Man 'saved' by net overload

2003-10-05 21:15

Washington - Data overload prevented the live internet broadcast of an onstage suicide, planned as part of a concert in Florida by shock-rock band Hell On Earth, reports said on Sunday.

Thousands of internet users logged onto the Hell On Earth website for the Saturday night show in St Petersburg, Florida, overloading the technology to such an extent that it failed to function.

"There was a huge amount of traffic which causes the server to lock up," said Jason Trinidade of a San Diego-based company that hosts the site.

Some reports said the flood of data was an "attack" on the website, which prevented the broadcast.

It was unclear on Sunday whether the planned suicide by a terminally ill fan of the band had taken place. According to US media reports, band frontman Billy Tourtelot said he did not know.

The suicide had been transferred to a secret location away from the concert venue because of a judicial order banning the performance and warnings from the police.

On the other hand, the spokesperson for the internet service provider, Jason Trindade, said the band had informed him that the "suicide show" would be postponed for a week.

After the band announced that one of its fans would commit suicide on stage at a concert in St Petersburg, a judge banned the suicide element of the show.

On Monday, the St Petersburg City Council approved an emergency law to ban suicide for commercial or entertainment purposes. The law also makes it illegal to sell tickets or provide a venue for the event.

Tourtelot then planned that the concert and the suicide show would take place at two different venues, but both would be broadcast live on the band's website.

Life 'unbearable'

The apparently terminally ill fan had written a letter to the website of a local radio station in mid-September saying his illness had become unbearable.

As he had exhausted every possible medical option, he had made his decision: "I will sue everyone who tries to keep me alive against my will. I hope that everyone will understand and respect my decision and I hope that one day, others in the same situation will have the right to die".

The man was believed to be a member of the Euthanasia Society, which campaigns for assisted suicide.

According to Florida law, it is manslaughter to help someone commit suicide.

"This show is far more than a typical Hell On Earth performance. This is about standing up for what you believe in and I am a strong supporter of physician-assisted suicide," Tourtelot said earlier this week.

On its website, Hell On Earth claims its past performances have included feeding dead rats into a blender on stage for a milkshake for fans and the sodomising of skinned calves. - Sapa-DPA

- SAPA