I think you’ll find some of the answers to that question in the final paragraph of the press release.

If I’m right in my assumption that this is an anti-terrorism gameplan being played out, it means that anti-terrorism just got used to shut someone up. That someone wasn’t Wikileaks, that someone is us… We just got censored.

(Mainstream media is already spinning it as “hackers supporting Wikileaks,” and even making them sound like they represent Wikileaks.)

Also, the DDoS attacks are being perpetuated against those that folded against the US government, not the US government itself.

So, characterising Anonymous’ Operation Avenge Assange as “hackers supporting Wikileaks” is a ludicrous distortion of the facts, whereas maintaining that the US government is behind everything that doesn’t go WikiLeaks’ way is one of those self-evident truths that needn’t trouble itself with any evidentiary basis at all?

Anonymous may be a bunch of randoms, but there is a very central cadre that will ensure this disruption continues. We have an agenda, we’re not as fractured as you think we are.

No, not really what I had in mind. More like this:

http://www.shoppingblog.com/pics/net_neutrality_loses_whatif.jpg

Pardon me if I don’t give a shit what either Glen Beck or Whoopie Goldberg have to say.

I’m not claiming that great harm has been done by the wikileaks release. If you had actually bothered to read my post, you would note that I’m agnostic on the subject. I don’t claim knowledge where I have none. What I said is that I don’t trust someone with such an obvious and extreme lack of judgement to make decisions that are in my best interest, the best interests of my country, or the best interests of the world, in that order.

Reddit participated? Well, at least Reddit as a community has some redeeming characteristics, which you can’t say about 4chan.

What I have a big problem with is that this paints VISA and MC as victims, and while technically true, they’ve done far more harm to humanity by rigging the game than any overworked server. Wrong to try to harm their property? Sure. Am I ever going to lose sleep over it? I’m still waiting for the day when the end scene of fight club comes true. The credit card buildings, along with every one of their servers, destroyed, and not a single person injured. You may say I’m a dreamer, but I’m anonymous (though not on this screen name ha!).

Try again.

Agreed, and all very well said…but…what do these paragraphs at the end have to do with the (excellent, BTW) 2600 post which doesn’t mention Anonymous at all?

That sounds an awful lot like an non-agnostic stance and one that comes from someone that doesn’t understand a whole lot about the totality of 4chan.

Just sayin’

For those people, the threat of an Internet ‘war’ is unconscionable.

Anonymous probably deserve their own chance to prove/disprove the merits of their actions — for example, moving on to ‘Leakspin’ seems like a good idea.

What’s silly about the whole thing is 1) DDoSing these sites doesn’t do anything to their daily operations, and 2) all this will likely result in a chilling effect through additional laws and regulation.

So good job, /b/! Put on that Guy Fawkes mask, nobody can stop you! At least, until they trace your IPs or decide to crack down on this immature behavior.

All of the recent cables released on wikileaks were first released by papers like the New York Times. Names were blacked out. The Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates, has said no military contacts or soldiers have been killed due to wikileaks releases. The government has many levels of secrecy. These ‘secret’ cables were available to 3 million people, and were mostly an embarrassment.

Assuming you live in the U.S., your government has killed hundreds of thousands of innocent civilians in the middle east based on lies. You have everything to do with it.

Stereotyping anonymous as 4chan only is inaccurate. There were definitely people from reddit joining in. I’m sure there were plenty of others as well.

Whoopi Goldberg, on the view called, the TSA-opt-out-day founders terrorists for disrupting holiday travel and security; seriously, look it up on Youtube. What you say is almost as ignorant.

Anonymous is you, me or your technically savvy gran, and it’s the face of social activism on the internet. By it’s nature, it’s inherently democratic as anons come together to fight a cause they believe to be mostly just. It gives the average person the chance to affect organizations, large ones in a direct manner, apart from the political process and it’s inherent corruptions and moral pitfalls.

Visa, amazon, pay pal et al, you have been judged by the internet going people of the world and have been found wanting!

Canned DDoS attacks is not hacking. And this work brings 100% no sympathy to the WikiLeaks cause.

THANK YOU! THANK YOU! THANK YOU!

2600 is the only voice of reason in the hacker world.

2600: These attacks, in addition to being a misguided effort that doesn’t accomplish very much at all, are incredibly simple to launch and require no technical or hacker skills.

[cow pets 2600 writer on head] You’re very skilled with computers and I think you’re very technical.

Now then…. Is this protest a contest to see who has the sharpest computer skills? How about expert car mechanics? Are they worthy? I know some highly skilled plumbers too, can they play?

2600: Boycotts of companies that are trying to shut Wikileaks down can be very effective and will not win them any sympathy, as the current attacks on their websites are unfortunately doing.

The people that had the critical thinking skills to support wikileaks in the first place; still support them now. Or is it only you, dear 2600 writer, that has those elite skills as well?

Do they need hacker skills to participate in protest? NO. They need critical thinking skills, thank you very much. These attacks are a call to action to the people who still have healthy skepticism and aren’t fully indoctrinated by television and radio.

It’s not a whimper. It’s a stern voice by the public, that’s says, “NO MORE. You corporatists have stepped over the line.” And, the more people support this stern voice, the better.

If you think a boycott is going to penetrate the indoctrinated through the corporatist media firewalls, GOOD LUCK with that, because it hasn’t happened in decades.

The media will hardly cover the boycott and it’ll die with a whimper if it’s not propagated by the mainstream media. The attack is covered by the mainstream media because it makes them money. It draws interest and advertising. A boycott will help, but will not work alone at this point… it’s too quiet, my friend. You absolutely have to use the corporatist media in ways where it’s weak and it’s only weakness is greed. They will cover the actions only if it’s interesting to the general public and it makes them…. MONEY.

Are you trying to tell me there would be this much interest if there had only been a small boycott right now? C’mon… I thought you had elite critical thinking skills.

The boycott needs to get HUGE. These attacks will have made that possible, nothing else could get through the mainstream media corporatist firewall.

Meanwhile: WikiLeaks grows stronger as supporters fight back

I respect 2600 magazine… but, that 2600 Hz whistle doesn’t work anymore, you’ll just be blowing hot air and nothing else. It’s time to realize the dynamics of the day.

Again, this doesn’t sound a whole lot like an agnostic opinion.