Screw You, Anonymous, Screw You Very Much

Your recent attack on PSN isn't justice. It isn't some honorable cause that you have hearkened to. It is pure and utter malice. It undermines everything you have ever stood for. It undermines those that would support you. It undermines everything you have set out to accomplish.

Before you jump to conclusions, understand something: I, along with millions of PS3 owners support Anonymous in many of Anonymous' undertakings. Many Anonymous members are PS3 owners themselves.

We supported and joined you when you protested the WTO in Seattle in 1999.

We support and join you in your protest of scientology.

We support you and join you in protest of the Westborough Baptist Church.

We sent money to defend Julian Assange. Helped with the DDOS on Visa (and others.)

We support your unerring efforts to bring about global change on many, many fronts.

Some of us have even supported George Hotz.

In short, we are the very people that join those protests and help your numbers swell, help the monetary needs of those who fight the good fight.

Attacking PSN was not the good fight. If you have a problem with SONY, then go after SONY. Though PSN is their property, what you have done is nothing short of anger the very gamers, professionals, and individuals who would go to bat for you. Sure, it may mean a little inconvenience. We can't play our multiplayer games or download DLC or updates, it is true. But the one thing that you have affected, and the one thing you would be the least likely to criticize was Folding@Home. Thousands of PS3s were shut off from the Folding@Home project.

From the University of Stanford: "Our goal: to understand protein folding, misfolding, and related diseases
You can help scientists studying these diseases by simply running a piece of software."

Simply by running the app on my PS3 I am helping to fight these diseases. Now, you, Anonymous have interrupted the mission. You feel strongly about what happens in the world. We do to. And to better the world, we allow Stanford to use our PS3s through the PSN to help understand these diseases and fight them. We are just as passionate about this as you are in your fights to right the wrongs of this world. To impart your own justice.

Curing disease is justice. How many lives have you affected? How many people may die because you had to disrupt the computing power of thousands? Just to get your revenge? Too dramatic? Remember that this attack has sent a ripple through the efforts to fight cancer, Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell, and many other diseases. It has disrupted efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's.

So, from those of us who have supported you for nigh on 2 decades and are helping to fight debilitating diseases, Screw you. Screw you, very much.

[jack who]

Anonymous is not your personal army

[thorstein]

You didn't read the post thoroughly did you?

[blackburn10]

I really don't care what Anon has done in the past. These recent events have shown their true colours, The threats, the attacks, the inconveniences. And now the lies, the cyber terrorism. the identity theft and the blackmail. Sing all the praises you want be they are nothing but cyber mafia. Do what we say or suffer.

I don't believe they were ever for the people if this is what their members do when they don't get what they want. They already talked about attacking Sony employees and exposing peoples info online. What next? Arson? industrial sabotage? Are you going to storm Sony's buildings and kill everyone? Anon is so stupid to have members who they don't know. They could be recruiting killers and thieves and would know how far they would go. And they sit in their ivory tower while their members do what they want and don't care who it affects.

[coryok]

anonymous wont be changing anything by going after sony, sony is obligated to do everything within its legal power to protect its investors.
what sony is doing may not be agreeable to anonymous, but that doesnt make sony at fault. anonymous should be trying to change government, not the people who act within the law.
name me one good thing that has come out of anonymous' attacks on sony. even if anonymous succeeded in bankrupting sony (which wont happen) other companies will fill the gap that is left in the market and they'll take the same actions to protect their investors
the only result that can occur from this in terms of anonymous is anonymous loosing influence, if sony is brought down, another steps up, and after that another will. things like this projects research being halted is a big loose for the world, but thats not even the half of it as there is potential for actual change, but that potential is being squandered by people who dont know how to use it. the more they fail the harder it will ever be to change, gotta pick your battles...

tl;dr if anonymous wants to make change they need to attack government, not the people who are being governed

[Elwenil]

If Anonymous wants change they need to vote and take other legal measures to bring about these changes, not act like common criminals and terrorists. As it stands, their actions have proven that all they deserve is a jail cell. They are not saviors, or heroes, they are no different than any other terrorist that causes harm and fear to draw attention to their agenda.

