Tag: sony

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PSN credit card database compromised

Two days after shutting down PSN, Sony admitted to an event they described as an “external intrusion.” A million rape jokes and three days later, Sony will not come clean about what this means for the millions of customers who have their credit card information stored on PSN. There is no way for Sony to confirm that their customers’ credit card information is safe. As per usual, Sony has remained silent in hopes that this will be forgotten. Anonymous does not forget.

Anonymous has been very clear that it is in no way responsible for the most recent attacks on Sony. However, Anonymous takes responsibility for forcing Sony to reveal that the security of PSN was compromised. Anonymous shed the shackles of the Low Orbit Ion Cannon by using their voice to convince otherwise indifferent masses into asking Sony the right questions at the right time. Sony has failed their customers in a more profound way than when they sued GeoHotz.

It is true that Sony could have profited by shutting down its servers at a time when they knew Anonymous would take the blame. Now that Sony has admitted this isn’t the case, the consumers must ask what this means to their individual security. If I had made the mistake of giving Playstation Network my credit card information, I would be maxing the fucker out. Beats the shit out of paying for someone else’s hookers!

Anonymous may have spoiled gaming for a  day with the Low Orbit Ion Cannon and then made a fool of themselves with a Facebook Event that went south. But on the other hand, Sony has spoiled gaming for 5 days and accidentally dropped the credit card dox on all their own customers.

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Hate

Anonymous humiliated

"I really thought we had them, this time..."

Yesterday over 3,000 members of Anonymous showed up in Sony retail outlets around the world. Their stated intent was to raise awareness about how they could not run Linux on a Playstation, a feature Sony has removed due to problems with piracy. Their complaint only helped salesman bring attention to new features in Sony products. Meanwhile, customers mocked and teased “Anons” so deeply that the shame even penetrated their wicked Guy Fawkes masks from V for Vendetta. These “boycotts” were a free publicity gift from Anonymous to Sony that actually increased sales.

This is part of a disturbing new trend for Anonymous, which seems to be increasingly ready to self-destruct all over the wrong targets. After siding with the freedom of speech during the WikiLeaks cablegate crisis, Anonymous has been unable to find an equally righteous cause. Sony has done no wrong that their customers can even understand. Failing to see this fact time and time again, the “hyper-conscious” Anonymous has acted out their own “We do not forgive” mantra until it’s turned into real-life public humiliation.

Completely unable to recognize the views of the outside world, the ever more cult-like Anonymous is left to grapple with its internal power structures. The respect that leaders within “Operation” Payback gained from attacking Mastercard, Paypal, and Visa in defense of Julian Assange has been used to turn a one-off “operation” into several months of humiliating failures. The creators of “Operation” Payback are simply choosing targets to keep their peons interested. As Anonymous continues to claim that they have no leaders, the world wonders why they’re acting like they do. The leaders of “Operation” Payback are coercing actions out of Anonymous.

Anonymous claims to be self-critical and self-correcting. Anonymous claims to have no leadership. Yet any criticism of leadership within Anonymous leads to excommunication. They will say “it cannot possibly happen, because we are anarchic.” This naive idea is encoded into the culture. To criticize the individuals who do clearly lead will often result in Anons making the equivalent of an argument for divine right. They have taken the reins of Anarchy, so they deserve their power. Quite wrongly, Anons often refer to this idea as meritocracy.

Another tactic to deflect attention from the growth of the cult leader class are the “democratic” mechanisms within Anonymous. Anyone who has witnessed a vote in action can not help but wonder: How is it that a group of around fifty voters represents the hundreds or thousands that it takes to carry out protests and attacks? It is fairly obvious that the cult leaders of Anonymous use democracy only as a show to maintain a positive identity.

Anonymous isn’t anarchy.

Anonymous isn’t meritocracy.

Anonymous isn’t democracy.

Anonymous is cult.

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Hate

A million people refuse to pump gas on April 15th

…And the other 310 million people don’t even care, because boycotting gasoline for a single day is like trying not to take a shit for a day. You’ll just do it tomorrow.

“But, by boycotting gas on April 15th, we’re sending the big oil companies a message!”

Demand isn’t affected if you still use the same amount of gas as usual. Through what warped version of reality is that even considered a boycott? Sure, if any group of people refused to use gasoline for a day, that would reduce demand, because they’ve reduced their consumption habits. But simply changing the timing of your purchase is not a boycott at all.

The faux-boycott’s only logical source is the oil companies themselves. This April 15th “boycott” was set up as a publicity trick by oil companies. It is well known that when the weather turns nicer, demand for gas goes down. People can ride their bikes to work and enjoy it. On top of that, people who do drive are getting better mileage because they aren’t using heat or air conditioning. Right now, oil prices have reached a peak. The faux-boycott gives the people who are angriest about the high prices an outlet to vent their frustrations and feel self-righteous without hurting the oil companies. When the prices inevitably fall, the people who participated in the “boycott” will feel justified, as if it was actually their own actions that caused the fall in price.

The oil companies are rich enough to afford social engineers that keep the human herd content with their prices. This faux-boycott has been employed many times and will probably resurface many more. In fact, even Anonymous is trig enough to use it on Sony. Since attacking PSN causes Anonymous to lose all support, they’ve turned to the same strategy of the oil companies. Hilariously, their “boycott” of Sony will occur on April 16th, the day after the biggest gas “boycott” in history. Since no one really cares about Sony, only a few thousand people are participating in this secondary faux-boycott.