Hit Lists, Bomb-Making Tips Led to Shutdown of Blogging Site

Fox News reports a popular website that hosted more than 70,000 bloggers was shut down suddenly last week after the FBI informed its chief technology officer that the site contained hit lists, bomb-making documents and links to Al Qaeda materials, it was reported on Monday.

When the WordPress platform Blogetery.com went dead, the initial explanation from the site’s host, Burst.net, was that “a law-enforcement agency” had ordered it to shut down, citing a “history of abuse.” The explanation caused a wave of conspiracy theories in the blogosphere.

But according to a report on CNET Monday, Burst.net shut down Blogetery.com when it became spooked by a letter from the FBI, in which the bureau detailed the presence of terrorist materials among the blog posts.

Burst.net CTO Joe Marr explained that the FBI contacted them with a request for voluntary emergency disclosure of information, bringing to their attention that terrorist material presenting a threat to the lives of Americans was found on a server Burst.net hosted. FBI agents said they wanted specific, immediate information about the people who posted the material.

Paul Bresson, unit chief for the FBI’s national press office, wrote in an email to FoxNews.com Monday that Burst.net shut down the website on its own. “We did not make a request to shut down a website,” Bresson wrote.

via FOXNews.com – FBI Warning of Al Qaeda Hit Lists, Bomb-Making Tips Led to Shutdown of Blogging Site.