Anonymous brings down Virgin Media site

Virgin Media’s website was forced offline for an hour yesterday after hacker collective Anonymous attacked the portal.

The move was in response to Virgin’s decision to block access to The Pirate Bay for all of its UK customers.

That decision came after the High Court ordered ISPs to do so, though Virgin was the first to comply. Four other ISPs – Sky, Everything Everywhere, TalkTalk and O2 – have been ordered to do the same by tomorrow (Friday 11th May). BT has requested more time consider its position.

Tweets about the attack from people associated with Anonymous used the #OpTPB hastag (Operation The Pirate Bay).

"As a responsible ISP, Virgin Media complies with court orders but we strongly believe that tackling the issue of copyright infringement needs compelling legal alternatives, giving consumers access to great content at the right price, to help change consumer behaviour," a Virgin media statement read.

The Pirate Bay itself has vowed to fight the UK block – press coverage of which has seen its user numbers skyrocket.