Operation Japan – Anonymous Protests Against Copyright Law

Anonymous launched a series of attacks against government institutions from Japan following a recent update to Copyright Law. Stipulating that maximum jail sentences should be carried out for uploading pirated music, the Copyright Law even fines offenders up to ¥2 million (£15,982).

Announcing “OpJapan” via Twitter, Anonymous carried a series of attacks on websites including the Japanese Ministry of Finance, the Liberal Democratic Party and the Supreme Court of Japan, holding them responsible for caving “into the pressures of the content industry to combat piracy and copyright infringement”.

Good morning #japan. Expect more from us today! #anonymous #opjapan #anonfamily #freeanons #tech #apple #android #google

— OpJapan Official (@op_japan) June 26, 2012

DDoS trademark attacks successfully took the Supreme Court’s website offline, with the promise that more will fall. A recent Twitter post calls to arms Asian, European, and American sympathizers in taking down a next target.

ナウでヤングな日本のみなさん: アジア・ヨーロッパ・アメリカ 相互コミュニケーションにぜひ参加してください。日本向けのIRCサーバはこちらです kayla.voxanon.net ポートは6667 (SSLの場合は6697) チャンネルは #nippon です。

— AnonymousIRC (@AnonymousIRC) June 27, 2012

The Tweet reads: “Please join us in Asia, Europe and America mutual communication: Young people in Japan and in the NOW. IRC server for Japan http://kayla.voxanon.net port here is 6667 (6697 case of SSL) channel is ‪ # nippon .”

The hacktivist group also protests against content industry pushing ISPs for surveillance techniques in tracking users, saying that this privacy breach is contrary to a free society. The official Anonymous press release says violations against individuals’ privacy will not go unanswered.

“We at Anonymous believe strongly that this will result in scores of unnecessary prison sentences to numerous innocent citizens while doing little to solve the underlying problem of legitimate copyright infringement,” said Anonymous. “If this situation alone wasn’t horrible enough already, the content industry is now pushing ISPs in Japan to implement surveillance technology that will spy on and every single internet user in Japan. This would be an unprecedented approach and severely reduce the amount of privacy law abiding citizens should have in a free society.”