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Seeing as nobody appears to have linked to the wacky 'Tom Cruise on Scientology' video.

Gawker are leaving it up.

Can't wait till tomorrow.

At 2/9/08 01:00 PM, animehater wrote: Can't wait till tomorrow.

It'd better be momentous, or I'm going to be pissed.

Hm.

I think the only way to know if this anti-Scientology organization is more than just an empty threat made by teenagers in order to scare the celebrities and such is to actually join the group, if that's possible.

For the sake of the people who made that video, I hope they're very well organized indeed, and that the members of Anonymous live up to their collective title.

With all the shit Scientology members seem to come up with to use against each and every single person who dares to criticize their activities and principles publicly (digging up supposedly private information on them and thusly unearthing both real and fictional skeletons from their closets to show to the rest of the world), logic dictates that they've got access to a great deal of information concerning...well, pretty much everyone.

Which means that they might have means of tracking down the people who made that video, and in so doing, valuable members of the Anonymous organization.

In other words: the Anonymous folks had better be damned good at covering their tracks (which would probably mean that they're serious about this, if they were able to keep their identities off the Scientology "hit-list"), if they intend on reaching their goal.

I hope they are that good. That they are that professional, that skilled.

Otherwise, they don't have a chance in hell at bringing down Scientology.

I see as fighting fire with fire in some obscure way. The Church of Scientology is known for attempts of breaching into the IRS financial system and some of the members were killed for some apparent reason. I believe that Church acts more of a zealous mafia.

I'm not seeing anything on the news about Anon today.

I, for one, applaud anonymous and their efforts to bring attention to the evils of $cientology. It would have been great fun to contribute personally, but I had more pressing matters to attend to.

At 2/10/08 05:40 PM, animehater wrote: I'm not seeing anything on the news about Anon today.

I don't think it so big that people will make it into news just a few hours after it happened. Tomorrow will contain a lot more, I predict.

I got invited to join Anonomous after mentioning it in a postitive fashion on another website.

All I know is that I don't know! All I know is that I don't know nothing... and that's fine...

I loves it!

R.N.

Fox news' takes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNO6G4ApJ QY

Anonymous' response to fox news.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RFjU8bZR1 9A&feature=related

ooh... They are so scary. Personally i prefer the Priory of Sion over the anonymous; the priory sounds like a cooler group. Or maybe if [Insert harry potter spoiler here] i can join the order of the phoenix.

Ok, now I'm starting to think they take things to far, when they ruin peoples lifes.

At 2/10/08 08:00 PM, LordJaric wrote: Ok, now I'm starting to think they take things to far, when they ruin peoples lifes.

Who's lives have they ruined so far? Scientology has ruined numerous lives. But who has Anonymous harmed?

Did any NG Anon protest today? I don't think anyone did in my city, but the turnout overall was impressive.

At 2/10/08 06:48 PM, SmilezRoyale wrote: Fox news' takes

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DNO6G4ApJ QY

"...for truly epic 'lulz'..." i think i seriuosly <3 Fox now.

At 2/10/08 08:44 PM, The-Hydra-of-Spore wrote:

At 2/10/08 08:00 PM, LordJaric wrote: Ok, now I'm starting to think they take things to far, when they ruin peoples lifes.

Who's lives have they ruined so far? Scientology has ruined numerous lives. But who has Anonymous harmed?

It's really more about the mess that they are have allegedly caused on the internet. It's funny, when i was 12 years old i used to play Habbo hotel [A british 3d Chatroom where you go around a 'hotel' and basically do whatever you want [textually that is] I recall seeing 20 people in a room all called anonymous in a suite calling out racial slurs and forming swastikas.

Oh you mean Pools closed. Yes some people did take things a bit too far, but it was hilarious. I mean all the little kids getting so annoyed, it was quite funny on the other end of it in fact I joined in some of the raids as a representative on Newgrounds. They only did the Great Habbo raids for the lulz. And they did succeed.

it sounds like anonymous is using its stance against scientology to sound mature and powerful.

