Chinese Hackers Attack Melbourne Film Festival

by candice.tsuei | August 1, 2009 at 10:05 pm

146 views | 3 Recommendations | 0 comments

The Melbourne International Film Festival was forced to shut down after being crashed by a group of Chinese hackers, who had booked out all films with fake purchases.

The attack on the Melbourne International Film Festival's site is the second in just a few days. It comes after Beijing on Friday summoned Australia's ambassador to protest at Uighur activist Rebiya Kadeer's planned visit to the festival.

Asha Holmes, the festival's spokeswoman, said a Chinese citizen living in the United States had informed the organizers about the viral campaign, which rooted from a website in China called "A Call to Action to All Chinese People." The website gave explanations on how to set up fake profiles and make online purchases at the film festival.

Hackers broke into the festival's website soon after the launch of the 2009 festival, replacing festival information with the Chinese flag and anti-Kadeer slogans.

The festival is to show "The 10 Conditions of Love," a documentary by Rubiya Kadeer, portraying her relationship with her activist husband Sidik Rouzi and the influences on her 11 children, as she tried to bring more autonomy to the 10 million Muslim Uighurs residing in Xinjiang, China.

As a result of the film's inclusion, three Chinese directors pulled their films from the festival and Hong Kong and Taipei's trade offices withdrew their sponsorship.

Rubiya Kadeer, the 62-year-old Nobel Prize Candidate, was accused by the Beijing government for initiating the protests that took place in Xinjiang, China in early July, which resulted in nearly 200 deaths.