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4chan Users Crash MPAA Website in Pro-Piracy Protest

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The 4chan user group Anonymous executed attacks this morning that crashed the websites run by the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA) and Indian tech firm Aiplex Software. The attacks were made in response to anti-piracy measures taken by both organizations.4chan users (particularly Anonymous) have been responsible for several attacks against other sites in the past, including Gawker, YouTube and Twitter. This time around, they used Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks, which overwhelm websites with a flurry of requests that would be harmless if they were coming in reasonable numbers or from just one source.The attacks were made by at least hundreds (and possibly thousands) or users at once, most of them using a simple application called Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) if that doesnt tell you how geeky this crowd is, were not sure what will.Aiplex was the first target. The managing director admitted a couple of weeks ago that the company uses DDoS attacks of its own on piracy websites such as BitTorrent search engines and trackers when they dont comply with takedown notices from content owners. Aiplexs website went down almost immediately after Anonymous began its attacks, so a new, more ambitious target was selected: the MPAA. That too fell to the wrath of the web forum geeks.Internet piracy, particularly that conducted over the BitTorrent protocol on sites like The Pirate Bay, has been an issue of concern for the MPAA, the RIAA and other organizations for years now, but while theyve won small victories along the way, they obviously havent quelled the rebellion just yet.Image courtesy of iStockphoto, Zeffss1Reviews: Internet, Twitter, YouTube, iStockphotoMore About: 4chan, aiplex, anon, anonymous, attack, bittorrent, ddos, distributed denial of service, Film, hack, motion picture association of america, mpaa, piracyFor more Entertainment coverage:Follow Mashable Entertainment on TwitterBecome a Fan on FacebookSubscribe to the Entertainment channelDownload our free apps for iPhone and iPad http://digg.com/news/technology/4chan_users_crash_mpaa_website_in_pro_piracy_protest comment digg

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