"December 6 was a bad day for online genealogy. As if the CA/TX vital records flap isn't enough, a federal judge ordered the Department of the Interior to remove itself from the Internet entirely on December 6th, because its database on Indian trust fund accounts was found to be vulnerable to hackers. Judge Royth Lambert ordered DOI to "immediately disconnect from the Internet all information technology systems that house or provide access to individual Indian trust data." He also ordered the shutdown of "all computers within the custody and control of the Department of the Interior, its employees and contractors that have access to the individual Indian trust data." This is bad enough for interior employees, who can't even use their email now. And for folks who rely on the USGS weather data or its earthquake information or people wanting to use the National Parks Service site. Us poor genealogists no longer have access to its Geographical Name Server or to the Bureau of Land Management land records. Indefinitely."

Betty