[coryok]

im not saying its a good idea to attack government, just remarking upon how a bully attacks a 6 year old because he has candy that the bully wants instead of going to the candy store where the 15 year old bully will no doubt, get an ass kicking.

it seems so familiar in this situation

[lex-1020]

Wow. Am I the only person who actually read the entire blog post. Yes he STARTS off by saying that he supported Anonymous, but then he transitions into how their attack on PSN has impacted thousands through the folding at home process (something which I didn't even think about until now). He's not supporting Anonymous in this article. He's trying to show them that they are hurting countless people by this act. Well said.

[thorstein]

Thank you.

[unkn0wn]

No sh** he's not supporting Anon. I think the title says it all. I skimmed through it for about 3 seconds and thought, "my God, another Anon article." Regardless of whether or not he was supporting the group, we don't need another damn post about it. The very last thing we need is to perpetuate the debacle.

[lex-1020]

You're right we don't need another Anon article but this article is more about how the PS3 now can't be used to help cure disease rather than an article about Anon

[Godmars290]

Two things you need to understand:

1) The Anonymous that's attacking Sony isn't the some one which which has done actual social and consumer good in the past.

2) There's been some basic, blind hatred towards Sony and the PS this gen ever since the PS3's price which is still an unforgiven crime to this day. That Anon lost any legitimate reason behind their attack after Holtz settled yet continued to do at the very least suggest the existence of such hatred. That people who feel such happily got involved.

[Danielmccue]

Theres been basic blInd hatred for anything popular for hundreds If not thousands of years.

God created the heavens and the earth, he created man and woman and thus declared "haters gonna hate"

[JD_Shadow]

1. Try telling the EXTREME people that. Good lord (I don't think you're innocent by any means with not acting like your sane about this, but...)!

2. I agree there has been blind hatred, and that has to stop. The problem is that the trade off shouldn't be that Sony NEVER gets called on on ANYTHING. That would make the fanboys who think that just as bad as the MS ones. This is the problem on N4G right now.

I've never seen ANYONE NOT say Anonymous should not shoulder blame, yet everyone seems to think that we ARE saying that.

I've never seen anyone say that we SHOULD be allowed to cheat on multiplayer games or any of that stuff, yet they seem to put words in their mouths.

I've yet to see anyone actually say that Sony should share all the blame, yet people insist that's what we are saying.

That's the problem. Until we can get it through that we're not, even basically or implying, that we're somehow saying that Anon is innocent, or that we should be allowed to do the detrimental things or whatnot, but that using things like OtherOS or the CFW shouldn't automatically MAKE you a guilty party, we'll never get anywhere.

And this is assuming the people that are doing the above are NOT doing it just to troll or be retarded or using the "rules of the internet" to hold a discussion.

Let me put it to you this way: we are all anonymous in some form. So...shouldn't WE be considering OURSELVES a part of Anonymous, too?

[Shadowstar]

"I've yet to see anyone actually say that Sony should share all the blame, yet people insist that's what we are saying."

I have seen this: Sony is to blame for getting in a fight with hackers in general and Anon in specific when they should have known what would happen. When someone is saying that it is Sony's fault for provoking the attack, like it or not, they are removing blame from the person/people who did the attack. Let's not do that, so I, and those like me, can stop mischaracterizing Anon supporters.

[JD_Shadow]

What is your logic for saying that? You're insinuating that they cannot have it both ways when it's clear that that's what has been going on. It's just that no one wants to accept that we can have our cake and eat it too, here.

Just the way most have done with this entire thing.

[Shadowstar]

Let me start by saying the cake is a lie in the first place! (Sorry. I just had to do that. Portal on the brain still.)

I don't think they *can* have it both ways. Victim blaming is traditionally a method of removing culpability from the person who's actually at fault. Beyond that, when a crime occurs, you can't expect the victims of it (in this case, Sony and PSN users) to like the people saying "you had it coming."

As a side note, this is the second time I have been attacked by members of Anonymous for the heinous crime of having an account with some company that said something Anon didn't like.

[thor]

"The Anonymous that's attacking Sony isn't the [same] one which which has done actual social and consumer good in the past"

Yes, it is. It's the same social force. Best would be if there were no groups of this kind.

Think of it this way. If Anonymous didn't exist, but the people who did this attack DID, would it have gone ahead? Obviously not! Anonymous' name and reputation gave them publicity to recruit people and a common goal. Then people acted upon this goal and you've seen the end result.

You're very quick to disown these hackers after the fact, but there was nobody claiming that this wasn't Anonymous as it was happening. Anonymous could now launch another attack - would you only consider it to be Anonymous based upon the results of the attack? It's very obvious that as long as Anonymous exists as a group that people want to be a member of, attacks like this could keep happening. Will you disown them after each successive attack, all in the name of Anonymous?

