Justice, Freedom and Anonymous
Anonymous. Who are they? What do they want? Why are they so mad at governments, especially our own? The group is a decentralized coalition of individuals focused on promoting access to information, free speech, and transparency. They have been coined “hacktivists”, political protesters with the ability to shut down websites, by the media and cyber terrorists by the National Security Agency. The group has made international headlines by exposing The Church of Scientology, supporting anti-corruption movements in Zimbabwe and India, and providing secure platforms for Iranian citizens to criticize their government. They are also known for temporarily shutting down the websites of the U.S. Department of Justice and The Federal Bureau of Investigation with what is known as a Distributed Denial of Service (DDoS) attacks. They have targeted the Swedish government as well, taking down their official government sites and earlier this year in February, they intercepted a secure phone call between the FBI and Britain’s Scotland Yard which was then posted online. You can see the video and read the story here. They also claim to be peaceful protesters fighting for the rights of citizens in a world where internet censorship, corrupt legislation and authoritative impunity has become an infringement on civil liberties.
They claim that they want freedom of knowledge and freedom from oppression. They fight for those that have been ridiculed and made targets by our government. Their latest rant comes from the effort to kill the Stop Online Piracy Act (SOPA) of 2012. Their biggest beef with the bill is due to language in the bill that authorizes the courts to require internet service providers to block access to sites that allow file sharing. They propose that this amounts to internet censorship similar to that in China, Iran and other nations. Their position is that this new law is an attack on citizen’s freedom of speech and they believe that the internet should never be regulated or censored by the government.
January of this year, Megaupload, a website offering file sharing services, was shut down by the US Department of Justice and the Federal Bureau of Investigation. This led to the websites of the DOJ, FBI, Universal Music Group, The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA), the Motion Picture Association of America (MPAA), and Broadcast Music, Inc to be shut down by Anonymous. Some have opined that since the FBI had the unilateral power to shut down Megaupload, then the SOPA and PIPA (Protect IP Act) laws are unnecessary. What do you think about that? The US government goes in and performs this action against a website and then retroactively tries to enact a law that justifies it! I’d say that is such a trait of the US government. Almost similar to the brutal annihilation of hundreds of thousands of Japanese citizens, not military combatants, and then making a global edict preventing other countries from doing the same thing!
I’m not entirely sure what the objective is or if its even obtainable, but I do know that this group of political activists are serious. They have shown their muscle, intelligence and skill. They are driven by an ideal. An ideal that is hidden in part behind the mask of Guy Fawkes. Some call them terrorists and others call them heroes of freedom. What will you call them? Will we ever know the true purpose of Anonymous? Will they succeed in changing government for the better? Or will they cease and desist, crushed by the government that they are so bold to oppose? Stay tuned…
Terencio Safford
Born in Atlanta, Georgia and raised in the small town of Anniston, Alabama, there’s no doubt that country living and sentiments still reside in Terencio Safford, Secret Laboratory’s managing editor.
He came a long way from his roots. He had a very unique childhood which allowed him to experience different cultures, religions and family values; this ultimately gave him a sense of awareness and acuteness that formulated his inspired outlook on life.
He graduated from Anniston High School in 2001 in Anniston, Alabama. He was recruited as a high school senior by the U.S. Army National Guard where he served two years as an Aircraft Electrician. After leaving the Army in 2002, Terencio migrated to Minnesota in 2003 in search of a better opportunity. He attended the Minnesota School of Business in Richfield studying Music Business before realizing that he wanted to pursue music as a hobby and not a career.
He has dedicated his time and talent to writing professionally. Terencio discovered his gift at an early age but pursued other talents and interests with the thoughts that writing was boring and time consuming! Now he finds pleasure and peace in formulating thoughts into creative treasures of literary prose!
Email him at terencio@secretlaboratory.org and visit him at http://www.wix.com/literaryprose/byterencio
It is unfortunate what is happening in Syria. I hope someone helps Syria, I really do. I just hope it isn’t the US…their version of helping is stripping resources and feeding off dying souls, all the while masking their true intentions for involvement. The last thing that Syria needs is to turn into another Iraq.
I’m with you, buddy. We’re pretty much on a roll; Hussein, Bin Laden, Khaddafi… might as well take out Assad as well. One less tyrant could do the world good. Maybe it would even lower gas prices as well because 5 bucks don’t get you as far as it used to!
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It’s Gaddafi, My good man. lol