Hell On Earth Hit By Hack Attack

[numberfive]

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Hell On Earth Hit By Hack Attack

ST. PETERSBURG, Fla., Oct. 5, 2003

(AP)_An Internet broadcast of a concert that was to feature a suicide of a terminally ill person did not happen because the Web site was attacked. The band's leader said the concert still went on, but he didn't know whether the suicide did.

Billy Tourtelot, the bandleader of Hell on Earth, said his group performed at an undisclosed St. Petersburg location Saturday night as scheduled and that he was unaware of the Internet problems until after the show.

Tourtelot said the suicide was scheduled to take place at a separate location, which he also refused to reveal. It was not shown on the band's Web site as planned, but that did not necessarily mean it didn't happen, Tourtelot said.
"I don't know if that was done tonight," Tourtelot told The Associated Press in a telephone interview.

Hell on Earth's Web site was attacked Saturday evening by a flood of data from computers somewhere in Hong Kong, said Jason Trindade, the operator of a San Diego-based technology company that hosts the site.

"There's been a huge amount of traffic which causes the server to lock up," Trindade said.
Trindade said Tourtelot told him the performance would be postponed, possibly until next weekend. But Tourtelot said the show - at least the musical portion - went on as scheduled and that no other performances were planned.

City and state officials have warned that they will pursue criminal charges if the band went through with the suicide plan, and a judge has issued an order banning the event.
Tourtelot had said Saturday morning the concert and suicide would take place that night in two separate, undisclosed locations in St. Petersburg. He wouldn't give any more details on the venues.

Tourtelot's announcement last month that he would host the suicide of a terminally ill fan led the city to ban the event with an ordinance and prompted the court injunction.

The band asked fans to visit its Web page for the performance, but no video was shown. Instead, a link to another site appeared, as did the following message: "Next week the show will go on."
Trindade said the site was victimized by a denial-of-service attack, which is designed to hamper or shut down a computer system by flooding it with huge amounts of data. He did not immediately know how the site would address the problem.

Emergency dispatchers in St. Petersburg and Pinellas County reported they had no calls reporting a suicide nearly four hours after the event was to have taken place. In St. Petersburg, officials were on alert for calls of a suicide or suspicious death.
Florida Attorney General Charlie Crist has said that anyone who assists in a suicide could be charged with a felony and face up to 15 years in prison.

The person who has been threatening suicide has said he is dying and wants to promote his right-to-die views. Tourtelot, 33, said he was standing up for what he believed in to grant his friend his dying wish.

"There's nothing bad about that. It's giving the right to die with human dignity and compassion for those that we love," he said.

[Sledge]

That's a bit of a waste if the guy committed suicide anyway.

Urgh.

[battlemouth]

sounds like it was a hoax all along

[Harshaw]

The whole thing sounds like a stunt to me. After looking at this bands lyrics, the only way they were ever going to get this much press was by pulling a now you see it now you don't sort of thing. I can almost hear the band yelling psych.

Anyone remember myfirsttime.com? The web site that was going to show a couple lose their virginity online, this feels pretty much like the same thing.

[K-Wise]

Ahahahahahaha Thats just fuckin great. Now all those sicko fucks that wanted to see the poor man kill himself won't get to.

Asta!!

[Harmonia]

Sure this band got it's publicity but definitely not the kind that is going to help them make it big, don't you think? Maybe that's just my opinion. I guess we'll see.

[Harshaw]

I think when you are a no name/talent shit band, any publicity is good publicity. A couple of thousand more people know you exist, even if a small percentage of them decide to listen to you, thats a few more people listening to you.

[Redlemon]

"The band's leader said the concert still went on, but he didn't know whether the suicide did. "

How much is going on on the stage that you would miss a suicide?

[MrFlux]

Originally posted by redlemon
"The band's leader said the concert still went on, but he didn't know whether the suicide did. "

How much is going on on the stage that you would miss a suicide?

It wasn't AT the concert:

Tourtelot said the suicide was scheduled to take place at a separate location, which he also refused to reveal. It was not shown on the band's Web site as planned, but that did not necessarily mean it didn't happen, Tourtelot said.

Because it wasn't broadcast on the internet, the singer didn't know if it happened or not.

Needs a big fat HOAX stamp if you ask me. What a lame publicity stunt.

[Thraeryn]

Well, I believe in euthanasia rights, and this at least made the lawmakers look at the issue momentarily.

Still has "HOAX" written in big, friendly letters on the front.

[fuhrerhat]

Publicity stunt?

[Sledge]

Yo, if I were going to commit suicide, I'd want to do something interesting with it that would make people talk. You only get one shot, after all.

[jeenyus]

The whole thing was bullshit it was a publicity stunt probably. if the guy was going to commit suicide how would he kill himself?

[zenmaster10665]

definitely bullshit....at least I hope so...

The whole thing also stinks of a silly "reality TV shows" that was on in Britan recently...it involved a guy playing russian roulette on Channel 4. I am sorry, but has entertainment come to this?!?! Suicide for entertainment/profit? It sickens me.

[krwlz]

Originally posted by Harmonia
Sure this band got it's publicity but definitely not the kind that is going to help them make it big, don't you think? Maybe that's just my opinion. I guess we'll see.

You suppose biting the head off a dove sounded like good publicity at the time?

And, I would not have liked to see the suicide at the show, but it is my belief that right-to-die should be legal.

I dont really care about the morals of it, but I simply dont think that the gov't ought to have a say one way or the other in that matter.

[tinfoil]

Originally posted by Harmonia
Sure this band got it's publicity but definitely not the kind that is going to help them make it big, don't you think? Maybe that's just my opinion. I guess we'll see.

Sadly, there are a large number of fans out there of this kind of music, at least enough to make a decent amount of cash from.

A hack attack my ass. There was no suicide. The band took the site down and the web provider is probably helping them out with this farce.

[tinfoil]

Originally posted by krwlz
You suppose biting the head off a dove sounded like good publicity at the time?

And, I would not have liked to see the suicide at the show, but it is my belief that right-to-die should be legal.

I dont really care about the morals of it, but I simply dont think that the gov't ought to have a say one way or the other in that matter.

But the right to charge shouldn't be. It makes a mockery of life and puts a price on it.