Hogwash!

Sri Lanka Telecom has turned down a request to block international calls to 12 countries to prevent modem hijacking and internet porn scams.



Sri Lanka Telecom has turned down a request to block international calls to 12 countries to prevent modem hijacking and internet porn scams. The telecom watchdog asked SLT to block calls for a three month trial starting Nov 1.





, after 32 customers complained over international calls they never made.

"We have appealed against this decision. It's not a ruling, its merely a request which is not practical.

No calls will be blocked from tomorrow either," a top SLT official said Monday.

SLT says it merely facilitates internet service and cannot act as a nanny to clamp down on its customers surfing habits.

Modem hijacking, also referred to as dialer hijacking or Internet dumping, is a form of fraud that targets dial-up modem users.

Some websites surreptitiously install malicious dialers on a surfers' computer and use the modem to dial long distance telephone calls to unknown numbers. Users run up huge bills as a bulk of these calls terminate on porn sites or phone sex terminals.

Telecom