FWIW, I used to run Spybot Search and Destroy, which recorded more than 1000 lines in the HOSTS file. Each line started with the IP address 127.0.0.0 followed by a URL for an "unsafe" website. From the website names, most were purveyors of pornography or of pirated software, and some were for gambling.

Then came the day that using a certain URL produced nothing; Firefox would "process" the URL but the displayed page was entirely blank. So I found and opened the HOSTS file, found that URL in it, deleted it from the file, closed the file, and re-tried the URL with Firefox. It displayed the website's home page without hesitation.

Unfortunately, though, Spybot S&D was probably right, because I came to suspect, for good reason, that the website abused its Javascript privilege to install malware on my computer. Nowadays, I run all software that I use to access the Internet in a Sandboxie sandbox.
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Ocie Hudson | 06.28.09 - 10:37 pm | #

1997? 2007 surely!

http://news.justia.com/cases/fea...cv00807/143872/
Conrad Longmore | Homepage | 06.29.09 - 4:37 am | #

Conrad:

Thanks. That date is now corrected.

Eric L. Howes
Sunbelt Software
Eric Howes | Homepage | 06.30.09 - 11:59 am | #

Check out this story. http://www.bromsun.com/ publicati...906_Leeman.html
Jack Rossin | Homepage | 07.01.09 - 2:29 pm | #