Editing InterNIC (section)

===Inappropriate domain names===

{{See also|Scunthorpe problem}}

Beginning in 1996, Network Solutions rejected domain names containing [[English language]] words on a "restricted list" through an automated filter. Applicants whose domain names were rejected received an email containing the notice: "Network Solutions has a right founded in the First Amendment to the U.S. Constitution to refuse to register, and thereby publish, on the Internet registry of domain names words that it deems to be inappropriate." Domain names such as "shitakemushrooms.com" would be rejected, but the domain name "shit.com" was active since it had been registered before 1996.<ref>{{cite news|title=Food domain found "obscene" |first=Paul |last=Festa |date=1998-04-27 |work=[[CNET]] |url=http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-210566.html |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://archive.today/20120716142634/http://news.cnet.com/2100-1023-210566.html |archive-date=2012-07-16 }}</ref>

Network Solutions eventually allowed domain names containing the words on a case-by-case basis, after manually reviewing the names for obscene intent. This profanity filter was never enforced by the government and its use was not continued by [[ICANN]] when it took over governance of the distribution of domain names to the public.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://commdocs.house.gov/committees/judiciary/hju63594.000/hju63594_0.HTM#54|title=Internet Domain Names and Intellectual Property Rights|date=1999-07-28|publisher=[[United States House Judiciary Subcommittee on Courts, the Internet, and Intellectual Property]]}}</ref>