Help power Marketplace this winter when you support the show today. Donate Now!
Codebreaker

Anonymous campaign that you might actually get behind

Marc Sanchez Jul 9, 2012

The hacking group Anonymous is angry at so many people and launches so many attacks at so many different websites that’s it’s tough to even care what it’s up to sometimes. Here’s one I rather like, however. And it’s decidedly low-tech. Instead of launching a DDoS (Distributed Denial of Service) attack on a site as a form of protest, members of the group have decided to literally clean the streets of  Japan. The Verge reports:

The event is the Japanese group’s first public demonstration, and it’s using the occasion to speak out against recently-passed revisions to the country’s copyright law. The changes criminalize illegal downloading, and would see Japanese ISPs begin monitoring internet traffic for suspicious activity. Today’s event follows a series of DDoS attacks last week on the websites of the country’s two major political parties, various government ministries, JASRAC (Japan’s equivalent to ASCAP), and the Japanese supreme court.


OK, so they did launch DDoS attacks, so they’re up to their old tricks. But cleaning the streets? That’s a new trick I’d like to see more of. Come to think of it, people won’t stop throwing trash in my front yard. I’m constantly going out to fetch food wrappers, scraps of paper, and cans. Maybe I should figure out a way to irk my local chapter of Anonymous, and they can come over with garbage bags in hand.

 

There’s a lot happening in the world.  Through it all, Marketplace is here for you. 

You rely on Marketplace to break down the world’s events and tell you how it affects you in a fact-based, approachable way. We rely on your financial support to keep making that possible. 

Your donation today powers the independent journalism that you rely on. For just $5/month, you can help sustain Marketplace so we can keep reporting on the things that matter to you.