Hacker Group ‘Anonymous’ Aims European Parliament And Governments Websites Over ACTA

Posted on Jan 28 2012 - 8:37am by Editorial Staff

Hacker group Anonymous in context of Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) protest are targeting the European Parliament and governments sites. The group were poking at the sites of the European government bodies.

Twenty-two states of European Union have attended the ceremony in Japan and signed the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement (ACTA) on Thursday, January 26. An ACTA is a global treaty that is somehow similar to SOPA and PIPA – which try to normalize copyright protection and IP standards.

Following the signing, protesters sparked demonstrations both virtually and physically. Protesters rallied in the Polish cities of Poznan and Lublin to express their anger over the treaty. Lawmakers for the left-wing Palikot’s Movement wore masks in parliament to show their dissatisfaction, while the largest opposition party the right-wing Law and Justice Party called for a referendum on the matter.

According to the CNET, “Copyrightalliance.org was inaccessible today after Anonymous set its sights on the Web site for its pro-ACTA stance. Meanwhile, hackers were poking at the sites of the European Parliament and governments in the EU, with plans to dig up information on officials that could be released publicly.”

Anonymous has a history of attacks it had made starting with the takedown of a major content hosting website Megaupload, Hacker group “Anonymous” targeting big companies and government agencies websites. The group claimed that the attacks were “the largest attack ever by Anonymous,” with 5,635 participants. They take down RIAA (the record industry’s lobbying arm), MPAA (the movie industry’s lobbying arm), Universal Music, and the Department of Justice websites.

ACTA has been significantly changed from earlier versions, removing an earlier demand that internet users found of repeatedly infringing copyright should be cut off from the web – a suggestion the EU rejected. One French MEP quit the scrutinising process for ACTA in lieu of complain that European Union governments were participating in a “charade”.

About the Author

Editorial Staff at I2Mag is a team of subject experts.