Everything came to a halt this past week on the RIAA website when two versions of the MyDoom virus attacked the corporate group’s server.

The official website of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) has remained offline in an outage of five days now, due to a distributed denial of service (DdoS) attack by the MyDoom.F-virus.

This version of the MyDoom virus has been abusing thousands of private computers, which kept on sending inquiry mails to the RIAA webserver. The flood of mails led to a breakdown of the server last Wednesday, while the original version of the MyDoom-virus attacked the Microsoft web presence of the RIAA. The group managed to survive the attack without any bigger outages.

(source:www.mp3-world.net)

mydoom.F, the first wave of "patriotic" viruses designed to protect the nation from monopolies.

i applaud it for this.

ditto.

This has to be the first virus that I am happy to receive in my email.

lol

while i wont let myself be infected with a virus ever. i could always join in packeting the RIAAs webpage. me and my like 15 10/100mbit servers O_o

the riaa website is still down, but all the major record website are all running happily and promoting their music.

I'm sure they will spin this like this...

"Recent illegal virus attacks on our site show the need for the passage of the Pirate Act, and other fine acts and bills by Messers Hatch, Smith, Conyers,Berman, et al.

These attacks have cost us millions of dollars, and have caused people to lose their jobs, sales of records to drop,
and orphans and widows to roam the streets begging for food. Millions are dying in the Middle East due to the acts of these PIRATES.

This is criminal behavior and is what we expect from these filesharers..."

I LOVE VIRUSES! and as soon as there back up, i bet u all kinds of hackers will attack RIAA.com and me being one
i hope that the big labels such as sony, jive, ect get hit too

I wouldn't say that out loud Limefan...

AHAHAHAHAHAHA I laugh me freaking ass off. That what u gay RIAA people get for suing us. DIG DAT SUCKAAA!!!

I'm hearing a lot of "cool!", "way to go!" and the like, but are we all forgetting that all this kind of crap does is harms everybody? We want laws changed and/or repealed but it's not going to happen if the people fighting for this aren't taken seriously. Honestly, how seriously do you think we're going to be taken if we're associated with malicious code writing like this? Add to that, it's giving the "bad guys" more ammunition to use against us. Anybody think Code's joking up there? I don't. On the surface it sounds cool, but looking deeper I just can't support something that ultimately works against all that we are working towards.

I see your point, but honestly, the only people that hold this against our cause are just more stupid people.

It wasn't anyone here. If Sherman got hit by a bus I'd applaud it just the same. And I would not care what anyone else thinks. Even if it were a crazed boycott-riaa member doing it on purpose.

Their website is a propaganda machine. Take it down. A lot of the public already doesn't like us because they believe what the RIAA is saying. Those who are with us will certainly not be turned off by this happening. My own mother thought it was funny.

Remember the Blaster virus? That did Microsoft more harm than it did the anti-Microsoft movement.

yeah, i agree with the idea that this maybe neat and stuff, but its not going to bring change.

I kind of agree with the sentiment of the virus cheerers, but I really agree with those who've been saying that this only hurts our "cause".

We get painted with the same brush as "criminal hackers" here when viruses strike. Someone over at RIAA doesn't know not to open spam, and suddenly the world is full of "hackers", many of whom are also "pirates". RIAA and its goons put the equation together like this "pirates"="hackers". Suddenly we need even stronger anti-"pirate" laws to protect precious corporations from being hacked into.

Thats why I prefer sending ill will and caustic letters. Oh, and hexes. Can't prove hexing in a court of law.

DoS is pointless, its only gonna be temporary i guess.

Nuke the f*cking HQ instead

oops, did i say that out loud?

I thought this was pretty interesting. This is an article from the RIAA's Website. I'm going to post the whole thing but pay attentiont o the middle section that I'm going to mark with "*//"




March 23, 2004

RIAA Brings New Round of Cases Against Illegal File Sharers

WASHINGTON -- The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), on behalf of the major record companies, brought a new round of legal action against individual computer users offering substantial amounts of copyrighted music files for free on peer-to-peer networks, including illegal file sharers at 21 different universities.

A total of 532 illegal file sharers were included in today's action, including 89 individuals who were using university networks to illegally distribute copyrighted sound recordings on peer-to-peer services. The university networks used for this illegal activity include schools in Arizona, California, Colorado, Indiana, Maryland, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Tennessee, Washington, D.C., and Wisconsin. Lawsuits against 443 illegal file sharers using commercial ISPs were brought in California, Colorado, Missouri, Texas and Virginia. Like the lawsuits filed earlier this year, the RIAA is again utilizing the "John Doe" litigation process ­ which is used to sue defenndants whose names are not known.

