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UK ISP PlusNet Accidentally Deletes 700GB of Email

Posted by ryuzaki0 on from the reality-is-no-excuse-dammit dept.

steste writes "A tale of email woe for PlusNET ISP. According to this announcement they have spent the last month attempting to recover 700GB of accidentally deleted emails. By their estimates, up to 12GB of these had yet to be read by their recipients. Despite the efforts of a data recovery specialist, they have now given up on recovering any of the deleted data. Well that's one way to deal with spam." Spam is one thing; I just wonder how inevitable losses like this one square with the EU-wide data retention laws.

28 of 282 comments (clear)

  1. Conspiracy by zanderredux · · Score: 5, Funny
    "Accidentally deleted", "despite of best efforts"....

    Yeah, right!

    1. Re:Conspiracy by Ohreally_factor · · Score: 4, Funny

      You guys have fat pipes? We're still stuck with tubes. They're getting clogged up with internets, too.

      --
      It's not offtopic, dumbass. It's orthogonal.
  2. On the plus side.... by krell · · Score: 3, Funny

    On the plus side, that's 699GB of spams nobody will have to worry about now.

    --
    Where were you when the voynix came?
  3. I guess if I look at my email by TouchOfRed · · Score: 5, Funny

    My inbox will say, nothing to see here. Move along.

    1. Re:I guess if I look at my email by NoOneInParticular · · Score: 2, Funny
      if i was going to spam i certainly wouldn't do it from my home computer..

      The guy that actually 0wnz your home computer would.

  4. Clicked on the Read More link just now by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 4, Funny

    and got

    404: The requested URL (hardware/06/08/03/1319220.shtml) was not found.

    Looks like PlusNet aren't the only ones losing things!

    I'm here all night, try the veal.

    --
    Summation 2
  5. mudda mudda by Roody+Blashes · · Score: 2, Funny

    "oops" is spelled "t-h-a-n-k g-o-d f-o-r u-n-e-m-p-l-o-y-m-e-n-t b-e-n-e-f-i-t-s"

    --
    If you haven't foed me yet, what are you waiting for?
  6. Hmm. Good thing they're British... by Doches · · Score: 3, Funny

    I imagine that if this sort of thing were to happen in the U.S., the government would get involved real quick. Not, you know, because some subscribers got hurt, but because all of those precious, precious terrorist communications that were lost forever, dooming the Fort Worth Convention Center to premature destruction at the hands of an angry Palestian truck driver.

    Or maybe this can't happen in the U.S. at all. Maybe there's some quiet deal where large ISPs can simply back their data up on blade servers in Langley...

    1. Re:Hmm. Good thing they're British... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny
      NSA's in Fort Meade, MD, you dumbshit.


      That's what they WANT you to think.
  7. Spam wonderful spam by mcai8rw2 · · Score: 2, Funny
    "Well that's one way to deal with spam"

    Shh! You insensitive clod! Some of us need that spam...how else are we supposed to maintain powerful erections with that "s3xy b@by"!

    Deleted emails? It obviously didn't run linux...ah no wait, hang on.
    --
    >>>Scanning for I.D.I.O.T.S. >>>
    >>>I.D.I.O.T.S. FOUND! >>>
  8. A quote from the ISP by halr9000 · · Score: 4, Funny

    "My bad."

    1. Re:A quote from the ISP by fbjon · · Score: 2, Funny
      Why do you septics say that?
      We like to stay clean.
      --
      True confidence comes not from realising you are as good as your peers, but that your peers are as bad as you are.
  9. 12GBs yet to be read? by Rik+Sweeney · · Score: 5, Funny
    By their estimates, up to 12GB of these had yet to be read by their recipients.

    Here's the break down:
    • 3GB: Viagra
    • 3GB: Manhood Enhancements
    • 2GB: Lonely Housewives in your area
    • 3.9GB: Loans
    • 100MB: Various GIFs of the Zidane headbutt from the World Cup
    --
    Summation 2
  10. NSA has 'em by slcdb · · Score: 5, Funny

    They should just ask the NSA to send their copies of the emails to PlusNet.

    Heck, the NSA could turn this into a side business. If they spin it right, maybe they can convince the general public that they're not spying, they're just providing a cutting-edge data backup service!

