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US Copyright Group — Lawsuits, DDoS, and Bomb Threats

Posted by Soulskill on from the fighting-fire-with-bombs dept.

Andorin writes "The US law firm of Dunlap, Grubb, & Weaver, otherwise known as the US Copyright Group, filed suit at the end of August against another 2,177 individuals for allegedly downloading and sharing the slasher film Cornered! (In total the USCG has now filed suit against over 16,200 individuals.) In retaliation, Operation Payback, the Anonymous-led project responsible for DDoSing websites of the RIAA and MPAA, targeted the US Copyright Group's website with a DDoS, temporarily bringing it down for a few hours. The group behind the attacks say they'll continue 'until they stop being angry.' Additionally, the local police department evacuated the office of Dunlap, Grubb, & Weaver after a bomb threat was emailed to the firm. The building was searched, but no bomb was found."

10 of 365 comments (clear)

  1. Not Justifying The Actions ... by WrongSizeGlass · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I'm not justifying the actions of those who made the bomb threat or who are behind the DDoS attacks, but if US Copyright Group is going to act like a bully they are going to experience some backlash in a variety of forms. They think they can do as they wish just because they're lawyers, etc, but they're discovering that the public doesn't like a bully, plain and simple.

    1. Re:Not Justifying The Actions ... by Moryath · · Score: 5, Insightful

      On the one hand, doing things like this makes 'Anonymous' look bad, and by association, then makes what they are supporting look bad and hands ammunition to the MafiAA and bully groups whose perspective is "fuck the consumer, down with consumer rights."

      On the other hand, simply protesting verbally and writing letters, even writing letters to congresscritters, seems to do only two things: jack and shit.

      And on the gripping hand...

    2. Re:Not Justifying The Actions ... by commodore64_love · · Score: 4, Insightful

      By that logic we should stop allowing private ownership of knives. It only takes one nutcase to cross that thin line between butchering a cow and stabbing a human.

      Or we could just accept the fact that 0.001% of humans are nutters and will do stupid stuff regardless, so there's no point punishing the other 99.999% of sane persons who use various tools responsibly.

      --
      "I disapprove of what you say, but I will defend to the death your right to say it." - historian Evelyn Beatrice Hall
    3. Re:Not Justifying The Actions ... by AK+Marc · · Score: 4, Insightful

      "Bomb threat" isn't a tool; it's a coercion on others by instilling fear, and any form of coercion is an aggression.

      I disagree. A bomb threat is a remote way of pulling the fire alarm. The intent in the majority of bomb threats is to clear the building. Rarely is someone levying an actual threat, and even more rare is there an actual bomb. Pulling a fire alarm isn't coercion by instilling fear. It's triggering a set response to get a desired physical action. I don't exit buildings from fire alarms because of fear. I do it because it's the process you go through while the alarm is checked out. The same is true of bomb threats. "There's been a bomb threat, please leave the building while we check it out." It is a DOS.

      --
      Learn to love Alaska
  2. I am... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When the government doesn't protect individuals, the companies harassing them are supposed to face public backslash proportional to the damage they cause. IE: When they harass thousands and ruin hundreds of lives for profit, they can and should be willing to expect pretty much anything. That's what happens when government doesn't do what it is supposed to: A small step towards anarchy.

    That all aside, I don't expect that Anonymous will ever do anything serious as they are mostly doing things for personal amusement.

    1. Re:I am... by hairyfeet · · Score: 5, Insightful

      We, The People, never actually had a say in the creation of those "laws" which were supposedly broken. I say supposedly because we have seen these same braintrusts in the past sue grandmas that couldn't even email, much less P2P, and of course dead folks. But the laws have been hopelessly perverted by the multinationals against the wishes of the people as I doubt very seriously you could even find 5% that would agree that 150 year+ copyrights are anything but robbery.

      So yes, the government if it were actually functional should protect the people from those that would pervert the laws with money but it is pretty obvious to anyone with a brain it is by the corporation, for the corporation now, which means the people will have to take care of themselves and fight back. If the people had any say pot would be legal, copyrights would be the same as they were for 150+ years, and it would be legal to walk into any Walmart and buy a device that walked you through ripping DVDs to it, so they wouldn't have to worry about kids scratching their discs. The fact that common sense is so far away from anything being written into law only proves We, The People had nothing to do with it.

      --
      ACs don't waste your time replying, your posts are never seen by me.
  3. Not surprised by dyfet · · Score: 4, Insightful

    When faced with a fundamentally unjust society people will increasingly turn to alternate means to redress legitimate grievances. This is why civil liberties matter and why due process, equal justice, proportionate punishment, and presumption of innocence rather than presumption of guilt are essential, and yet all of these core principles are under open attack in the United States today.

  4. Re:Hmmmmm by blahplusplus · · Score: 5, Insightful

    "I wouldn't be surprised if individuals who work for these firms will start to be publically identified and their private lives targetted."

    That's exactly what needs to happen, copyright and corporations have shown themselves to want nothing more then a monopoly, and turn customers and citizens of the world into serfs where the rent everything in perpetuity. WHere ownership rights on the customer end are being rescinded and quite frankly copyright will always be abused it goes against our rights to own what we purchase outright and modify it as we see fit.

    I will never understand why westerners are so supportive of corporatist removal of our rights to own outright and modify our stuff as customers and human beings. We've seen how free market ideology works in the real world where there are no scruples and money makes the rules and if you don't have money your voice doesn't matter. We're already in an era of corporate dictatorship of policy to such an insidious degree.

    Why exactly would you want more of it? Right now the economy, government and law is so twisted by the structures of power that be, we need constant resistance and less ideological infighting of right vs left, left and right simply doesn't matter, these are distractions from the main issues - the removal of our liberties and rights as human beings view the market mechanism. We're seeing how money and markets can be transform a society into a society of serfs, any system can be gamed, transformed and abused, how so many people can't see this is disturbing.

  5. I think we know exactly where all this is headed.. by Lead+Butthead · · Score: 4, Insightful

    That smart-ass bomb threat going to get them classified as a "terrorist group." Then you can bet every agency will want "in" on the action; busting a bunch of (misguided) geeks is a lot safer than going after heavily armed drug dealers and much easier than tracking down serial killers.

    --
    ELOI, ELOI, LAMA SABACHTHANI!?
  6. Re:Troll by Iamthecheese · · Score: 4, Insightful

    In a world where votes are counted in dollars changing laws is no longer up to the people.

    --
    If video games influenced behavior the Pac Man generation would be eating pills and running away from their problems.