US websites under attack from cyber hackers 8216;Anonymous8217;

The Trade Commission confirmed that the sites had been compromised,saying in an email that they had been taken down and wouldn8217;t be brought back 8220;until we8217;re satisfied that any vulnerability has been addressed.8221;

Earlier today,the sites had been replaced with a violent German-language video satirising the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement,or ACTA.

The treaty aims to halt intellectual property theft such as illegal film downloads but many activists fear its provisions could be used to prosecute trivial acts such as remixing music or making on-line video montages.