News

In apparent response to proposed federal legislation that would permit copyright holders to launch technological strikes against privately-owned computers, hackers launched an attack of their own over the weekend of July 27–28, rendering the website of the Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) unusable.

The RIAA, and its companion organization, the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), are strong backers of proposed legislation introduced into the US House of Representatives by Southern California Democrat Howard Berman that would permit them to engage in electronic warfare against suspected pirates. The bill would allow copyright holders to probe private computers and disable unauthorized copies of music, movies, and software, possibly erasing entire databases or damaging hard-disk drives in the process. Under the bill's provisions, those who launched such attacks would be exempt from retaliatory lawsuits unless the plaintiffs were granted special permission by the US Justice Department.

Hacker attacks on the RIAA's site began on Friday July 26, the day after Berman formally proposed his bill for consideration. Protesters flooded the organization's server with so much traffic it was unable to accept legitimate access. The so-called "denial of service" onslaught rendered the site useless, a result similar to the impact the entertainment industry might achieve with private individual's computers and peer-to-peer networks, should Berman's bill become law.

In a related development, LA Times writer Jon Healey reported July 31 that music fans have discovered they can use free web-hosting provided by America Online to distribute unauthorized recordings. Music files are hidden behind images or are disguised as other types of digital files, and their source is difficult to trace without special software. Healey says that at least two of the pirate music sites using AOL services—21century-MP3.com and SimpleMP3s.com—are based outside the US and are therefore beyond the reach of US law.

"The pirates' resourcefulness is reflected in their ability to foist a major part of their costs onto companies such as AOL," Healey observes, adding, "Record industry officials say AOL is just one of many companies whose public offerings are hijacked by music pirates." AOL, the world's largest Internet service provider, is a subsidiary of AOL Time Warner, parent company of the Warner Music Group.