IP: Cyber surfers caught by fishing nets: [risks] Risks Digest 21.30

[David Farber <dave@farber.net>]

>Date: Thu, 22 Mar 2001 15:20:56 -0800
>From: Tin Tin <onuj23@juno.com>
>Subject: Cyber surfers caught by fishing nets
>
> >From : http://www.theaustralian.com.au/
>
>Cyber surfers caught by fishing nets, AFP, 22 Mar 2001
>
>China's Internet links with the US are threatened by the anchor nets used by
>the country's fishing industry.  *The Shanghai Daily* reported on 21 Mar
>2001 that fishing equipment had snagged underwater cables off the coast of
>Shanghai three times in the past two months, causing havoc for millions of
>Net surfers. And officials fear the problem could worsen, the paper said.
>China's main fishing season has just begun and industry officials say they
>lack sufficient legal power to stop further damage, the report added.
>
>The problem centres on a type of fishing net developed in South Korea that
>uses anchors sunk into the seabed.  Strong tides can drag the anchors --
>which are sunk lower into the seabed than Internet cables, for distances of
>up to 8km -- severing communications links.
>
>Anchor nets are due to be phased out by 2006, but China's Ministry of the
>Information Industry and the Ministry of Agriculture, which regulate the
>Internet and fishing industry, are still working on an interim solution.
>For the next three months, however, authorities in Shanghai can do little
>but increase patrol boats in the cable areas to warn fishermen away, and
>industry officials warn that may not be sufficient to prevent a severe
>breakdown in communications.
>
>The first serious break occurred on 9 Feb 2001 about 370km off China's
>coast, severing the main Internet link between China and the US.  Although
>communications were partially restored during a repair process that
>stretched over two weeks, 22.5 million customers, including many in
>Shanghai, suffered slow service, the paper reported.  On 9 Mar, the
>Internet backbone linking Taiwan and Shanghai was cut by a fishing net about
>120km south of the city, affecting four million users.
>
>When that split was finally repaired on 19 Mar, authorities found another
>break in the undersea cable that will disrupt Internet services for a
>further two weeks.  Each break costs about six million UN ($1.4 million) to
>repair, in addition to unknown business losses resulting from the Internet
>disruptions.



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