The Pirate Bay hit by hack attack

16 May 2012 Last updated at 18:16 The site has been largely inaccessible for the last 24 hours File-sharing website The Pirate Bay (TPB) has been hit by a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attack.

The site has been largely inaccessible for the last 24 hours, and the service is intermittent in the UK.

The Pirate Bay has confirmed the attack on its Facebook page, saying that it did not know who was behind it, although it "had its suspicions".

A provider of DDoS defence systems said that it was unlikely that the attack came from hacking group Anonymous.

"There will be further attacks, but what's significant about this whole story is that people think that it is the Anonymous attacking a site which is typically a type of site that they defend," said Andre Stewart of Corero Network Security.

"It could be the record labels, or a government somewhere that has had enough of not being able to catch The Pirate Bay, it could be just one person who had rented some cloud power from Amazon and is sitting in a cafe, and is able to launch an attack."

Although some users may have attempted to access the site using proxies, TPB itself warned them against doing so.

Illegal file sharing

"Use proxies at own risk. Don't login unless you trust the proxy supplier. Don't freak out. You'll get your TPB fix tomorrow," said the site.

Being an illegal file-sharing site, TPB allows users to obtain songs, films and other content free, thus angering copyright holders who end up losing money.

Virgin Media users trying to access The Pirate Bay are shown a message explaining why it is blocked

"If they're losing money and seeing that the government is not being able to stop it, there's a real monetary value reason for them to try and bring it down," said Mr Stewart.

"And if they can do it in the name of Anonymous then it's great for them.

"Equally the governments that protect these industries are frustrated as well because they haven't been able to see it close down, unlike a number of other torrent sites."

Open and free

Virgin Media began preventing access to the file-sharing site following a High Court order last week.

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Governments could be frustrated because they haven't been able to see TPB close down”

End Quote André Stewart Corero Network Security Some time later the Virgin Media website suffered a hack attack that many thought was organised to protest against efforts to block access to TPB.

Twitter feeds associated with the Anonymous collective wrote: "Virgin Media - Tango Down #OpTPB".

But TPB criticised Anonymous for the attack, writing on its Facebook page that it did not "encourage these actions".

"We believe in the open and free internets, where anyone can express their views," wrote TPB.

"Even if we strongly disagree with them and even if they hate us. So don't fight them using their ugly methods. DDoS and blocks are both forms of censorship."

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Fresh attack on pro-Gaddafi city

25 September 2011 Last updated at 14:52 GMT Alastair Leithead says anti-Gaddafi fighters have made a "major breakthrough"

Libya's interim government forces are renewing their attack on Sirte, one of the last pro-Gaddafi strongholds.

National Transitional Council (NTC) fighters have surrounded the city and Nato warplanes are reported to be blasting targets inside.

It comes a day after NTC troops launched a surprise assault on the birthplace of the ousted Libyan leader, taking them close to the city centre.

Meanwhile in Tripoli, Libyan officials say they have found a mass grave.

The site is believed to contain the remains 1,270 people killed by Col Gaddafi's security forces in a massacre at Abu Salim prison in 1996.

And in the southern town of Ghadames, on the border with Algeria, NTC soldiers repelled an attack by around 100 pro-Gaddafi forces and Algerian and tribal "mercenaries", officials said.

At least eight NTC soldiers were reportedly killed in the attack. Military spokesman Ahmed Bani told a news conference they had information the attackers were related to Col Gaddafi's son Khamis.

'Cautious advance'

Troops were reported to be setting up new roadblocks and checkpoint, posting snipers at various key points and cleaning their guns in preparation for a final assault on Sirte.

Nato planes could be heard buzzing overhead. The alliance confirmed it carried out several sorties on Saturday around Sirte and said it had hit several military targets.

Fighter Ahmed Mohammed Tajuri in the west of the city told AFP they had been ordered to leave downtown Sirte on Saturday evening "because Nato has a mission to do there", without giving more details.

One fighter on the east of the city told the AFP news agency that they had been told by their commanders to keep their guns ready.

"We expect fierce urban battle once we fully enter Sirte," Maatiz Saad said.

The BBC's Alastair Leithead, with the anti-Gaddafi forces in the east of Sirte, said the troops are advancing steadily and cautiously towards Sirte.

They appear to be intent on taking and holding the farms and dusty villages on either side of the main coastal road - making sure there are no pro-Gaddafi forces remaining to call in rockets or slow the main advance further, he says.

Our correspondent has seen a number of civilians fleeing from Sirte who are clearly shaken and nervous, not knowing if the NTC troops have come to liberate or persecute them. Some appear to be unaware that Tripoli fell more than a month ago.

NTC fighters tried to push into Sirte last weekend but were driven back by pro-Gaddafi forces entrenched in the city.

