Before going into detail please watch the following video:
Now for those who are unfamiliar with the” anonymous” name here is a brief back story to clarify and misconceptions. Anonymous is not simply a band of hackers donning the over publicized “Guy Fawkes” masks, terrorizing major government and corporate databases and leading the charge in major protests such as “Occupy Wall Street”. The brand is one that takes the quintessence of the definition of being open source: in other words anyone seeking to fight injustice *(subject to the person’s paradigm) can take on the name. Thus it is much more suitable to imagine it as a internet movement that has significant geo-political impact that governments cannot overlook rather then a group with set rules and hierarchy. This flexibility allows for outsiders to believe that they are fighting against a single unit instead of separate people which actually was one of the factors that inspired the use of the infamous mask used in the movie “V for Vendetta”.
We are legion
Now that you are updated, the video at hand addresses the citizens of the United States but due to our close proximity to the US and the presence of CANANON *(Canadian Anonymous) members the matter cannot be overlooked. In summary, Anonymous had called a temporary cease fire against the US government who they had been targeting due to a string of events such as the take down of WikiLeaks, Snowden’s exile, etc. The message states that they want the people to stand up to the injustice and immoral acts.
“To the people of America, you have 1 year. 1 year, to show your strength. 1 year, to show that you want change in your country”
Inspecting the transcript, it is very possible to assume that Anonymous is losing traction and manpower to sustain long term web attacks against government secured databases and the number of arrests are steadily crushing any remaining resistance. It seems like this is a last ditch effort to stir up controversy and scare the general public into taking action within an one year interval in which the core group has time to recuperate. Think of it as a tactical retreat that an army would take to count their losses, recruit, plan and redeploy. It sounds extremely logical and reasonable; nevertheless, knowing the dynamic and persistence of the group suggests that this is not their primary intention. Anonymous is not one to make hollow threats, for example their fight against the Church of Scientology which drove tens of thousands from behind their computers to the fronts of the various branches of the Church began all with a video of Tom Cruise talking about his beliefs that leaked onto the web. The Church attempted to censor it but in the domain of Anonymous (a movement dedicated to fighting censorship) war was imminent and the result was dubbed Project Chanology. Remember this event occurred over a single video being taken down, imagine if the reason was saving people from unconstitutional acts. The moral motivation is exponentially greater and the likeliness of Anonymous giving up is slim to none.
Going with this premise, we can extrapolate the information and assume that the video is not a prank. This call to arms truly can be the spark for a cyber american revolution that has real world implications. Laws surrounding the confidential information being collected by the government are subject to change. If the public demands the change and reform of agencies like the NSA, domestic spying will be flipped upside down. Post 9/11 regulations are not free from scrutiny either. We are essentially saying that 2014 will be a year of great importance to not only America but the governing of the internet and the paths people choose. Only time will tell what lies before us.
Sources:
https://www.youtube.com/user/OfficialAnonymousTV1?feature=watch (Visited on Jan. 9 2014)
http://www.downwiththe.org/chanology-protests (visited Jan. 8 2014)
http://anonnews.org/press/item/1372/ (visited Jan 9 2014)
http://www.dailytech.com/Anonymous+Declares+War+on+the+US+Government+Following+Aaron+Swartz+Suicide/article29754.htm (visited Jan 8 2014)
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