HELL ON EARTH - SUICIDE WEBCAST BLOCKED BY INTERNET ATTACK

An internet broadcast of a HELL ON EARTH concert featuring the suicide of a terminally ill person failed to take place on Saturday (04OCT03), because the band's website was attacked.

Frontman BILLY TOURTELOTs says the group performed at an undisclosed St Petersburg, Florida, location as scheduled, but claims to have no knowledge of whether the suicide took place. He also says he was unaware of the internet problems until after the show.

Tourtelot explains that the suicide was scheduled to take place at a separate location, which he also refused to reveal. It was not shown on the band's website as planned, but that did not necessarily mean it didn't happen, says Tourtelot.

Hell on Earth's website was attacked on Saturday evening by a flood of data from computers somewhere in Hong Kong, said JASON TRINDADE, the operator of a San Diego, California-based technology company that hosts the site.

Trindade says, "There's been a huge amount of traffic which causes the server to lock up."

Trindade adds that Tourtelot told him the performance would be postponed, possibly until next weekend (10-12OCT03). But Tourtelot insists the show - at least the musical portion - went on as scheduled and that no other performances are planned.

City and state officials had warned they would pursue criminal charges if the band went through with the suicide plan, and a judge had issued an order banning the event.

Tourtelot's announcement last month (SEP03) that he would host the suicide of a terminally ill fan led the city to ban the event with an ordinance and prompted the court injunction.

Emergency dispatchers in St Petersburg and nearby Pinellas County reported they had no calls reporting a suicide nearly four hours after the event was to have taken place. In St Petersburg, officials were on alert for calls of a suicide or suspicious death.