Anonymous Sends a Letter to the World

[Saltyk]

The cynic in me wants to point out that Freedom of Speech is not a right, but a privilege that governments allow their citizens. Plenty of countries do not have or allow such freedoms. And plenty of people and ideas are denied Freedom of Speech protections (like Neo Nazis or child pornography) even in countries that do have such protections.

So Anonymous wants to be the good guy? Robin Hood fighting the good fight? It's a nice romantic idea, but not everything they do can be called good. Or even a strong effort. Most of their recent attacks are little more than annoyances to their targets. They need to get real and join the real world.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm 100% for Freedom of Speech. I often say that Extremists are the worst thing in the world, yet identify myself as an Extremist for Freedom of Speech, but I realize that I'm talking about a privilege of being born in my nation. I'm also aware that people in other countries, like China, do not enjoy that privilege. And while that does make me sad, I know that Freedom of Speech will come to such countries from within far more effectively than without.

Now, I see that Anonymous is complaining about countries that enjoy Freedom of Speech privileges eroding those rights. And that is a concern of mine, too. So I agree with that sentiment. But attacking the websites of corporations and governments will do more harm than good. That only proves to those in power that the internet, and perhaps other mediums of communication and expression, need to be monitored or controlled. If Anonymous wants to help, they would be better off showing their faces and trying to help in meaningful ways. Standing up for the voiceless by shouting for them.

I'm sorry, but they are nothing more than children. And much like annoying screaming children would be better off being ignored by us.

I would like to point out that judging Anon on their previous actions isn't necessarily a good idea. Anon now is not the same Anon of ten minutes ago, nor will it be the same Anon ten minutes for now.

That said, lack of trust is still a good idea.

If Anon is constantly changing and may have been different people ten minutes ago and maybe different people ten minutes from now, how can you trust them? You can't. Because you never know who you are giving your trust to. Maybe I would have trusted them ten minutes ago, but now they are different. And the name says it all. They are Anonymous. They hide who they are. How can you trust the unknown person in the shadows. True, with some of their actions they may want to avoid identifying themselves or face prosecution, but to claim that they are never the same people leaves them completely untrustworthy.

 

[Dasmaster]

Seems pretty pretentious. Anonymous aren't some awesome freedom fighters. They're just a bunch of dedicated people around the World who know how to organize themselves. They don't "fight for freedom". Now, I'm not bad-mouthing anonymous here, a lot of what they're doing/have done is great. But a lot of it is just stupid pranks, I mean how are people meant to take them seriously if one day they're spending all their efforts defending an international figure from "THE EVIL GOVERNMENTS!" and then the next day they're attacking and threatening a young girl over the internet.

Come on anon, get your shit together and fight for more things that matter, like Julian. Hopefully what they're doing now is a step in the right direction.

However, I have to say that in this case I don't support Assange that much. I think that what the Governments have done to him is unfair, although I don't think that he should release certain things on wikileaks. Like "Sites around the World which are important to America". I mean, what is that meant to accomplish? I don't care if that shit is hidden from me by the Government, I'm not asking for it. But if they release that, they're just giving terrorists a multitude of effective targets.

Agreed on essentially every point... Thanks for saving me the typing, I really can't add that much to this other than I can see why the US in particular is putting the squeeze on Wikileaks, given the stuff leaked. The honest opinions of various diplomats was interesting, but the vital sites? We don't really care, and yet that can be directly useful to someone planning mischief. As you said.

You cant really blame Wikileaks for releasing info that can help terrorists etc... Its very existence is because of countries such as America which has become to dishonest and incapable of informing its citizens of even the basics and prefer brushing things under someone elses rug instead of fixing it then blaming it on them... i mean this is chlid behaviour.

If there was no "juicy secrets" none would care about wikileaks or supply it with top secret documents and it would just go away into a lake of obscure websites.

