October 6, 2007 – (HOSTSEARCH.COM) – Federal officials in the US disrupted California's "ca.gov" web network, the Marin Independent Journal reported recently. According the Journal’s website, http://www.marinij.com/, Marin County’s Transportation Authority, an agency empowered to manage the movement of cars on the area’s freeways, almost brought California state Internet access to a halt.
The near total shutdown was brought on by Federal officials’ reaction to the Marin Transportation Authority’s website carrying pornography which was added to the site by an Eastern European hacker. The network shutdown reportedly began at about 16:00, but the network was back online by 19:30. It was unclear as to why the Federal General Services Administration, managers of ".gov" domains across the US, decided a widespread shutdown was a necessary response.
"The feds were probably taking appropriate action, but they were probably using a shotgun to kill a flea," the report quotes John Hanacek, spokesman for the state Department of Technology Services, as saying. Ms. Dianne Steinhauser, Executive Director of the Marin Transportation Authority, was quoted as saying the disruption was so serious that California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger was prepared to call US President Bush.
