US Justice Department website hacked to protest against proposed anti-piracy laws

Washington, Jan 20(ANI): The U.S. Department of Justice's website was shut down temporarily on January 19 in what has been termed as a denial of service attack by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.he public websites of Universal Music and the Motion Picture Association of America were also affected by similar apparent hacking incidents, CBS News reports.

A loosely organized hacking group Anonymous claimed responsibility for the attack, which occurred after four people were taken into police custody in a piracy indictment involving a file-sharing site Megaupload.

"Seems like some friendly ships are launching torpedos justice.gov as we speak. The site seems down to us! (via @AnonOpsSweden)," Anonymous online activist group tweeted.

Internet relay chats supported by Anonymous showed participants discussing plans to target other U.S. government websites also, including the Recording Industry of America.ctivists took to hacking to protest against two antipiracy bills, which according to critics, would enable authorities to shut down websites over mere accusations of piracy.

The homepage of the Justice Department's website, however, resumed operation by late Thursday evening. (ANI)