Report: Bollywood Hires Online Hitmen To Attack Pirate Web Sites

Image Courtesy of ToobyDoo, Flickr

SAN FRANCISCO, September 10, 2010 – Bollywood film studios are using a software consultancy in Bangalore to launch denial-of-service attacks against web sites with links to pirated entertainment, according to a recent report in the Sydney Morning Herald.

The paper interviewed Aiplex Software’s managing director Girish Kumar, who said that two infringement notices are sent to host web site owners before the attacks are launched. The attacks are launched without warning.

Kumar says that more than 30 Bollywood studios use his company’s services. The article also quotes him saying that Star TV and 20th Century Fox’s FOX Star Studios also uses his firm’s services.

A glance at the firm’s web site shows that it offers copyright owners the service of monitoring web sites and forums for piracy and sending out take-down notices. There is nothing mentioned about denial of service attacks, which is illegal in many countries around the world.