I´m sorry but what are this vital information the US of A is so afraid of. the documents doesn´t realy specify anything to any degre that it would help a terrorist.
I beleve your media is fear mongering you

They released a video not long ago about an Apache gunner shooting down civilian journalists holding cameras then as they were crawling away they tried to geode them into making an excuse to kill them. After that a van drove up and people came out to try and carry them to the hospital. The gunner opened fire on the van which at the time had 2 children inside along with all the other people.

And mind you all along the gunner were enjoying himself since he could shoot "those bastards"

This is just the tip of the icebearg

I dont know what this has to do whit making America an easy target for the terrorist??

How do you think this behaviour will stop terrorism? Its because things like this its such a big threat to begin with. You are just giving there leaders more propaganda to force-feed its population with. Hell dident you see they were so starved a while they even jumped on a cartoon from a danish newspaper.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Wow, that reads that a shitty undergraduate essay. Too many quotes and full of pretentious crap.

 

[LogicNProportion]

I love these guys, as always.

 

[spartan231490]

I was checking my twitter feed when this [http://anonops.blogspot.com/] came up . In-case Blogspot takes it down before you read it here's the text.

Spoiler

A Letter from Anonymous
Our Message, Intentions, and Potential Targets

"Those who deny freedom to others deserve it not for themselves."
- Abraham Lincoln

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

Hello World. We are Anonymous. What you do or do not know about us is irrelevant. We have decided to write to you, the media, and all citizens of the free world at large to inform you of the message, our intentions, potential targets, and our ongoing peaceful campaign for freedom.

"True, This! ?
Beneath the rule of men entirely great,
The pen is mightier than the sword. Behold
The arch-enchanters wand! ? itself a nothing! ?
But taking sorcery from the master-hand
To paralyse the Cæsars, and to strike
The loud earth breathless! ? Take away the sword ?
States can be saved without it!"

- The Cardinal
Richelieu; Or the Conspiracy by: Edward Bulwer-Lytton

The message is simple: Freedom of Speech. Anonymous is peacefully campaigning for Freedom of Speech everywhere in all forms. Freedom of Speech for: The Internet, for journalism and journalists, and citizens of the world at large. Regardless of what you think or have to say; Anonymous is campaigning for you.
The recent news of our campaigns has been, at best, misinformed. Anonymous is not always the same group of people. The Constitution of the United States is said to be a living document, because it can be edited, amended; changed at the will of the people to suit the peoples' needs. In that same vein, Anonymous is a living idea. Anonymous is an idea that can be edited, updated, remanded, changed on a whim. We are living consciousness. We are not a terrorist organization as governments, demagogues, and the media would have you believe. At this time Anonymous is a consciousness focused on campaigning peacefully for Freedom of Speech. We ask the world to support us, not for our sake, but for your own. When governments control freedom they control you. The Internet is the last bastion of freedom in this evolving technical world. The Internet is capable of connecting us all. When we are connected we are strong. When we are strong we have power. When we have power we are able to do the impossible. This is why the government is moving on Wikileaks. This is what they fear. They fear our power when we unite. Do not forget this.

"...Now, we must all fear evil men. But there is another kind of evil which we must fear most, and that is the indifference of good men."
- Monsignor, Boondock Saints

Anonymous' intentions are very clear. We are not vigilantes, regardless of the sentiment of quoting Boondock Saints, we are people on a campaign for freedom. Anonymous' intentions are to change the current way the governments of the world and the people view true Freedom of Speech and The Internet. Anonymous is willing, ready, and able to campaign for the freedom for all. We are campaigning right now as you read the news, watch the television, fight with your
significant other, love your children, hate your neighbor, criticize the man or woman next to you. We are campaigning. The goal is simple: Win the right to keep the Internet free of any control from any entity, corporation, or government. We will do this until our, proverbial, dying breath. We do this not only for our selves, but for the world and its people at large.

