AA419 describes its action as flash-mobbing but in actuality, this activity is called a virtual sit-in. Virtual sit-ins entail large numbers of individuals intently visiting a target site and downloading pages or requesting large numbers of information, with the intent that their requests will cause a rapid drain of bandwidth, and if there is a bandwidth quota it goes offline. For example, if 100 people continuously download a 10 kilobyte image simultaneously for 12 hours, this uses 40 gigabytes of allocated bandwidth. Assuming that the fraudulent site has 40 Gb of allocated bandwidth per month, it will automatically shut down after 12 hours, when the bandwidth threshold is exceeded. The fraudulent website will then remain off-line until the following month, when the bandwidth quota is re-set. Virtual sit-ins are achieved using freeware tools such as Muguito or the Lad Vampire. Both tools are very easy to use and everyone is welcome to participate. A computer flash-mob is a similar case where the sites' sudden popularity brings an unexpected large numbers of visitors which the server is unable to handle, except that there is no actual audience and the action is designed to be destructive.
In some cases, particularly when a small web-hosting company is involved, the volume of traffic can be so large that access is slowed to all sites on the server, this holds the hoster at ransom until they pull the site, then things return to normal. It is important to note that no site is ever "mobbed" until at least two letters have been sent to the hosting company on two separate occasions:-
- informing them that they are hosting a fraudulent site
- detailing evidence of such fraudulent activities
- requesting that the site be shut down for violating the hoster's terms of business
The Artists much prefer that webhosters take responsibility for the actions of their clients as well as the content of their web sites. A virtual sit-in is a tool of last resort, used only after other attempts to shut down the fraudsters' website have failed. Fortunately, the vast majority of web-hosting companies find the activities of internet fraudsters highly objectionable and swiftly intervene to stop them.
The artists have had considerable success in closing these sites, since out of the 14,786 sites listed in their database, 876 are still active and some of these will be very recent additions.
Read more about this topic: Artists Against 419