Anonymous Sends a Letter to the World

[sheogoraththemad]

"Annon is a peaceful entity that only wants to protect free-speech... until someone pisses it off or it gets bored... then you're all fucked."

best description of anon so far..

 

[Wintermoot]

I would say go anonymous! if you dont want anybody to read your personal information you should have secured it better!

 

[The_root_of_all_evil]

The Internet needs Anonymous. It also needs the Ruling Body.

Without Warfare, we can't have Peace.

 

[Iron Mal]

A group that's thoughts, morals, values and identity changes almost constantly can be a very dangerous thing. Not just for the 'great evils' that it supposedly opposes but for normal, innocent people out there who maybe don't share the same view they do at the time.

What if the 'friendly neiborhood Anonymous' that was there last week has been replaced by an anonymous that doesn't give a fuck and gets it's jollies from tormenting anyone it can? What if this change happens without warning?

In short, if they're going to claim to be 'peacefully campaigning for freedom of speech' and to protect the freedoms of people in general then they should show that they can be trusted by 'their people' to do such a thing (part of being trustworthy as a group or organisation is being able to be held account and responsable for your actions, good or bad).

If people can't trust them then they have no right representing or protecting anyone.

EDIT: The idea of people who work to secure our rights and freedoms on and off the internet is important, don't get me wrong. I'm not opposed to the ultimate goal set out by Anonymous (people should be free to hold and express any opinion they choose) but merely opposed to the notion of a group who can do as they please with the only response to any past misdeeds essentially being 'well that wasn't my fuck-up, not my problem'.

 

[AntiFate]

Freedom of Speech... sure, fine, I'm all for it.

Freedom to do whatever you want with the internet... no way in hell.

The internet is a luxury (not necessary to live) that costs people money, it needs rules. Feel free to go out and talk all you want to anyone who will listen.

The internet is my freaking right, not a bloody privilege or a luxury! It is the very epitome of Freedom!

 

[lacktheknack]

"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."
? Benjamin Franklin

This is the slogan of our anti-ID campaign at school. We have the same ideals about freedom, it seems.

Anti-what?

OT: I'm rooting for Anon here. The government's response has been <link=http://tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pmwiki.php/DarthWiki/DethroningMomentOfSuck>disgraceful.

 

[EHKOS]

Now I am all for this, however! Wikileaks is a different matter. That IS treason. Revealing 200 potential targets in the US is just asking for a bombing. I was cool when they revealed military footage, that was like sticking it to the government, but revealing secrets that could cripple my nation is another thing.

 

[lacktheknack]

Now I am all for this, however! Wikileaks is a different matter. That IS treason. Revealing 200 potential targets in the US is just asking for a bombing. I was cool when they revealed military footage, that was like sticking it to the government, but revealing secrets that could cripple my nation is another thing.

Wikileaks is less responsible for treason then everyone thinks... they didn't track down the stuff and publish it, an OFFICER gave it to them to publish. They probably didn't even know that stuff was in there. But I see no one going after the officer...

By the way, explain the whole "200 potential target" thing to me, please?

 

[Irony's Acolyte]

From what I can tell of Anonymous, this is just another face of it rearing its head. This face of Anon cares for free speech and what's to protect it. I can agree with that group. But Anonymous as a whole I'm wary of. Its a giant, ever changing mass that goes in several directions at once. While part of Anon may campaign against ignorance and repression, another will delight in spreading chaos "for the lulz". Both of these actions represent truly Anonymous, despite the fact that their motivation is so opposed to each other's. Anonymous isn't a group working towards one goal. Hell its barely even a group. Its more of a symbol that anyone can take up (as a group or alone) to hide their identity. Amazing Anonymous is as it is called, anonymous. It could be anyone or any group. It could want for anything or any change. Its powerful but at the same time weak.

Now I seem to have fallen into some sort of worship rant about Anon, but I'm just having a bit of an epiphany right now. Before I thought of Anon as some shadowy group working towards their own strange and chaotic goals. I read about how now its just a bunch of "newfags" running their own campaign under the guise of Anon. But I've realized that all it is is a symbol, nothing more. A mask that holds no power except that of thing hiding behind it.

And that's just so... appropriate.

 

[The Hive Mind]

I really wish Anon do put their all in with Wikileaks and their lot. It will be interesting to see just how big Anon really is once the government tries to crush them.

