Anonymous to Pirate Parties: We Won't Stop the DDoS

Following reports that Anonymous intends to honor a request from the US and UK Pirate Parties to halt DDoS attacks against the entertainment industry, the group released a public statement clarifying it doesn't plan to do so.

Late last week, in an open letter [pdf], the Pirate Parties from UK and US asked Anonymous to end its two-month-old DDoS campaign dubbed Operation Payback.

The parties argued that such illegal actions make it hard for organizations like themselves to lobby for copyright reform and Internet freedoms.

"Instead of being able to argue for legislative reform of copyright on its own merits, they will be accused of defending criminals and promoting lawlessness," the two parties warned.

"Please help those of us who care about your freedoms, your rights and your liberty, and choose a more moderate and legal way," they wrote.

At the time, TorrentFreak quoted an Anonymous spokesperson saying that the group will "cease activities immediately."

However, it seems that's far from the case, according to a response letter [pdf] published by the infamous group of hacktivists.

The letter also suggests that there was some sort of agreement made in advance of the joint request from the Pirate Parties.

"Despite there apparently being some agreement made with the 'leaders' of Operation: Payback, whereby if you were to write to us requesting cessation of our activities we would stop, we refuse to halt our actions," the group writes.

"Any individuals who may have made such an agreement with you were acting on their own behalf and may be regarded as rogue elements," it clarifies.

The letter goes on to explain that the group does not recognize the legal system which chooses to criminalize their DDoS, but not the one ordered by the "media cartels RIAA and MPAA."

The Operation Payback campaign is a retaliation to the actions of an Indian company contracted by film studios, which openly admitting to DDoSing torrent sites.

"Finally, we recognize and respect the work of Pirate Parties and wish them luck. We hope that you all continue your fight as we are continuing ours," Anonymous concludes.

Panda Security reports that, so far, Operation Payback resulted in a total combined downtime of 37 days for the over 28 websites it targeted.