When I first saw the link to the gruesome video showing American contractor Nicholas Berg being beheaded in Iraq at Jihva's I had expressed my anguish over the internet rage such videos become in a jiffy. I wondered on what makes the Internet fraternity to happily pass on the links to such gruesome videos (I remember a friend of mine gleefully calling me to his cubicle and displaying the Daniel Pearl one, I had to leave as soon as the slitting began), the link Jihva refered to provided at least 4 links to sites and mirrors hosting the video apart from detailing the whole video with a poor rationale.
I feel the enjoyment (what else can I call it) such people derive by distributing the links is very similar to people attending public executions. I do not at all see an iota of any kind of sentiment in passing such links. One can discuss the issue, condemn it but telling others "hey, you cannot condemn this enough if you don't watch the video yourself" is as ridiculous as telling "man I told you it's gory". It is at times such as these that one realizes the futility of Internet!
I heard that the Malaysian web-hosting services, that started this, had taken the video down. The company said:
Though the decision to close the website was a technical one, .. the company would have acted earlier on moral grounds if it had known the site's contents.
