Their actions were in response to file sharing-site MegaUpload being shut down -- with seven executives, including MegaUpload's founder, being indicted -- by the U.S. government following the uprising and protest earlier this week over the PIPA and SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) bills.
"Within minutes of the site being shut down, and DOJ (Department of Justice) releasing its statement, Anonymous sprang into action and started taking down a ton of sites -- including websites for the DOJ, the US Copyright Office, Universal Music, the RIAA (Recording Industry Association of America), the MPAA and a bunch of other sites," a statement on Anonymous' site said.
"Many members of Congress have just changed their stance on the controversial Stop Online Piracy Act, or SOPA, the raid on Megaupload Thursday proved that the feds don't need SOPA or its sister legislation, PIPA, in order to pose a blow to the Web."
The post also listed the sites attacked, including Universal Music, the RIAA, Universal Music France, BMI and Warner Music Group. According to CNN Money, Anonymous used a "distributed denial of service" tactic where traffic floods to a site causing its servers to crash.
"justice.gov & universalmusic.com TANGO DOWN!" the group tweeted Thursday. "You should have EXPECT US! #Megaupload"
As of Friday morning (10AM EST), Universalmusic.com was still not properly functioning. "The site is under maintenance," a short message at the top of the page read. "Please expect it to be back shortly." Meanwhile Warnermusic.com had a "Forbidden 403" prompt when its URL was typed in.
According to Exclaim, a spokesman for the RIAA diminished the effect of the attacks. "The fact that a couple of sites might have been taken down is really ancillary to the significant news today that the Department of Justice brought down one of the most notorious file-sharing hubs," they said.
While few artists have commented on the developments, DJ A-Trak perhaps succinctly summed up the situation via Twitter: "War!" Perhaps more will share in the victory via Twitter given the announcement that SOPA/PIPA has been shelved.
