Poll: Pro-Anonymous or Anti-Anonymous?

[RamirezDoEverything]

I was recently looking at the news of the Spanish anons have been caught and are facing charges, but I was shocked at what I saw in the comments. I saw the majority of the comments against anonymous, calling for a harsher punishment.

I was under the false assumption that most escapist users supported anonymous, as most of our nations have internet freedom, and we are concerned for that freedom.

My view of anonymous may be skewed simply because I'm an Xbox user, and wasn't affected by the Sony hacking.

But I am in support of Anonymous, because of the upcoming legislation(like this:http://www.foxnews.com/politics/2009/04/21/senate-proposal-heavy-restrictions-internet-freedoms/) being talked over that is going to start monitoring and restricting our internet usage. This is hampering on our rights, this is just like the Orwellian novel we all know and love. Yes, the first legislation won't do much, but it's only the first step towards totalitarianism. We can't allow our governments to start hogtying us, we must protect our rights, while I will protest legally, Anonymous goes above and beyond in protecting that right.

ITT: Why you(don't) like Anonymous.

 

[Daystar Clarion]

Anonymous haven't done anything worth supporting in the first place.

Anyone with half a brain knows that giving the government too much control over certain things is a bad idea and when it goes too far, people will protest.

We don't need angry neck-bearded man-children to tell us that. Anons past conduct has also damaged its standing with me.

There is no organisation and anyone can claim to be a member.

 

[synobal]

Caring about Anonymous is pretty silly. Until they start making tactical nuclear strikes they really aren't much to worry about.

 

[briunj04]

I'm a supporter of Anonymous. I would probably even join them if they had a better reputation (cause I don't want to get arrested for being a part of them (^_^)) They have motifs that I believe in such as freedom of speech, internet freedom. And I like their structure of how anyone can join, anyone can contribute, and there's no leader. If Anonymous started becoming criminals and hacking people's MySpaces for teh lulz, then I would instantly lose my respect for them, but for right now, they seem cool.

 

[loc978]

I... share some of their values. But... support them? I'm not 100% sure of what that entails, unless you're asking in the same manner as the slogan "support our troops"... which is actually pretty meaningless. Much like a suburbanite with a yellow ribbon on their SUV, I'll cheer 'em on when they're crusading against bureaucratic idiocy, but I sure as hell won't take action.

 

[Tasachan]

They dont give a shit about me you or anybody else they are just a bunch of assholes who like to fuck with people.

My opinion as well. I've always been under the impression that they do this for kicks first, and for moral reasons second.
I just feel there are better ways to deal with someone's policies that you don't like than to hack them and cause thousands, if not millions, of dollars worth of loss and damages. It's like protests where people set things on fire -- to me, you don't look logical, and you don't seem like I could trust you, let alone take your side. You look like an ass.

 

[Tuesday Night Fever]

Anyone else find it odd that the topic question is actually two questions, where saying "yes" to one means the exact opposite of saying "yes" to the other? Anywho...

I want to support Anonymous in the sense that I like someone standing up for internet freedoms. However, that said, I acknowledge that Anonymous isn't exactly an ally, either. They can be incredibly petty when they want to be, yet the very next day do something incredibly noble.

In essence, Anonymous is a wild card.

 

[Demitri Kamoraz]

eh, they used to be great fun. But now they're all 'cause oriented' and what not. They're calling themselves anonymous while not living in the spirit of it. You aren't supposed to be 'organized' and there is no 'spokesperson', it's just supposed to be a faceless amalgamation of pure evil. AND it seems like it's a gimmick way overused in the news now. Hacker is now synonimous with Anon.

 

[Flamingpenguin]

I'm with Extra Credits. Anonymous wasn't behind the PSN attack, and no, just because anyone can join doesn't mean that anyone who says "I'm anonymous herp derp" is a participant.

Their operations are always in support of a good cause. I won't personally use LOIC or do any work for them, but I certainly approve of what they do.

 

[Demitri Kamoraz]

I'm with Extra Credits. Anonymous wasn't behind the PSN attack, and no, just because anyone can join doesn't mean that anyone who says "I'm anonymous herp derp" is a participant.

Their operations are always in support of a good cause. I won't personally use LOIC or do any work for them, but I certainly approve of what they do.

That's exactly what I mean! Anonymous isn't about 'causes', good or otherwise! Are we talking about the same people, the ones behind Chanology?

 

[Moriarty]

I'm tired of Anon being referred to as a "group" it's more of a movement, individuals formed together by loosely defined ideals. As such, blaming them for anything or punishing people who supposedly belong to them feels pointless.

 

[aegix drakan_v1legacy]

I'm neutral. I like when they do stuff for good causes (supporting wikileaks), or funny stuff (demolishing and exposing the crap that security comapny was pulling).

but when they do stupid stuff, I don't like them much. (I don't support lulzsec at all. They're like anonymous, but even more messed up).

Honestly, my mood for anonymous changes based on what they're up to.

 

[DarthFennec]

I'm a supporter and a huge fan of Anonymous. They may not be working miracles to magically protect our freedoms on the internet, but they're getting attention, and that's what matters right now. The thing is, people, specifically in the States, are used to sitting there and complaining about things like losses of freedom, but they never actually do something about it until someone riles them up and then makes it easy for them to speak out. I know it's sad but that's what happens. So, if Anonymous didn't exist, we wouldn't have a widely known platform to stand on concerning this internet freedom thing. And if we don't have a platform, the government won't know how opposed we are to that bullshit, they wouldn't know how much freedom on the web means to us. So we need the Anonymous movement, and we need it to make news stories, because we need to spread the word. We don't want the feds tracking everything we do, or blocking sites, or doing any of that bullshit. We want to remain anonymous. That's what the movement means to me.

I don't understand the whole `anyone can be Anonymous just by saying they are, and people saying they're Anonymous have done some negative things, so I hate Anonymous' line of thought. I'm a furry, I know what it's like to be in a group that gets bad rep because it's nonexclusive about its membership. Fuck it, I'm a human, so I know what that's like. Just because there's a few bad eggs doesn't make the group a bad group.

 

[CaptainTrilby]

I do like what Anonymous stands for, a free Internet and net neutrality but the way they go about it may not always be the best way of solving the problem. I applaud their defence of Wikileaks and the challenge of Scientology but some of their 'for the lulz' stuff does overstep the mark.

They are leagues better than LulzSec at least.

 

[FalloutJack]

I'm a Sony user and I'm largely indifferent to the whole Anonymous thing. Lemme explain.

My account problem was annoying, but I didn't have anything worth stealing on the thing. Now, I will admit that the whole Sony hacking thing on the first occasion? Bad. Probably a dumb idea to get involved in the whole Geohotz thing. Overall, don't really care what the Anons do usually. I'm not their target audience or just plain targets, so to quote Walter, "I don't give a damn".

The PROBLEM is that the REPEATED attacks done by the Lulsies - who were, as I understand it, broken off of the damaged Anonymous - who are just a load of fucking idiots looking for a good time and waiting to be shafted. Anonymous, at least, had the good sense not to be dicks about it or doing something like causing...well...the current situation. Anons showed restraint. So really, I'm not Pro or Anti Anonymous. I'm Anti-Lulsec-dumbasses, which is different from the line of discussion here.

 

[Wintermoot]

pro
and you do know they weren't behind the PSN attack right?
I think it was a attack from within.