Hackers Rub MP3s in RIAA's Face
By Michelle Delio
10:20 a.m. Aug. 28, 2002 PDT
Looking to snag a free copy of your favorite tune? For a few hours Wednesday morning, you might have been able to download a copy directly from the Recording Industry Association of America's website.
The association, a vocal opponent of music file trading, became an unwitting repository of music files when its site was altered by unknown attackers.
An RIAA spokeswoman would only confirm that the site was experiencing problems, was being fixed, and would be back up shortly.
According to reports from those who gained access before the site was taken offline mid-morning, the site briefly housed a dozen downloadable, pirated MP3 files.
Attackers replaced some of the site's home-page text with rhetoric promoting music and video file trading.
Those who saw the site say they visited after seeing a message posted on news blog site Fark inviting people to "visit the hacked RIAA site (while supplies last)."
The RIAA was also the victim of a hack in July, when a denial of service attack knocked the site offline for four days.
The earlier attack was reportedly in retaliation for the RIAA's endorsement a day before of a bill written by Representative Howard Berman from California. Berman's bill would allow the RIAA to launch denial of service attacks against file-trading servers.
The RIAA released a report on Monday, attributing a drop in CD sales to an increase in music downloads through file-trading services.
