Drug sniffer-dog alert site strains under pressure - News - Communications

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This story was printed from ZDNet Australia.
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Drug sniffer-dog alert site strains under pressure

By Rachel Lebihan, ZDNet Australia
May 23, 2002
URL: http://www.zdnet.com.au/news/communications/soa/Drug-sniffer-dog-alert-site-strains-under-pressure/0,130061791,120265425,00.htm

The controversial site that sends registered members of the public SMS messages to warn them where police are patrolling drug detection dogs was swamped by so many people yesterday that outages were prevalent as the server struggled to cope with demand.

The site, operated by NSW Council for Civil Liberties and Redfern Legal Centre, was set up on Tuesday, May 21 and saw -hundreds of thousands" of people attempting to log on yesterday when the site was at its height of public awareness following an outcry from NSW Police Minister Michael Costa and his call for the site to be taken down.

-It's probably the hottest site in Australia at the moment," NSW Council for Civil Liberties president Cameron Murphy told ZDNet Australia. -For short periods the server could not cope."

According to Murphy, the site would be flooded and go down for short periods immediately after it was aired on yesterday's television and radio news programs.

-It's quite clear its nothing other than demand," he said. -I think the server is adequate to take care of demand," Murphy added, saying he anticipates traffic to taper off as public curiosity becomes sated.