Operation Payback gets bold, hits US Copyright Office

Anonymous, the vigilante group behind Operation Payback, is becoming increasingly bold as they successfully carry out more DDoS attacks against the websites of anti-piracy agencies and advocates.

For the first time, the group has chosen a US government agency as a direct target of one of their coordinated strikes. The United States Copyright Office’s website, copyright.gov, was rendered inaccessible for at least thirty minutes on Wednesday morning, and was still lagging substantially well into the afternoon.

The group reportedly set their sights on the US Copyright office because it is, “Perpetuating the system that is allowing the exploitative usage of copyright and intellectual property.” This is also the justification Anonymous gave for last month’s attack on the UK Intellectual Property Office.

And they are about to make an even bolder move.

Later this week, Anonymous is planning on leaving their computers for a day to take to the streets in an attempt to make their voices heard. For an event they are calling the Remeber5 Project, members are rallying to form demonstrations in as many locations as possible.

“Our intention is to organize for the next November 5th a series of pacific demonstrations and public actions around the world against censorship and attempts from government entities to control the Internet,” states the introduction on the project’s Wiki home page. Currently, demonstrations are forming in at least ten different countries and eight cities across the US, including Washington DC.

Despite the fact that Operation Payback is now well into its second month of DDoS missions against high profile organizations, the mainstream media is staying oddly quiet about the majority of the activity. I wonder if that might change this Friday after people start showing up and demonstrating in front of capital buildings? And if they don’t get the attention they are seeking, what might the next move be? We’ll be watching and reporting on the latest events.