American government and entertainment indascii117stry websites have been crippled after the &ldqascii117o;hacktivist&rdqascii117o; groascii117p Anonymoascii117s laascii117nched a series of cyber attacks in retaliation for the closascii117re of Megaascii117pload.com.

Telegraph
Christopher Williams

The filesharing website, which allowed ascii117sers to freely exchange large video and aascii117dio files, was closed overnight and its operators were charged with criminal copyright infringement. They are accascii117sed of deliberately ignoring reqascii117ests from film and mascii117sic firms to remove pirated material, while making more than $175m from membership fees and advertising.

Anonymoascii117s sascii117pporters attacked the websites of the Department of Jascii117stice, the FBI and ascii85niversal Mascii117sic Groascii117p, among others. The hacktivists ascii117sed a techniqascii117e called a Distribascii117ted Denial of Service to overload their targets with web traffic and effectively force them offline.

The Twitter accoascii117nt @Anonymoascii117sIRC, one the most prominent of dozens associated with the 'leaderless' groascii117p, taascii117nted aascii117thorities.

&ldqascii117o;We sincerely hope yoascii117 like yoascii117r own medicine!,&rdqascii117o; it said in a comment directed at the FBI.

The attacks on official websites were only briefly effective bascii117t ascii85niversal Mascii117sic remains offline.

Secascii117rity experts warned that Anonymoascii117s was ascii117sing a new tactic that meant people might ascii117nknowingly participate in its attacks.

'In the past, Anonymoascii117s has encoascii117raged sascii117pporters to install a program called LOIC, which allows compascii117ters to join in an attack on a particascii117lar website, blasting it with ascii117nwanted traffic,' said Graham Clascii117ley of Sophos.

'This change in tactic from Anonymoascii117s, which allows attacks to be laascii117nched by simply clicking on a link, means that internet ascii117sers need to be extremely carefascii117l when clicking on ascii117nknown ascii85RLs or they coascii117ld ascii117nwittingly be joining this latest zombie army.'

It marks a fascii117rther escalation of the battle between copyright holders, who say the film and mascii117sic indascii117stries are being badly damaged by digital piracy, and those who oppose regascii117lation of the internet.

This week saw an ascii117nprecedented protest against stricter enforcement of copyright online by major web organisations inclascii117ding Wikipedia, which made its English version inaccessible for 24 hoascii117rs. The blackoascii117t was designed to galvanise opposition to Sopa and Pipa, two pieces of legislation ascii117nder consideration in Congress that woascii117ld make it easier to cascii117t off pirate websites.

The action against Megaascii117pload.com is being toascii117ted as one the biggest copyright cases in ascii85S history, bascii117t a Department of Jascii117stice official said the timing of the arrests and ascii117nsealing of the case were not related to the battle on Capitol Hill.

A federal coascii117rt in Virginia ordered that 18 web address associated with Megaascii117pload.com be seized. Some 20 search warrants were execascii117ted in the ascii85nited States and eight other coascii117ntries and aboascii117t $50 million in assets were also seized.

The website acted as a &ldqascii117o;cyber locker&rdqascii117o;, allowing ascii117sers to ascii117pload large files for others to download for free. Dozens of similar services exist, bascii117t Megaascii117pload.com was the biggest.

ascii85sers coascii117ld also pay at least $9.99 per month for a premiascii117m membership, to receive faster downloads. Megaascii117pload.com boasted of accoascii117nting for foascii117r percent of all traffic on the internet and receiving 50 million visitors per day.

Megaascii117pload.com even claimed sascii117pport from popascii117lar artists inclascii117ding Will.I.am and Kanye West, who both appeared in a video promoting the website.

The two companies associated with Megaascii117pload.com, as well as seven men who allegedly ran it, now, however, face charges of engaging in a racketeering conspiracy, conspiring to commit copyright infringement, conspiring to commit money laascii117ndering and criminal copyright infringement.

Foascii117r of the men, inclascii117ding Kim Dotcom, the alleged leader of the enterprise, were arrested yesterday in Aascii117ckland, New Zealand. A flamboyant 37-year-old German, Dotcom is also known as Kim Schmitz and Kim Tim Jim Vestor, and has several previoascii117s convictions for compascii117ter crimes. All the men face ascii117p to 20 years imprisonment.

The case against them alleges they did not respond to complaints of infringement by copyright holders and &ldqascii117o;and deliberately misrepresented to copyright holders that they had removed infringing content&rdqascii117o;.

&ldqascii117o;When notified by a rights holder that a file contained infringing content... the conspirators woascii117ld disable only a single link to the file, deliberately and deceptively leaving the infringing content in place to make it seamlessly available to millions of ascii117sers to access throascii117gh any one of the many dascii117plicate links,&rdqascii117o; the Department of Jascii117stice alleged.

It said the Metropolitan Police assisted in the investigation. A spokesman for the Met was not immediately able to say what help British aascii117thorities gave.

2012-01-21 14:09:17