"There is an exciting array of legal music services where fans can get high-quality online music," said Cary Sherman, President, RIAA. "Lawsuits are an important part of the larger strategy to educate file sharers about the law, protect the rights of copyright owners and encourage music fans to turn to these legitimate services."

"It's important for everyone to understand that no one is immune from the consequences of illegally "sharing" music files on P2P networks," added Sherman. "Piracy, which is particularly rampant on college campuses, continues to hurt retailers, musicians, producers, record labels and the thousands of less-celebrated individuals involved in making music. It undermines the ability of the music community to invest in the great, up-and-coming artists of tomorrow ­ a real loss especially for fans who look foor fresh, new music."

While levels of piracy on college campuses remain high, there has been real progress during the last two years. Schools across the country are taking proactive steps to better educate students about illegal file sharing and are stepping up enforcement of their rules against copyright violations. Many university administrators have installed computer network management technologies such as bandwidth shaping. Other schools have implemented, or are exploring, partnerships with legal, online music services. Lawsuits remain a key component of the music industry's effort to protect its rights and legitimize the online music marketplace.

"The expansion of legal online music services to college campuses is an extraordinary and exciting development," said Sherman. "Delivering legal online music directly to students and expanding the opportunities for digital services is a win-win for everyone."

*//

The new wave of lawsuits ­ just one element of a multi-pronged strategy designed to migrate fans from the illegitimate to the legitimate music marketplace ­ comes amid continued signs that the industry's education and enforcement campaign is having an impact. According to a March survey by Peter D. Hart Research Associates, those who say it is illegal to make music from the computer available for others to download for free over the Internet, stands at 63 percent, with only 15 percent saying they think it's legal. Sixty-two percent of the subgroup of students also thought the activity was illegal; but 28 percent thought it was legal, suggesting that more education is required.

By a more than two-to-one margin, the public supports the record companies legal efforts, according to the Hart poll. Fifty-six percent say they are supportive and understanding when told that the record industry is gathering evidence and preparing lawsuits against individual computer users who are illegally sharing substantial amounts of copyrighted music online, compared to 19 percent who say they are unsupportive and negative. Among students, 50 percent are supportive and understanding, while 27 percent are unsupportive and negative.

*//

The first round of "John Doe" litigations filed in January is proceeding along. All four courts in that round have granted the record companies preliminary request to issue subpoenas to Internet Service Providers (ISPs) to learn the identity of illegal file sharers. The record companies plan to send letters to identified individuals offering to settle with them before litigation continues any further. If an illegal file sharer rejects the settlement overture, the record companies will proceed with litigation against that individual.

For the second round of suits brought in February, courts in Georgia and New Jersey have approved the RIAA's motion to begin issuing subpoenas. The court in Florida has requested additional briefing. In Philadelphia, the RIAA is asking the court to re-consider an initial decision that the RIAA needed to file individual complaints for each illegal file sharer.

ADDITIONAL BACKGROUND: The individuals included in today's legal action were on the networks of the following universities (listed in alphabetical order of state or name): University of Arizona; University of California, Berkeley; California State University -- Northridge; University of Colorado at Colorado Springs; Drexel University; George Mason University; George Washington University; Georgetown University; Indiana University; University of Indianapolis; Loyola Marymount University; Marquette University; University of Maryland; University of Michigan; New York University; University of Northern Colorado; University of Pennsylvania; University of Southern California; Stanford University; Vanderbilt University; and Villanova University.


That has to be one of the most one-sided, biased researches ever conducted.....and how if you think that music should be legal to download, you need more "education"...*rolls eyes*

border87

border87, you're right...they're damnable liars...

"Peter D. Hart"...might as well be "Peter D. Wolf" or "Imma Hogg" or "Phil MaCrack Inn"...

If Cary really thinks over half of the people are on the RIAA's side about suing 12 yr old, grandmothers, grandfathers,....then he's a fool, plain and simple.

Glad im not american, altho im sure this shit is going to spread, heh, the USA Can't seem to keep their own affairs IN the usa much anymore. So im all against the RIAA, aswell as CRIA. Altho the virus attacking of these Conformis Fucks amuses me greatly, the damage it may cause in the future could very well suck complete ass... hmm, fuckin riaa...

In that article posted above i saw alot of propogandha tendancies, weasel words and twisting things around, and facts not adding up. its a damn shame.

I was reading at Yahoo this evening that File Sharing doesn't hurt record sales, but when I clicked on the link it had what one of the posters above just put.
Pretty damning to use the media as the sole purpose of using reverse psychology, or lies which ever.