Verio Resists MPAA Demands on Content Removal for Free Speech

n a move that free-speech activists hope will be trendsetting, Internet service provider Verio is standing up to the movie industry by refusing to remove a Web site the Motion Picture Association of America says is illegal. Many ISPs, especially smaller . . . n a move that free-speech activists hope will be trendsetting, Internet service provider Verio is standing up to the movie industry by refusing to remove a Web site the Motion Picture Association of America says is illegal. Many ISPs, especially smaller ones that don't have large legal departments, yank sites immediately after receiving threatening letters from content providers to avoid liability. But Verio, a unit of NTT Communications that hosts more than 400,000 Web sites, is raising the bar for site closures by refusing to buckle under MPAA pressure.

"That is a little unusual," said Ronald Coolley, an attorney with the Chicago office of Houston-based law firm Arnold White & Durkee.

The link for this article located at CNET is no longer available.