U.S. Watch List Snags a European Travel Agent
An English travel agent who lives in Spain and sells Cuban trips to Europeans has been snagged by the long arm of the U.S. Treasury Department, which put his websites on a terrorist blacklist.
That led the U.S. domain registrar that that gave the agent website names such as www.bonjourcuba.com to shut them down, immediately cutting into his business, Adam Liptak reports in his Sidebar column for the New York Times. It took months for the agent, Steve Marshall, to rebuild his business with new names ending in .net instead of .com.
“These days not even a judge is required for the U.S. government to censor online materials,” Marshall told the Times. A Treasury Department spokesman refused to comment but referred to a press release saying Marshall’s company had helped Americans bypass restrictions on Cuban travel.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights issued a report last year that found those on the watch list can encounter serious consumer problems, sometimes because of mistaken identity. “Financial institutions, credit bureaus, charities, car dealerships, health insurers, landlords and employers,” the report said, “are now checking names against the list before they open an account, close a sale, rent an apartment or offer a job.”
