IFPI site still down: Operation Payback
p2pnet view P2P:- When I went to sleep last night, Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s IFPI site was offline.
When I climbed out of bed this this morning, it was still down.
That’s because the bizarre war between the corporate movie and music industries and their own customers is now right out in the open.
Corporate America, aided, supported and abetted by the Obama administration, versus the people who keep them fat, in power and rich beyond any reasonable expectation of wealth.
PUNCH: The corporate entertainment cartels use the US government to shut down internet sites they claim promote illegal file-sharing, despite the fact file sharing has proven to be a priceless form of viral marketing, not the ruination of the movie and music industries. But then, this isn’t about money. It’s about control.
COUNTERPUNCH: Anonymous continues to prove the once quiescent masses are no longer quiescent, again shutting down a Big Music IFPI puff site.
Puerto Rican drug lord
Using the New York Times as its mouthpiece, “the ICE office of Homeland Security Investigations executed court-ordered seizure warrants against a number of domain names,” admitted spokeswoman Cori W. Bassett, adding, “As this is an ongoing investigation, there are no additional details available at this time.”
Below are three typical news headlines from the ICE site >>>
Discovery of 2nd major San Diego-area cross-border drug tunnel leads to 8 arrests, seizure of more than 20 tons of marijuana
Gulf Coast BEST team seizes 4,500 pounds of pot, arrests 3
ICE takes down Puerto Rican drug lord
It hasn’t yet started publicising its closure of the sites, but when it does, it should be something like this >>>
ICE nails web addresses designated by Hollywood and Big Music.
‘Piracy is theft’
None of this should come as a surprise.
“With the shut down of domain names of nine alleged ‘movie pirate’ sites, taxpayer funded copyright cops, acting for, and on behalf of, Hollywood and the Big 4 record labels, have massively escalated their corporate-controlled attacks on P2P communities”, said p2pnet this summer, going on >>>
Not at all incidentally, “Piracy is theft”, Hollywood Joe Biden, vice president of the United States of America, recently said in support of the corporate entertainment cartels, going on, “It’s smash and grab. It ain’t no different than smashing a window at Tiffany’s … ”
The occasion “was the unveiling of Victoria Espinel’s official strategy to ‘combat intellectual property theft’, as posted on the White House blog”, said p2pnet.
Biden was there with her, said CNet News and, “Through reporters”, she “issued a warning to those who infringe on U.S. intellectual property rights”, it said. “We have committed to putting you out of business,” it also had her stating, “adding that copyright owners who are losing money to piracy can rest assure [sic] ‘help is on the way’.”
Biden and Espinel’s comments will be “welcomed by the large Hollywood studios and recording companies”, said the story, noting “The Obama administration has appeared very sympathetic to their antipiracy efforts.
Key homeland security priorities
ICE, the US Immigration and Customs Enforcement unit, is billed as “the largest investigative arm of the Department of Homeland Security”.
It’s a “21st century law enforcement agency with broad responsibilities for a number of key homeland security priorities”.
Now, on the heels of Biden and Espinel’s promises, the news that Vivendi Universal, EMI, Warner Music and Sony Music’s RIAA has re-booted its attacks on American students, and with ACTA in the wings, ICE has been ordered to add corporate copyright protection to its “key homeland security priorities”.
Living in fear
“The recent seizures of domain names in the United States without any notice, court hearing or court order has me very worried about our rights on the internet”, says a p2pnet reader in an email.
“The shutdown of LimeWire maker of file sharing technology is very alarming. They were shut down because most of their users supposedly use the software for copyright infringement”, s/he says, going on >>>
Under this same logic the cellphone and auto industry should be living in fear.
Most people in the United States infringe traffic law, they break speed limit, don’t use properly stop signs, they switch lanes where they shouldn’t, parking in forbidden areas and the list goes on.
Also, in many states it’s illegal to talk on your cellphone while you’re driving, yet +90% of the people still do it, endangering pedestrians and drivers around them. Shouldn’t this be a matter of national security?
In the US there’s hundreds of people dying thanks to car accidents every day. Shouldn’t ICE-Homeland Security be seizing car dealers all over the nation, car factories, cell phone dealerships, and by all means TV marketing companies and networks for creating and distributing car commercials where drivers are clearly speeding as if they were in a racetrack, aren’t they inducing people to break traffic laws?
Of course not, what do we have as a society to deal with this massive law infringement behavior? We have transit police, (privacy invading) transit cameras, and parking/speed tickets.
Luckily we don’t have lawyers blackmailing us for thousands of dollars with videos of us breaking those laws, and best of all speed tickets cost reckless drivers a few hundred dollars and not a quarter million dollars and federal prison time.
Maybe copyright laws should be treated the same way.
The disruption of content distribution forms brought by the Internet and it’s underlying technologies have created new content consumption patterns and possibilities and most people are not educated into what’s copyrighted and what’s not.
