Pakistan 'sparks YouTube outage'

Turkey and Thailand have in the past also banned access to the site

Pakistan's attempts to block access to YouTube have been blamed for an almost global blackout of the video website for more than an hour on Sunday.

BBC News has learned that the outage was almost certainly connected to Pakistan Telecom and Asian internet service provider PCCW.

A leading net professional said the global outage was "probably a mistake".

Pakistan ordered internet service providers to block the site because of content deemed offensive to Islam.

The BBC News website's technology editor, Darren Waters, says that to block Pakistan's citizens from accessing YouTube it is believed Pakistan Telecom "hijacked" the web server address of the popular video site.

There will definitely be some fallout from this

Those details were then passed on to the country's internet service providers so that anyone in Pakistan attempting to go to YouTube was instead re-directed to a different address.

But the details of the "hijack" were leaked out into the wider internet from PCCW and as a result YouTube was mistakenly blocked by internet service providers around the world.

The block on the servers was lifted once PCCW had been told of the issue by engineers at YouTube.

Users are quite upset. They're screaming at ISPs which can't do anything Wahaj-us-Siraj, convener of the Association of Pakistan Internet Service Providers

A leading net professional told: "This was probably a simple mistake by an engineer at Pakistan Telecom. There's nothing to suggest this was malicious."

IP hijacking involves taking over a web site's unique address by corrupting the internet's routing tables, which direct the flow of data around the world.

No-one at YouTube or PCCW was immediately available for comment.

Cause of ban

Reports said Pakistan made the move because YouTube content included Danish cartoons depicting the Prophet Muhammad that have outraged many.

But one report said a trailer for a forthcoming film by Dutch lawmaker Geert Wilders, which portrays Islam in a negative light, was behind the ban.

"They [Pakistan's telecommunications authority] asked us to ban it immediately... and the order says the ban will continue until further notice," said Wahaj-us-Siraj, convener of the Association of Pakistan Internet Service Providers.

The government decision has caused uproar in Pakistan, according to Wahaj-us-Siraj:

"Users are quite upset. They're screaming at ISPs which can't do anything.

"The government has valid reason for that, but they have to find a better way of doing it. If we continue blocking popular websites, people will stop using the internet."

Other countries that have temporarily blocked access to YouTube include Turkey and Thailand.

Karachi bus attack claims seven lives

KARACHI, Sept 13: Seven people were killed on Thursday when armed assailants hurled a hand-grenade and opened fire on a minibus near the Karachi University, police and eyewitnesses said.

They said the powerful explosion set the vehicle packed with passengers ablaze, adding that parts of the bodies were seen lying inside the bus stained with victims’ blood.The Islami Jamiat Talaba alleged that activists of the All Pakistan Mohajir Students Organisation had attacked its workers who were in the bus.

The APMSO denied the allegations.

Witnesses said that nine assailants on three motorcycles intercepted the minibus on the University Road near the Sheikh Zayed Islamic Centre. They first hurled some explosives into the bus and then sprayed it with bullets.

They said the assailants fled after the swift operation, leaving the victims in a pool of blood.Police said four bodies had been brought to the Liaquat National Memorial Hospital. They were identified as Atif Butt, Imran Shahid, Mohammed Siddique and Kaju Habibullah.

The IJT said four of the victims were students of Karachi University’s applied chemistry, political science, library science and mass communications departments and were its workers.

Two bodies were taken to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre. One of the dead was identified as Sarfaraz while the identity of the other could not be ascertained.JPMC’s emergency centre deputy director Seemi Jamali said the unidentified victim was in his mid-20s and his back had been blown.

Officials at the Liaquat Hospital said the four injured brought to the hospital had suffered bullet injuries and were stable. However, Ms Jamali said Haji Ahmed, 50, the only injured brought to the JPMC, was seriously wounded.“He is still in a precarious condition due to profuse bleeding,” she added.Meanwhile, traffic on the main University Road met a gridlock and hundreds of vehicles were stuck when police cordoned off the area. It took almost an hour for the traffic jam to clear.Hundreds of IJT workers stormed into the LNMH where bodies of the victims had been brought in ambulances. Chanting slogans against the government, most of them entered the causality ward and the hospital management called police to control the situation.

Enraged youths also hurled stones on the main Stadium Road and blocked the road for 20 minutes.Police officials said it was too early to ascertain the cause of incident because the investigation was in initial stages.“Along with IJT workers, there were also other people who died or were injured,” said Capital City Police Officer Azhar Ali Farooqi. “We are looking into the matter but can’t exactly say about the motive behind the attack.”Mubina Town police SHO Umer Farooq said no case had been registered because it took time to gather information about the victims. “We expect some time later in the night to register the case once we get complete data of the deceased and the injured,” he added.