Wednesday, February 15, 2012

ShahbazSharif.net: Online drug haven in the Punjab CM's name

The Express Tribune


With Lahore still reeling from the Pakistan Institute of Cardiology contaminated medicine fiasco, the last thing Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif needs is further association with prescription pills.

In an unfortunate twist of fate however, the website www.shahbazsharif.net has been found to offer a host of anti-depressants and other medicines, MoreMag.pk reported on Wednesday.

The homepage of the online drugs store takes you away to third party sites. All links refer to other online medicine retailers including www.primerxmall.com and prohealthpharma.com.

It is a common online practice for people and companies to register website domains names as that of celebrities and high profile politicians in order to get a better click rate.

According to MoreMag.pk, the domain in the Punjab Chief Minister’s name had been registered back in 2002, when the Sharif brothers were living in Saudi Arabia in exile. The site was last updated on December 27, 2011. The domain is set to expire on October 7, 2012, just in time for the next general elections.

MorMag.pk also dug up about another domain name, Shahbazsharif.com which is also registered through the same registrar, GoDaddy.com. This domain was created much more recently in March 2006. The domain is set to expire next month.

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