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Attack of the trolls

14 September 2011 Last updated at 16:58 GMT By Tom de Castella and Virginia Brown BBC News Magazine Celebrities are often targets for abuse An internet "troll" has been jailed for mocking dead teenagers on various websites. Public figures, including Stephen Fry and Miranda Hart, have also been victims of trolling. So what is it and why do people do it?

The word comes from a Norse monster but the troll is a very modern menace. For some it's the internet equivalent of road rage, vandalising a grave, or kicking a man when he's down.

Trolling is a phenomenon that has swept across websites in recent years. Online forums, Facebook pages and newspaper comment forms are bombarded with insults, provocations or threats. Supporters argue it's about humour, mischief and freedom of speech. But for many the ferocity and personal nature of the abuse verges on hate speech.

In its most extreme form it is a criminal offence. On Tuesday Sean Duffy was jailed for 18 weeks after posting offensive messages and videos on tribute pages about young people who had died. One of those he targeted was 15-year-old Natasha MacBryde, who had been killed by a train. "I fell asleep on the track lolz" was one of the messages he left on a Facebook page set up by her family.

Continue reading the main story Natasha MacBryde - Sean Duffy was jailed for 18 weeks for posts on social networking sites about the 15-year-old after she committed suicideHayley Bates - MP Karen Bradley raised trolling in Parliament after a Facebook page was set up mocking the 17-year-old's death in a car crash Jade Goody - Colm Coss was jailed for 18 weeks after posting obscene messages on Facebook sites set up in memory of the Big Brother star and several other dead peopleDuffy is the second person to be jailed for trolling in the UK. Last year Colm Coss was imprisoned for posting obscene messages on Facebook tribute sites, including that of Jade Goody.

Trolling appears to be part of an international phenomenon that includes cyberbullying. One of the first high-profile cases emerged in the US state of Missouri in 2006, when 13-year-old Megan Meier killed herself after being bullied online. The bully, Lori Drew, was a middle-aged neighbour who had set up a MySpace account to win - and later betray - her trust. Drew was acquitted of unauthorised computer use in 2009 due to concerns that a conviction would criminalise false online identities.

The First Amendment of the US Constitution protects free speech and makes it difficult to punish people who post offensive messages. But concern over internet vitriol is growing.

Facebook's former marketing director Randi Zuckerberg and Google head Eric Schmidt have both suggested anonymous posting should be phased out.

One of the difficulties is that trolling is a broad term, taking in everything from a cheeky provocation to violent threats. And why people do it continues to baffle the experts.

"Online people feel anonymous and disinhibited," says Prof Mark Griffiths, director of the International Gaming Research Unit at Nottingham Trent University. "They lower their emotional guard and in the heat of the moment may troll either reactively or proactively."

It is usually carried out by young adult males for amusement, boredom and revenge, he adds.

Arthur Cassidy, a social media psychologist, says young people's determination to create an online identity makes them vulnerable to trolling. Secrecy is jettisoned in favour of self-publicity on Facebook, opening the way for ridicule, jealousy and betrayal.

And the need to define themselves through their allegiance to certain celebrities creates a world in which the rich and famous become targets for personal abuse. As a result trolling is "virtually uncontrollable" until the government forces websites to clamp down, he says.

But it's not just young people. Scan any football, music or fan site and there are people of all ages taking part in the most vituperative attacks. But many of the theories that have been put forward as to why people do it don't stand up, says Tom Postnes, professor of social psychology at Groningen University in the Netherlands.

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Will Brooks on setting up Myfootballclub.co.uk

It was £35 to join MyFC so I don't think anyone joined with the intention of trolling. But disagreements on the forum all too easily turned to abuse. Finding out that respected professionals in their mid-fifties could post in that way was an eye opener. I've since discovered that forums have a habit of turning sour as it only takes a minority to skew them. As a format they've lost their innocence.

After researching "flaming" - the term for trolling in the early days of the internet - he rejects the idea that people "lose it" when online. If anything they become more attuned to social convention, albeit the specific conventions of the web. Provoking people appears to be the norm in some online communities, he says.

Most trolling is not criminal - it's about having a laugh, says Rob Manuel, co-founder of the website B3ta, which specialises in altering photographs for comic effect. "Trolling taps into people's desire to poke fun, make trouble and cause annoyance," he says.

He first became aware of the phenomenon in the 90s when a friend cross-posted on fan sites for Lord of the Rings and Star Wars, asking: "Who'd win in a fight - the Emperor or Gandalf?" Manuel says his friend sat back and laughed like some "mad scientist looking at insects in a jar" as hundreds of passionate posts followed.

'No guilt'

We're all capable of becoming a troll, says Jaron Lanier, a computer scientist in the US and author of You Are Not A Gadget. Lanier admits he has sometimes behaved badly online and believes the cloak of anonymity can encourage people to react in extreme ways.

