The article discusses an incident that took place on February 18, 2010, in Austin, Texas, involving Andrew Joseph Stack (commonly known as Joe Stack).
The main points include:
- Joe Stack owned a website called EmbeddedArt.com, which promoted his software development and automation systems business.
- Before the Austin incident, the website featured a lengthy online letter expressing his frustration with the U.S. tax system, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS), and the government.
- Following the incident, the website hosting company, T35 Hosting, took EmbeddedArt.com offline after reportedly receiving a request from the FBI.
- Rather than continuing to host Stack’s personal website, the hosting provider published a notice explaining the suspension and directed visitors to its own forum to discuss the incident.
- HelpingWebmasters preserved a discussion thread with a title corresponding to the original story.
Why this article matters: Beyond documenting a major event in 2010, the article offers an interesting example of how a hosting provider handled controversial online content, requests from law enforcement, and public reactions within an online community.
2. Historical Fact-Checking
Most key details verified
| Information | Fact-checking result |
|---|---|
| Date of incident | February 18, 2010 |
| Location | Echelon Building One, Austin, Texas |
| Individual involved | Andrew Joseph Stack III, aged 53 |
| Target | IRS office |
| Fatalities | One IRS employee and Stack |
| Injuries | 13 people |
| Website | EmbeddedArt.com |
| Hosting provider | T35 Hosting |
| Reason for taking down the website | T35 reported acting following a request from the FBI |
One of the most important sources is a 2015 report published by the U.S. Secret Service Threat Assessment Center, part of the Department of Homeland Security.
The report confirms the 2010 incident, the fatalities, the injuries, and the circumstances surrounding Stack’s grievances with the IRS. www.secretservice.gov+1
3. Evidence That the Hosting Provider Took Down the Website
A particularly relevant contemporaneous news source is The Smoking Gun, which published a report on February 18, 2010.
The report confirms that:
- EmbeddedArt.com was associated with Stack’s software business.
- Alex Melen, a representative of the hosting company, spoke with reporters.
- The hosting company said it had been contacted by the FBI.
- The website was taken offline and replaced with a notice explaining the suspension.
This provides relatively strong contemporaneous media evidence supporting the central claim in the original forum discussion. The Smoking Gun
Another blog post published on February 18, 2010, also preserved T35 Hosting’s notice. The notice invited visitors to use its forum to discuss the incident.
This supports the connection between the original forum discussion and the article’s headline. georgefsmith.blogspot.com
4. Current Status of the Original Link
Original link no longer displays its original content
I checked the exact URL you provided. Here is what I found:
- The URL on helpingwebmasters.com currently redirects to the homepage of 24ssports.com.
- The original 2010 discussion is no longer displayed at that address.
- Therefore, the complete contents of the original forum comments cannot currently be independently verified through the provided URL. 24ssports
5. Final Assessment
The article has historical value and is supported by credible evidence.
Three important points stand out:
- The Joe Stack incident on February 18, 2010, is documented in official U.S. government records.
- The removal of EmbeddedArt.com by T35 Hosting, reportedly following an FBI request, was covered by contemporary news reports.
- T35 Hosting’s notice directed visitors to its discussion forum, consistent with the subject and headline of the original article.
A terminology note: The headline uses the term ISP, but contemporary reporting identifies T35 as a website hosting provider. These two terms are related but are not exactly interchangeable.
Final verdict: This forum link originates from a historically documented event covered by established media outlets and official government sources. However, the original URL now redirects elsewhere and no longer preserves the original discussion content.
