Google has sent shockwaves in the online Muslim community by wrestling to take over the popular Islamic video sharing website YoutubeIslam.com. The website run for over three-and-a-half years by Sheikh Yusuf Estes, a popular da’ee in America, is 100 percent child safe and visited by thousands of net surfers for videos on a variety of subjects.
“Our little website became very popular with even non-Muslims. Everywhere we go people tell us how much they appreciate having something of this high moral value, excellent quality and professional approach to presenting Islam,” said Yusuf Estes.
The Sheikh says Google, the owner of YouTube.com, is trying to scare people into giving them their website domain names if they contain anything with the sound or appearance of the words like “tube”, “you”, “youtoo”, “youtube”, “tubeyou” or even words like “tub”, if connected in some way with anything like “U”.
Since earlier this year, Google’s law firm has been trying to take ownership of YoutubeIslam.com.
“Will we just hand over a million dollar website for free?” questions Yusuf.
“First they said our logo and images were identical to theirs, which was a big lie. Then they changed their direction and called us up on the phone saying we should give them the domain because they are Google, the biggest and most powerful company on the Internet and they can make it difficult for anyone who gets in their way.
“Then they came up with the idea that our domain name sounded too much like theirs and it was confusing people who use the Internet. For that reason, went to the controllers of the Internet itself with their claim and requested what is called arbitration.”
But Sheikh Yusuf Estes says his website’s name cannot be mistaken for Google’s. “Does anyone really have trouble making a distinction between the word ‘youtube’ and ‘youtubeislam’?”
“The fact is, Google got sued for exactly what they claim we are doing, but in their case there really was no difference in the sound. When they bought YouTube for $1.3 billion, the company UTUBE.com sued them as they owned that name on the Internet for 10 years before Google did,” he added.
What Sheikh Yusuf is worried about is the possibility that Google may misuse the website by advertising Haraam things and using it for un-Islamic purposes.
He calls on every Internet user to support his campaign by spreading the message and speaking up against the takeover, as time is running out.
“Without notification in advance, our server, Godaddy.com, sent an email stating due to a decision made by arbitration on the Internet, they are going to give our domain name to Google,” he said. – SG