"Truth is treason in the empire of lies."
- Ron Paul

Pay attention citizens, governments, and the world. Anonymous' peaceful campaign will focus on any organization, corporation, government, or entity until the Internet is truly free.
Anonymous is doing what many successful campaigns have done in the past; a sit-in. It may be hard to comprehend, but a digital sit-in is our most effective method to show that all of us deserve Freedom of Speech and a free Internet. Our methods may appear, on the outside, to be cruel to those the entities that we are campaigning against, but remember buy supporting censorship they are denying everyone a basic human right. Any person, corporation, government, or miscellaneous entity that stops supporting censorship and starts promoting Freedom of Speech and a free Internet will become our allies. Anonymous, at this time, wants to persuade our counterparts rather than hurt them. We are campaigning for freedom for everyone, even the opposing side.
Do not fear us. Anonymous' campaign does not intend to harm the individual citizen, any organizations, any websites, or government, that supports true freedom of speech. Anonymous' past is not our present. We are here for all of you; to campaign for all of you. Where others have made this promise and failed; we make this promise and aim to keep it for everyone.
Anything attributed, credited, or tagged to Anonymous is not always what we do. We arenot always the same consciousness on a yearly, monthly, or even hourly basis. Do not believe everything you hear or read on the news. Anonymous is often credited with actions that are not campaigned for by Anonymous. The true core of Anonymous is here to help the free world for now. Anonymous wishes to represent the truth and ask that you as a citizen, media organization, or government do the same.

So what's the current stance from my fellow escapists on Anon's actions?

anonymous is a monster! They are not being "Peaceful" at all. they are effectively committing cyber vandalism on a broad scale, and they deserve to be shot down for it. They are also perporting free speach above other individual's rights to property and privacy.

 

[Eclectic Dreck]

I've always had a pleasant opinion of Anonymous. I'm big on freedom of speech, and the concept of the internet having guardians has always given me a bonerd. However the mask they wear makes them a joke. Guy Fawkes wanted to bring down the Protestant revolution to restore Catholic Domination. He's worse than the people Anonymous (and Anarchists) think he's fighting against. Therefore, just like people who wear the inverted cross as a sign to disrespect God, wearing a Guy Fawkes mask because you are for revolution only makes you an uneducated fool. http://www.cracked.com/article_18606_8-historic-symbols-that-mean-opposite-what-you-think.html

The mask is a reference to Epic Fail Guy, which is a meme. Yes, it is a Guy Fawkes mask, however they don't wear it just because it's a Guy Fawkes mask. At least that's not the original motivation to wear it, anyway.

Also that video doesn't really give enough credit to the fact that Anon does everything it does for it's own amusement primarily and any good that comes out of anything they do beyond that is just positive collateral damage.


Edit: Also, to be on topic, as usual I agree with them 100%.

The delta between the intention behind the usage a symbol and how the symbol is perceived by the audience can be vast. In the end if the symbol does not tell the audience what you intend for it to say, the failure is on the one displaying the symbol, not on the audience.

As such, when I see people wearing a Guy Fawkes mask as part of a revolutionary act, I generally assume the following:
They have little understanding of history.
They have little understanding of revolution.
That they, ultimately, are little more than people who want to appear revolutionary without bothering with a serious revolution.

It takes more than a few denial of service attacks to change the world. Especially when the organization as a whole is so devoid of structure or idea that it would be impossible to form a consensus on what precisely they want to change.

 

[Naheal]

The cynic in me wants to point out that Freedom of Speech is not a right, but a privilege that governments allow their citizens. Plenty of countries do not have or allow such freedoms. And plenty of people and ideas are denied Freedom of Speech protections (like Neo Nazis or child pornography) even in countries that do have such protections.

