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Chat network bans Malaysian users

Singles out Malay ISPs as irresponsible after lack of support over hacks

Malaysian Internet users have been banned from the Undernet chat system, following allegations that not enough is being done to stop abuse of the Internet Chat Relay (IRC) network. Undernet has been quick to point out that Malaysian Net users are not more ill-mannered than those from any other country, but lays the blame at the feet of the country's two ISPs. According to a report on Newsbytes, Undernet has taken the unusual action because the ISPs in question -- TMNet and Jaring -- failed to comply with the IRC administrators' requests to crack down on individuals who were abusing the system. The sort of abuse in question could range from spamming other users to attempts to hack into the IRC network. It is common procedure for the IRC to ask ISPs to step in and caution their users when incidents such as these occur. But according to Undernet, the two Malaysian ISPs were slow to respond. As a result, Undernet banned all incoming traffic from users with a .my domain -- the Malaysian domain. Two other IRC networks -- DALNet and EFnet -- have also instigated bans against Malaysian users. It understood that the Jaring ISP has had its ban lifted after contacting Undernet, but TMNet has not responded, Undernet said. Undernet said the source of the conflict was the "irresponsible and unresponsive administration of the Malaysian ISPs". The IRC went on to say: "We are not singling out Malaysia, but it is in general is the most abusive domain currently accessing the Undernet. Malaysian IP space and resources are being used to launch denial of service attacks and the last attack against one of our routing servers was the straw that broke the camel's back." ®

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