This documentary explores the rise of anonymous & the spread of hacktivist movements. Take a look and let us know what you think (FYI: it contains some strong language, so maybe don't turn it on if you've got kids in the room).
Is a DDos attack a legitimate form of resistance?
What about malevolent software? Is that ok?
The first politically motivated computer worm was the WANK worm.
It caused massive problems for NASA. It was a protest against nuclear
power modules in rockets.You can read about the impacts from NASA's
perspective in the first chapter of this book if you're interested.
Does the legitimacy of a method of protest, like the worm or a DDOS attack, depend on what you're protesting and what you are disrupting?
Are the forms of protest outlined in the reading, lecture & doco effective?
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| Does this even work? |
Why/Why not?
How can/have the interwebs support(ed) & inform(ed) protest on the ground?
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| What about this? |
Leave a comment, let us know what you think.
The legitimacy of resistance doesn't particularly depend on WHAT is being protested. Closing down a bank (where most people in the hacker group would be using) doesn't make sense, it is almost hypocritical. Even though they could be protesting against HOW banks take our money, WHY are they using them then?
ReplyDeleteSecondly, to shut down NASA with the WANK worm, this has a little bit of credit. Nuclear power is harmful to the environment, yet again however this is silly as MOST people use nuclear power and most hackers would be using it. If more people had a problem with it, it wouldn't be used.
I believe some of anonymous protests are legimate and others are not. Everyone has the right to protest and freedom of speech. however in some cases like the hacking of Paypal and the image of them releasing private contact details is breach of basic political and civil rights. As katie says it is hypocritical of some members of Anonymous in what they are trying to achieve and how in this form of protest.
ReplyDeleteIn saying that it would also come down to the individuals opinion whether haktivast attacks are a legimate protest. Church of scientology is a joke and allowing the world to see that is important as was the revolution in Egypt. There is a time and a place for legitimace in hacking.
When watching this I could not help but draw my mind back to the protests in Egypt and how these (as mentioned) felt much more legitimate compared to the group Anonymous. Many reasons exist for this; I can hardly see the members actively participating in violent activism with no regard for there lives in the face of bigger concerns as the Egyptians did. I felt more empowered by seeing the people of a suppressed country rising up as one than others who chose to hide their identities and pick and choose which things they thought were 'cool' enough for their participation. However, just recently a story arose about two girls who were raped at a party and one was left in the blistering cold for hours and later herself and her family were ran out of town, there house burnt down by locals; Anonymous after hearing of the story swore vengeance against the officials and members of that community for the injustice toward the young women. This is a credible case to show a united rejection of, however Anonymous choose illegal methods in most cases to secure what they want putting individual members of their community at risk. I feel this sort of activism needs serious review because unfortunately I agree with the statements that these people are just kids in their parents basement; especially as even after their activism they continue to 'troll' and hurt people deliberately for their own entertainment.
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