(AFP) An Internet newspaper was shut down for more than six hours yesterday when unknown sources launched an attack on its server, its chief executive officer said.

Premesh Chandran said he had no idea who was behind the 'denial of service' (DOS) attack yesterday, the second attempt to disrupt the web paper's operations this month.

"It could just be a prankster but if it was a more sinister source it could be very dangerous," he said.

Chandran said they had no clues as to the identity or purpose of the perpetrators as multiple computers were used for the attack, making it hard to prevent.

He said the team had managed to detect and thwart an attempt to hack into the paper's system two weeks ago.

"I don't think the hacker was successful because so far we haven't detected anything out of the ordinary," he said.

New laws

The award-winning web paper, launched in 1999, comes in for frequent criticism from authorities who accuse it of pro-opposition reporting. Its reporters are occasionaly excluded from attending official functions.

Rais Yatim, minister responsible for legal affairs, said recently the attorney general's office was in the final stage of drafting laws to make websites accountable for what they publish.

The Printing Presses and Publications Act already makes the publication of "malicious news" by the conventional media punishable by jail terms. It empowers authorities to ban or restrict the circulation of publications.

In response to restrictions on the print media, pro-opposition websites have mushroomed in recent years.

Prime Minister Mahathir Mohamad, who has developed a Multimedia Super Corridor high-tech zone south of the capital, has promised not to censor the Internet.