But if they were in eastern Europe or Russia, wouldn't that solution be considered standard business practice and thus be legal?
Assuming that you really believe such an outrageous statement, I went to <http://www.themoscowtimes.com/index.htm> to search for stories about people being arrested for the behavior that you think is "legal". Interestingly, the first story on the front page is about such an arrest, and you can type "arrest" into the search box to find several other stories. Note that the Moscow Times is an English language newspaper in Russia that tends to be critical of the government. But at least it is written by people who live there and who have a much better idea of what is going on than the folklore that is reported on in the West. Yes, this is network operational, because the Internet is a global network, and you really do need to understand that the majority of network operators in Eastern Europe or Russia, are not out to get you. If you have operational issues with them you should contact them directly and sort it out. The criminal elements in cyberspace are also criminals in their own country and very few network operators are actually in league with them. Treat other network operators as innocent unless they are proven guilty. For instance go to <http://www.cert.ru/>, click on the Union Jack flag for English language version and then on the Conference link for the 7th Nov 2008 to see presentations from Finland, Estonia, Bulgaria, and Russia. Some of the slides are even in English, or English and Russian. And if you attend one of the RIPE meetings in Europe you can actually meet network operators from these countries and learn that they are pretty much like you, running a business and sorting out problems. -- Michael Dillon