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Tag: Anon

  • Don’t Like Anonymous? Their New Campaign Against Internet Pedophiles Might Change Your Mind

    What do you think of when you hear the word Anonymous? Do you see an Internet vigilante group fighting against the largest governments and corporations of the world or just a couple of “script kiddies” taking down Web sites for the “lulz?” Either way, you probably have strong opinions on the matter. That may be why Anonymous launched #OpPedoChat.

    For those unfamiliar, #OpPedoChat is Anonymous’ latest campaign against the child pornography rings that litter the Internet. There was a similar campaign last year called #OpDarknet that aimed to take down child pornography rings that were only accessible via TOR links. The main difference between the two is that #OpPedoChat is much larger in scope with Anonymous actively identifying the people involved in the trading and selling of child pornography.

    Should Anonymous go after Internet pedophiles? Or should the matter be left to the authorities? Let us know in the comments.

    #OpPedoChat was announced over the July 4 weekend and its aims are clear – clean up the Internet. The press release detailing the operation was unique to Anonymous in that it called upon everybody to help them in their quest. They usually just ask fellow anons for assistance in most operations.

    Lately, there has been a surge of websites dedicated to pedophiles for chat, picture sharing, etc. These sickos openly advocate concepts like “man-boy love” with statements such as “If the boy [in this case only 8 years old] is asking for it, we shouldn’t deny him”. This is not limited to boys, boards for little girls exist as well and operate with impunity. Child pornography is frequently traded and even innocent pictures of random children (at the beach, on a playground, etc) are publicly fantasized about. This is unacceptable and will not be tolerated.

    WE Anonymous aim to diminish if not eradicate this plague from the Internet. For the good of our followers, for the good of mankind, and for our own enjoyment we shall expel from the Internet and systematically destroy any such boards that continue to operate.

    YOU are Anonymous as well. YOU can get off your ass and help. Spread the word to fellow Anons, to the press, and encourage them to do the same. Those that can attack are asked to fire their lazors; those that cannot are encouraged to learn. These pedos are very butthurt about being hit too, so there is some LULZ factor in it. SAIL SAFE!

    So far, Anonymous has been able to take down various Web sites that were listed in the press release as being involved in the trade of underage pornographic materials. They not only took down the sites, but they were also able to identify numerous people involved in the trade of said materials. The hope is that the police will take the information to make the necessary arrests.

    The identification of potential pedophiles has already led to one casualty as Belgian official Hans-Peter Luyckx temporarily resigned from his position after his name appeared on the list published by Anonymous. He refutes the claim, but resigned to distance himself from his party.

    Luyckx claims that his Web address was hacked which led to his name appearing on the list. If true, it could lead to some questioning of Anonymous’ methods. Would they intentionally tie politicians to the list of pedophiles to shame them into quitting? It’s not really their style, but some members of Anonymous have stooped to such lows in the past.

    Does #OpPedoChat have any political motivations? Will we see more public officials show up on the list? Let us know in the comments.

    I ran an informal poll on the general public’s feelings in regards to Anonymous on my Facebook page to get a feel for how people are responding to Anonymous’ actions. The answers provided in my poll were only yes and no, but some people decided to put their own answer – no opinion – that made this far more interesting. A little over half of respondents chose no opinion, while less than 10 percent went with yes or no.

    One of the respondents answered no and gave this reason:

    I like the specific thing they’re doing (waging war on pedophiles), but that doesn’t change my opinion of them as a whole. It’s sort of like a hypothetical scenario in which we discover that Hitler donated tons of money to help needy families in Egypt, for some inexplicable reason. That’s great, and I’m glad that person did that thing, but that doesn’t mean Hitler wasn’t a terrible person.

    The analogy is interesting because it shows that many people still view Anonymous as a loosely-knit organization that performs illegal acts under the guise of vigilanteism. While one could argue that #OpPedoChat is a natural extension of Anonymous’ current operations, many people are probably not going to start instantly liking Anonymous.

    #OpPedoChat is a good idea and one that Anonymous should fully embrace. They work best as a sort of vigilante Internet Batman that targets the worst parts of the Internet and society as a whole. They command the most respect when they’re aiding those fighting for independence in the Middle East or shedding light on the actions of dictators.

    For every helpful operation, however, there’s a hack or DDoS attack because the group doesn’t agree with what that particular government or country is doing. Sure, Anonymous’ attacks on governments in India, Japan and China are greeted with cheers from some within the Internet community, but most just treat it as an annoyance. Some members realize this. That’s why Anonymous Japan picked up litter in protest of harsh new laws instead of launching DDoS attacks. It might just be a cultural difference, but it speaks volumes to how people respect a group more when they’re not interfering in the daily operation of everyday life.

    That’s the beauty of Anonymous though – people can find some form of identity within the group without having to be involved in everything that flies under the Anonymous banner. I’ve seen more people joining in for #OpPedoChat than any other previous operation. If anything, those in Anonymous are doing this to improve the image of the group for themselves. If it changes your mind about them, that’s only a bonus.

    Do you like Anonymous more after they launched #OpPedoChat? Or is this all just a ruse to improve their public image? Let us know in the comments.

  • SOPA: Anonymous Lists Their Demands

    The Internet is angry at SOPA and Anonymous is at, or at least near, the front of it all.

    On Wednesday, the “official” Anonymous twitter feed linked to the group’s list of demands. The document is titled, “Bright, and Clear: The Future of Free Speech.” In it, the group details their list of demands for the future of the Internet that they believe SOPA and PIPA want to dismantle.

