Massive Overblocking Hits Hundreds Of UK Sites

Two years ago, Techdirt reported on a very troubling ruling in the UK courts that BT had to block access to the Usenet service provider Newzbin2. At the time, many feared that this would be the thin end of the wedge, giving copyright companies an easy way to shut down other sites. And with that power, of course, would come the inevitable errors, blocking completely unrelated sites. Just how seriously those mistakes could be is shown by this recent case of massive overblocking, reported here on PC Pro: 

On Techdirt.

Australia Sets New Overblocking Record: Aims For One Site, Takes Down 250,000

Overblocking is not a new problem -- over two years ago, Techdirt wrote about an instance where Homeland Security took down 84,000 innocent sites at a stroke -- so you might have thought that those employing this blunt instrument would take a little more care these days. However, things seem to be getting worse, not better. In Australia, the Australian Securities & Investments Commission (ASIC) has just scored a whopper: 

On Techdirt.