Anonymous Taking Aim At Chinese Firewall

[emzie]

Is it the biggest firewall on Earth?

It can be seen from space.

 

[Skwink]

You're an idiot. China is an authoritarian police state, and the efforts of these admittedly naive hackers are intended on resisting the influence of that government. They're striking a blow for billions of oppressed Chinese.

More like striking a flick for billions of Chinese.

 

[aelf]

Which part of my post????

I think as China is a dictatorship that censors information, hacking their websites is justified.

As the US is NOT these things, but a democratically elected government, it is NOT OK to hack their websites (And we were talking about the US but it applies to any democratic country.)

"We're the good guys, so it is NOT OK to resist us." Basically the motto for your military adventures.

 

[attackfighter]

But bro, every country in the world should function exactly like the USA, because the USA society is compatible with foreign societies at all levels of economic and social progress. That's why it worked so well in Iraq, where half of the 8 million Christians have either fled the country or been killed due to the Muslim majority using the democratic process to strip minorities of their rights and oppress them. Democracy in action folks! We should count ourselves BLESSED to live in a world where first world peasants are so enlightened that they're able to know these things.

 

[Arakhor]

I assume that you're being satirical, Attackfighter, because your last post made very little sense.

 

[Crezth]

I assume that you're being satirical, Attackfighter, because your last post made very little sense.

Ignore him. He's a really bad troll.

 

[G-Max]

But bro, every country in the world should function exactly like the USA, because the USA society is compatible with foreign societies at all levels of economic and social progress. That's why it worked so well in Iraq, where half of the 8 million Christians have either fled the country or been killed due to the Muslim majority using the democratic process to strip minorities of their rights and oppress them. Democracy in action folks! We should count ourselves BLESSED to live in a world where first world peasants are so enlightened that they're able to know these things.

We all agree that the occupation of Iraq was grossly mishandled. This doesn't excuse censorship in China.

 

[Arakhor]

And censorship in China doesn't excuse internet vigilantes playing silly buggers with national cyber-defences.

 

[G-Max]

Yes it does, dude. It totally does.

 

[Arakhor]

I think we have to agree to disagree, as we usually do.

 

[Farm Boy]

Eh, no particular fondness for Anonymous, but if what they are attacking is specifically the censorship of free speech and everyone's universal right to be a douchebag on the internet, I'm going to have to give them a pass and wish them well on this one.

 

[jtb1127]

And censorship in China doesn't excuse internet vigilantes playing silly buggers with national cyber-defences.

And what do you have against vigilantism? If a state is incapable of protecting its citizens rights then it becomes an obligation of individuals to take action. Also, the hackers are not actors of another state so these actions in now way threaten state sovereignty (a likely response to my claim).

 

[Arakhor]

Vigilantism may work in the short term, but generally all it does is provokes harsh reprisals on anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire. If Anonymous were to be successful and the Chinese response is thus to tighten their security even further, then nothing has been gained by their illegal actions.

 

[attackfighter]

We all agree that the occupation of Iraq was grossly mishandled. This doesn't excuse censorship in China.

You are clueless. Occupation of Iraq has nothing to do with anything. The point is that Western ideas implemented by foreign cultures doesn't always end well. It goes far beyond Iraq. Ideas like democracy, communism and free trade have all f***ed up the world far more than China's authoritarian government has. If dumb ethnocentric Western kids want something to mount a feeble protest over, they should take a look in the mirror. But they wont because they're indoctrinated into thinking that they know what's best for everyone.

 

[jtb1127]

Vigilantism may work in the short term, but generally all it does is provokes harsh reprisals on anyone unlucky enough to be caught in the crossfire. If Anonymous were to be successful and the Chinese response is thus to tighten their security even further, then nothing has been gained by their illegal actions.

Many rebellions have resulted in harsh reprisals, but I would doubt you'd use that as a justification for an authoritarian state in that situation. One who uses this argument would likely say, "we might as well not do anything because the risk of getting punished is not worth the chance of changing something that is in need of change". When applying vigilantism, like we are presently, that is precisely what you're doing.

The idea of vigilantism that we're dealing with here is quite different from the traditional sense because it involves extrajudicial justice between two separate states. The judicial system that is being transcended would be that of international laws or courts. This makes it more unlikely that anyone will be "caught in the crossfire". Plus, this is internet vigilantism, which makes it even more unlikely of such events taking place.

I've been having bad luck with some users on this forum site ignoring most of what I say, so to summarize, you seemed to think that hactivism was bad because the hackers are vigilantes. While following up on what you seemed to think was axiomatic (that vigilantes are bad) you said that it often results in tighter control. My responses are above.

 

[Old Hippy]

its probably good practice for when they turn their sights back to the US of A.

 

[G-Max]

The point is that Western ideas implemented by foreign cultures doesn't always end well.

Western ideas implemented by Western cultures don't always end well (example: fascism)
Foreign ideas implemented by foreign cultures don't always end well (example: Islam)
Foreign ideas implemented by Western cultures don't always end well (example: the Godzilla movie with Matthew Broderick)

Cultures evolve.

Anonymous is not trying to force Western values on China.

You have no argument.

 

[Save_Ferris]

Hackers really aren't news. They're mosquitoes: Annoying, everywhere, and can cause harm, but not that harmful.

 

[Arakhor]

I love how you place Islam on a similar footing to fascism, especially how Christianity was originally also a foreign idea implemented by a foreign culture.

 

[G-Max]

you place Islam on a similar footing to fascism

Only in the same sense that I placed them both on a similar footing to a Matthew Broderick movie

If it's any consolation, I consider all three of the Abrahamic religions to be about equally despicable.