🚀 go-pugleaf

Before the holidays, I was told to check out  http://www.mpx.net/.

The web page contained various graphics.  The following is the way
that the lynx web browser rendered the page.

|                                                                 MPX Australia
|
|   Mpx - AUSTRALIA
|   The Internet Morons
|
|     _________________________________________________________________
|
|
|   LAME? MORONS? RIPOFF MERCHANTS???
|   JUST COMPLETE ASSHOLES? THATS US!!!!!
|
|   We will FIREWALL ANYONE who gets up our nose.... Who cares that our
|   customers web sites cant be accessed, people cant receive email... oh
|   well.
|
|   Come back and check our web site out soon!
|
|
|     _________________________________________________________________
|
|
|   There have been a lot of visitors to this page.
|
|   Email: webmoron@jolt.mpx.net
|   Copyright © 1996 by MPX Australia, All Rights Reserved.
|

For those who are unaware, there is an Internet Service Provider 
called `Microplex'.  They have been around for a number of years,
are based in Sydney, and have the domain name is  mpx.com.au.

On their web page, I see that rather than a company logo, they have
a very stylised way of writing "MICROPLEX", which uses a font I've
never seen before.   Perhaps they commissioned someone to design it,
I don't know. I'm just guessing.  Either way, it is very distinctive.

But anyway, back to the mpx.net web page...

With a graphical browser, the  "Mpx" on the "Mpx - AUSTRALIA" line was
replaced by a gif, containing the letters MPX.  Amazingly enough, these
letters were in *exactly* the same font/style as the letters used on the
Microplex web page.  They look like they had been cut and pasted.

The "a lot of" was replaced by a numerical counter, and the  "Email"
line contained a link to send mail to `webmoron@jolt.mpx.net'.

One of Microplex's main machines (the main machine?) is called  jolt.

According to rs.internic.net, MPX.COM was already used up, having been
created in 1989, with the MPX.NET domain "created on 02-Jan-96".

The similarity in company names, graphical logos and hostnames  makes
it clear it is aimed at Microplex, and the presumably libellous text
to me says "law suit" in big <blink>ing letters.

When I checked again today, the web page was gone.  If anyone would
like the original page's HTML, just drop me some email.  I saved it.

In some other postings to  aus.net.policy, I have been asking whether
AARNet/Telstra Internet has any official polices with respect to
the number of domains one person can register.  I urge people to
read the posts and offer any comments which they have.

A person found guilty of Cruelty to Animals can be barred from owning
an animal again.  I wonder if Telstra Internet could/should exclude from
registering any new domains,  someone who has been found registering
domains for the purposes of impersonating rival companies and thereby
disseminating possibly criminally libellous propaganda.

Opinions?

/\ndy