Posted on 01/26/2013 7:19:03 AM PST by Altura Ct.
The hacker-activist group Anonymous says it hijacked the website of the U.S. Sentencing Commission to avenge the death of Aaron Swartz, an Internet activist who committed suicide.
The website of the commission, an independent agency of the judicial branch, was taken over early Saturday and replaced with a message warning that when Swartz killed himself two weeks ago "a line was crossed."
The message read in part:
Citizens of the world, Anonymous has observed for some time now the trajectory of justice in the United States with growing concern. We have marked the departure of this system from the noble ideals in which it was born and enshrined. We have seen the erosion of due process, the dilution of constitutional rights, the usurpation of the rightful authority of courts by the "discretion" or prosecutors. We have seen how the law is wielded less and less to uphold justice, and more and more to exercise control, authority and power in the interests of oppression or personal gain."
The hackers say they've infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.
Family and friends of Swartz, who helped create Reddit and RSS, say he killed himself after he was hounded by federal prosecutors.
Wow,,the computer may be mightier than the government sword and the media butt-licking pen. Interesting. Waiting for Feinstein to demand a ban on all personal computers with confiscation to follow. Talk about damage. I’m kind of rooting for Anonymous here.
Citizens of the world, Anonymous has observed for some time now the trajectory of justice in the United States with growing concern. We have marked the departure of this system from the noble ideals in which it was born and enshrined. We have seen the erosion of due process, the dilution of constitutional rights, the usurpation of the rightful authority of courts by the "discretion" or prosecutors. We have seen how the law is wielded less and less to uphold justice, and more and more to exercise control, authority and power in the interests of oppression or personal gain."
Count me in as someone who supports the hell out of this. I’m not sure I have much in common with Mr Swartz or his buddies but this sure has my vote.
Dear hackers,
Dig, dig, dig, and expose the Obamsdork quota baby’s sordid faked past.
I, and millions of others, will support and reward you.
You are our only hope given that our press now is an appendage of his butt.
Oh, gee, that’s such a terrible thing to do to the government. NOT!
Swartz was, imho, set up to be an example (as described by the EPA official). Unfortunately, he suffered from depression (alledgely) and it appears the Feds did not get the compliance theatrics they had hoped.
Anonymous is too far right (as in anarchist) for me, but sometimes enemy of my enemy yada yada yada.
Daylight is the best disinfectant.
You are not alone.
Can’t argue with anything here.
I’m starting to dig these anarchists....
I especially like this: “The hackers say they’ve infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public. “
Aw yahhhhh!
I personally feel so helpless against the power that can control my every movement, and de-facto alters my mind ..
(If we have to think defensively, we are no longer free to act as free men ... as a man thinketh, so is he)
Though I've never considered the computer as a weapon, I'm sure glad SOMEone has ... and DOES.
Thank you.
Go 'head, grab my number and call me
I wonder if they can corrupt the firearms database.
Some folks on both sides said OWS and theTea Party had more in common than they realized. Let Anonymous take this path and the Tea Party can raise popular resistance to the gun grab, starting with Cuomo in NY.
(1) Swartz was an adult. He decided to commit suicide on his own. That is on him and no one else.
(2) Whether he broke the law for what he believed was some higher good or not, he broke the law. Whether or not the people he stole property from had second thoughts about pressing charges is immaterial. We are supposed to be a nation of laws.
(3) Anonymous are not altruists in their self-congratulatory campaign - Swartz was closely aligned with them and his death means that he will no longer be able to give the government evidence about the crimes they have committed. Lionizing Swartz as a martyr is good propaganda for them.
(4) Swartz was not a martyr. Martyrs courageously submit to death at the hands of others rather than compromise their faith. People who kill themselves out of fear and emotional instability are not martyrs. They are just sad.
+1
Not only that, on #2, he videotaped himself breaking the law and bragged about it.
You were doing quite well until that line...
Do you support our current tyrannical government?
Do you think that all laws are good laws and must always be obeyed?
Do you think citizens sometimes have the right to challenge their government masters?
I support this hack of the US government 100%.
I see that you wish to support the political establishment.
Until I got to this:
The hackers say they've infiltrated several government computer systems and copied secret information that they now threaten to make public.
Is that the one stream media mouthpiece CBS saying that or is 'Anonymous' saying that, because if you mean what you say, why threaten?
Do! Or do not. There is no "threaten".
You know the players and can see the board. If you know history and you know human nature, you can see where this is going. Again.
Time for cyber space super heroes with the power: knowledge. You know what they say, "With great power..."
So...do 'they' help our watch to become the ones who finally live up to those ideals?
Or do they fold and just cash in like everyone else? I guess we'll see.
Personally, I wish I had the computer skills to help them.
Our government has enacted enough laws in such a way that everyone is a criminal if they so desire. They enforce the laws at their whims, and the penalties are used to intimidate.
When I see equal enforcement and equal sentencing again, I will believe we are a nation of laws. Right now, we are a nation of petty tyrants.
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