Slumlords of the Internet

As Internet domain registrar and content provider, Demand Media is preparing to go public on the stock market, it has suffered the dubious distinction of being called the worst ISP in the world by malware tracking group HostExploit. Demand Media is perhaps best known as the owner of such downmarket content sites as eHow, Livestrong and Trails.com. However the company also runs the second largest domain registration service in the world.

However, like the landlord of an apartment block full of crack dealers, Demand apparently has not been too picky about the tenants it rents to. According to HostExploit, the amount of malicious activity taking place on Demands networks is ten times more today than it was back in January.

You'd be tempted to give a company that makes helpful content such as "Hair Shows in Knoxville, Tennessee," available to the public, the benefit of the doubt. Yet it's noteworthy and perhaps suspicious that 35 percent of the fake pharmacy websites in the world are registered through Demand Media and its affiliate company, eNow.

So again, like the landlord that will rent to anyone willing to pay, it seems as if Demand Media doesn't really care where the money comes from, as long as the check finds it's way into the drop slot on the first of the month.