http://www.forbes.com/home_asia/newswire/2003/07/01/rtr1016532.html By Timothy Gardner Reuters 07.01.03 NEW YORK (Reuters) - A federal judge has ordered the U.S. agency that monitors energy platforms in the Gulf of Mexico to shut down its Internet and email systems indefinitely to block hackers from $1 billion in American Indian funds the agency manages. The Minerals Management Service (MMS), part of the U.S. Department of Interior (DOI), oversees offshore oil and gas production on some 4,000 platforms in the U.S. Gulf. The shutdown has already hurt communications between energy companies, the government and the media. This week details about the production effects of Tropical Storm Bill, which hit the coast of Louisiana, were difficult to obtain. "This time, because it (Tropical Storm Bill) coincided with the temporary restraining order, we had a bit of a problem because the companies couldn't report to us like they usually do," said Nicolette Humphries, spokeswoman at MMS in Washington. The storm ultimately fizzled into a tropical depression on Tuesday and impacts on refineries in the Gulf were minimal. Last Friday, DOI Judge Royce Lamberth shut down many of the DOI's sites, including some MMS and Bureau of Land Management sites, when the government refused to allow a court-appointed computer expert hacker to test the measures in place to protect the American Indian money. It was the second time the judge has ordered such a shutdown to keep hackers from the fund. The last shutdown, which started in December 2001, lasted more than four months, according to the MMS. This time the restraining order has knocked some 2,500 government workers offline, said a DOI spokesman. A spokeswoman at the Louisiana office of MMS said the agency was setting up a fax system to inform interested parties of storm impacts on energy systems in the U.S. Gulf, adding it would also try to pass on information via telephone. MMS collects and disburses revenues from federal and American Indian leases and manages the money in a trust fund. MMS also provides information on the status of the platforms, which becomes particularly important to energy markets when hurricanes and storms affect production in the Gulf. The restraining order came in connection with Cobell vs. Norton, a seven-year-old suit in which American Indian plaintiffs sough compensation from the government which they say squandered $137 billion from the fund over the last century. - ISN is currently hosted by Attrition.org To unsubscribe email majordomoat_private with 'unsubscribe isn' in the BODY of the mail.
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