At 2/10/08 08:44 PM, The-Hydra-of-Spore wrote:

At 2/10/08 08:00 PM, LordJaric wrote: Ok, now I'm starting to think they take things to far, when they ruin peoples lifes.

Who's lives have they ruined so far? Scientology has ruined numerous lives. But who has Anonymous harmed?

I'm talking about these threats being made and sending viruses to people computers cashing these peoples and effecting those peoples friends computers, it seems fox news has said something smart for once, in that reponse to fox SmilezRoyale posted, if I remember right, Anonymous basically said they go after people.

Mere inconveniences in my opinion and few of them have actually been done. Anonymous probably has sent viruses but only a few. While Scientology has done things far worse: Take money from the ignorant and in some cases manslaughter. Anonymous never physically hurts someone or bankrupts them. they merely inconvenience and frustrate them. And the Pool's closed due to aids thing was a joke, no people were harmed they merely went on a free domain and used it to do a public joke and a rather funny one at that.

At 2/10/08 10:07 PM, LordJaric wrote: I'm talking about these threats being made and sending viruses to people computers cashing these peoples and effecting those peoples friends computers, it seems fox news has said something smart for once, in that reponse to fox SmilezRoyale posted, if I remember right, Anonymous basically said they go after people.

Anonymous has. Myspace, Habbo Hotel, threats to the world. They're crazy people. Who hasn't made threats to the world?

But as i recall this is about anonymous vs scientology.

Btw did either side gain any foothold today? I mean Anonymous was sure protesting out there, and Scientology knows this. But did they make any impact? Did Anonymous find out they aren't as strong as they are IRL in cyberspace? I don't know if anything real would happen. I know that Anon rules for taking this cause up.

Well Scientology is still pissed. So I guess Anonymous is making some impact, loss of membership has probably happened and the fact that the amount of publicity they are getting is probably making people aware.

At 2/10/08 10:11 PM, The-Hydra-of-Spore wrote: Mere inconveniences in my opinion and few of them have actually been done. Anonymous probably has sent viruses but only a few. While Scientology has done things far worse: Take money from the ignorant and in some cases manslaughter. Anonymous never physically hurts someone or bankrupts them. they merely inconvenience and frustrate them. And the Pool's closed due to aids thing was a joke, no people were harmed they merely went on a free domain and used it to do a public joke and a rather funny one at that.

That really depends on a number of factors. It depends on what exactly the malware they put onto these computers did. It depends on the damage they caused. Having to delouse a computer takes time. For someone that needs their computer as part of their job, that is lost time and therefore productivity lost. If the individual's computer became unusable and had to have the hard drive wiped to repair it, then you are talking about lost data and programs. Depending on the programs and the companies that wrote them, this cost could be in the thousands. Adobe is one company that has expensive software and a very strict licensing policy. If a person had to wipe their computer, they could easily be out thousands of dollars. This is merely one example of how they could cause damage digitally, but suffice it to say that a lot of what they do digitally is in fact illegal in the US.

Their is the other issue of their non digital activities. I've seen many Anons posting individuals real life personal information on the internet. Much of the nonsense has resulted in prank calls, but there have been some death threats made. While most of these are pranks, the victims can't know which ones are. This sort of behavior can escalate, and you never know what sort of deranged individual might decide to become a hero by actually attacking on of these victims.

What bothers me about Anonymous is the fact that it seems to attract a lot of weak willed individuals to the group who are easily swayed by cheesy propaganda. Anonymous tends to be a force for stupid pranks, but with the influence they've gained I can see their antics escalating until some idiot decides to actually do something dangerous under the name of Anonymous to impress them.

Please give me some evidence that the situation that you have described has ever happened under Anonymous. Any hacker could do that stuff. Please give me an example and a source of this happening.

Yes Death threats have been sent and prank calls been made. But no Death Threat or any threat of physical abuse has ever come to fruition when Anonymous individuals do these things they are often empty threats. Often it is not even members of Anonymous who do these things but other people from 4chan and affiliate sites.

