I know there isn't a chance in hell of them actually pulling it off, but if they can, I would like to see it.

The chaos when it went back up would be GLORIOUS.

Here's the extent of what this is going to be like:

March 30th: Wait for this magical bullshit stunt to happen. Sleep on it.
March 31st: Nothing happens. Laugh.
April 1st: Go to school and mentally scream "Are you fucking kidding me?!" Every 20 seconds or so because some dumb ass comes up to me with terrible April Fool's jokes.

And so life goes on.

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha!! Good luck with that Anon. Your stupidity knows no bounds. HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!

I'd better start downloading all the porn I can before they take down the internet.

Go and shut down the internet then. Then there will be no SOPA needed in the first place, because there won't BE an internet.

Matthew94:
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Anonymous-Hactivist-UDP-packets-DNS-Servers-shut-down-the-web,news-14201.html

Oh my. Anonymous may be going too far this time.

The hactivist group is now threatening to shut down the internet to protest "SOPA, Wallstreet, our irresponsible leaders and the beloved bankers who are starving the world for their own selfish needs out of sheer sadistic fun." If the threat is indeed real, the world's entire population will suffer Internet withdrawal on March 31 as a result of the group's crusade.

So how does Anonymous plan to take down the Internet? By hitting the 13 root DNS servers. Thus, the HTTP internet will be disabled because no one will be able to perform a domain name lookup. "Anybody entering 'http://www.google.com' or ANY other url, will get an error page, thus, they will think the Internet is down, which is, close enough," the group writes.

Anonymous claims this will only be a protest, and is not designed to "kill" the internet. Instead, Anonymous is temporarily shutting the Internet down "where it hurts the most."

"The principle is simple," Anonymous writes, explaining how the attack on the 13 DNS servers will be carried out. "A flaw that uses forged UDP packets is to be used to trigger a rush of DNS queries all redirected and reflected to those 13 IPs. The flaw is as follow; since the UDP protocol allows it, we can change the source IP of the sender to our target, thus spoofing the source of the DNS query."

Anonymous didn't state how long the Internet would be unavailable, only that it could last mere hours, or extend out for days. "No matter what, it will be global," the group concludes. "It will be known."

Oh yay. Thanks for that.

Stop the presses!

If they ever pulled this off it would be catastrophically bad and stupid. The media would just pull out "DEM CRAZY CYBER TERRORISTS" card, no one would know their true intentions and it might even sway people towards SOPA/PIPA etc.

Lets pretend Sopa and Pipa were in effect, how would this help. Further, since they gladly aren't in effect, how is this not still illegal?

I hope they find those bitches and make em rot in a jail cell, forever.

So the members of Anonymous are threatening to completely block access to every website not just in the US, but in every single country around the world?

Are they stupid? Really you want to destroy the only thing that gives you power and completely alienate your supporters...

Here have a free helmet.

Anon. ruining it for everyone.

I'd love to see the day when script kiddies take down some of the most hardened servers in the world.

Them taking down Sony is maybe slightly impressive, but not really, DDoSing isn't new or hard (for people who know). There's no way they can take down the Internet. IF they could, someone would have done it before.

It won't happen.
Especially considering they already told everyone how they plan to do it.

If it does happen I hope the message gets through.

Matthew94:
http://www.tomsguide.com/us/Anonymous-Hactivist-UDP-packets-DNS-Servers-shut-down-the-web,news-14201.html

Is this before or after they destroy facebook last november... oh wait.

Don't believe everything you read on the internet...

That would take some serious cojones, if they somehow manage to actually do it(though I doubt it), they'll have earned my grudging respect.

my first reaction to this was: -____________________________________-
my second reaction was: -_____________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________-

i really hate those guys...

Like how they shut down facebook? Or hasn't that happened yet?

Anyone who supports this (IMO) needs to have their head read. This will do far more damage than just make people go outside for the day. I dont think Anon knows that the US DOD can track them very easily, and they have no issue in launching a bomb at someone who threatens US interests in the interwebs.