So Anonymous wants to be the good guy? Robin Hood fighting the good fight? It's a nice romantic idea, but not everything they do can be called good. Or even a strong effort. Most of their recent attacks are little more than annoyances to their targets. They need to get real and join the real world.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm 100% for Freedom of Speech. I often say that Extremists are the worst thing in the world, yet identify myself as an Extremist for Freedom of Speech, but I realize that I'm talking about a privilege of being born in my nation. I'm also aware that people in other countries, like China, do not enjoy that privilege. And while that does make me sad, I know that Freedom of Speech will come to such countries from within far more effectively than without.

Now, I see that Anonymous is complaining about countries that enjoy Freedom of Speech privileges eroding those rights. And that is a concern of mine, too. So I agree with that sentiment. But attacking the websites of corporations and governments will do more harm than good. That only proves to those in power that the internet, and perhaps other mediums of communication and expression, need to be monitored or controlled. If Anonymous wants to help, they would be better off showing their faces and trying to help in meaningful ways. Standing up for the voiceless by shouting for them.

I'm sorry, but they are nothing more than children. And much like annoying screaming children would be better off being ignored by us.

I would like to point out that judging Anon on their previous actions isn't necessarily a good idea. Anon now is not the same Anon of ten minutes ago, nor will it be the same Anon ten minutes for now.

That said, lack of trust is still a good idea.

If Anon is constantly changing and may have been different people ten minutes ago and maybe different people ten minutes from now, how can you trust them? You can't. Because you never know who you are giving your trust to. Maybe I would have trusted them ten minutes ago, but now they are different. And the name says it all. They are Anonymous. They hide who they are. How can you trust the unknown person in the shadows. True, with some of their actions they may want to avoid identifying themselves or face prosecution, but to claim that they are never the same people leaves them completely untrustworthy.

Read through my post again, please.

I would like to point out that judging Anon on their previous actions isn't necessarily a good idea. Anon now is not the same Anon of ten minutes ago, nor will it be the same Anon ten minutes for now.

That said, lack of trust is still a good idea.

Emphasis added.

 

[Dasmaster]

The cynic in me wants to point out that Freedom of Speech is not a right, but a privilege that governments allow their citizens. Plenty of countries do not have or allow such freedoms. And plenty of people and ideas are denied Freedom of Speech protections (like Neo Nazis or child pornography) even in countries that do have such protections.

So Anonymous wants to be the good guy? Robin Hood fighting the good fight? It's a nice romantic idea, but not everything they do can be called good. Or even a strong effort. Most of their recent attacks are little more than annoyances to their targets. They need to get real and join the real world.

Now, don't get me wrong. I'm 100% for Freedom of Speech. I often say that Extremists are the worst thing in the world, yet identify myself as an Extremist for Freedom of Speech, but I realize that I'm talking about a privilege of being born in my nation. I'm also aware that people in other countries, like China, do not enjoy that privilege. And while that does make me sad, I know that Freedom of Speech will come to such countries from within far more effectively than without.

Now, I see that Anonymous is complaining about countries that enjoy Freedom of Speech privileges eroding those rights. And that is a concern of mine, too. So I agree with that sentiment. But attacking the websites of corporations and governments will do more harm than good. That only proves to those in power that the internet, and perhaps other mediums of communication and expression, need to be monitored or controlled. If Anonymous wants to help, they would be better off showing their faces and trying to help in meaningful ways. Standing up for the voiceless by shouting for them.

I'm sorry, but they are nothing more than children. And much like annoying screaming children would be better off being ignored by us.

I would like to point out that judging Anon on their previous actions isn't necessarily a good idea. Anon now is not the same Anon of ten minutes ago, nor will it be the same Anon ten minutes for now.

That said, lack of trust is still a good idea.

If Anon is constantly changing and may have been different people ten minutes ago and maybe different people ten minutes from now, how can you trust them? You can't. Because you never know who you are giving your trust to. Maybe I would have trusted them ten minutes ago, but now they are different. And the name says it all. They are Anonymous. They hide who they are. How can you trust the unknown person in the shadows. True, with some of their actions they may want to avoid identifying themselves or face prosecution, but to claim that they are never the same people leaves them completely untrustworthy.

