FBI Executes Search Warrants on 40 Anonymous Members

[Deepzound]

Really Anonymous? Defending Wikileaks, a place that reveals government secrets that will get fine upstanding citizens killed.

If Anonymous is going to defend stuff like this, I say stamp the little guys out. Show them if they defend bad things, they get burned.

Slightly off-topic, but I have to say it is sad to see lies being kept alive regarding the "endangerment of lives" put forth by the Wikileaks documents. Perhaps you should check out more news outlets, preferably ones that do not pander to the government or companies, and which does not mindlessly repeat official statements the government makes.

Regarding the US documents putting lives in danger. [http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/28/104404/officials-may-be-overstating-the.html]

Regarding the situation in Zimbabwe. [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110105/04094912528/debunking-wikileaks-puts-lives-danger-zimbabwe-myth.shtml]

8 Smears and Misconceptions About WikiLeaks Spread By the Media [http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/149369]

Back on topic;

Though I do not condone the methods they use, and think there are much better ways to act up against injustice, I think it is way overboard to throw people in jail for these petty crimes.

Shutting down a website for a few hours should net you up to 10 years in jail? It's amazing that so many people are on the FBI's side, considering this crime is of a monetary nature, and even then it's hard to estimate how much was "lost" from having a company website offline for a few hours.

We're talking about a loss of money which can't be estimated, which it is apparently a priority to hunt people down for.

So in short, I think it would be more fair if the punishment would fit the crime, i.e. paying a seizable, but fair and payable, fine.

 

[Andantil]

Anonymous has membership? news to me!

Anyway, this is as ridiculously stupid as it's always been. The gov't is overreacting, and anonymous isn't dong but making a lot of noise.

 

[Deepzound]

And I don't kiss freedom's ass like you do.

What I don't understand is that the general public values privacy so much. But then when the Government wants privacy too, they receive fire for such a thing.

If anything, the Government needs privacy more than the public does. The public is a dangerous and unruly bunch. Giving them the freedom to hide their intentions only invites them to commit crimes. Meanwhile, the Government NEEDS their privacy because it affects their public relations and relations with other countries. Which has the potential to start wars or riots if some things are brought to the light.

Clearly, the most powerful organ in any country, whose elected power is based on the facts available about their dealings, need to have absolute secrecy about what they do.. Are you really interested in living in a fascist dictatorship?

And yeah, it would damage their relations if the secrets about what they're up to got out, THAT'S THE POINT. If they did something damaging, maybe they shouldn't be in government (or reconsider doing it) in the first case. Everyone should be held accountable for their actions, especially the most powerful in the world.

 

[damse]

You know im starting to get worried about US aurthorties taking action against british citizens,
I meanfinal straw for me was the taking of UK citizen to Guantanamo bay only to be found out the were innocent after 4 years.

I dont know what US thoughts are on that but i think matters like this should be dealt with by what ever country the crime was commited in. Not Saying that the attacks on Amazon were justified but such a minor crime compared to Murder or theft surely all this money and effort could be put to better use like war on drugs and arm dealers.

 

[Deepzound]

Funny how much hate Assange garners here. Frankly, I can't wait for the upcoming inside info on the scumbag bankers.

Funny too how the FBI is putting resources into backtracking Anon newfags but no attempt so far to get those guys who DDOS'd WikiLeaks. I mean, that was illegal too, right? I guess they're doing this now only because the sites of large multinational corporations have been affected, considering how the American government is all about fellating corporates.

Heh, I'd say sad is more the word I think of in regards to people's thoughts on Assange. I guess most people on gaming websites are blinded by the veil of fear used by governments to fight the truth, as all I see is people restating propaganda and false information the government puts forth here.

 

[Khada]

Not sure how a brief DDOS attack is any different to blocking roads with a public protest...

Oh right... it cost a mega corporation money.. might as well have murdered the pope.

 

[Ramin 123]

Really Anonymous? Defending Wikileaks, a place that reveals government secrets that will get fine upstanding citizens killed.

If Anonymous is going to defend stuff like this, I say stamp the little guys out. Show them if they defend bad things, they get burned.

Slightly off-topic, but I have to say it is sad to see lies being kept alive regarding the "endangerment of lives" put forth by the Wikileaks documents. Perhaps you should check out more news outlets, preferably ones that do not pander to the government or companies, and which does not mindlessly repeat official statements the government makes.

Regarding the US documents putting lives in danger. [http://www.mcclatchydc.com/2010/11/28/104404/officials-may-be-overstating-the.html]

Regarding the situation in Zimbabwe. [http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20110105/04094912528/debunking-wikileaks-puts-lives-danger-zimbabwe-myth.shtml]

8 Smears and Misconceptions About WikiLeaks Spread By the Media [http://www.alternet.org/module/printversion/149369]

Back on topic;

Though I do not condone the methods they use, and think there are much better ways to act up against injustice, I think it is way overboard to throw people in jail for these petty crimes.