With any luck it will be the end of anonymous :D

Some times I read about what Anonymous is doing, and more and more it makes me think that the people doing these things are people who starting hearing about Anon due to Project Chanology and are now just caught up in the whole "LULZ WERE HACKTAVISTS LOLOMGWTFBBQ" crap. If they had any sense they'd be trying to slide back into the shadows were they could act without worrying about presenting themselves to the world at large as some sort of organisation with goals and ideals. Instead, they constantly pull shit like this and jump into the sickly looking limelight and look like fools when no one notices. I don't know if they could actually pull this stunt off, but I can guarantee you that if did something like this at a time when no one knew or cared who they were it would have a much greater impact.

Anonymous: firm believers in the philosophy that there is no social problem, no matter how nuanced or complex, that can't be solved by carpet-bomb DDOS attacks.

They're fighting for an excellent cause...and I'm behind Anon 100%, and I hope that by doing this it will make a lot of brain-dead sheeple out there aware of these political criminals.
However, I'm not sure it will have the desired effects...it will give the higher-ups a reason restrict and restrain the net even more.

Thank god I found out in time! A month and a half will be just enough time to stockpile porn to last through the attack.

Personally, I'm all for it. I've been getting way too many emails lately. Shutting down Google gives me an excuse not to check them and get back to important things, like replaying Majora's Mask (curse that Skull Kid...)

I bet the guys who thought this one up all picked option #2 from the ending of the original Deus Ex. You know, the one that involves taking down the entire global communications network and sending the world back to a New Dark Age.

All you assholes who picked Ending #2, welcome to your new world. For a few hours at least.

I strongly oppose SOPA/PIPA/ACTA et cetera ad infinitum.

However, if "Anon" keeps pulling off these stunts, the only thing they achieve is prove that we do indeed need a heavy-handed approach to 'controlling the internet'. Can't have that, now, can we.

So, I am glad 'they' pointed out the weaknesses in, say, PSN, escapist, plenty other sites and the underlying issues of teh interwebz as is, but my current stance regarding Anonymous is this:

They are a nuisance, go ahead and declare them a terrorist threat and pretty please with sugar on top get rid of them, together with all those pesky Turkish hacking crews and Brazilian defacers. T'a.

We need to form a team of internet superheros to stop the threat.

Quick, grab the IP Avengers!

But for realz, I might be on their side if it wasn't for thinking that the big wigs trying to pass these stupid copyright laws were doing it for "Sheer Sadistic Fun". They're doing it because they're greedy. Not because they're evil and out to get us.

Because money.

But hell, it's a very aggressive way to non-violently protest. Knock yourself out. I've been feeling the need to get outside more lately.

Also, realize that shutting down the internet will only mean people are going to their televisions for news. And the last time I talked to News, he didn't like you very much.

Aabglov:
Thank god I found out in time! A month and a half will be just enough time to stockpile porn to last through the attack.

Already downloaded the creepy stuff, only got about 3 viruses. I'm thinking about building a porn safehouse underneath my home, for the irresponsible people who don't prepare.

Absolute power corrupts absolutely... and this is no exception towards the matter. I hate SOPA just as much as the next person, but Anon isn't going about helping our cause the right way. They feel like threatening people will solve all problems. If diplomacy won't work, grab them where it hurts, but it will only hurt us in the end. In the end, it will work against us. I feel that only rational explanation would help; radical threats, even ones that are mere words will still harm us. >_< I swear, it is stupid and laughable.

Ummm, Anonymous, you do know one shouldn't do actions that will piss people off if you want them to believe in your cause? You know how many people would be affected by this, how much money will be lost, and how angry people will be without there LOL cats?

Also, even if you can shut it down for a day, how are you planning on turning it back on?

Lol.

That's basically all I have to say.

"We're gonna shut down the internet. Here's exactly how we plan to do it."

Though personally I see this as a childish attempt to garner attention, the possibility of the internet in the US being shutdown intrigues me and curious as to what peoples reactions will be.

gigastrike:
...Can they do that?

NO!

There are literally millions of DNS servers out there, they will accomplish nothing by taking down 13 of them.
The internet was built during the cold war with the idea of not having any sterilized infrastructure to take down

Anyone who DDOS's websites in the name of free speech needs their head examined
And Im still not all that sure what the fuck they plan on doing.