The expired website of Palau National Marine Sanctuary (PNMS) has been taken over by a porn site.
The government issued a statement on June 14 stating that it has nothing to do with the takeover of the former domain name of the PNMS website.
PNMS Executive Director Nick Ngwal, in a statement, said that as “of February 19, 2018, the Republic of Palau, the Palau National Marine Sanctuary Office, and all associated entities, maintain no connection to the domain name “palaumarine.org”.
The domain name used to contain information about President Tommy Remengesau Jr.’s signature policy – the marine sanctuary – but now it has become a homepage for smut stories, photos, and videos.
Press Secretary Olkeriil Kazuo said last week it was discovered that their old domain name pointed to a smut site after receiving an email asking the government to remove the link of former PNMS office homepage from the Palau government’s website as it now contains porn.
Kazuo said the government or the marine sanctuary office has no plans of seeking to buy back the domain.
He said the government is instead looking for a more appropriate domain name for the PNMS office.
The statement from the PNMS further added that the domain name license expired on February 19, 2018, “at which point the domain name was made available for purchase through international domain registries.”
“The domain “palaumarine. org” and any content relating to this domain are not sponsored, endorsed, or affiliated with the Republic of Palau, the Palau National Marine Sanctuary Office, its partners, associated institutions and related entities,” the statement from the PNMS added.
According to internet news, there is a growing trend of porn site operators buying expired domain names and using them to re-direct traffic to their porn sites.
Numerous reports said that the operators’ targets are expired domains formerly used by local governments, church groups and other non-profit organizations. (Bernadette H. Carreon)