Following an announcement on the 4chan boards Saturday (see accompanying graphic), the websites of the MPAA, Aiplex Software, RIAA, IFPI, and other anti-piracy collectives, were knocked offline by a series of DDoS attacks. The CEO of Aiplex Software touched-off the incident when he admitted that the company employs DDoS attacks on torrent sites, such as the Pirate Bay, on behalf of many of the anti-piracy organizations mentioned above.The operation, dubbed "Payback is a Bitch," turned Aiplex' tactics against the software company, as well as its entertainment industry clients. The image above details how anyone can get involved, simply by downloading the Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) from Sourceforge and "aiming" it at one of the targeted sites. LOIC is a DDoS software client, though a client is not necessary to launching DDoS attacks.
At the time of this posting, the MPAA, RIAA, and several other anti-piracy websites are up and running.
While the anti-piracy issue may seem pretty cut-and-dried, keep in mind that ripping a CD to your computer; burning a copy of your music, or making a "mix tape/CD;" even showing a roomful of your friends and family the latest episode of True Blood that you taped1 because you were at work, is illegal. That sports bar you like, but rarely go to because it's so damned expensive, hikes-up the price of its watered-down well drinks and charges a $15.00 cover on Monday nights because it has to purchase a Pay-Per-View (PPV) pass for every seat in the bar -- even if no one shows up!
The RIAA and MPAA have pursued lawsuits against private citizens for millions of dollars over the sharing of fewer than 25 songs. In the case of Jammie Thomas-Russett -- a mother of four who was fined nearly $2 million for sharing fewer than 25 songs -- lawyers are actually challenging the lowering of her fine (to $54,000)! They are now targeting ISPs in an attempt to set a precedent for securing customers' personal information, including their online activity.
© C Harris Lynn, 2010
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