Anonymous is about power in numbers. the huddled masses who could not do things about issues which frustrate them (i.e Scientology) having the power to do so with the number they obtain. And personally I am a fan of their antics and enjoy them. Anonymous is now a name that carries sway on the internet. Anonymous is an organization, any unauthorized antics will be denied by the group. So far Anonymous have done deeds which have either entertained us or have done a service to us all as they are doing at this moment.

At 2/11/08 01:27 AM, The-Hydra-of-Spore wrote: Please give me some evidence that the situation that you have described has ever happened under Anonymous. Any hacker could do that stuff. Please give me an example and a source of this happening.

I can't give you any evidence that it did happen, but if they have been putting viruses on peoples computers, it is a likely scenario. In fact, considering most of their hackers are script kiddies, its quite possible they could do a lot of damage simply by not knowing enough about what they are doing to control it. At any rate, that was only one illustrative example. I could go off on a tangent about how much money is likely wasted having to put security measures into place because of the script kiddie antics such as those performed by anonymous, but I'll leave that for a different time.

Yes Death threats have been sent and prank calls been made. But no Death Threat or any threat of physical abuse has ever come to fruition when Anonymous individuals do these things they are often empty threats. Often it is not even members of Anonymous who do these things but other people from 4chan and affiliate sites.

I'm so sick and tired of hearing that excuse. That is the patent excuse they give every time one of their members goes off and does something under their name once it makes them look bad. Up until the whole scientology escapade, Anonymous was nothing more than a code name for going out and playing stupid pranks and then bragging about them. This sort of thing has the tendency to create a feedback cycle, causing members to escalate their behavior until someone does something epically stupid such as making the false bomb threats. Did anyone in the group authorize this? Probably not, but the fact remains they as a whole encourage this type of behavior, laugh about this type of behavior, and then only deny doing so once it looks like they are going to get into trouble for having done so.

As for the threats, I don't care if they are only kidding. The individuals whose house they are calling can't be sure which threats are real. This puts undue stress on the individuals, and it may only be a matter of time before something happens. The fact of the matter is that whether or not they are serious, what they are doing is harassment and is a crime. If it isn't such a big deal, then please post your phone number and address on this forum.

Anonymous is about power in numbers. the huddled masses who could not do things about issues which frustrate them (i.e Scientology) having the power to do so with the number they obtain. And personally I am a fan of their antics and enjoy them. Anonymous is now a name that carries sway on the internet. Anonymous is an organization, any unauthorized antics will be denied by the group. So far Anonymous have done deeds which have either entertained us or have done a service to us all as they are doing at this moment.

Oh please. Anonymous takes whatever form that is most convenient for them at the moment. Whenever they want to intimidate someone or something, they are this all encompassing force, comprised of whoever can put on a v for vendetta mask or operate a voice synthesizer, but once they get in trouble they are a cohesive group that disavows any relationship to those who their prior open enrollment policy invited in. Either they are singular, organized entity of limited numbers, or they are an open social movement dedicated mostly to causing trouble. They can't have it both ways.

Yes, Anonymous has demonstrated power, the power to create a large amount of hype by creating a clever video. How many people fighting Scientology right now actually care about scientology and not about being apart of the fad of the month movement? Had anonymous merely posted evidence about the crimes of scientology, how many people would have cared? Many of these individuals are doing it right now because of the hype, and when it dies down, scientology will be still be around. Now, I do praise those in Anonymous who have actually been doing real work, such as using this momentum to spread information about scientology, but most of those who are making digitized voice videos are doing so just because its cool to do so right now. Many of the people who showed up to the protests are caught up in the hype. If you don't agree, then just ask yourself how many of these people have been to protests that were started without this type of PR.