    --
    Despite what EULAs say, most software is sold, not licensed.
    1. Re:NSA has 'em by failure-man · · Score: 2, Funny

      Finally! My tax dollars doing something productive!
       
      Do they support rsync over ssh?

  11. Never press the shiny candy like red button!!! by Dutchmaan · · Score: 2, Funny

    "Hey what's this big red *Press ONLY in case of federal investigation!* button for?"

    *click*

  12. poor intern by theonetruekeebler · · Score: 4, Funny
    "Hey, there were a bunch of hidden files in my home directory, so I typed rm -rf .* to get rid of them. That shouldn't take half an hour, should it?"

    (I'm so nervous seeing that on my screen I'm afraid to hit the "Submit" button)

    --
    This is not my sandwich.
    1. Re:poor intern by Skapare · · Score: 2, Funny

      No, it shouldn't take half an hour. You obviously need to get a faster computer, faster disk, and configure the DMA correctly :-)

      Oh, and I hid some files in your root directory for you to practice on.

      --
      now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
  13. hear hear by rucs_hack · · Score: 3, Funny

    My response is 'if you don't like a thing, make a better one'. Can the complainers make a better slashdot? Hmm, let me see.

    Do the abilities required for such a venture require

    a) A willingness to try and realise there will be the odd piece of news that is repeated.

    b)Being a Whining Biatch.

    Well, if it's (b), then the whiners are for teh win. Somehow I have my doubts...

  14. Re:Data Recovery Specialist by idontgno · · Score: 4, Funny

    "Accidentally deleted" probably means "we had a hardware failure and we're too cheap to recover everything".

    Actually, "Accidentally deleted" means "wiped the live disk array instead of the new disk array we were going to migrate on to." The Register has a brief writeup.

    System Administrator Lesson 14: Shared consoles and remote administration are convenient, especially for wiping the wrong system. Check system ID before hitting enter!"

    --
    Welcome to the Panopticon. Used to be a prison, now it's your home.
  15. "Daddy..." by plasmacutter · · Score: 4, Funny

    "what does this button do?"

    -NOOOOOO!

    --
    VLC FOR MAC IS DYING! IF YOU DEVELOP, PLEASE SAVE IT!!
  16. Spam Filter by weasello · · Score: 2, Funny

    Spam Filter

    Filter with 0% Tolerance
    Are you absolutely sure?

    [ok] [cancel]

  17. I don't understand how this is possible... by chrisspurgeon · · Score: 5, Funny

    ...I don't recall working for PlusNet.

  18. All eggs in one basket? by Skapare · · Score: 2, Funny

    They had all their eggs in one basket? Where's the live replica machine? Where are the redundant copies? Oh wait, this is a for-profit business. Never mind.

    --
    now we need to go OSS in diesel cars
  19. Oh, woe... by Nom+du+Keyboard · · Score: 2, Funny

    I guess some Nigerians will have trouble making the rent this month now.

    --
    "It's the height of ridiculousness to say for those 9 lines you get hundreds of millions."
  20. Re:Compensation for Customers? by finiteSet · · Score: 2, Funny
    I'd be pissed if, say, Google possibly deleted some unread mail, and I'd never know if I was missing out.
    Yeah, that would be pretty terrible. So to spare you that fate... here is exactly what you would be missing out on:

    Hi,

    Valjjum from 1, 25$
    Vjjagra from 3, 35$
    Ambjjen
    Cjjalis from 3, 75$

    ,
    ,
    ,
    ,
    ,
    these myths to justify their existence.
    There was a lot to argue with there, maybe not a lot but some. A good
    deal of jumping-to-conclusions and more than a bit of rationalization.

    Hell, I could probably recover 95% of PlusNet customers' emails from my delete box.
    --
    If we start buying CDs then the terrorists have already won.
  21. Re:Data Recovery Specialist by tehshen · · Score: 2, Funny

    I love it how that Reg article has a big advert in the middle asking "Do you have too much information?"

    How very apt

    --
    Guy asked me for a quarter for a cup of coffee. So I bit him.
  22. Re:Data Recovery Specialist by British · · Score: 2, Funny

    but never have I attempted (or read documentation on) re_o_e_i_g _a_a _h_t_s b_e_ s_r_p_d/m_r_o_e_ a_r_s_ e_g_t d_s_s.