Admin hijacks “za” domain key

So, South Africa’s parliament has given initial approval to a law that will let the government take control of the country’s Internet address administration. Personally, I think the government’s proposal (Chapter X) stinks, so I voted against it last week.

On Thursday the administrator of South Africa’s Web addresses Mike Lawrie hid the key to the country’s “.za” domain network abroad to prevent any government interference in access to the Internet. Lawrie said he had announced his action to signal to the global Internet community that the South African domain was secure despite the controversial legislation scheduled to pass its final parliamentary hurdle next week. “If someone were to mistakenly corrupt the zone file in terms of trying to bulldoze their way in, they would not be able to do any damage,” he said.

I think he will be my hero for the day.