Hacking group Anonymous India has struck a leading ISP in the country to protest a ban on Torrent sites. Last week, several BitTorrent sites along with other stranger choices like Vimeo were blocked in Indiaby at least one ISP. Now, others are joining, though the original block has been lifted in some cases. There’s also no country wide block as sites may work on one ISP in one region but won’t work in another.
The attack left the ISP’s customers unable to access sites, instead being diverted to o a page with a strongly-worded message from Anonymous.
“We have proof that Reliance is blocking websites other that specified incourt orders. That’s why we targeted Reliance,” Anonymous India told DNA. The group has so far been media-shy, preferring to operate in a shadowy manner, but it seems to have upped the ante following the actions of internet service providers (ISPs).
“We see this as a protest. A virtual dharna. Think of the defacing (of websites) as protest graffiti,” said Anonymous. “Today it is only people like us who can fight the government. Anyone else gets squashed, their protests ignored.We are an idea. You can’t kill ideas.”
Last week, the group had hacked the Supreme Court website in order to protest against the blocking of torrent sites as well as other online services like Vimeo and Dailymotion.
The websites were blocked by internet service providers (ISPs) like Reliance Communications and Airtel among others following an order by the Madras High Court.