$250,000 fines for making an illegal copy is absurd. Maybe the fine should be more like a parking ticket, and instead of the MAFIAAS hiring law firms to blackmail people, it should be the job of law enforcement to issue copyright infringement tickets.
Clearly the whole “policing” of what we do online is already happening. The problem is: who is doing this? Probably people who are breaking every electronic wiretapping law possible in the process.
‘We’re everyone you depend on … ‘
In a Q&A with an Anonymous spokesperson, “When I write about the changes being wrought I often quote Chuck Palahniuk’s Fight Club, written in the mid-1990s when the net was only just beginning to take hold”, I said, continuing >>>
In a recent post I pointed out the book’s central character is Tyler Durden who says to ‘Them’:
“Remember this. The people you’re trying to step on, we’re everyone you depend on. We’re the people who do your laundry and cook your food and serve your dinner. We make your bed. We guard you while you’re asleep. We drive the ambulances. We direct your call. We are cooks and taxi drivers and we know everything about you. We process your insurance claims and credit card charges. We control every part of your life.”
The executives, politicians and ‘creators’ should have that in neon lights, hanging on the walls in their offices. Does any of this ring bells with you?”
Anonymous: The quote fits in this context perfectly …
Things haven’t yet reached a critical mass.
But they will.
And not at all by the way, as I post this (8:30 am Pacific) the IFPI site is still offline.
Stay tuned.
Jon Newton - p2pnet
-And identi.ca
shut down internet sites - RapGodFathers forum back online, November 26, 2010
viral marketing – Deathly Hallows eye-popping weekend revenues, November 22, 2010
Big Music IFPI puff site – Anonymous hits fimi.it, ifpi.it, pro-music.it, October 9, 2010
massively escalated – The NinjaVideo manifesto, July 1, 2010
p2pnet – ICE steps up for Hollywood, Big 4 labels, July 2, 2010
White House blog – Releasing the Joint Strategic Plan to Combat Intellectual Property Theft, June 22, 2010
p2pnet – Obama IP czarina to movie, music cartels, June 22, 2010
CNet News – Biden to file sharers: ‘Piracy is theft’, June 22, 2010
attacks on American students – RIAA re-launches attacks against students, July 2, 2010
ACTA in the wings – ACTA document calls for criminal sanctions, June 25, 2010
Anonymous spokesperson – p2pnet talks with Operation Payback, November 18, 2010
First they ignore you, then they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win ~ Mahatma Gandhi
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November 28th, 2010 at 2:31 pm
Some Ddosing methods are so powerful that one single computer can bring down entire regions of internet and not just a web site.
November 28th, 2010 at 2:55 pm
http://www.ifpi.org still offline.
Dear oh dear.
Cheers!
November 28th, 2010 at 3:06 pm
The seizure of domain names by the US government is going to destroy the DNS system and kill Icann. You see a domain name is like a property and many businesses depend on it. The US government make the possession of a domain name insecure pushing people to walk away from Icann and start their own DNS system.
Several things can happen from now on:
1) The DNS system will become worldwide and independent from Icann.
2) Rogue DNS servers not obeying iCann or any registrars can appear causing a big mess.
3) people walking away from Icann altogether abandoning the Domain name extension they possesses such as .com. org .net starting using others extensions.
4) A proliferation of DNS servers using mutiple extensions.
5) An abandonment of any DNS system using only collection of IP addresses instead of domain names referencing by name locally.
6) The apparition of a dark internet anonymous internet based on VPN protocols in which nore user or website location can be located or identified.
7) The creation of WIFI anonymous based networks separate from internet but still accessible from it and to it that does not require any ISP.
6 is already happening. For 7 the software already exist and is waiting for more ineluctable government and corporations interference to deploy.
Kiss goodbye to your ISP and Icann!
What are they going to do next? Declare computer and WIFI illegal? By this time we will be in an all out world civil war.
You can not take a man his computer or network away!
November 28th, 2010 at 3:33 pm
^^ Correct.
Darknet, a ‘Digital Copyright Revolution’: I
Darknet, a ‘Digital Copyright Revolution’: II
Darknet, a ‘Digital Copyright Revolution’: III
Not only but also, DarkNets: not tomorrow, but here and now — “DarkNets range from simply passing (and mailing) discs around, to WASTE, through trusted friend-to-friend bulletin boards, FreeWAN cells, Freenet-type sites, physical and WiFi sneaker nets of various kinds, hidden sites, and so on …”
Cheers!
November 28th, 2010 at 5:57 pm
News
[Sun Nov 28]: We didn’t want IFPI to feel singled out. We also took down Warner Brothers, with the following motivation:
Warner Bros, MGM, Universal, and Sony are among the largest organizations represented by the IFPI. These organizations have levied 6.5 million dollars in damages against innocent people. In response, we will cause equivalent losses in downtime, corrupt data and focused disruption of the distribution of their media.
