict animal cruelty is to submit information about
them to the "Animal Cruelty Action List." The list s goal is to
coordinate the efforts of the online community through targeted legal
and time-sensitive methods, so that such sites are removed quickly,
thus frustrating the purpose of the sites creators to draw attention
to themselves and their site. For more information, visit the Hugs for
Homeless Animals web site by clicking the link below.
The
numerous complaints we have received about the Bonsai Kitten site have
made us aware of the many good-intentioned people eager to make a
difference. Every day animals are deliberately set on fire, beaten,
tortured, drowned, dragged behind cars, stabbed, or otherwise abused.
We need your help to put an end to the abuse of all animals. If you
would like to become involved with issues that need immediate action,
follow the link to the right to subscribe to our free weekly
e-newsletter, HUMANElines. You can start making a difference for
animals in distress today!
Bo dosti "dokazov"?
in bom res enga v stekleničko stlačla
in bom res enga v stekleničko stlačla
Sicer pa se popolnoma strinjam!
.
