[LINK] 250,000, not 1200 websites blocked by ASIC request

Marghanita da Cruz marghanita at ramin.com.au
Thu Jun 6 09:44:47 AEST 2013


Mmm.

On one visit to Singapore, many years ago, I tried to check my website at
the airport and discovered it was blocked.

Many months after I changed ISPs, one friend complained to me that my email
address was bouncing. It transpired that her ISP was with the telco who had
bought my previous ISP and hadn't updated all their boxes (caches?).

I wonder how ASIC identified the IP addresses, because long ago I realised
that Spammers do not stick around at particlar IP addresses - blocking the
sites doesn't appear to be a very effective approach and the consequences
and collateral damage can persist. How did they arrive at the 0.4% - will
they be approaching those website owners as I guess the ISPs are not
permitted to?

Something else for Cyber security policy and Domain name governance.

Marghanita


Jan Whitaker wrote:
> It was worse than first thought ----
> 
> How ASIC's attempt to block one website took down 250,000
> 
> Ben Grubb
> Published: June 5, 2013 - 11:39AM
> 
> Australia's corporate watchdog has admitted to inadvertently blocking 
> access to about 250,000 innocuous websites in addition to the 1200 it 
> had already accidentally censored.
> 
> ASIC made the concession in a statement at a senate estimates hearing 
> on Tuesday night, after it caused controversy by interpreting a 
> 15-year-old law in the Telecommunications Act as giving it the 
> ability to block websites.
> 
> The largest number of sites censored when attempting to block one 
> particular site ASIC believed was defrauding Australians was 250,000. 
> Of these, ASIC said about 1000, or 0.4 per cent, were active sites. 
> It said the 249,000 other sites hosted "no substantive content" or 
> offered their domain name up for sale, rather than hosting a 
> fully-fledged active site.
> [snip]
> 
> More at - 
> http://www.theage.com.au/technology/technology-news/how-asics-attempt-to-block-one-website-took-down-250000-20130605-2np6v.html
> 
> 
> Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
> jwhit at janwhitaker.com
> blog: http://janwhitaker.com/jansblog/
> business: http://www.janwhitaker.com
> 
> Our truest response to the irrationality of the world is to paint or 
> sing or write, for only in such response do we find truth.
> ~Madeline L'Engle, writer
> 
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-- 
Marghanita da Cruz
Ramin Communications Pty Ltd
http://ramin.com.au/
Phone:(+61)0414-869202








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