CNET is reporting that John William Racine II, the man who convinced Network Solutions to give him control over the AlJazeera.net domain in the opening weeks of the Iraq War, has signed a plea agreement with prosecutors in California that would let him off with three years probation and 1000 hours of community service.

On March 26, 2003, the man convinced employees at Network Solutions to give him control of the domain, allowing him to redirect the web site to one that contained an American flag and the words "Let Freedom Ring".

Lost on the perpetrator was the irony of stopping somebody else's free speech in order to talk about freedom...