Posted on 02/05/2004 5:37:52 PM PST by Leroy S. Mort
The Washington Post E-mail system went dark Thursday after the company let its domain name expire, a shocking mistake for the company that considers its Internet operation the best in the biz. In a memo to staffers, Managing Editor Steven Coll revealed that Network Solutions, which manages Internet addresses, "apparently notified the Post of the pending expiration via a drop-box that was not being monitored."
Spokesman Eric Grant said once the company figured out the glitch, a call was made to Network Solutions to renew the domain and the system was slowly put back on line. It’s expected to be fully operational by Friday.
Staffers said the crash–which came as deadline approached–sent the news desks into a tizzy. It was especially hard on Style, Metro, and National desks, which rely on E-mail reporting, and the photo department, which receives digital pictures from photographers via email.
Read Coll’s memo:
"Early this morning, the domain name washpost.com expired. Network Solutions, which manages Internet addresses, apparently notified the Post of the pending expiration via a drop-box that was not being monitored. The domain name has now been restored, but it will take an unknown period of time–at least a few hours–to propogate [sic] across the network. In the meantime all external E-mail has been disrupted and external senders are receiving delivery failure notices.
While this problem persists, it is possible to access the Post's VPN network via the Internet by typing in the direct IP address of a network server. . .We'll keep you updated as we learn more. COLLS."
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