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May 7, 2012

Anonymous protects what's morally right

By Cassandra Chase Special to the Record-Eagle

Anonymous is an anarchy based group of computer nerds. This group of computer hackers has a long history, and it originates in 2003 as a popular Internet meme.

Many people have this twisted idea that Anonymous is a group of kids, but in reality it is older people behind the keyboard. According to a former Anonymous member, membership is decentralized and very easy to accomplish. It can as simple as keeping your identity private while you do online activities, such as Facebooking or playing an online game. It can also be as difficult as hacking the website of the FBI and CIA.

Anonymous stands for what is morally right and will put up a fight for the people who don't have a voice. Their are two types of Anonymous members: the ones who stay secret online and the ones who wear the Guy Fawkes mask at protests. (Guy Fawkes is the best-known member of the Gunpowder Plot. The Gunpowder Plot was a plan to blow up the British House of Lords on Nov. 5, 1605.)

Not many people are familiar with what Anonymous is. I personally think that the news isn't reporting about them, because they don't want more people to join Anonymous. This group of computer hackers gained a lot of awareness on Jan. 19, when many websites protested against the Stop Online Privacy Act bill. It was known as the Black Out, because it was going to demonstrate what the Internet will look like if SOPA was passed. Many people changed their Facebook profile picture to any anti-SOPA picture.

As a result of this protest, Barack Obama vetoed the SOPA bill. This isn't the end; this is the beginning of what is going on in the world around you. Another bill called ACTA, the Anti-Counterfeiting Trade Agreement, is worse then what SOPA would ever be. ACTA was passed Oct. 1, 2011. ACTA was made in private, because the government officials who made the bill knew people would freak out and riot.

Anonymous isn't rioting. It is starting all-out Internet warfare.

The only way people found out about ACTA is when the website Megaupload was shut down. Megaupload was a website were you could watch any movie, ever made, for free. The shutdown of Megaupload was the last straw for Anonymous; it is attacking anyone who supports ACTA.

Many people who supported SOPA and ACTA didn't really read on what the bill was about.

Anonymous brings awareness to people who are oblivious to the world around them.

In my opinion that is the best thing you can do for someone, people need to know what is going on with the government.

People in the United States live in this fantasy that their is nothing wrong and their only worries are what brand of jeans they wear and the number of Facebook friends. People need to wake up from their dreams and do something other then be taken advantage of.

It makes me sick.

Cassandra Chase is a junior at Grand Traverse Academy.

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