Anonymous: Who are they?

Anonymous

Terrorists? Cyber-terrorrsts? Warriors? Liberals? Conservative? Who are these people? Why do they do what they do?

Anonymous (used as a mass noun) is an Internet meme originating 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, representing the concept of many on-line community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic, digitized global brain.^[1] It is also generally considered to be a blanket term for members of certain Internet subcultures, a way to refer to the actions of people in an environment where their actual identities are not known.^[2]

Anonymous are (because Anonymous is not a one-person organization) of hackers, computer geeks and arguably truth seekers whose mission in life is to be the voice of the oppressed and the working class. Bac k in the 80 and 90s, during the inception of the Internet, hackers were generally folks who would find weakness in the Internet and exploit it. Their goals were not to steal or cause harm, but to inform users that their site was hackable. Yes, some did some naughty things, but nothing to the point of murder. Yet over the years, hackers got a bad rap and the group broke into two groups. One to commit crime and the other to prevent crimes.

One such groups are Anonymous. Anonymous started off relatively unknown. They were responsible for the attack on the Church of Scientology, but their claim to fame was the support of Wikileaks founder Julian Assange. Assange's actions of releasing secret documents and notes from whistleblowers resulted in the accusation of Assange raping two women. This eventually resulted in the closing of Assange accounts and Anonymous stepped up to bat. Anonymous shut down: RIAA (http://news.softpedia.com/news/Anonymous-Attacks-RIAA-over-LimeWire-Shutdown-164053.shtml), Amazon, PayPal, BankAmerica, PostFinance, MasterCard and Visa. Sarah Palin claimed she was hacked by Anonymous, but according to Anonymous, " "We don’t really care about Sarah Palin that much, to be honest. I don’t really know what she’s trying to accomplish or what attention she is trying to gain. We personally don’t care about Sarah Palin"^[60]"

Now, Anonymous is going after the big boys: Koch Industry. This is what they had to say

OpWisconsin #2

Anonymous #OpWisconsin Press Release February 27^th 2011
Greetings from Anonymous and Magnanimous,
Anonymous believes that internet traffic is free speech. The argument behind this idea is far more convincing than the notion that "money is free speech,"  for only a few will join the ranks of the wealthy while the internet is becoming a universal right -- as is the right to join the Anonymous meme. This sentiment is of particular relevance when we consider that the Kochs were behind the recent attack on democracy known as "Citizens United."
Today we, Anonymous, targeted only two pieces of the Koch brothers' vast empire of pawns. It is the opening salvo of what has become a call to arms for the American people, to stand up and fight against the corruption that has been slowly, insidiously invading the Democratic process.
We are dedicated to the proposition that this nation is about a free people - and that government of the people, by the people, for the people, shall not perish from the earth. When government has become so corrupted that corporations and the wealthy few are more powerful than the people it is time for we, the people to act.
We have seen the reports that #OpWisconsin and Anonymous are affiliated with the left. This is both true and false, as are all statements regarding the political leanings of Anonymous. Anonymous is not interested in political parties. We are not Democrats, Republicans, or Tea Partiers. We are all and none of these. We are citizens of all nations - free, imbued from birth with certain unalienable rights, to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness; free and fair democratic elections; transparent and competent government that is driven solely by one agenda - the people's agenda. We are citizens of Humanity. We are not bound to any country, government, or political party. We believe that government should be of the people, by the people, for the people. We are against corporate oligarchies, dictatorships, and evil in the world, no matter where it is.
Magnanimous concurs with Anonymous. Koch is simply the soup du jour. There are plenty of corrupt fish out there, and when we go after them, armchair generals will call us extremists. This is par for the course, as anything not along the party line is called 'terrorist' or 'Cyber Terrorism'. They are the ones that have allied themselves with astroturfing operations from both sides.
One of the glaring facts of the last few days is the media could care less. Anons and Magnas launched the ToiletWars and some Koch related targets took a beating as well. To the media who ignored the men and women at the Wisconsin capitol, including the left wing media, namely CNN and MSNBC: We have noted this discrepancy. You are responsible to the people, not the corporations. Your role is to inform the public. You have failed. Instead, you have chosen to dull their souls with Cirque' Du Freak at the Oscars.  It will not go unpunished!
Magnas and Anons do not attack media; however your crass unwillingness to help the protestors have their voices heard is inexcusable. Your money trail is going to receive a reminder on behalf of those with whom we stand: The people! We might expect corporate right and Tea Party media to ignore those in the cold, but the corporate left's silence is inexplicable. We Anons and Magnas don't care about the two party duopoly, but at least try harder to pretend you care. Democracy Now, was there! Where was CNN? Your advertisers will be hearing from us. If the shoe were on the other foot, and the right wing media ignored Tea Party complaints, they would find rabid iguanas in their beds.
Anonymous and Magnanimous invite you to join the discussion on IRC.  Please use your favorite IRC client to connect to irc.anonops.in, or, if that doesn't work, 85.17.103.23, on port 6667. You can also click here to use a web client and go directly to the channel. Join channel #OpWisconsin but please, leave the politics at the door. This is about democracy vs. corporate oligarchy, not left vs. right.

We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not forgive.
We do not forget.
Expect us - always.


We are Magnanimous.
We are Anyone.
We do not negotiate.
We do not compromise.
We are in your legislature fixing your liberties.

So in other words, Anonymous is supporting the labor movement from the behemoth Koch Industry. So does this make Anonymous a liberal organization? Uh no.

http://anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=621
A handy bullet list guide for visiting journalists

• Anonymous has no official position on abortion
• Anonymous has no official position on tax policy
• Anonymous has no official position on health care
• Anonymous has no official position on collective bargaining agreements
• Anonymous has no official position on campaign finance reform
• Anonymous has no official position on the Tea Party
• Anonymous has no official position on the Democratic Party
• Anonymous has no official position on the Republican Party
• Anonymous has no official position on the Green Party
• Anonymous has no official position on global warming
• Anonymous has no official position on off-shore drilling
• Anonymous has no official position on budget deficits
• Anonymous has no official position on George Soros
• Anonymous has no official position on the Koch brothers
• Anonymous has no official position on Fox News
• Anonymous has no official position on MSNBC
• Anonymous has no official position on CNN
• Anonymous has no official position on NAFTA
• Anonymous has no official position on the IMF or World Bank
• Anonymous has no official position on Wall Street
• Anonymous has no official position on entitlement programs
• Anonymous has no official position on the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan
• Anonymous has a very fucking official position on LULZ

But Anonymous would support the Republican party if the Democratic Party was evil. In all honesty, and this is my opine and not Anonymous', I think that Anonymous is what the the Chicago 7 was in the 60s. Abbie Hoffman, Jerry Rubin, David Dellinger, Tom Hayden, Rennie Davis, John Froines and Lee Weiner. Though liberals, they protested the DNC. Though supportive of labor, Anonymous would hold the DNC and DLC accountable if they were responsible for heinous crimes. Anonymous is what the Chicago 7 was but instead of getting teargas in their eyes or carrying signs, Anonymous is behind a keyboard doling out justice when our elected officials refuse to do anything.