    As we watch the web go dark today in protest against the SOPA/PIPA censorship bills, let’s take a moment and reflect on why this fight is so important. We may have learned that free speech is what makes America great, or instinctively resist attempts at silencing our voices. But these are abstract principles, divorced from the real world and our daily lives.

    We believe a healthy society doesn’t allow its artists, musicians and other creators to starve. The copyright industry has been justly criticized for abusing the political process in a desperate attempt to maintain its role as a cultural gatekeeper, a business model made obsolete by a digital age of free copies. But the RIAA, MPAA & IFPI deserve our opprobrium for making enormous profits while often leaving the very artists it claims to represent *poorer* than they would be as independents. While the public may have greater access to the few artists deemed sufficiently marketable to gain mass media promotion, fewer and fewer of us are making art and music in our own lives.

    Do you agree with Anonymous’ claim of a digital age of free copies? Are the MPAA and RIAA’s business models outdated? Let us know in the comments.

    From there, the group lists their demands starting with the call for the WIPO to be disbanded. They also demand the elimination of the DMCA‘s registration requirement for qualification under the “safe harbor” provision.

    They move onto more court-related topics with their expectation that courts apply penalties just as severe to rightsholders who issue abusive takedown notices as those applied to copyright violators. They also demand that any penalties for copyright infringement must be sane and reasonable and not to be based on “unsubstantiated, outlandish claims of harm.”

    They demand that the Department of Justice begin an anti-trust investigation into the copyright industry, with a specific focus on collusion between rightsholders and ISPs in monitoring Internet users.

    They demand an end to sales of radio frequencies into private hands. They believe that the radio waves are a form of speech and should belong to the people.

    A big one that most would not agree with is their demand that ISPs stop interfering with file sharing via BitTorrent or any other protocol.

    They want recognition of total ownership, not merely licensing, of products purchased. They feel that they have a right to tinker and modify devices as they see fit. The Library of Congress should not be in charge of determining acceptable use.

    They reject the principle of contributory infringement under the pretense that “while there may be bad uses, there is no bad code.”

    One that I think everybody can get behind is their expectation that legislators and judges make efforts to educate themselves about the technologies they oversee, and to call on and respect the opinions of technical experts when necessary.

    All research receiving any public funding must be placed in the public domain upon publication. Likewise, the US Patent and Trade Office must immediately cease issuing software and business patents, and declare all such existing patents null and void. They also call on the rejection of any patents on mathematical formulas and genes or other naturally-occurring substances.

    They demand that copyright and patent terms be reduced to reasonable lengths (two and five years from the time of creation, respectively). Works should only be eligible for the length of protection when created.

    They recognize a broad right of “fair use” that would allow anybody to remix, sample, mash up, translate, perform or make parodies of any work as they see fit.

    Their final demand is that courts give bloggers the same freedoms that journalists enjoy.

    “The right to a free press originally meant a literal, physical printing press – not membership in some government sanctioned elite. Blogs are the modern day digital equivalent.”

    They end their list of demands with a final call to action to their fellow “Internauts.” They end their message with “either stand with us or get out of the way.”

    What do you think about Anonymous’ list of demands? Do you agree? Or are they just the ramblings of an idealist? Let us know in the comments.

    Anonymous is not new to protesting human rights violations or making demands of certain groups that they don’t agree with. This is the first time, however, that they have laid out reasonable (to some people) changes to Federal and International law that most people could get behind. It’s fascinating to see a group that only a few years ago was attacking Web sites for the “lulz” has transformed into an activist group that more people can support.

    It’s important to remember, however, that this only represents a portion of Anonymous. As these movements grow, there will be counter Anonymous movements that will want to respond to threats like SOPA and PIPA with more targeted, direct physical action like Operation Blackout.

    Does Anonymous strike you as the new frontier of activism? Let us know in the comments.

  • SOPA: Anonymous Announces Operation Blackout

    SOPA: Anonymous Announces Operation Blackout

    Anonymous, everybody’s favorite decentralized hacktivist group, has announced Operation Blackout in protest of SOPA.

    The group released a YouTube video describing what is their “Most important operation in their history.” What makes this call to action unique is that it’s similar to their Scientology protests a few years ago. The group is not only calling for online protests, but on the street physical protests as well.

    This is not only an Anonymous collective call to action. What will a Distributed Denial of Service attack do? What’s a website defacement against the corrupted powers of the government? No. This is a call for a worldwide Internet and physical protest against the powers that be. Spread this message everywhere. We will not stand for this! Tell your parents, your neighbors, your fellow workers, your school teachers, and anyone else you come in contact with. This affects anyone that desires the freedom to browse anonymously, speak freely without fear of retribution, or protest without fear of arrest.

    Anonymous seems to be more serious than ever with this latest message because they finally changed their motto to coincide with Operation Blackout.

    We are Anonymous.
    We are Legion.
    We do not forgive censorship.
    We do not forget the denial of our free rights as human beings.
    To the United States government, you should’ve expected us.

    The group has put together a press release that they are asking everybody to print out and share around their communities.

    Anonymous threats are generally disregarded because their attacks never go beyond simple DDoS attacks. This protest almost feels like the Scientology protests, however, so they may take to the streets as they are implying. It will be interesting to see what happens.

    Stick with us for more SOPA coverage as more sites join the blackout.