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FRIDAY, DECEMBER 7, 2001

The Department of Interior's response to a federal judge's order on computer security has resulted in a loss of e-mail and other services for employees in differents parts of the nation.

In Alaska, The Anchorage Daily News reports that agencies there were told little of the outage. "Frankly we're surprised and in the dark," said Karen Boylan, a spokeswoman for the U.S. Fish and Wildlife Service in Anchorage is quoted as saying.

The Los Angeles Times reports of service shortages have affected internal dissemination of information, lending support to a shutdown far beyond access cut to individual Indian trust systems and computers. The paper, however, says the shutdown came in response to a lawsuit filed by tribes -- the class action is on behalf of 300,000 American Indians.

Bureau of Indian Affairs services have been at a standstill, Indianz.Com reported today. Indianz.Com received reports of additional outages at Fish and Wildlife, the Bureau of Reclamation, the U.S. Geological Survey and the Bureau of Land Management. One report from the main Department of Interior central offfice in Washington, D.C., indicated no problems, however.

Reports of service cuts at BIA schools were also reported. A BIA school employee in New Mexico was given a memo which disallowed computer access in the classroom by students or teachers.

An employee at the BIA's Office of Information Resources Management, the bureau's computer nerve center in Reston, Virginia, said the schools voluntarily took themselves off the BIANET system on Wednesday afternoon.

Get the Story:
Internet access to Interior Department closed down (The Anchorage Daily News 12/7)
Closure of Interior Department Web Sites Ordered (The Los Angeles Times 12/7)

Today on Indianz.Com:
DOI Shutdown: 'We're Hurting Tribes' (12/7)
From the top, a gamble in trust (12/7)

Relevant Links:
Indian Trust, Department of Interior - http://indiantrust.doi.gov
Office of the Special Trustee - http://www.ost.doi.gov
Trust Management Improvement Project - http://www.doi.gov/bia/trust/tmip.htm
Indian Trust: Cobell v. Norton - http://www.indiantrust.com

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