'Anonymous' threatens shutdown of CNN.com during tonight's debate

UPDATE: The Debate started on time, and Rick Santorum and Newt Gingrich have already spoken, so it seems as this was another threat that "Anonymous" did not back up with action.

A two-minute video, claiming to be connected with the hacker group "Anonymous" threatens to shut down the CNN.com feed of tonight's debate of the Republican Presidential Candidates -- except for the responses given by Rep. Ron Paul (R-TX). The robotic voice explains:

In response to the establishment media blackout of Ron Paul, and specifically to the lack of equal time given to him in the debates, we the people will be blacking out the responses of all candidates except Ron Paul in the upcoming CNN debate in Jacksonville Florida on Thursday, January 26 at 8PM eastern standard time. This is a call to all who are willing and able to join this effort to show the establishment media that we will not tolerate the continued media blackout of Ron Paul, and that we will, in return, shut down the CNN website and their live stream of the debate.

Although "Anonymous" has taken credit for some high-profile website shutdowns recently, such as a series of attacks on the websites of the Justice Department, the MPAA and Universal Music, among others, on January 19, not all of its threats have played out as promised. A promised attack on Facebook and an unnamed Mexican drug cartel did not happen. If this is an actual threat by "Anonymous," it would be the first time they interfered with a partial stream of the audio/video portion of a website. This would indicate they have the technology to pull off a sustained, sporadic series of mini-blackouts, since they intend to allow Ron Paul's answers to be heard. The video includes instructions on how to assist in the hacking of the CNN website. Ron Paul is not actively campaigning in Florida, choosing instead to focus on states holding caucuses in the near future.