Teens arrested over Wikileaks (Operation Payback)

[anarchir]

http://www.rawstory.com/rs/2011/01/arrested-uk-anonymous-web-attacks/

Five men have been arrested in the United Kingdom for their involvement in "recent and ongoing" attacks by an online "non-group" of hacktivists that calls itself "Anonymous."

Three teenagers aged 15, 16 and 19 along with two men, aged 20 and 26, were arrested by authorities Thursday morning in connection with offenses under the Computer Misuse Act, BBC News reported.

Following the arrest of five people in Britain in connection with the "Operation Payback" cyber-attacks in support of WikiLeaks, the FBI announced mass raids across the United States in connection with the case.

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"FBI agents today executed more than 40 search warrants throughout the United States as part of an ongoing investigation into recent coordinated cyber attacks against major companies and organizations," a bureau press release states.

Though the bureau did not say if any individuals were arrested during the raids, it did confirm a link between the US raids and the arrests in Britain. The bureau said suspects, if charged, could face up to 10 years in prison.

The police actions indicate that governments on both sides of the Atlantic are determined to prevent hacktivists from taking revenge against companies that ceased to do business with WikiLeaks following the release of US State Department cables late last year.

Article also contains content describing the DOS attacks, the Pirate Party calling politicians to action, etc.

[LTKoblinsky]

Individuals vandalizing the property of private companies is immoral, no matter who's name its done in. While there could be something I'm missing, I think this demonstrates government protecting private property for once, even if their motives for doing so aren't pure.

[anarchir]

Except they arent just going after private companies, they go after the government sites as well.  And the private companies that they went after were the ones that had decided to throw their lot in with the government.

[sillyperson]

It is possible for something to be immoral, for the perpetrator to deserve - and get - justice, for the person(s) whose property was impacted to receive restitution... and for me to think the perp(s) are hella cool.

[LTKoblinsky]

Except they arent just going after private companies, they go after the government sites as well.  And the private companies that they went after were the ones that had decided to throw their lot in with the government.

That's a child's view of it. They may have been trying to avoid government ire in the case of any future cases. Either way,  private companies have the right to refuse business.

[One two three]

Should we celebrate?

[Ecolitan]

It is possible for something to be immoral, for the perpetrator to deserve - and get - justice, for the person(s) whose property was impacted to receive restitution... and for me to think the perp(s) are hella cool.

Yes, but you'd be wrong about the perps... kinda

While private companies that cut off wikileaks funding were not inititiating force by doing so, chances are good they've done something else that really was initiating force so fuck 'em.

[LTKoblinsky]

It is possible for something to be immoral, for the perpetrator to deserve - and get - justice, for the person(s) whose property was impacted to receive restitution... and for me to think the perp(s) are hella cool.

Yes, but you'd be wrong about the perps... kinda

While private companies that cut off wikileaks funding were not inititiating force by doing so, chances are good they've done something else that really was initiating force so fuck 'em.

And you've never initiated force yourself? We should not condemn these companies on what they might have done in other, unrelated instances. The fact is they aren't doing anything wrong; they are merely refusing services.

[Andy]

It is possible for something to be immoral, for the perpetrator to deserve - and get - justice, for the person(s) whose property was impacted to receive restitution... and for me to think the perp(s) are hella cool.

Yes, but you'd be wrong about the perps... kinda

While private companies that cut off wikileaks funding were not inititiating force by doing so, chances are good they've done something else that really was initiating force so fuck 'em.

And you've never initiated force yourself? We should not condemn these companies on what they might have done in other, unrelated instances. The fact is they aren't doing anything wrong; they are merely refusing services.

Oh they're definitely doing something 'wrong' it might well be the only thing they can do as a result of the decision making structure of the organisation, but it's definitely wrong.