Earlier today, UFC president Dana White issued an open challenge to Internet hackers, and it didn't take long for that community to respond.
A Twitter user claiming to be a member of the same Internet group that over the weekend attacked UFC.com, UGNazi.com, posted a link to a file listing the apparent phone number, social security number and current and past addresses of the UFC boss.
"We don't want your site anymore," the user stated via Twitter. "We are going after YOU! Follow me for tonight's exciting events."
Despite the bold first step of what could prove an ugly battle between White and those who stand against anti-piracy efforts, the UFC boss did not back down when asked for comment.
"I said a couple years ago piracy is a serious issue to us, and we are going after it guns a blazin'," White told MMAjunkie.com (
www.mmajunkie.com).
The posting of White's alleged personal information comes on the heels of his heated challenge to Internet hackers following today's UFC on FOX 2 post-event press conference.
"I'm not afraid of you," White said. "So you want to keep hacking our site? Go for it. Watch what happens. You're hurting yourself."
White's quote was in response to a weekend attack of UFC.com, which re-routed site users to a dummy UFC.com site, affecting the high-traffic website for several hours on Sunday before the promotion's Web team was able to restore the regular site.
Most credited the Web attack on the UFC as a response to an editorial published this past week by its chief legal counsel, Lawrence Epstein, who expressed support for the controversial anti-piracy bills SOPA (Stop Online Piracy Act) and PIPA (Protect IP).
The UFC has aggressively pursued piracy in the courts in recent years and successfully brought down several websites that pirated their content. While White today admitted the bill was not the perfect vehicle in the fight to protect his promotion's most valuable product – pay-per-view broadcasts – he said it's the best weapon available at the moment.
"Is SOPA the perfect bill? No, it's not," he said. "The only thing that we're focused on is piracy. Piracy is stealing. If you walk into a store and you steal a gold watch, it's the same as stealing a pay-per-view. I don't care what your twisted, demented idea of stealing is. This kids who grew up on the Internet never had to pay for anything, so they don't think that you should have to."
Immediately following the posting of his information, White also took to Twitter to defend his earlier words, as well as his company's work against piracy.
"I love the Internet," White stated. "It helped us grow our biz. Stealing is stealing! And hacking into people's [expletive] is terrorism.
"I'm a fight promoter. I put on fights. People are stealing my [expletive] on the net and selling it or selling ads on it. Me and my partners have busted our ass for 10 years to build the sport and [company]. When you steal you should be dealt with! Agree?"
White was also quick to point out that his battle is not with those in the online community looking to affect positive change in global policy but rather those that are stealing directly from his company.
"If you guys want to change the world, good for you! Just don't steal my [expletive]," White stated. "If they are not streaming my [expletive] and hacking my website, then we have no beef."
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