The founders of The Pirate Bay were not pursued because they were guilty but because they made easy targets for these organizations to take money from and to use as scapegoats. They don’t care about art or creativity. They don’t care about artist rights nor do they care about Justice. So we will send them a message in the only language they understand; money. We will hit them in their wallets.
If these organizations are so concerned over the growing and widespread use of their products, then we shall oblige, and if needs be, we shall abstain from and take measures to prevent the legal purchase of what they have to offer. Let it be known that this is only the tip of the iceberg and only the beginning of our statement of displeasure against the actions of these corporations. We are Anonymous, we shall never forgive, we shall never forget. Expect us.
http://anonops.net/
November 28th, 2010 at 7:46 pm
This little Ddosing is only a small beginning.
The worst is coming for the corporation of parasites. This is the beginning of an all out war that will not be stopped by few lawsuits or few convictions.
Everything from these corporations is going to go down and not just their websites.
They are fucked with a capital F.
November 28th, 2010 at 9:02 pm
I took a look at the anon website and I have to say it is well organized and straightforward. And they’re actually taking action to make these parasites surrender. So many of the parasites’ websites have been attacked and I’m glad that SOMEONE is doing something to make them listen. Heck I might even spread the word to one of my friends even though she might not believe what the MAFIAA is doing to the artists and to their consumers…and if I gather the courage, I might participate too. Props to Jon and Anonymous for fighting for our freedom to share happiness!
November 28th, 2010 at 10:59 pm
http://www.ifpi.org still offline.
November 29th, 2010 at 1:13 am
When the attacks start happening IRL then I’ll be impressed. What is happening now won’t change anything, although it is a good way to allow people to vent frustration without accomplishing anything.
You would think these guys would hit online businesses that make money for the cartels, but that’s too hard a target and would actually do real financial damage, something that the anonymous herders (corporate plants and shills) would not want to do. Better to let the naive script-kiddies blow off steam where it’s not going to hurt the bottom line of the cartels.
They couldn’t bring down a real website with these techniques anyways, the only reason IFPI is down is because they host on a single server with a small connection.
November 29th, 2010 at 9:04 am
@ RW: ‘When the attacks start happening IRL then I’ll be impressed’
The people are speaking. It’s never happened before and this is only the beginning. Be impressed.
Cheers!
November 29th, 2010 at 10:49 am
“…let the naive script-kiddies blow off steam where it’s not going to hurt the bottom line of the cartels…”
What makes you think this is being done by skiddies??
And how does taking down a site’s click ratings not affect their bottom line, exactly?
You’re watching, but you’re not absorbing it.
November 29th, 2010 at 11:25 am
” When the attacks start happening IRL then I’ll be impressed. ”
You’ve been trying to make people think we would endorse violent action for a long time.
If YOU want to attack someone, that’s your stupidity not ours. We’ll keep doing things the right way.
” They couldn’t bring down a real website with these techniques anyways, the only reason IFPI is down is because they host on a single server with a small connection. ”
And how would you know exactly how these sites are set up … hmmm …. no wonder you’ve been trying to make this site look like a meeting place for hoods.
@DA
” You’re watching, but you’re not absorbing it. ”
He ( or she ) seems to have interesting insider info, an paid shill, so deliberately obtuse.
November 29th, 2010 at 1:20 pm
@Robert:
I don’t think he has anything, really.
November 29th, 2010 at 1:48 pm
With all of the money the AA’s spend on lawyers, lobbying, anti-P2P PR, Tech people to stage attacks against sharing sites, a shills like that fool above ( not you DA ) it’s no wonder there is nothing left for artists.
Just think of how well off artists would be if all those resources were directed where they SHOULD be.
December 1st, 2010 at 11:22 am
“They couldn’t bring down a real website with these techniques anyways, the only reason IFPI is down is because they host on a single server with a small connection.”
Shows how much you know about Anon and what they do.
What do you call Hustler (took down in less than 3 minutes) , MIAA (took 8 minutes to take down the site), Warner Bros Studios (took down in 26 seconds from the start of the attack and the U.S. Copyright Office (took down in 39min) websites? Not real websites? Dumbass
“You would think these guys would hit online businesses that make money for the cartels, but that’s too hard a target and would actually do real financial damage”
ACS|Law is in the process of being sued for almost 1 million euro/dollars and possibly going bankrupt.
December 1st, 2010 at 11:29 am
” ACS|Law is in the process of being sued for almost 1 million euro/dollars and possibly going bankrupt. ”
That’s a good start, and resulted from info gathered through OP.
What would be even better ?
Get evidence that the RIAA and it’s members employ the same DDOS tactics against filesharing sites,
and plant virus laden files. These things are illegal regardless of who does them. To prove the RIAA
members have been employing these tactics for many years would be a magnificent coup.