Very interesting - just on a news bulletin now, summarised in layman's terms:

Pakistan, through some internet company presumably, sent out a misleading DNS address for YouTube as a 'faster' route and after this leaked outside Pakistan, the viral effect of the incorrect address meant YouTube's shutdown spread worldwide.

(Geeks, nerds or just more IP literate FTers and IT people, I;m sure you can explain this better... Let's hope there's not a Fatwa or whatever on FT!)



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TravelTech IT / IP / pointyhead eminent experts:
Was this inadvertent shutdown outside Pakistan peculiar to YT due to its structure or content or could such a method work for any internet site?

Tenuous link to TT:
Who has experience downloading and watching YouTube videos on an iPhone / iPod Touch?