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U.S. Department of Interior Ordered Offline

Posted by chrisd on from the talking-about-the-departments dept.

The whole of the U.S. Department of Interior has been forced off of the internet as a result of a court case Cobell v. Babbit. This was the result of compromises with the Microsoft Windows servers. A judge decided to take the whole of the organization down. Should this judge have this much power? Info here on the indian trust web site. This includes the BLM, USGS and the Park Service. Staggering, really. CD: Hold off on the blaming of MS, it's still not clear.

14 of 434 comments (clear)

  1. Makes sense to me by Skyshadow · · Score: 5, Funny
    It seems to me that the Government wasn't taking proper steps to keep that which was entrusted to them safe.

    This would be like the Government sending my tax return in cash -- it's irresposible because anyone could easily open my mailbox and find almost $3 of totally spendible money ready and waiting.

    It seems to be that forcing the whole system offline until it's ready for the modern internet was the only responsible course of action here.

    --
    Every year during my review, I just pray the words "slashdot.org" aren't mentioned.
  2. You know, by Patrick+Cable+II · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...on the indian trust web site...

    You'd think they would use apache...

    Patrick Cable II

  3. so.. by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    All your teepee's are belong to us?

  4. Alright, who's moderating? by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 1, Funny

    Troll? Apparently someone gave Aschroft mod points.

  5. why the link? by zaius · · Score: 4, Funny

    Umm... why is there a link to the DoI website if they've been forced off line...?

    1. Re:why the link? by fobbman · · Score: 5, Funny

      You must have missed it in the article where the judge ruled that there should be a story posted on /. with a link to the DOI website to enforce the downtime via the /. effect.

      This judge is one smart cookie, I tell ya.

  6. Re:Why bother by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    Just wait until it crashes in a couple of weeks and the problem will be solved.

    In a couple of *weeks*?

  7. Uh Oh! by anticypher · · Score: 3, Funny

    Its time to withdraw my $4,000,000,000.12 from my BIA trust account. It seems their servers might get hacked from the internet. Darn /. hackers!

    the AC

    --
    Hemos is like...sci-fi fans;he thinks technology is cool, but he hasn't bothered to understand the science it's based on
  8. Not Soon Enough... by Rothfuss · · Score: 5, Funny


    I managed to get in before it all went down. I am now officially 3/4 Cherokee and the legitimate owner of South Dakota.

    Thank you Microsoft.

    -Rothfuss

  9. Site to be removed by slashdot effect by Boatman · · Score: 2, Funny


    And in one of the finer details of the ruling, the judge ordered Microsoft to be implicated in a story posted to the popular hacker web site Slashdot, which would ensure that the government site would quickly be taken down by a measure known in the hacker community as the Slashdot effect.

    --
    --Just the place for a snark!
  10. Dang, if only.. by A_Non_Moose · · Score: 2, Funny

    there had been Microsoft stuff in there.

    "Nobody ever got fired for buying Microsoft"...

    Then we could say, "Heh, not just fired. Fired, fined and put in jail for incompetence".

    Oh, and noticed a link in a post:
    http://www.indiantrust.org/documents.cfm

    Coldfusion? Oye Veigh...someone needs some serious beatings with a clue stick.

    CF is a great app for creating webforms and webDB access, but it is a security hole in its own right (IIRC from people who use it and even love it).

    My favorite saying about CF is that it is an excellent benchmark...It runs slow on *everyone's* hardware (that it supports).

    Cheers,

    Moose.

    .

    --
    Have you read the moderator guidelines? Well, have you, PUNK? (and I want a Karma: Gnarly option)
  11. Please forgive me.... by jsse · · Score: 5, Funny

    CD: Hold off on the blaming of MS, it's still not clear.

    Can I still bash Microsoft if I really, really want to?

    I just couldn't help blaming Microsoft whenever I see 'Microsoft Windows' in the news roundup. This is something like complusory-anti-microsoft something, I think I've medical clearance to back my action. People in 'Anti-Microsoft Anonymous' recommends me to post in /., they said it'd help.

  12. dont tell them how to eat donuts by the_furies · · Score: 1, Funny
    CD: Hold off on the blaming of MS, it's still not clear.

    Dude, the geeks around here blame Micro$oft every time their shit comes out the wrong consistency. If you expect them to pass up an opportunity like this, you're dreaming.

  13. Not everything is down, USGS-wise by caferace · · Score: 2, Funny
    I can still get my Earthquake Data here in Northern California.

    Some of us have our priorities.