Anonymous go to town on the net after Megaupload taken down

krudler

Dont mess with the interwebz:

http://www.forbes.com/sites/andygreenberg/2012/01/19/anonymous-hackers-claims-attack-on-doj-universal-music-and-riaa-after-megaupload-takedown/

On Thursday afternoon, Anonymous claimed credit for cyberattacks that knocked offline the websites of the U.S. Department of Justice, Recording Industry of America, Motion Picture Association of America and Universal Music. The so-called denial of service attacks that overwhelmed those sites with junk traffic came less than an hour after the Justice Department announced the takedown of the Mega sites, along with the arrest of former hacker and Mega founder Kim Dotcom and six others, who are being indicted on charges of copyright infringement and money laundering.

“One thing is certain: EXPECT US!,” wrote the Anonymous-linked Anonops Twitter feed Thursday just after the Mega raid, adding a hashtag for Megaupload.

“Anonymous/Megaupload backlash update: http://RIAA.ORG is now Tango Down,” wrote the Twitter feed Anonnews less than one hour later, as other Anonymous feeds claimed credit for downing Justice.gov and Universalmusic.com.

Update: The U.S. Copyright office website is now down as well. Expect this to go on for a while. “Get some popcorn… it’s going to be a long lulzy night,” writes Anonnews.

Standard Toaster

Waste. Of. Time.

Slow news week.

LighterGuy

Just read this myself.
Should of known they would do something.

Good on them

Andy-Pandy

When nerds attack

strobe

Standard Toaster wrote: »

Waste. Of. Time.

Slow news week.

Ah I don't know about a waste of time. It's an interesting way to protest and gets way more publicity and interest than walking around in the cold holding squares of cardboard. Plus they seem to enjoy themselves. Not my cup of tea but sure let them at it.

Sindri

Yeah I'm a hacker.

This puts me on par with Gandhi and MLK.

PseudoFamous

I don't know about anyone else, but I don't visit the RIAA, MPAA, Department of Justice, or Universal music websites. Nobody will miss them, their server admins will snigger a bit, take down the site for a few hours and quietly bring it back up. Pointless effort. They'd be better off actually getting out and protesting in front of their buildings, make more of an impact.

Oh, they've also further alienated themselves, as now representatives are going to be persuaded to see them as harmful to the wellbeing of the internet.

KeithAFC

Internet terrorists. Simple as that.

Richard Hillman

I give them my begrudging respect

AnonoBoy

They're doing it by taking control of people's computers though.

http://gawker.com/5877707/the-evil-new-tactic-behind-anonymous-massive-revenge-attack

Making people become part of it whether they want to or not is pretty sh*tty.

batistuta9

PseudoFamous wrote: »

I don't know about anyone else, but I don't visit the RIAA, MPAA, Department of Justice, or Universal music websites. Nobody will miss them, their server admins will snigger a bit, take down the site for a few hours and quietly bring it back up. Pointless effort. They'd be better off actually getting out and protesting in front of their buildings, make more of an impact.

Oh, they've also further alienated themselves, as now representatives are going to be persuaded to see them as harmful to the wellbeing of the internet.

no they wouldn't. if people were protesting outside, they'd just look out the window at them and laugh. A small group of people mightn't even make the news, a small group organising DDOS taking sites down definitely will, thus raising the issue even though they get a bad rep. for it from the mainstream(bad hackers, evil hackers, probably shouldn't even be called such) as you've said but they already have anyway, so who cares

Taking the site's down > protesting

GLaDOS

It has people talking about it, that itself is a success

amacachi

As much as I haven't made my mind up about Anonymous and don't like that people actually found out that people were stupid enough to pirate stuff so have little sympathy for the Megaupload situation, this is damn funny. :pac:

El Weirdo

Erm... Which town?!

amacachi

AnonoBoy wrote: »

They're doing it by taking control of people's computers though.

http://gawker.com/5877707/the-evil-new-tactic-behind-anonymous-massive-revenge-attack

Making people become part of it whether they want to or not is pretty sh*tty.

Was just gonna say that, probably a few people posting on this thread are unknowingly contributing to these attacks.

RichieC

HUZZAH!

http://www.megavideo.bz/

the force is strong with this one

Jesus Shaves

AnonoBoy wrote: »

They're doing it by taking control of people's computers though.

http://gawker.com/5877707/the-evil-new-tactic-behind-anonymous-massive-revenge-attack

Making people become part of it whether they want to or not is pretty sh*tty.

