The notorious hacker group is looking to punish Sony for recent legal actions.
In response to Sony’s recent legal activity against hackers Graf_Chokolo and George “GeoHot” Hotz, the hacker group Anonymous issued threats and then launched an attack on the company to “teach [Sony] a few important lessons” about perceived abuses of the judicial system.
The Anonymous attacks began yesterday and seem to have targeted the PlayStation Network, the official US PlayStation site, and the PlayStation blog, all of which were reportedly inaccessible for a period of time on Monday. All three services are once again up and running, although Sony seems to have acknowledged the attacks with a Twitter post that said, “PSN [is] currently undergoing sporadic maintenance. Access to the PSN may be interrupted throughout the day.”
Anonymous’ statement, meanwhile, indicates that the denial of service attacks are only the tip of the iceberg.
“You have abused the judicial system in an attempt to censor information about how your products work. You have victimized your own customers merely for possessing and sharing information, and continue to target those who seek this information. In doing so you have violated the privacy of thousands of innocent people who only sought the free distribution of information. Your suppression of this information is motivated by corporate greed and the desire for complete control over the actions of individuals who purchase and use your products, at least when those actions threaten to undermine the corrupt stranglehold you seek to maintain over copywrong, oops, ‘copyright.’
“Your corrupt business practices are indicative of a corporate philosophy that would deny consumers the right to use products they have paid for, and rightfully own, in the manner of their choosing. Perhaps you should alert your customers to the fact that they are apparently only renting your products? In light of this assault on both rights and free expression, Anonymous, the notoriously handsome rulers of the internet, would like to inform you that you have only been ‘renting’ your web domains. Having trodden upon Anonymous’ rights, you must now be trodden on.”
This is not the first time that Anonymous has gone after a major corporation, having previously attacked anti-piracy organizations and companies that have failed to offer support to WikiLeaks. At this point, their actions probably haven’t had too much of an impact on Sony, but we’ll keep you updated as the situation develops.
Source: 1up
