Republicans Blocking Web Site Access?

Not one to pick favorites on one side or the other, I do find it strange to see Republican party based Web sites are blocking access to anybody outside of the United States. According to Netcraft though, it is what happened. For a few examples, gop.com, rnc.org and GeorgeWBush.com all dropping traffic that originates outside North America.

Why would this be taking place? Here is what the official campaign site for George Bush had to say:

The official campaign site for Bush’s election campaign began restricting access on Oct. 25, citing unspecified security concerns. Bush defeated John Kerry in the U.S. vote Nov. 2, and the site restrictions were lifted five days after the election. The Bush campaign used Akamai’s EdgeScape service, which allows web sites to customize content - or exclude visitors - according to geography. Criteria for geography-based content are set by the customer, and implemented by Akamai’s network.

Is this the truth? Nobody knows. For the time being though we will have to take them for their word. At this moment I am sure there are thousands of Internet urban legend myth makers out there typing out one heck of a theory behind it though.

One Gnomie had this to say, “It was true, not a myth. I’m in Argentina and it was impossible to reach any republican site from here. Even the news reported this fact showing live that it was impossible from outside the US.”