That article is pretty ****ty

Liam Byrne

LighterGuy wrote: »

Just read this myself.
Should of known they would do something.

Good on them

"Should of" makes no sense! It's not even a phrase!

Sorry for picking on you, but Jesus! I keep seeing this all over websites and emails and boards and god-knows-where and it's one of my pet hates!

Jesus Shaves

Liam Byrne wrote: »

"Should of" makes no sense! It's not even a phrase!

Sorry for picking on you, but Jesus! I keep seeing this all over websites and emails and boards and god-knows-where and it's one of my pet hates!

shouldn't of commented on it!

Doc Ruby

Liam Byrne wrote: »

"Should of" makes no sense! It's not even a phrase!

Sorry for picking on you, but Jesus! I keep seeing this all over websites and emails and boards and god-knows-where and it's one of my pet hates!

Spell checkers are responsible for this, along with loose/lose and they're/there/their. There was a scientific study done recently showing that bad spelling and grammar is actually like nails on a chalkboard to many people. It irritates me to no end! *rimshot*

Manic Moran

Domo230 wrote: »

Good on them to fight back. They have my support.

Why?

Would you support bank robbers, or anyone else conducting illegal activities?

It's groups like this that are providing the impetus for legislation such as SOPA. If people didn't think that IP piracy on the InterWeb was a God Given Right, there wouldn't be other people coming up with legislation to limit it.

Downlinz

Domo230 wrote: »

Good on them to fight back. They have my support.

I agree, insanity the restrictions the US government want on freedom of speech. The masses simply don't understand the implications of actions like this, it cannot be taken lightly.

RichieC

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-LEb_D2SD3k

Nokia08

They are asking you if you want to participate if you click on the LOIC link.

AnonoBoy wrote: »

They're doing it by taking control of people's computers though.

http://gawker.com/5877707/the-evil-new-tactic-behind-anonymous-massive-revenge-attack

Making people become part of it whether they want to or not is pretty sh*tty.

And I wouldn't quote that site in a research journal:P, So take what they say with a pinch of salt!

But I have to admit it is exciting to see a community come together and I've only read supportive messages on most sites and Twitter is on fire with it

RichieC

Manic Moran wrote: »

Why?

Would you support bank robbers, or anyone else conducting illegal activities?

It's groups like this that are providing the impetus for legislation such as SOPA. If people didn't think that IP piracy on the InterWeb was a God Given Right, there wouldn't be other people coming up with legislation to limit it.

Copying is not the same as stealing, never will be, never has been. 1 downloaded film does not equal lost revenue, and many times can actually help revenue.

cop on with this mealy mouthed apologist crap.

Doc Ruby

Personally I'd be in favour of about 12 years of copyright protection, then its in the public domain, or even better charge a renewal fee for each piece of intellectual property after 12 years. If its worth anything let them pay for it. This life plus 70 stuff is just turning people against media creators.

Before 12 years I'd have no mercy on them.

CiaranC

Manic Moran wrote: »

It's groups like this that are providing the impetus for legislation such as SOPA

Absolute rubbish

titan18

RichieC wrote: »

HUZZAH!

http://www.megavideo.bz/

the force is strong with this one

Apparently, that's a scam website and will infect your computer

According to update 21 anyway

http://www.neowin.net/news/anonymous-takes-down-doj-website-in-response-to-megaupload-news

batistuta9

Manic Moran wrote: »

Why?

Would you support bank robbers, or anyone else conducting illegal activities?

It's groups like this that are providing the impetus for legislation such as SOPA.

no it not it because the media companies aren't able to ring every last cent out of films/music.

Manic Moran wrote: »

If people didn't think that IP piracy on the InterWeb was a God Given Right, there wouldn't be other people coming up with legislation to limit it.

what about the media companies buying the rights to stuff and stopping distributing it. what do you think about that?
is it their god given right to allow people to view only what they want

LighterGuy

RichieC wrote: »

Copying is not the same as stealing, never will be, never has been. 1 downloaded film does not equal lost revenue, and many times can actually help revenue.

cop on with this mealy mouthed apologist crap.

Well what if 5,000 people download a popular movie from a bittorrent site. Now, just because 5,000 people downloaded it I know it doesnt mean those 5,000 would of bought the movie in a shop/online etc. But lets say 1,000 of them wanted to see the movie and they didnt have the ability to download.