Then i need to give you a proposal, why dont you join anonymous? Post your ideas and try your best to make them grow? I trust that there is allot of good people in anonymous that is doing allot of things i will never know about to more then enough tip the scale back into there favour. But that is my opinion

 

[Dasmaster]

anonymous is a monster! They are not being "Peaceful" at all. they are effectively committing cyber vandalism on a broad scale, and they deserve to be shot down for it. They are also perporting free speach above other individual's rights to property and privacy.

Bwahahaha i wonder how people viewed martin Luther when he rebelled against the catholic church. Nailing paper on doors and doing other vandalism related stuff. Oh please people like you deserve to be shoot on sight for not thinking before you open your mouth. You might kill someone by laugher some day.

 

[Dasmaster]

Wow, that reads that a shitty undergraduate essay. Too many quotes and full of pretentious crap.

.... i just could not resist.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Wow, that reads that a shitty undergraduate essay. Too many quotes and full of pretentious crap.

.... i just could not resist.

Resist what?

 

[Dasmaster]

Wow, that reads that a shitty undergraduate essay. Too many quotes and full of pretentious crap.

.... i just could not resist.

Resist what?

quoting you...

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Wow, that reads that a shitty undergraduate essay. Too many quotes and full of pretentious crap.

.... i just could not resist.

Resist what?

quoting you...

Why's that?

 

[Dasmaster]

Wow, that reads that a shitty undergraduate essay. Too many quotes and full of pretentious crap.

.... i just could not resist.

Resist what?

quoting you...

Why's that?

Because i find it strangely humorous...

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Wow, that reads that a shitty undergraduate essay. Too many quotes and full of pretentious crap.

.... i just could not resist.

Resist what?

quoting you...

Why's that?

Because i find it strangely humorous...

I see, thanks I guess...

 

[Lem0nade Inlay]

I dont know what this has to do whit making America an easy target for the terrorist??

Assange also released American documents which showed various American sites around the world which, in the words of the document, were "Very important America" (or something like that). It doesn't make America any easier of a target, however it just gives the terrorists a huge number of options which they know know are vulnerable, and are important to America.

There was no reason for Assange to release these documents, I don't care if stuff like that is hidden from me, and I don't know why anyone would. I'm all for Assange leaking documents containing hidden American war crimes/casualties etc. etc. but documents like these, I don't think it's helpful to anyone in any way what-so-ever.

 

[Dasmaster]

Wow, that reads that a shitty undergraduate essay. Too many quotes and full of pretentious crap.

.... i just could not resist.

Resist what?

quoting you...

Why's that?

Because i find it strangely humorous...

I see, thanks I guess...

No problem, the pleasure is all mine. You cant have none of it.

 

[Staskala]

See

I never got why people hype the insignificant actions of /b/ and similar minded people.

You know how the average raid of Anonymous goes?
Some guy posts a script on /b/ along with a weak explanation why X deserves to be "attacked" and a thousand people run and spread it.

And you know what the best part is?
The guy who wrote the script doesn't even get into trouble because he sure as hell isn't dumb enough to also run it.
If he wasn't nice enough to make the script change proxies expect great Anonymous to get into problems because half of /b/ is too stupid to even know what a proxy is.

Oh, but it still sounds impressive, while most of them are idiots as long as they are guided they are a force to be reckoned with, right?
No.
What do they ever accomplish? A server goes down for 2 days at best. Big fucking deal.

Greatest force on the internet, my ass.

Oh, and for better accuracy feel free to replace /b/ with 7chan, eBaums or whatever terrible site you can think of, there's really no difference.
As I haven't been keeping up for obvious reasons, I don't know what the current "resort" is, but I honestly couldn't care less.
Although it should be said that they all participate and are mostly the very same people, so yeah.