The internet domain registrar GoDaddy has started shutting down anabolic steroid-related websites under increasing pressure from a pharmacy special interest group called LegitScript.com. LegitScript.com is an internet pharmacy verification service that approves pharmacies that conform to United States federal and state laws.
The service apparently promotes the internationalization of steroid laws and prescription laws such that international internet pharmacies not subject to U.S. laws are considered illegitimate if they fail to comply. Furthermore, LegitScripts.com has requested that GoDaddy shut down websites that only provide information related to the non-medical use of anabolic steroids; in other words, LegitScripts wants GoDaddy to pull the plug on steroid-related websites that do NOT even sell anabolic steroids but just discuss the use of steroids for bodybuilding purposes.
GoDaddy recently shutdown the following steroid pharmacy websites ominously listing the nameservers as NS1.SUSPENDED-FOR.SPAM-AND-ABUSE.COM and NS2.SUSPENDED-FOR.SPAM-AND-ABUSE.COM:
- Axiolabsgear.com and various product websites owned by parent company including primoplex.com, trenaplex.com, haloplex.com, mastaplex.com, methanoplex.com, oxandroplex.com, stanoplex.com, etc.
- Effectivemedications.com and various other websites owned by parent company including buywinstrol.net, buysustanon.org, buyclenbuterol.net, etc
- Body-pharmacy.com and various other websites owned by parent company including Normshop.net, Roid4sale.com, Underground-pharmacy.com, etc
Ivitamins.org appeared to have also been taken down by GoDaddy but it now appears that the owners quickly recognized the actions GoDaddy was taking against other steroid-related websites and initiated a transfer of the domain to another registrar which is currently “pending.” It is unclear whether GoDaddy will now be able to shut down Ivitamins.org at this point.
The exact reasons for GoDaddy’s actions have not been clearly disclosed so the merits of the action can not be full debated. However, it is worth noting that the Anabolic Steroid Control Act and the Ryan Haight Online Consumer Protection Act do not extend to countries outside of the United States although U.S. registrars like GoDaddy may base their actions on U.S. law.
LegitScript.com clearly advocates the internationalization of steroid law claiming the laws of other countries are meaningless and that the physical location of an internet pharmacy is irrelevant. They believe the legality of steriod websites should be judged by US policy. What is illegal in the USA should be illegal all over the world.
What about the fact that anabolic steroids are actually legal without a prescription in some countries? Even if the seller is located in that country, and therefore not violating that country’s law, two things are clear: first, the drugs are being marketed and made available to residents of the United States, where the illegality of anabolic steroids, without a prescription, is well-established, and second, the domain name registrars in question, being physically located within the United States, should consider US law to define what is illegal for purposes of the terms of their User Agreements, and take action accordingly.
Philip Sweitzer articulated serious concerns with the “internationalization of steroid law.”
The internationalized, fascistic nature of current steroid law enforcement policy thus emerges. Hegemony is its stated goal, that U.S. policy must be tantamount to international policy: all nations must conform to the legal standard of the United States. We must all think alike The internationalization of steroid law, however, is also troubling for its politicization and heavy-handed reliance on dishonest notions of morality, cheating, and protecting our children, rather than science
GoDaddy may have just become a participant in the politicized international anti-steroid efforts.
About the author
Millard writes about anabolic steroids and performance enhancing drugs and their use and impact in sport and society. He discusses the medical and non-medical uses of anabolic-androgenic steroids while advocating a harm reduction approach to steroid education.
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