Thats still 1,000 copies they lost in revenue.
And for the record I think the media companies are greedy. I say screw em all :pac:

HUNK

Here is a timeline of events surrounding megaupload. Taken from reddit

"Early 2011" - "The FBI contacted New Zealand Police in early 2011 with a request to assist with their investigation into the Mega Conspiracy." said Detective Inspector Grant Wormald of OFCANZ
28-OCT-2011 - MegaUpload labelled a 'rogue' site by MPAA.
09-DEC-2011 - MegaUpload releases a music video with RIAA artists endorsing MegaUpload.
10-DEC-2011 - UMG doesn't like the video. Has it removed from YouTube.
12-DEC-2011 - MegaUpload files suit against UMG on the grounds that UMG cannot remove the content as MegaUpload holds the copyright, not UMG.
16-DEC-2011 - UMG says "So what? We can take down whatever we want!" and "You can't touch us. This isn't DMCA. We didn't take it down because of copyright. We took it down because we can."
21-DEC-2011 - MegaUpload labelled a "rogue" site by the USTR.
28-DEC-2011 - MegaUpload wants an explaination from UMG.
19-JAN-2012 - MegaUpload shut down by Feds
20-JAN-2012 - New Zealand arrests in US led global copyright infringement investigation of Megaupload.com and related sites.
Here is the indictment.
According to page 25 of the indictment "54. It was further part of the Conspiracy, from at least September 2005 until July 2011, that the Conspiracy provided financial incentives for users to upload infringing copies of popular copyrighted works. The Conspiracy made payments to uploaders who were known to have uploaded infringing copies of copyrighted works."

TanG411

Anonymous are great.

Richard Hillman

I still aint gonna buy your albums and I'll wait until your movie is on TV. Without megaupload the only difference is I will have less time to access new bands and therefore won't be going to any potential live gigs or festivals.

amacachi

LighterGuy wrote: »

Well what if 5,000 people download a popular movie from a bittorrent site. Now, just because 5,000 people downloaded it I know it doesnt mean those 5,000 would of bought the movie in a shop/online etc. But lets say 1,000 of them wanted to see the movie and they didnt have the ability to download.

Thats still 1,000 copies they lost in revenue.
And for the record I think the media companies are greedy. I say screw em all :pac:

A games site tried tightening up different bits of DRM. Overall they found for the drop in piracy there was a 1% increase in sales. Not exactly going to make a huge difference in sales etc.

Chuck Stone

Nobel prize winning economist Joseph Stiglitz explains how patenting ideas and forming monopolies can hinder advancement.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v_xLjqjo7GA

Look at this bullshit patent.. .

Method of exercising a cat with a laser pointer....

This guy ^^ doesn't need a patent he needs a good kicking.

danniemcq

Ok so i download stuff

i also go to the cinema for movies that i'm looking forward too, I buy dvds of downloads i enjoy, i go see bands when i downloaded their album.

With netflix released in Ireland now i will subscribe to them instead of fileserve.

I download due to the fact that i cannot get what i want when i want it.

I just love the fact that millions of US dollars are being spent on this "war on piracy" when the entertainment industry is doing much better than most in this day and age. They have blown it all out of proportion by bringing in the FBI.

As said by someone smarter than me "ts like spending 50 million quid on shoplifters and getting the FBI to pat down any suspicious teenagers within a 20 mile radius of a walmart"

What they should be going after is the creaters of Malware and Spam. Actual things that steal your money, infect your computer and can bring systems down.

This is just the rich looking out for the richer and its things like this that make me want to download more

So does that mean megavideo is gone too? Good riddance, their time limit was ruining my enjoyment of tv shows.

Doc Ruby

Doc Ruby wrote: »

Spell checkers are responsible for this, along with loose/lose and they're/there/their. There was a scientific study done recently showing that bad spelling and grammar is actually like nails on a chalkboard to many people. It irritates me to no end! *rimshot*

i knew it, im not crazy

danniemcq

Deleted User wrote: »

So does that mean megavideo is gone too? Good riddance, their time limit was ruining my enjoyment of tv shows.

just checked on my phone, its still up

Beefy78

amacachi wrote: »

A games site tried tightening up different bits of DRM. Overall they found for the drop in piracy there was a 1% increase in sales. Not exactly going to make a huge difference in sales etc.

It doesn't matter whether it impacts on sales or not. All that shows is that there's a lot of people who would rather download something else for free than pay for something from that site.

