Ministry of Sound downed by file-sharing vigilantes

 

Gallery

By Barry Collins

Posted on 4 Oct 2010 at 10:20

The Ministry of Sound and its lawyers have become the latest victims of a denial-of-service attack by file-sharing activists.

Both the Ministry of Sound website and that of its lawyers, Gallant MacMillan, were down at the time of publication, following the planned attack.

Just with ACS:Law, these letters are being sent by a company that is guilty of crimes against intellectual property, as well as crimes against the people

It's the second such attack in recent weeks. Last month, legal firm ACS:Law was targeted by a similar stunt, which resulted in the firm's confidential database leaking onto the internet. The database contained details of broadband customers accused of sharing pornographic material, as well as the personal correspondence of the firm's lawyers. It's now the subject of an investigation by the Information Commissioner.

This latest attack was announced by the Anonymous hacking group on the notorious 4Chan forum before it took place.

Gallant MacMillan has pursued alleged file-sharers for compensation on behalf of the Ministry of Sound, putting both organisations in the firing line.

"Gallant MacMillian Law firm has committed many crimes recently, all of them ignored; ignored by everyone except us," the Anonymous hackers declared on the 4Chan forum before the attack, according to the Slyck website.

"We, the people, will not allow this to continue. They have declared themselves our enemies by sending out thousands of blackmailing letters against innocents, seeking compensation for copyright infringements that don't exist."

"Just with ACS:Law, these letters are being sent by a company that is guilty of crimes against intellectual property, as well as crimes against the people," the group added.

"Indeed, even as they seek to 'protect' copyright through barbaric punishment, their hypocritical methods force ISPs to reveal the personal information of thousands without evidence of infringement."

The attack was reportedly timed to coincide with a planned court appearance today, in which Gallant MacMillan was applying for ISPs to hand over details of hundreds more accused file-sharers.

Neither the Ministry of Sound or Gallant MacMillan were available for comment at the time of publication.