A tiny west African country is demanding control of its internet domain back, reports today's Financial Times.
"São Tomé and Principe claims it has unwittingly become the continent's electronic porn publishing capital after a Swedish company and its local partner sold the country's internet identity without government approval.
"The government is demanding a share of the income earned from selling addresses using São Tomé's .st suffix, after a US survey found they accounted for more than three-quarters of the porn pages generated from websites that use African nations' identities."
"The controversy highlights an evolving debate over control of potentially lucrative national internet identities - known as top-level domains - after disputes over domains ranging from Moldova to the minuscule Pitcairn Islands in the south Pacific."