What if this happened?
- Anonymous bring down PSN for 3 weeks "wasn't Anonymous!!1"
- Anonymous bring down XBL for 3 weeks "wasn't Anonymous!!1"
- Anonymous bring down a major bank for 3 weeks and steal personal data "wasn't Anonymous!!1"
- Anonymous sell credit card numbers causing widespread fraud "wasn't Anonymous!!1"
- Anonymous attack government in name of "free speech" threatening national security "wasn't Anonymous!!1"
- Anonymous go on a crusade against a single individual who dares to call them terrorists which results in letterbombs, arson and death "wasn't Anonymous!!1"

How many attacks would it take by this group for you to realise that they are responsible no matter how much you disown those doing the individual attacks? These scenarios don't sound that unlikely so long as Anonymous are still able to recruit members from the internet - a place where anybody, reasonable or psychopathic, can exist.

[thorstein]

This blog post is about consequences to actions by one group: Folding@Home has been affected. The power of the Cell processor and use of PSN has greatly increased Stanford's project to fight diseases since Folding@Home appeared on our PS3s. This attack has prevented the use of PS3s and PSN to continue this good work.

That is all.

[ronnyhenri]

I don't care about Anonymous. I'm tired of the bullshit that Sony has been telling us over the last week. Just put PSN back online, you imcompitent bastards! I wanna play Black Ops!!!!!

[blackburn5]

Please stop the ignorance. It was Anon that made PSN go down in the first place. You shouting that you don't care about them and unreasonably telling Sony to put back up PSN before they know it's safe is pointless. Tell Anon to leave us alone. No matter how you try to boomerang the blame it is them who did this. Forced Sony to have to rebuild their whole system which I bet is no small task. If you have nothing sensible to add to the conversation go somewhere else with your misdirected anger. WE are talking about ANON and you are off topic.

[nskrishna2]

Sony's been working around the clock for it to restore it's servers just because they want people like you back into their games, and you call them incompetent?
I'm sure you have got pretty good ideas about how to rebuild and rework the entire security of a network in about a few hours.
Seriously dude, you need to play your Call of 'Dooty'?

[aaronobst]

Quite a well written post this, I too supported what these guys did with that little kenny glenn shit and the whole Egypt debacle but this is affecting millions of uninvolved people who just wanna game

[manky]

Wake up.

This isn't about Anonymous. It's about lax security and outdated software on some of SONYs servers that could of been exploited by anyone.

SONY have treated their customers with contempt. They made a mockery of the law by using DMCA to sue an innocent person who isn't prepared to spend five years or a million dollars to fight such a claim.

SONY are arrogant, nasty, dishonest and contemptuous and always have been. This is not new. This is SONY.

They deserve everything that's happened to them. I hope they get pasted by hackers, crackers and DDOS' script kiddies until they are prepared to change how they do business.

[blackburn10]

That is so much BS.Please be quiet. Sony is no more or less arrogant then any other business in this world.The other company sold a broken console for 3 years while taking your money for years and NO ONE complained how ignorant, careless or arrogant they were And who are you taking about being innocent? I hope it's not Geohot you mean because if it is then the depths of your ignorance is even deeper then i believed. He is the cause of this. Him, Anon and everyone else involved. You can get on you soap box and go on and on with the 'Sony is evil campaign' but the fact of the matter is not how lax Sony's security was (which still hasn't been proven) but the jack@$$es that took our info, threatened and aggravated us and dares to say they did it for us.

You like all ignorant people like Anon talk about Sony as if they are a single entity and you say they deserve it. But you never think about the jobs that could be lost, the aggravation that was caused, the developers who lose money or the mess that people have to clean up because of your ignorance. You attack Sony as if Sony is a person but Sony is a company. If Sony shuts down because of this millions of jobs will be lost.Over video games and Other OS. So it is all good for idiots behind there computer screens to say Sony deserved this but YOU wake up. The people who work for them and just want a pay check or to see their creations thrive DO NOT deserve this.You are a fool.

[thor]

This isn't about Anonymous.
- Yes it is. They are to blame for the attacks.
It's about lax security and outdated software on some of SONYs servers that could of been exploited by anyone.
- Obviously good enough to not be breached in 4 years. It's very easy with hindsight to see exactly what the problem was, and how "anyone" could exploit it. It's not so easy when you're just running a network that could be attacked from any angle.