Also, what are they using this power for? Certainly, their is the fight against Scientology, a fight that someone had to take up, but a lot of their efforts are also spent harassing those who speak out against anonymous. While I'm sure that the those at the core of the fight against Scientology are not involved, many members of Anonymous spend a lot of effort harassing those who stand up against Anonymous. If Anonymous is such a force for good (otherwise why respect them?), then why should people have to worry about saying negative things about them? Yes, they will disavow it, but their prior philosophy of causing trouble for shits and giggles as well as their open door policy encouraged all of this.

I have little respect for Anonymous as a group, and if you go to sites that are populated by people over 25, you will find that most of them have either not heard of Anonymous or have mixed feelings about them. Anonymous' ability to rile up the impressionable doesn't curry any respect from me. I do respect those individuals responsible for organizing protests and spreading information, but I do not respect a group that for most of its existence has had the sole purpose of playing childish pranks that have led to crimes such as harassment.

They hit my locals news today with the protests. Made it fairly big, big enough for the news people to bring out the exploding van clip.

Even though they showed the Scifags in a negative light.

Also In the last week I've seen quite a few posters gathering around boards at my school.

Theres a tonne of videos on YouTube of the raids. From all over the globe.

It's true that younger hackers can be a bit... reckless. But really Anonymous has not encouraged people to take such actions unless they have good reason.

And a likely contrast from Anonymous could be Green Peace. Some Green Peace members have done suspicious stuff and they have sparked many wanna bes who do even worse stuff as they give them inspiration. But can Green Peace be blamed? No.

True Anonymous was often used as a name to be brandished by and Chan user who wished to, Often in the Habbo Raids they all brandished the name of Anonymous. But Anonymous has never done anything too serious a few pranks and frustrating people who deserve it, this is perhaps the biggest thing they have ever done.

Anonymous encourages other Chan users to follow their example and nothing more. Anonymous main breaks down sites who deserve it by flooding them, a problem that can be fixed and time and does not harm software. Or the use free internet space to do a prank or legions of prank calls. But they never say anything about going further. And to my knowledge nobody really has gone further than a joke death threat.

And when as Anonymous ever denied their antics? You give points but no sources. And people care because it's Anonymous doing this. Anonymous has always been quite famous, although this movement will probably bring their name to users who don't surf the net as often as some. Any stand by Anonymous will be noticed. They choose their videos because it goes by classic Chan style taking examples of movies such as Fight Club and V for Vendetta. The Tom Cruise video was merely for the lulz though. And yes a lot of it is hype. But that's what Anonymous does. It uses the hype the moment, the fact that people want to be a part of them to their advantage and use it against who they are going again at the moment it is Scientology.

And yes Anonymous defends itself. All organizations do. Think of Anonymous's personality... like God from the old testament, generally agreed that is a good figure but don't follow the rules and he will have vengeance. Perhaps not the best example but the one I could think of.

The crimes of harrasment have often been justified. the prank calls only when they find someone who has done something so bad that they must take action.

I'm not defending all that Anonymous do. They are from 4chan of course some are going to be dicks. They are going to take something to the next level. But I say Anonymous is getting portrayed badly, they only do the things they do against things they think are unjustifiable or for entertainment. You certainlly can't compare their actions to an evil scam like Scientology.

At 2/10/08 09:23 PM, Dopefish wrote: Did any NG Anon protest today? I don't think anyone did in my city, but the turnout overall was impressive.

Anon membership is often a secret, so asking won't give you an accurate number.

But anyway, it appears it's all over the news today. I've seen 12 articles thus far, which is a pretty big impact if you ask me.

As I understood it, the whole point was to get attention to the church's wrongdoings, so, I'd say that is a success. A lot of people are going to hear that Scientology is a scam, and even if they don't believe it, it will always be in the back of their heads until a scandal involving Scientology comes up, multiplying the massive damage it could deal.

I can't believe I haven't seen this yet, but ANONYMOUS FUCKING WINS. I've always supported their raids, and gone along with some of their attempts to get attention...but they're putting their powers of the masses into very good use. This thing is fucking awesome. Yeah, I"m late. Who cares? I thought 4chan was dead and I stopped paying attention to it. Well, I was wrong. I love you 4chan.