I don't know if I'm more surprised Akamai took on Al Jazeera as a customer, or that Akamai dropped Al Jazeera as a customer. But it does show the stress the Internet brings to international communications, that you don't see applied to the postal service or international telephone or satellite service. http://www.nytimes.com/2003/04/04/technology/04WEB.html New York Times April 4 2003 Akamai Cancels a Contract for Arabic Network's Site By WARREN ST. JOHN In a move sure to complicate the efforts of Al Jazeera, the Arabic news network, to get its English-language Web site running, Akamai Technologies abruptly canceled a contract on Wednesday to provide Web services for the site. Employees at Al Jazeera headquarters in Doha, Qatar, said they were frustrated by the decision, though not entirely surprised. "It has nothing to do with technical issues," said Joanne Tucker, the managing editor of the English-language site. "It's nonstop political pressure on these companies not to deal with us." Akamai, based in Cambridge, Mass., would not comment on the reason for the cancellation. But Jeff Young, a company spokesman, issued a statement confirming that Akamai would no longer do business with Al Jazeera.