They made a mockery of the law by using DMCA to sue an innocent person who isn't prepared to spend five years or a million dollars to fight such a claim.
- LOL I cannot believe you are SERIOUSLY defending GeoHot for cracking the PS3 and releasing the key to the world. What he did is at least morally wrong and there is a clear indication that it was probably legally wrong as well. He also broke the ToS for the PSN. Anonymous' arguments for why he was innocent F**KING SUCKED. Here's their line - "If I buy some product, I should be able to do whatever I like with it" - try that line next time you're in court for erecting a huge structure in your back yard without planning consent.

SONY are arrogant, nasty, dishonest and contemptuous and always have been.
- These adjectives don't describe Sony in the slightest. They were far from arrogant in responding to these attacks. If you're describing corporations in general, sure there's an element of that, but no more so in Sony than anyone else.

They deserve everything that's happened to them. I hope they get pasted by hackers, crackers and DDOS' script kiddies until they are prepared to change how they do business.
- So what would you change? That they spend their entire time and resources on security to protect against attacks from retards like you with a misguided agenda? That they stop spending money on acquiring first-party studios and developing games and instead spend it on private detectives finding out where criminals live? That they stop persuing hackers and allow their entire library to be copied for free onto every system? They had every right to go after GeoHot and others who seek to bring piracy to the PS3 (despite their protestations).

[oldskoolfool]

Why shouldn't you be able to do anything you want with a product you purchased with your undervalued American dollar in a shit economy? Why do the corporations control what we say or do?

I indeed disagree with this thought process. And if I buy a home, I should be able to build a fucken windmill on my property if I want. Especially if I paid over 500K for it, paying a mortgage on it for the next 20 years and paying city taxes in the amount of what most people make monetarily in a year!

So yes, you should be able to do as you please with items that you purchase. As for hacking a network designed for social interaction where innocents herd was not required. Maybe ANON should of attacked Sony's upper level CEO bank accounts like a modern day Robin Hood, if they wanted to pick a fight.

[coryok]

@oldskoolfool

corporations dont control anything that you do, the laws that you follow control the things that you do. sony has never acted outside the law, rather they have been acting just as law has directed them to act.
and fyi, you cant build a windmill on any piece of property that you buy/own, you would have to petition the government for a permit, which is more than likely to be turned down unless you live where there are no power/telephone lines or public roads

[thor]

The example I gave was to illustrate the absurdity of the argument.

If you still want to go and say, "I should be able to build a windmill on my property if I want," then you've completely ignored the rights of those living around you. Laws exist to tell you what you can and can't do - this is society 101 and it pains me to see that so many people don't get it.

Ultimate freedom is anarchy and so there need to be laws and justice for a civil society to function. What should those laws be? Well you have your say as it's a democracy. Alternatively you could get involved in politics yourself. The fact of the matter is, there are some things you just aren't allowed to do without being punished. Most of the time this is because it hurts other people in society.

In the case of GeoHot, the law is there to protect a company's intellectual property against hackers. It is quite clear that what GeoHot did was to enable piracy which hurts SO MANY PEOPLE worldwide. Now the law may not be perfect, but here it seems there is someone who caused harm to others, and he's reached a settlement in order to avoid being punished further. Could these laws also end up punishing people for small things such as simply modding their console? There is a possibility, but that's certainly not the case with GeoHot.

[ClimateKaren]

You're wishing that on millions of innocent consumers as well, you asshole. They are the ones being treated with contempt right now. The hackers are making a mockery of the law (and of V for Vendetta). Anon is arrogant, nasty, and dishonest. They deserve anything that happens to them. I hope you get the clap.

[JobForARockStar]

"The hackers are making a mockery of the law (and of V for Vendetta)."
Haha YES! That made me laugh. I know this is a serious convo but I was always wondering about those stupid masks.

[thorstein]

"Wake up... this isn't about Anonymous..."

Can you go back and reread my blog post, sincerely?

My Blog Post is about Folding@Home and the actions that led to PSN downtime and consequently, the inability to use the PS3's Cell Processor and PSN to work the app.
It isn't to justify anything for either SONY or Anonymous. It is simply to put out the fact that they have stopped some very important work being done: fighting diseases like Mad Cow , CJD, ALS and many others.

That is all I am saying. Nothing more. Nothing less.

