[ISN] Swedish police probe site crash

Mon Jun 5 04:26:32 EDT 2006

http://news.com.com/Swedish+police+probe+site+crash/2100-7349_3-6079740.html

By Reuters 
June 4, 2006

Sweden's domestic intelligence agency said it would probe why the
government's Web site crashed on Sunday amid reports hackers had
sought revenge for a crackdown on alleged online piracy.

The government Web site went off line in the early hours of Sunday.  
The Internet home page of the national police crashed in similar
fashion on Thursday.

The police Web site problem came a day after the Pirate Bay Internet
page, which the recording industry calls a major source for
downloading pirated music and films, was shut by police.

"They (the government) contacted us and wanted to make a police
complaint that something has happened with their home page and it is
now a question for us investigate if it is a crime or something else,"  
said Anders Thornberg, a spokesman for the Security Police
intelligence agency.

Local media said hackers attacked both sites, now functioning again,
after the clampdown on Pirate Bay. Pirate Bay is also up and running
again.

Sweden's Emergency Management Agency earlier warned all 31 bodies
involved in emergency management, such as the police and rescue
services, and all 21 local authorities to ensure they were safe from
attacks on their Web sites.

Newspaper Aftonbladet quoted a group called World Wide Hackers as
saying they had arranged an attack on the government's Web site.

Sweden last year banned the downloading of copyright protected music
and movies from the Internet after being singled out for criticism by
Hollywood. The raid on Pirate Bay was the latest of several actions
against suspected online piracy.

Critics say the police are heavy handed and that people should have
access to free information via the Internet, including file sharing.

Several hundred people demonstrated in Stockholm on Saturday in
support of Pirate Bay.