Anonymous' Project Freeweb to Take to the Streets in Australia

Australia's Internet censorship plans are starting to generate some well-deserved backlash and the issue is getting more and more attention as the government moves further with the goal of blocking anyone in Australia from accessing content it, arbitrarily or not, deems inappropriate.

Last week, several government websites were taken down by a low-tech but effective DDoS attack orchestrated by people all over the world. The attacks were the work of the loosely grouped Anonymous organization, known mostly for its fight against Scientology but also for 'smaller' causes. The group is now urging supporters to take to the streets to protest against the Australian government's plans.

The group launched its first wave of attacks against the proposed legislation by doing what it does best, blocking off access to the Australian Parliament's website but also the website of Communications Minister Stephen Conroy, the main promoter of the censorship laws. Anonymous' preferred method of attack, DDoS, was used this time and the websites were unavailable several times during February 10 and 11. DDoS (distributed denial of service) employs a large number of computers sending big amounts of junk traffic to a web server blocking off legitimate users. About 500 people are said to have taken part in this particular attack.

The attacks were designed to get the media's attention, and, in this respect, they were more than successful, in order to prepare for the second stage of the protests, dubbed Project Freeweb, in which people will be taking to the streets.

"[DDoS attacks have] been very effective tactic for Anon in the past and has once again paid off big-time for the mission, garnering hundreds of additional troops for Project Freeweb and generating an abundance of news stories in national and international media along with mostly unanimous support from citizen journalists in the blogosphere," the Encyclopedia Dramatica entry for the second phase read. The wiki has been used on many other occasions to stage previous attacks and protests.

Events are planned in every major Australian city for February 20 when "Anonymous Australia will take to the streets of the nation's capitol and descend on the APH to peacefully protest, picket and petition." The heart of the issue is the current plans of the Australian government to implement mandatory Internet filtering to keep out content it considers unwanted. Its alleged purpose is to 'protect the children' but has been shown to have a much wider reach blocking political or controversial issues as well. The move has been criticized time again, but the government is determined to see it through regardless of all the arguments against it.