Everyone’s favorite internet vigilante group, Anonymous, is reportedly going to stage a full-scale siege against Facebook on January 28th. Part of something called Operation Global Blackout, the group is calling on the people of the world to download the Low Orbit Ion Cannon (LOIC) application, which is a tool they’ve used in the past to down other sites like the Department of Justice. This app is meant to overwhelm the targeted servers and relentlessly send packet data until the servers capitulate and ultimately crash. The group has admitted that although Facebook has over 60,000 servers, it may be possible to cause them all to fail on the 28th if enough people participate.
But the question really is, what does the group want? They’re trying to cause widespread havoc in order to raise awareness of the changing tide of internet rights. SOPA and PIPA may be on hold for now but undoubtedly the government will eventually want to have closer oversight over the internet. And when that happens, the internet as we know it as a place for the free exchange of information could end.
Source: VentureBeat, Photo: DeviantArt