If I want to see a film I'll pay for it. If I want to own a song then I'll buy it. If I don't want either enough to pay for them then that doesn't justify me downloading them illegally.

People don't make films, or games, or commercial music for the love of it. They do it as a commercial enterprise and people accessing those products for free shouldn't be seen as some kind of God-given right.

titan18

Beefy78 wrote: »

It doesn't matter whether it impacts on sales or not. All that shows is that there's a lot of people who would rather download something else for free than pay for something from that site.

If I want to see a film I'll pay for it. If I want to own a song then I'll buy it. If I don't want either enough to pay for them then that doesn't justify me downloading them illegally.

People don't make films, or games, or commercial music for the love of it. They do it as a commercial enterprise and people accessing those products for free shouldn't be seen as some kind of God-given right.

Whilst there will always be people who will take things for free cos they can, there are a lot who do it cos it's the easiest and fastest way to see the things they want to see. For example, if someone can't watch a certain TV show due to it either not being shown over here, or it not being shown for months after it's original release, should people just accept that and not watch it, instead of watching it illegally. I think that's bs. If I'm provided a service that I can watch what I want to watch when I want to watch, I'll pay for it. Just as I will with Netflix now that it's released here.

sensibleken

Liam Byrne wrote: »

"Should of" makes no sense! It's not even a phrase!

Sorry for picking on you, but Jesus! I keep seeing this all over websites and emails and boards and god-knows-where and it's one of my pet hates!

bet your allot of fun at parties.

emeraldstar

sensibleken wrote: »

bet your allot of fun at parties.

Oh dear.

sensibleken

emeraldstar wrote: »

Oh dear.

yes that was.....oh nevermind

emeraldstar

sensibleken wrote: »

yes that was.....oh nevermind

Oh right: haha.

ScumLord

I don't know why they haven't been using more 2shared links all along, this is great news for not having to wait 5-30 seconds for your video to play.

Logical Fallacy

Sindri wrote: »

Yeah I'm a hacker.

This puts me on par with Gandhi and MLK.

Well Gandhi was a fan of non violent protest....Anon members are generally too fat and nerdy for violence.

Coincidence?

Yes.

Manic Moran

batistuta9 wrote: »

Manic Moran wrote: »

Why?

Would you support bank robbers, or anyone else conducting illegal activities?

It's groups like this that are providing the impetus for legislation such as SOPA.

no it not it because the media companies aren't able to ring every last cent out of films/music.

Manic Moran wrote: »

If people didn't think that IP piracy on the InterWeb was a God Given Right, there wouldn't be other people coming up with legislation to limit it.

what about the media companies buying the rights to stuff and stopping distributing it. what do you think about that?
is it their god given right to allow people to view only what they want

I'm not sure you quite grasp the concept off IP. The use of the word "property" is deliberate, and it's treated in a similar manner to physical items. Let's say I have the only Sharpes Mk1 rifle in the world. It arguably should be in a museum, where all can see this revolutionary item. But it's in my house, and I don't feel like showing it to anyone. That is not a license for someone break in, steal the rifle, and put it on public display just because gun enthusiasts are bummed that they can't see it otherwise.

NTM

Otacon

Manic Moran wrote: »

I'm not sure you quite grasp the concept off IP. The use of the word "property" is deliberate, and it's treated in a similar manner to physical items. Let's say I have the only Sharpes Mk1 rifle in the world. It arguably should be in a museum, where all can see this revolutionary item. But it's in my house, and I don't feel like showing it to anyone. That is not a license for someone break in, steal the rifle, and put it on public display just because gun enthusiasts are bummed that they can't see it otherwise.

NTM

What if the 'thief' had a 'carbon-copy' machine, which left your gun where it was, completely undamaged, and created a copy for this public display?

Chuck Stone

Manic Moran wrote: »

I'm not sure you quite grasp the concept off IP.

And you do?

I've been reading around the issue and listening to various lectures on youtube and I'm having difficulty trying to grasp what exactly IP is. Maybe my mental faculties are failing me?

The use of the word "property" is deliberate, and it's treated in a similar manner to physical items.

That's the problem; IP is nothing like physical items.

Unlike the gun 'analogy' when someone copies something the person who made the original loses nothing; he retains the original.

ScumLord

Otacon wrote: »

What if the 'thief' had a 'carbon-copy' machine, which left your gun where it was, completely undamaged, and created a copy for this public display?

You don't lose anything but you also don't gain anything and generosity is un-American.