Anonymous has quite the reputation on the Internet, and its members have been very busy today. In response to the US Government’s shut-down of file-sharing site Megaupload.com, Anonymous has launched an attack on the Department of Justice website, as well as The Universal Music Group, MPAA, copyright.gov, and there have been claims that whitehouse.gov is next on their list.
According to Neowin.net, Twitter is actively removing any tweets related to #oppayback and #opmegaupload. An example of the limitations of freedom of speech? Or the prevention of criminal plots? No doubt the original founding fathers had no idea that such a thing as the Internet would exist when they wrote the Bill of Rights. But where to draw the line?
Megaupload.com is one of the world’s most popular file-sharing websites, but the site is now down with several of its employees arrested and others at large. What makes this site so unique is the endorsements it received from celebrities like Kim Kardashian and Alicia Keyes. Artists are the ones most heavily affected by piracy, so it would seem surprising that they would endorse it (though Keyes’ husband is listed as CEO). However, the site claims that the “vast majority of Mega’s Internet traffic is legitimate.” What is also intriguing is that this shut-down occurs the day after many high-profile websites shut down in protest of the law that would allow this type of action—SOPA.
And now there’s war on the Internet. The government vs. Anonymous vs. pirates vs. people like you and me who just want to surf in peace.
This story continues to develop as the net cast by Anonymous seems to capture more and more websites, and who knows what the coming days hold? It would appear a gauntlet has been thrown.