Friday, July 31, 2009

Message from Sheikh Yusuf Estes !

The following message is forwarded by Yusuf Estes .....



Assalamualikum Everyone ,



Note:- Forwarded Message from Shk. Yusuf Estes.



Bismillah Rahman Raheem




I need your help, inshallah. Please do something for me and for Islam right now, inshalllah. First, read this and then join me and those who believe in Allah - to stop a very horrible crime about to be committed by some very powerful and forceful people. Help me put this information all over the Internet and around the world - we can do it, inshallah.



Let me start at the beginning . . .



Can you imagine my shock when I opened up an email telling me our website domain name (YOUTUBE.COM) is being taken over by GOOGLE and their video site - YOUTUBE?



Here is more or less what we were told:




NOTICE: Effective August 5th, 2009 Google (owner of YouTube.com) will take over YOUTUBEISLAM.COM.





Although we have purchased the name "YOUTUBEISLAM.COM" and have renewed for several years through GODADDY.COM it seems GOOGLE has enough influence to just simply take our domain name from us - and by the way, we have even paid for it all the way through to next year.




First, their lawyers contacted us saying they were going to take our domain because we copied their logo. We didn't even come close to their logo.. (look for yourself www.YOUTUBEISLAM.com/images/logo.gif)




They next came up with saying our name was too similar to their name. We changed the name and the layout to read: Yo Utu Beis Lam.com and we even registered that as a trade name.



We changed the logo and the images to reflect the new name.




They said they went into "arbitration" (of course we were not invited to that meeting) and then our registrar (GODADDY.COM) notified us they are "transferring" our domain name over to GOOGLE.



We have always maintained the highest of standards on our site - We never allowed any videos with inappropriate material. We did not allow videos that insulted or put down other religions. No dating or suggestive materials. No bad language. Only topics fit for all the family.



We paid for the bandwidth from our own pockets to make sure everything was always as it should be without having people click and wind up on websites attacking beliefs or making fun of believers and certainly nothing to hurt people's feelings.


Above all, we did not put up any ads (especially not GOOGLE ADS) on our site. (Could this be why they want it so bad?)



Or is it just so they can advertise their thousands of customers who would be happy to introduce thousands of paying advertisers to ways of entering into the homes of trusting Muslims who will think the website still belongs to Yusuf Estes and his dawah team?


Maybe they just don't like Islam?



Or possibily they don't like seeing so many new people entering Islam from our work?



Why does GOOGLE - a company who bought YOUTUBE for billions of dollars - want to take away our little website?



Good question.



I think you know the answer.



But do we have to let them do this without at least telling others about the unjust way of dealing of these people?



Are we just going to sit there and do nothing, while they destroy our work, our efforts, our viewers trust and above all - destroy the chance for many people to know the truth about real Islam in simple English language.


We don't have to.


We can make a difference, maybe even stop these cowards. Let's join together, all around the world and make a difference.


Let's tell everyone what is going on and what they can do to help...


1. Get a good copy of this page and make sure it is easy to read


2. copy it


3. Make sure to mail it out to everyone and ask them to do the same


4. Send text messages - Like this: "Google trying to steal Yusuf Estes website - www.YoutubeIslam.com Help us stop them - www.GuideUS.TV for details"


5. Call people you know, or fax them, and tell them the same basic statement, asking them to share this message in every way possible.


6. Pray to Almighty Allah and beg Him to give victory for His deen and His message in English.




Thank you and may Allah Bless you and your family and make your efforts work for good for you and for all of us, ameen.



Make dua and ask Allah to keep this site and domain for His Sake, ameen.


Jazakallah khair was salam alaykum,


Yusuf Estes







Google’s abuse of power to take over popular YoutubeIslam.com

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. For more read here.