"The temptation is there and we can get caught up in impulses. If someone reacts, it's emotional and it can be hard to get out of. We can all become trolls."

Former Facebook executive Zuckerberg says anonymous posting should be phased out

Twitter has given the public direct access to celebrities. And stars, including Stephen Fry and Miranda Hart, have temporarily left the website after coming under fire. Internet experts say the key is not to "feed the troll" by offering them a response. Comedian Dom Joly takes a different approach.

He describes himself as "troll slayer" and takes pleasure in tracking down the culprits and exposing them to public shame, especially from close family.

"There's something about a bully that really annoys me," he says. "They'll say something online that they'd never dare to say to your face."

The deviousness is "freaky". He discovered that one of those who'd threatened him was a 14-year-old girl with nine different online identities. They aren't always very intelligent about how they do it, he says.

Continue reading the main story The Communications Act 2003 governs the internet, email, mobile phone calls and text messagingUnder section 127 of the act it is an offence to send messages that are "grossly offensive or of an indecent, obscene or menacing character"The offence occurs whether those targeted actually receive the message or not"One guy tweeted from his work account that he hoped my kids die of cancer. I let the MD of the firm know and the guy was fired. I felt no guilt, he should have gone to prison."

Some think regulation is needed, but trolling is not the internet's fault, says Jeff Jarvis, author of Public Parts. "The internet does not create special threats. It's a public square where people will be saying all sorts of things, some of them offensive."

The answer is for newspaper websites and online forums to employ sufficient moderators to prevent the comments spiralling into petty vendettas, he says. To ban online anonymity in order to prevent trolling would be to remove the right of whistleblowers and dissidents to get their message across, he adds.

Manuel agrees. "People are saying nasty, stupid things. So deal with it. Shutting down free speech and stamping on people's civil liberties is not a price worth paying."

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Yemen PM returns from Riyadh after attack on Saleh (Reuters)

SANAA (Reuters) – Yemen's prime minister became the first senior politician injured in a June assassination attempt on President Ali Abdullah Saleh to return home from Saudi Arabia, a government official said on Tuesday.

The official told Reuters Prime Minister Ali Mohamed Megawar arrived in the capital Sanaa on Tuesday evening and was greeted at the airport by hundreds of government officials and supporters.

Megawar had been receiving medical treatment in Riyadh, along with a number of other presidential aides and Saleh himself, who has repeatedly said he will return to the impoverished Arabian Peninsula state.

Yemen has been paralyzed by months of protests against Saleh's 33-year authoritarian rule.

As violence persisted, the death toll has risen in the south with Islamist militants regularly launching attacks on soldiers, security officials and tribesmen fighting alongside the army.

Four soldiers were killed and some 40 wounded on Tuesday when militants attacked troops stationed south of Zinjibar, the capital of Abyan province, where militants, emboldened by months of upheaval, have taken control of three towns since March.

A security official said two militants were also killed in clashes that broke out on Tuesday and continued into the evening.

Separately, two tribesmen were killed by militants in the coastal town of Shaqra, which they seized last week.

Some tribesmen have sided with the Yemeni army to try to flush militants out of Abyan, setting up checkpoints along roads and last month launching an offensive that has so far failed to recapture much lost ground.

Yemeni warplanes on Monday night killed 5 militants in an airstrike on a checkpoint they had occupied in the al-Arqub area of Abyan, a security official said.

Tribesmen said they saw militants load dead bodies into a car and speed off toward Shaqra.

Residents of Lawdar, another Abyan town, said a suspected suicide bomber driving a motorcycle laden with explosives blew himself up by accident at dawn on Tuesday on the outskirts of the city before reaching his target.

The United States and Saudi Arabia fear that upheaval in Yemen is giving militants, who the government says belong to al Qaeda, more room to launch attacks on the region and beyond.

Opponents of Saleh accuse him of exaggerating the threat of al Qaeda and even encouraging militants in order to illustrate the dangers of Yemen without him and pressure Riyadh and Washington into backing him.

(Reporting by Mohamed Sudam and Mohammed Mukhashaf; Writing by Isabel Coles and Jason Benham; Editing by Maria Golovnina)

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Shark Attack – Honeymoon Turns Nightmare in Seychelles

A British man was killed in a shark attack while on honeymoon in the paradise archipelago of Seychelles.

30-year-old Ian Martin Redmond from Lancashire was confirmed dead by the foreign office on the island country following an attack by a 6 footer shark on the Anse Lazio beach of Paslin island.

This is actually the second fatal shark attack incident in Paslin, a location which was voted as one of the best beaches in the World. Last August 2, a 36-year-old French tourist was also attacked by shark and died.

The Seychelles goverment has released a swimming ban in the island following the second fatal shark attack this month.