 

[EHKOS]

Now I am all for this, however! Wikileaks is a different matter. That IS treason. Revealing 200 potential targets in the US is just asking for a bombing. I was cool when they revealed military footage, that was like sticking it to the government, but revealing secrets that could cripple my nation is another thing.

Wikileaks is less responsible for treason then everyone thinks... they didn't track down the stuff and publish it, an OFFICER gave it to them to publish. They probably didn't even know that stuff was in there. But I see no one going after the officer...

By the way, explain the whole "200 potential target" thing to me, please?

One thing Wikileaks did was reveal 200 places in the US that were vulnrable to attack, places like nuclear power plants and the like. Being in a war in the middle east, that may not be the best course of action.
You do have a point about the officer though.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

The thing that strikes me the most about this "letter" is how the author repeatedly reiterates how Anonymous is never the same, even hour to hour. It's great because this means at Annon can do whatever the fuck it wants, however it wants, and is never responsible for it's actions. Every evil thing it has done and will do it completely irrelevant in the authors eyes.

This is basically what I get from this article...

"Annon is a peaceful entity that only wants to protect free-speech... until someone pisses it off or it gets bored... then you're all fucked."

Well, the group that wrote the letter will stand for what they wrote. But anon isn't responsible for what it others part does. Imagine a place where everyone has the same name. You can't claim fame and you can't blame anyone for what they did by telling names, because they are all under the same title. That is Anonymous, and that is how the government will view them when they become a threat. As one entity, not a group of people in unjoined forces. They will see Anonymous as a group of people who must be taken, even though they are not the ones who did it. For they bear the same name as the ones who did.

 

[Pyode]

Well, the group that wrote the letter will stand for what they wrote. But anon isn't responsible for what it others part does. Imagine a place where everyone has the same name. You can't claim fame and you can't blame anyone for what they did by telling names, because they are all under the same title. That is Anonymous, and that is how the government will view them when they become a threat. As one entity, not a group of people in unjoined forces. They will see Anonymous as a group of people who must be taken, even though they are not the ones who did it. For they bear the same name as the ones who did.

That is exactly the problem I have with Annon. It is just a way for a bunch off people on the internet to be able to do whatever they want and not take any responsibility.

Annon is essentially the perfect scapegoat because it doesn't actually exist, therefore no one can actually attack it. It's a cowardly way of doing things.

 

[astrav1]

Probably one person. However, under the right circumstances, Anonymous can be quite the asset.

 

[zHellas]

"He who sacrifices freedom for security deserves neither."
- Benjamin Franklin

Incorrect quote.

They who can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety, deserve neither liberty nor safety.

That's the right one.

 

[Arkhangelsk]

Well, the group that wrote the letter will stand for what they wrote. But anon isn't responsible for what it others part does. Imagine a place where everyone has the same name. You can't claim fame and you can't blame anyone for what they did by telling names, because they are all under the same title. That is Anonymous, and that is how the government will view them when they become a threat. As one entity, not a group of people in unjoined forces. They will see Anonymous as a group of people who must be taken, even though they are not the ones who did it. For they bear the same name as the ones who did.

That is exactly the problem I have with Annon. It is just a way for a bunch off people on the internet to be able to do whatever they want and not take any responsibility.

Annon is essentially the perfect scapegoat because it doesn't actually exist, therefore no one can actually attack it. It's a cowardly way of doing things.

The good blend in with the evil, as the evil blend in with the good. It's a double-edged sword.

 

[maddawg IAJI]

Why do they keep making themselves out like some all knowing entity? I mean, this is 4chan we're talking about, they may have some intelligent aspects, but /b/ certainly doesn't show it.

Annon isn't launching a peaceful campaign, it's launching something that is borderline Cyber Terroism.

 

[Terminate421]

Its all a conscpiracy!

 

[Magic Cheese]

I support Anon despite their mischievous history. I would gladly be apart of any peaceful protest supporting freedom of speech/the internet. I fear America is only a few passed bills of legislation away from becoming Australia (if you're not familiar with Australia's national censorship firewall, google it. It's like someone over there read 1984 and thought "Man, the Party really seems to be onto something. They just need more vicious, man-eating flora and fauna (Australia's chief export) and they'd be good."

Yeah, Anon has more than their fair share of idiots, but so will any large enough group. So long as they manage to keep the Guy Fawkes mask-wearing, meme-spouting 12-year-olds and basement dwellers at home, I would gladly be apart of this.