easyDNS and the Lack of Mainstream Media Morality

UPDATE:  48 Minutes After Original Publication.

This article deserves an immediate update and, unlike the New York Times, my updates and corrections always go at the head of my articles and not at the very end.  Half an hour ago, I heard from Mark Jeftovic at easyDNS and I received permission to republish his email here:

Hi David,

I really appreciated reading your article on the entire “wikileaks” fiasco. It was nice to finally see the entire account related by a third party and basically get it right, from beginning to (almost the) end.

Really great, I am very grateful to you, thank you.

The latest development is that as of a few hours ago, we were added to the DNS delegation for wikileaks.ch and expect the .org to follow:

http://blog.easydns.org/2010/12/05/easydns-added-to-wikileaks-dns-delegation/

What a weekend.

Thanks again.

-mark

Here is my reply to Mark:

Hi Mark!

Thanks for the email!  Your response means a lot to me.

You are handling this so well — it’s like you very own special “Mainstream Media DDoS attack!”  SMILE!

I was going to mention in my article that the best revenge would be for you guys to step forward and actually back up WikiLeaks as a DNS fallback — but I didn’t want to put you in any more wondering jeopardy — how great it is that you guys stepped into the fray and put your backbone into WikiLeaks?  I love it!  Now I wonder how soon you’ll hear from Joe Lieberman and the frantic frenzied?

Do you mind if I add your email as an update to my article?

I thank you!

Best,

db

Long Live easyDNS!

ORIGINAL ARTICLE:
If there’s any sort of notion of morality in the mainstream media — don’t ask easyDNS.net to stand in the pulpit to testify — because easyDNS have wrongly been nailed to the cross to bleed for the WikiLeaks debacle, all because of rotten and lazy reporting that basically leaves easyDNS for dead.

This morning I woke up to read my daily email update of new articles from The New York Times.  Included in that email, sent to me at 3:48am, was this reference to the current WikiLeaks scandal and easyDNS’ role in cutting off WikiLeaks from its service:

…and the domain name company EasyDNS.net

I’d read about WikiLeaks losing DNS service and easyDNS was often mentioned as the culprit of record.

After reading that NYTimes link, I decided to click through to see what those easyDNS motherfathers were up to and why they decided to cut off WikiLeaks.

When I read about easyDNS’ role in the WikiLeaks warble, I was surprised to see “EveryDNS.net” mentioned instead of “easyDNS.”

Hmm, “That’s strange,” I thought.

Then, at the end of the article, was this appendage — I’m using screenshots throughout this article because published raw text in the wild has a tendency to change and disappear — to see this tiny “correction:”

An earlier version of this article incorrectly identified the domain name company that cut service to WikiLeaks. It was EveryDNS.net, not EasyDNS.net.

Oh, how quaint!  Herd Reporting at its worst!  easyDNS gets the plunger in the bunghole all week in the mainstream media while the real bugger, everyDNS, gets off the hook as a hanged appendage.

How does easyDNS earn back a reputation that has been unfairly ragged in the press?  Here’s the current easyDNS homepage with it’s clear denial of any involvement with WikiLeaks:

Here is some of the righteous, and heartfelt, easyDNS outrage:

Looks like wikileaks was the subject of a DOS attack last night, and their DNS provider who was everyDNS.net and not easyDNS, took the website down.

I’m not sure who the Pulitzer candidate was who started it, but somebody wrote that Wikileaks had been taken down by us, easyDNS. By the time I woke up this morning I was inundated with emails and comments.

The incorrect info rippled through twitter like a zombie horde. Not only did people mindlessly hit the “retweet” button and perpetuate bad information: some took the time and care to email us, or search for our blog (why couldn’t they do a whois lookup while they were at it?) and post comments about our “cowardice.”

Here’s a screenshot from the same website detailing some of the malingering media who mistakenly went after easyDNS and not everyDNS:

Blaming easyDNS for everyDNS’ deeds is unconscionable, unfair and immoral.

Damage has been done to easyDNS and an apology and retraction are not enough to heal their undeserved, and unwarranted, rift between alleged reputation and actual behavior.

In some ways, easyDNS’ success in the marketplace is what so quickly got them wrongly branded as the WikiLeaks betrayer — when you think of DNS management, the first name that sticks is your mind is “easyDNS” and not “everyDNS” — but that is no excuse for reporting the tip of your mind instead of the truth of the tongue, and so we all owe it to easyDNS to hep set the record straight and indemnify them from future libel by wrongful association.