Here is the statement:

“With immediate effect, the Seychelles Maritime Safety Administration has issued a temporary ban on swimming or entering the water in certain bays of the island of Praslin and islands off the coast of Praslin following two fatal shark attacks this month in the northwest area of the island.”

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6 dead in British island knife attack (AP)

LONDON – A Polish man is suspected of killing his wife, their two children, his father-in-law and two family friends in a frenzied stabbing spree, the deadliest crime in memory on the Channel Island of Jersey, police and local residents said Monday.

Detective Supt. Stewart Gull of Jersey Police said a man, two women and three young children stabbed to death Sunday came from two families, one of them Polish.

He said the other family was from Jersey. Polish officials said they believed all the victims were of Polish origin.

A 30-year-old man — a member of the Polish family — has been arrested on suspicion of murder. He was in a hospital Monday after undergoing surgery for knife injuries that witnesses said were self inflicted. Police were waiting to question him.

Gull said four victims were found inside the Polish family's apartment on a secluded residential street in the island's capital, St. Helier. Two were found outside the building.

He said it was too early to speculate about a motive for the killings.

Britain's Press Association news agency identified the victims as the Polish man's wife, their two children and his wife's father, as well as a family friend and her child.

Neighbors reported hearing screams before police and ambulances arrived Sunday.

Bryan Ogesa, who lives in the same apartment building, said he heard screaming and ran outside to see a man with a knife chasing a woman, and another woman lying on the ground.

"She was responsive, but just mumbling," he said. "That's when the guy started coming towards us. He was mumbling as well."

Ogesa said he fought the man off with a traffic cone before the attacker turned the knife on himself.

Another witness, Andre Thorpe, said he later saw police running from the building carrying a small child.

"When the paramedic came back her shirt was covered in blood," he said.

Police on the island — a tax haven and holiday destination 14 miles (22 kilometers) off France's Normandy coast — say the crime is the deadliest in living memory.

Jersey, a 45-square-mile (118-square-kilometer) British Crown dependency with a population of 90,000, had not had a murder since 2004, when a 19-year-old man originally from Northern Ireland tried to rape, then kicked to death, a 35-year-old nurse outside her home. It was the first murder in Jersey since the 1970s.

Between 3,000 and 5,000 Polish nationals live on Jersey.

Chief Minister Terry Le Sueur said the crime had "greatly shocked the island's community." He said anyone who needed counseling would receive it.

"Jersey is a very safe place and events of this terrible nature are very rare," he said.

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Forensic experts attack Amanda Knox trial evidence

PERUGIA, Italy — Independent forensic experts took the stand on Monday to attack key pieces of evidence used to convict U.S. student Amanda Knox of the murder of her British roommate in the Italian city of Perugia in 2007.

The two court-appointed experts, Carla Vecchiotti and Stefano Conti, told an appeal hearing that the knife thought to have been used to kill 21 year-old Meredith Kercher carried no trace of blood but may have been contaminated with other DNA traces.

Presenting the findings from a report released last month, they said police had used the same gloves to take different pieces of evidence during their initial examination of the house the two women shared in the university town of Perugia.

Kercher was found half naked in Nov. 2007 lying in a pool of blood with her throat cut.

Knox, 24, her former Italian boyfriend Raffaele Sollecito and Ivoirian Rudy Guede were convicted and jailed in 2009 for the murder after what judges concluded was a frenzied sex game that spiraled out of control.

Both Knox and Sollecito, who have appealed against the original ruling were in court on Monday as was Knox's mother, Edda Mellas.

"You know, it was an excellent day, to be able to see everything, step by step exactly what our experts said, you know, and now confirmed by independent experts is very powerful," Mellas told Reuters Television after the hearing.

The report by Vecchiotti and Conti confirmed police conclusions that Knox's DNA was found on the handle of a knife they identified as the murder weapon but said that the material found on the blade was starch, rather than blood.

"There are no scientific elements which would confirm the presence of blood traces on the knife. The protocols for minimizing the risk of contamination were not respected," their testimony said.

They also said there was no DNA evidence on a clip from Kercher's bra which police said was traceable to Sollecito.

The two independent experts had been commissioned by the appeal court to go over the forensic evidence in the case which has attracted huge media interest and severe criticism of police methods from the defense team.

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They made a scathing attack on the original investigation, saying that proper decontamination procedures had not been followed, there was insufficient documentation of the amount of DNA evidence collected and inadequate "real time" analysis.

The next hearing is scheduled for July 30 when the experts face cross-examination by prosecutor and the defense team.

Francesco Maresca, a lawyer for the Kercher family, said the evidence provided by Vecchiotti and Conti was not conclusive.

"I hope, I am certain and trust that on Saturday we will be able to clarify in court the fact that they did not follow the original investigation and therefore did not follow the profound exchange of dialogue between various consultants and once again we will remind of the principal factors in this case," he said.

Copyright 2011 Thomson Reuters. Click for restrictions.

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