Virgin Media Website Attacked By Anonymous

Virgin Media were forced to take their website offline yesterday after an attack by protest group Anonymous, in what was a response to Virgin blocking access to file sharing website, The Pirate Bay. After the attack, Twitter accounts belonging to Anonymous announced;

"Virgin Media - Tango Down #OpTPB"

The High Court ruled last week that Internet Service Providers had to block their users from accessing the site where people freely trade copyrighted material. Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk and O2 are expected to follow Virgin's lead while BT, has requested "a few more weeks" to consider its position. Anonymous also claimed they attacked Talk Talk over the weekend but that hasn't been confirmed. Virgin Media issued a statement confirming that they had to take their service offline starting at 5PM BST for an hour. They also said that the only way to stop internet piracy is to change peoples behavior by offering a competitively priced, legal alternative and that they have been forced to block access to The Pirate Bay;

"As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders but we strongly believe that tackling the issue of copyright infringement needs compelling legal alternatives, giving consumers access to great content at the right price, to help change consumer behavior."

Its being reported that visits to The Pirate bay are up by 12 million since the high court ruling last Wednesday.