SOPA: Anonymous Hackers Make Good on OpSony Promise

New videos claiming to stem from the Anonymous collective have emerged showing what appears to be a series of successful hacks on Sony's network.

Published on Cyber War News on Friday, the videos claim to prove that the Anonymous collective has made good on its promise to re-target Sony for its support of the controversial U.S. Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA).

Specifically, the videos appear to show cyber attacks on the company's Sony Pictures website and Facebook page. The attacks were reported to have been carried out by an Anon carrying the Twitter account: @s3rver_exe.

The attack comes after analysts questioned whether the collective would make good on its OpSony threat, after many of the Japanese tech giant's departments pulled their support for the act.

Following the collective's threat of an attack and widespread criticism by consumers, numerous companies including Sony, Nintendo and EA pulled their support for SOPA. Following news that Sony had by enlarge ended its support, the AnonymousIRC Twitter channel indicated that the collective may halt the OpSony attack.

"Sony and Nintendo drop #SOPA support amid #Anonymous threats bit.ly/uqQwbB #Truce #BattleForInternet," read AnonymousIRC's tweet.

One possible reason for the decision to continue the attack could be the fact that despite several of its other departments dropping their support, the Sony/ATV Music Publishing, Sony Music Entertainment and Sony Music Nashville have also all remained on the supporters list.

Designed to combat online piracy, since being announced the SOPA bill has come under wide-spread criticism, with numerous groups voicing concerns about the new powers the act could grant U.S. law enforcement. A common concern is the suggestion that the act will allow police to arrest, fine and potentially jail individuals for seemingly minor offences, such as uploading a copyrighted video onto YouTube.

Anonymous initially issued threats of possible "retribution" against companies supporting the bill in December when it announced "OpBlackOut" - a website defacement campaign that would see it target law enforcement agencies and companies vocally supporting SOPA.

UPDATE: The videos have since been removed from YouTube. Sony representatives have still not responded to the International Business Times UK's request for confirmation of the breach. 11:04 am 06/01/2012