[oldskoolfool]

"Mad Cow"?? You can fight mad cow by getting yourself some decent salad for dinner. And per chance have you seen any claim to the "Folding Home" project that has resulted in any change? (Kinda like the Obama Administration)

[blackburn10]

I get what you mean. This is just another thing the members of Anon didn't think of when they caused this showing another aspect of their unthinking actions. The only part I disagree with though is the go after Sony part you wrote.Like I said in my post Sony is not a single entity. There is no way you can go after Sony without affecting people's lives in a negative way.

Sony is a giant organization with millions of people working there. You can't say attack Sony because I repeat Sony is a brand name, not a person. You can't take pot shots at them without innocent people taking the flak.

[pupa]

Don't blame Sony for it,blame the hackers that started all this shit, it was not good enough to have some homebrew and special applications like with Android, the PS3 was modified by many to do more sinister things like pirating and as we can see in this whole PSN breach saga. All those arguments was just a smokescreen for what the real intent was. Again thank Geohot and Anon as well as others that played Monkey Gods that caused all this.

[Otheros00]

You are off topic. The entire blog IS about anonymous. Egohot is NOT innocent.

[ClimateKaren]

If Anon wants to maintain ANY kind of credibility as a group (I think it's not possible at this point, but you never know), I suggest that they make a concerted effort to track down which individuals of their camp went rogue and brought the heat down on the whole party. You deny the attack? You don't approve of the attack? Prove it then, and catch & condemn those among you who committed it. As opposed to lying in stupid videos and pretending not to know what's going on for two weeks before backed into a corner where you have to admit. God, this group is so full of shit...

[Joule]

.

[Tommykrem]

You should never assume the worst when arguing with people, but I agree that this is ANOTHER reason to why this attack is an outrage and that it affects too many of the wrong people to be justified. Saying this attack was a success would be like saying invading Cambodia was one, except that the outcome of this attack would've been more predictable if one person in Anonymous had considered the attack for a second and gone "Come to think of it guys, this idea is F**** retarded"

[Tuxedo_Mask]

I have never supported "Anonymous" in any of their endeavors so perhaps you should change the "we" in your statement to either an "I" or "some of us". Do I dislike some of the organizations that they have protested? Yes, but the enemy of my enemy is not my friend. Anyone who hides behind a mask while claiming to be standing for something is a coward, even if their cause is just. If you truly know that what you're doing is right and what you stand for is just then there should be no need for you to conceal your identity.

[pupa]

My take is simple.

GeoHot is a criminal for exposing the PS3 internal security that allowed this crime to be enacted, on top of it he is a blackmailer and money scammer for asking funds for private criminal defense.
All Anon members and their collaborators are criminals as they assisted in this crime, Anon posted details that made it easier for someone in their support to breach the PSN network.
All the hackers that modified their systems to run pirate software under the "home-brew" umbrella are criminals,Home brew is good but unfortunately it never stops there.

Those that supported these criminal misfits must reevaluate their morals as it seems that if they had the know how they would have partaken in this criminal acts.

There you have it, my 2cents on reality.

PS: To have criminals as your Godly heroes make you a defacto criminal too.

[JeepGamer]

What is it precisely that you think they 'stood for'?

Free speech? Try again. Attacks against Visa, just to name one you put in your article, are going against free speech. A portion of freedom of speech is freedom of association, and Visa can decide, as a company, if they don't want to be associated with anyone. Not doing business with them is free speech, attacking them is counter to everything free speech means.

You want to know the ugly truth? They were never in any of this stuff for anyone but themselves. They had no cause beyond somebody got on their bad side and they decided they could 'be cool' by being pricks.

[thorstein]

Like most of the posts here, I agree with what people are saying. I just wish they would have read the entire blog which isn't about who is right, but rather, that this recent attacked interrupted Folding@Home. If you are unfamiliar with the work being done at Standford University, Folding@Home and why PS3's Cell processor and PSN are important to the work, avail yourself of a google search and then you will understand my ire.

From the blog (aimed at Anonymous:)
"Curing disease is justice. How many lives have you affected? How many people may die because you had to disrupt the computing power of thousands? Just to get your revenge? Too dramatic? Remember that this attack has sent a ripple through the efforts to fight cancer, Cystic Fibrosis, Sickle Cell, and many other diseases. It has disrupted efforts to find a cure for Alzheimer's and Parkinson's. "