Web hosting provider, Verio, has shut down Crytome.org, a controversial site which posts government documents. Some are shouting conspiracy, saying the company was pressured by government agencies

May 1, 2007 – (TopHosts News Brief) – According to an IDG News story by Nancy Gohring, privacy advocates are voicing concerns over growing control of the Internet by big business and government, as Verio stops hosting a controversial website.

Cryptome.org, a website that posts government policy and intelligence documents, received a short letter from Verio telling them the site would be terminated last Friday. Owned by NTT Communications Corp., Verio says they’re terminating services because they violated acceptable use policy.

According to reports, Cryptome.org has violated Verio’s policy before. But the Web hosting provider has allowed the site to stay up after removing a document or by proving that posting the document doesn’t breach any laws.

But this time around, Verio has not given Cryptome.org any opportunities to rectify the situation. John Young, Cryptome.org’s founder, says in a note on the site that Verio has not specified how exactly the site violates the rules.

Cryptome.org fans are thinking conspiracy and wonder if Verio was pressured by government agencies to shut down the site. Cryptome.org is a “very valuable repository for people interested in open government,” Steve Bellovin, of the Columbia University’s computer science department, said in an IDG story. “There are people who don’t like that much openness.”