Shutting down a website for a few hours should net you up to 10 years in jail? It's amazing that so many people are on the FBI's side, considering this crime is of a monetary nature, and even then it's hard to estimate how much was "lost" from having a company website offline for a few hours.

We're talking about a loss of money which can't be estimated, which it is apparently a priority to hunt people down for.

So in short, I think it would be more fair if the punishment would fit the crime, i.e. paying a seizable, but fair and payable, fine.

I agree, ten years in prison is completely ridiculous for something like this. I get a feeling that it's been taken more seriously by the magnitude of the websites involved rather than the actual "crime" itself.

I don't know, maybe I am one of these people that is generally paranoid and sees everything that the government does as wrong and unjust, but to look at what these guys done and say "yeah they should definitely go to jail for ten years" is stupid.

Now if they had been nicking peoples bank account numbers and the like would they be half as quick to crack down on them I wonder since it means only singular people are affected therefore not worth the FBI's/Scotland Yards time...?

 

[standokan]

So the cyber police finally stepped in? About time so.

 

[Olikunmissile]

Well, i guess no one is Anonymous is safe no more. Can't say i am unhappy, but i think this is a waste of the FBI's time and resources. Ah well, grass is always greener, eh?

The fact these kids got caught is just silly. How hard is it to get even a free VPN and sit behind that?

These 'Anon' deserve to be caught. Playing superhero by jumping on a bandwagon of kids. Self-important tossers.

/rage

Anon really isn't what it used to be, eh?

 

[The Wykydtron]

This is getting good...

Anonymous vs FBI

ROUND 2

FIGHT!

 

[GiantRedButton]

Well America really wants Assange in jail, no wonder they go against supporters.

Oddly enough, they're not going against the guy who used DDoS to shut down Wikileaks, which only goes to show how concerned they are with DDOS attacks...

Interesting, didn't know that.
And it's not like its the first time Anon DDoSt sth either, seems like they only care when you defend our fredomz or sth.

 

[Something Amyss]

Well America really wants Assange in jail, no wonder they go against supporters.

Oddly enough, they're not going against the guy who used DDoS to shut down Wikileaks, which only goes to show how concerned they are with DDOS attacks...

Interesting, didn't know that.
And it's not like its the first time Anon DDoSt sth either, seems like they only care when you defend our fredomz or sth.

Or more importantly, they only care when someone makes THEM look bad.

 

[Popido]

Dont take it as a loss. Think of it as a promotion!

They now serve the cause of /b/ forever!

 

[Bobzer77]

40 out of a couple of thousand?

Good results right there.

 

[Therumancer]

I think a lot of people are forgetting that Anonymous has launched successful attacks against govermental computer systems both in the US and Australia. Taking down systems for as long as an hour, and halting a lot of goverment business.

It's also important to note that Anonymous is NOT a group of internet freedom fighters, not even in their own words. It's just that what they happen to do tends to coincide with some popular viewpoints once in a while.

It's also noteworthy that just about anyone can claim to be a member of Anonymous, and people also tend to confuse the hordes of /B/ with Anonymous.

Right now given the general effectiveness of Anonymous in serious actions, and that they hadn't been tracked down after going after targets like the Australian goverment (after making it clear they were coming), I very much doubt that they would "forget" to cover their tracks and identity. It occurs to me that this program might very well be a specific effort by Anonymous to purge certain elements from it's "ranks". With 4 chan going down a while back, and the whole wikileaks thing which was counter productive to Anonymous I definatly think there is something of a civil war within the ranks. I also suspect that the authorities are probably lionizing these successes as something they aren't.

I'll also be blunt about something else. The so called "magic bullet" of hacking has been a pipe dream for every wannabee since the BBS days. A program that could hack you into BBS systems or crash them with a button push. In reality such things were simply not put out there, and vintage groups like "Legion Of Doom" and "Masters Of Deception" were VERY careful to keep their secrets within their circle.

What I think happened was that someone created a program that seemed like the unskilled wannabee hacker power fantasy, and then distrubuted it, correctly assuming that the guys who would download and try and use something like that wouldn't have a clue about the fact that it was leaving a trail back to them, effectively getting rid of the guys that they didn't want around to begin with.

That's my thoughts at any rate.

 

[TerribleAssassin]

So the FBI isn't tracking actual criminals but rather these script-kiddies? Wow, the police organizations world-wide really have their priorities right!

Yeah, especially Scotland Yard, in London, which contains East London. Which is like crime capital.

Hmm, I reckon that Anonymous planned this, they've always been one step ahead, we'll just see..

 

[Iwana Humpalot]

How about backtracing Al Qaida guys when they post on their website?

 

[Ironic Pirate]

Forty? Really? Just forty? You couldn't bring down Encyclopedia Dramatica down with forty LOIC users.

I think it's just the forty that forgot to use proxies, or something.

Most will probably get away.

 

[Me55enger]

Well America really wants Assange in jail

Correction, they really want Assange in THIER jail.

The yanks have a tendency of telling the British that they have a prisoner that they want, and far too often do we give in.

Also: theres a difference between declaring 40 arrest warrants and having 40 arrested people.