Anonymous upping the stakes....

CaNsA

CaNsA

CaNsA

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Well this could be fun.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WaPni5O2YyI

Hackers claiming to be from the activist group Anonymous have hacked a US government website in response to the death of Aaron Swartz.

Activists embedded a video statement on the homepage of the United States Sentencing Commission, an agency of the US government.

The statement referred to the death of Mr Swartz, an internet activist who apparently killed himself in January.

"Two weeks ago today, a line was crossed," the statement said.

"Two weeks ago today, Aaron Swartz was killed. Killed because he faced an impossible choice. Killed because he was forced into playing a game he could not win."

Mr Swartz, who was 26, was facing hacking charges and is believed to have taken his own life.

His federal trial was due to be held next month. If found guilty, he could have faced up to 35 years in prison.

Following his death, Mr Swartz's family released a statement blaming "intimidation" and "prosecutorial overreach" from the criminal justice system.
'Operation last resort'

The attack on the website was scheduled to begin at midnight eastern standard time, according to documents that appear to have been posted online by Anonymous activists.

Later on Saturday the website was not functioning.

The USSC is responsible for issuing sentencing guidelines for US federal courts.

The hackers, who had labelled the attack "Operation Last Resort", said the site was chosen for symbolic reasons.

"The federal sentencing guidelines... enable prosecutors to cheat citizens of their constitutionally-guaranteed right to a fair trial, by a jury of their peers [and] are a clear violation of the 8th amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishments," the video statement said.

The statement also suggested the hackers had sensitive information relating to a number of US judges that may be made public.

There have been numerous attacks by hackers operating under the Anonymous banner in recent months.

On Thursday two British men were jailed after taking part in an attacks on payment services including Paypal, organised by Anonymous.

Government websites of the UK and other countries have also been the subjects of attacks.
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I think upping the stakes would be bombing New York or something.

They've defaced/brought down a few websites up until now.

It'll end up being another small fragmented group of random teenage kids.

/shrugs
 
From what I have read happened, Aaron Swartz should never have been put into the position he was in and it is tragic that he felt his only option was to take his own life.

But defacing a website isn't going to help anybody. In fact, it's so boring now. These script kiddies need a new shtick.
 
I can understand why some people would be dismissive of what Anonymous are doing.

I can also understand why Anonymous are doing what they do, and atleast they are doing something.
 
CaNsA said:
I can understand why some people would be dismissive of what Anonymous are doing.

I can also understand why Anonymous are doing what they do, and at least they are doing something.
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It's harder to support their actions than it is their point. Once the initial buzz wore off, what we were left with was computer-savvy kids using words which they didn't understand the meaning of in their 'announcements' in order to sound grand and threatening.

They're not upping anything other than the amount of jail time they'll receive once caught.
 
All they are doing is raising awareness to the death of Aaron Swartz with their stunts, like defacing a website hardly evil actions. They have achieved what they wanted and that is getting the word out to get people talking about it.

I think the story is more about Aaron than Anonymous. But hey ho shoot the messenger :p
 
all it will do is allow the FBI to focus more resources..the more threatening they become the more likely that an law enforcement agency will take them seriously and actively pursue them

they are better off just being small scale and irritating..the day you start to threaten people is the day more people start looking for you
 
and if they can find Osama Bin Laden eventually..they will find a fat kid in their parents basement no problem
 
ShaolinDreams said:
All they are doing is raising awareness to the death of Aaron Swartz
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Reuters beat them to it. It was big news.

with their stunts, like defacing a website hardly evil actions. They have achieved what they wanted and that is getting the word out to get people talking about it.
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See above.

I think the story is more about Aaron than Anonymous. But hey ho shoot the messenger :p
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I agree with you on this point.
 
Hype/empty threat video #26 by Anon.

Seems to me all they do is constantly release empty threats without ever following through, to garner a bit of attention. Eventually nobody will take any notice.
 
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