http://www.nytimes.com/techweb/TW_Controversial_Adult_Website_Hacked.html
December 22, 1998
Controversial Adult Website Hacked
Filed at 6:55 p.m. EST
By Andy Patrizio for TechWeb, CMPnet
Luke Ford, who runs a website about the adult-movie industry, is no
stranger to controversy. But a recent interview with a Hollywood "insider"
who claimed knowledge about the sex lives of the film-industry elite has
made his site the target of a hacker.
Ford's site has drawn the ire of the porn industry, with its
behind-the-scenes stories, like one about an actor who allegedly hid his
HIV-positive status and continued to work.
But this time, Ford said, his site is being attacked by Hollywood's elite.
"I think it was someone in the mainstream industry," he said. Two weeks
ago, Ford published the interview in which the subject made claims about
powerful Hollywood figures, their sexuality, and their use of the casting
couch.
Days later, Ford's two sites, 4Porn.net and Lukeford.com, were attacked by
a script that took down the entire server. His sites were hosted by Voice
Media, which hosts five pay sites and 30 free sites, all dedicated to
adult content. The attack on Ford's site took down all 35 Voice Media
sites, costing it $40,000 in lost revenue and prompting Voice Media to
take Ford's site down.
The reaction has been surprising, Ford said, because many who work in the
pornography industry, who have criticized him in the past, have written to
ask when his site will be back. Ford hopes to have a new host soon and
then plans to go hunting for the hacker who shut down his site. "I want to
find who did this," he said.
Ford's site is the latest to fall victim to attacks by those who disagreed
with its content. The New York Times site was hacked after it ran a series
of stories on cybercrime. And Salon received threats after publishing
information about an affair Rep. Henry Hyde, chairman of the House
Judiciary Committee investigating President Clinton, had with a married
woman.
"If you print an unpopular point of view, you face the consequences, like
a boycott of advertisers or someone throwing rocks through your window,"
said Jim Balderston, an analyst with Zona Research.
Publishers need adequate security for their websites, like the security
guards that protect a print newspaper's front door, Balderston said.
-o-
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Received on Sat Dec 26 12:38:07 1998