CNET: Network feud leads to Net blackout

http://news.com.com/Network+feud+leads+to+Net+blackout/2100-1038_3-5889592.html?part=rss&tag=5889592&subj=news

Network feud leads to Net blackout
Published: October 5, 2005, 5:00 PM PDT
By John Borland
Staff Writer, CNET News.com

Two major Internet backbone companies are feuding, potentially cutting off significant swaths of the Internet for some of each other's customers.

On Wednesday, network company Level 3 Communications cut off its direct "peering" connections to another big network company called Cogent Communications. That technical action means that some customers on each company's network now will find it impossible, or slower, to get to Web sites on the other company's network.

William Steele, a senior network engineer for Syncro Services, said his company noticed the problem Wednesday morning.

"There are some people I can't send an e-mail to," Steele said. "At home, I have Road Runner as an ISP, and wasn't even able to remotely connect in order to manage our servers."

<snip>


This explains some problems I've been having with the Net today...

not sure if its related. Go Capitalism!

I haven't had too much trouble with the blackout, other than not being able to reach the Drudge Report (to see if he had any stories about the imminent indictments). I couldn't figure out why I couldn't reach the site when others here could. Now I understand. Really slooooow connections today, too.

DU thread started yesterday, just before 7:00 Eastern:
http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=view_all&address=132x2137546

And an explanation PhotoBucket posted identifying the problem:


"We are currently experiencing some problems with our Service Provider.
There is a network issue between Cogent and Level 3. That is causing
issues through out the internet. We are actively working with both
carriers to resolve the issue. Please see our Blog for updates.
http://blog.photobucket.com /. You may be able to get to the Blog via
http://38.116.139.204 . "

She has Roadrunner and she thought it was just her service that was screwed up.

And it's been acting crazy for 3 days now.

And I've been having a really slow connection on some sites, and am unable to connect at all on others.

And I'm having problems accessing Blogger and Photobucket, among other sites.

Hope they iron this stuff out soon. Who's running the internet? Michael Brown?

Welcome to DU!! :toast:

Upgrading database. Unrelated to Cogent and Level 3 feud.

:kick:

Its service has not been affected. At least, I have not had any problems.

Didn't have any idea why until now.

Could someone (with a working connection) do me a favor and check if it is at least up and running. If not I need to do some followup.

http://www.seedsofdoubt.com/distressedamerican/main.htm

Thanks!

I'll assume for now that this is the issue!

Big relief.

weatherunderground.com or photobucket.com plus who knows what else?

and some other sites that just won't download. Problems with both since Tuesday...and a few other website. But, everything else comes through fine.

Our business can't connect with anyone using Roadrunner, though. And we didn't even know it because our IT person didn't know that it's an outside problem. This is costing us clients good will. :-(

I can't get to radiopower.org because of this problem.

from about 10am till noon. The repair desk said many were out, didn't go into detail.


Ed: I noticed last night that I couldn't access Photobucket and no PB images would load up in the threads.

It sucks.

involved but bartcop has been down the last couple of hours.

From Slashdot:

Isn't there a better way that the issue of peering can be handled/regulated?

If not, does the future hold a scenario in which the Internet is split into several separate networks, only to be connected at the whims of large corporations?"

Remind me. Who controls the large corporations - or, rather, who is not controlled by the corporations? As Ben pointed out, years before the Third Reich, the essence of fascism is the fusion of the state and of capital.

As far as weatherunderground.com, if you are on a Level 3 backbone, you cannot connect: but you don't need a weatherman to tell which way the wind blows ...


Ben, at Wiki, peering from his past into our future

I am not sure how AOL is tied into the internet (they used to have their own large backbone) - but if you have an AOL account you can connect to both Cogent (probably the 'good' guys in this one) and Level 3 hosted sites.

EG. Although my cable is from RoadRunner (which I am pretty sure is Level 3 as I am unable to directly access wunderground) I can connect to wunderground if I first log onto my AOL connection, the start the AOL browser.

As a company AOL sucks, but one can connect through them virtually anywhere in the First World. That's why I always take one of those "10 Billion Hours free PLUS UNLIMTED Spam and lifetime E-Mail Censoring with automatic reporting of your suspicious writings to FatherLand Security" (if used in the first week) disks with me when ever I travel.

At least via RoadRunner.

Wavemaker just came and told me this as I clicked off the above post.

A person on cnet figured out that Level 3's disconnection of sites from the internet falls within one of the various Terror Laws and reported them to HomeLand security.

You can too!

Point your Browser to: http://www.us-cert.gov/

For a reasoned discussion of this see, of all places, Gamer Gods

radio streams both yesterday & today. Finally I was able to get to both of them YAY!!! :hi: :loveya: :hug: :pals: :woohoo: