URL mix-up sends Oz Idol fans to gay porn site
Tuesday 23 November 2004 13:15

Telstra internet service provider BigPond has turned self-appointed content cop after accidentally steering millions of unwitting Australian teenagers to the tribute site of a gay porn star.

According to BigPond, "human error" substituted the URL for the website of the winner of Australian Idol, Casey Donovan (www.caseydonovan.com.au) with the URL of identically named dead gay porn icon Casey Donovan (www.caseydonovan.com).

The incorrect URL was advertised in Sydney's Daily Telegraph and Melbourne's Herald Sun newspapers.

Mr Donovan's site, which has been running for a number of years, features a naked full frontal picture of the former star. A government source investigating the matter described an aspect of the picture as "frighteningly large" and added that "heads will roll" over the incident.