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<...> TELECOM Digest Thu, 28 Oct 99 15:33:00 EDT Volume 19 : Issue 516
Inside This Issue: Editor: Patrick A. Townson
Britain Knocked Off the Internet Map (Danny Burstein)
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Date: Thu, 28 Oct 1999 11:42:19 EDT From: Danny Burstein <dannyb at panix.com> Subject: Britain Knocked Off the Internet Map
From New Scientist magazine 30/10/99 (October 30, 1999 for USA types)
Spam hits the fan
A NATION OF PORNOGRAPHERS and spammers. That was the view of Britain apparently adopted by one of the biggest Internet service providers in the US last week, as it decided to block all incoming e-mail from British companies.
The action was taken by IDT, a New Jersey-based provider, in response to a wave of unsolicited and offensive e-mails received by some of its customers. "It was for massive spamming -- pornographic material,"
[snip, snip]
But the scope of IDT's block is unusual. "To block all commercial traffic from a major industrialised nation sounds clueless to me,"
[snip, end]
The rest of the story is available (no registration or fees needed) at http://www.newscientist.com
BTW, since IDT is a major reseller and also a backbone contributer, it's quite possible this 'kill' affected a lot more than just folk with idt.com addresses.
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