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Fire Walk With Me

(38,893 posts)
Sun Feb 24, 2013, 09:58 PM Feb 2013

‘Anonymous’ Forces 40+ Child Pornography Sites Offline

Cassandra ?@CassandraRules

“@YourAnonNews: ‘Anonymous’ Forces 40+ Child Pornography Sites Offline
http://techland.time.com/2011/10/24/anonymous-takes-down-40-child-pornography-sites/

…” awesome job guys!
Retweeted by - D -


Anonymous has turned its attentions from corporations to pedophiles with the news that the hacktivist group has taken down multiple child pornography sites, including one of the largest known, with account details of its 1589 users being posted online as evidence.

The incident was just part of something Anonymous is calling “Operation Darknet,” a move by the group to eliminate child pornography on the Tor network. Tor, which was originally developed as a way of protecting government communications by the U.S. Navy, now describes itself as “a network of virtual tunnels that allows people and groups to improve their privacy and security on the Internet.” But the privacy and anonymity it offers has been abused by child pornographers, something that Anonymous aims to correct with its new campaign.

In its statement about the takedown, Anonymous says that the group “identified [hosting service] Freedom Hosting as the host of the largest collection of child pornography on the internet,” adding “By taking down Freedom Hosting, we are eliminating 40+ child pornography websites, among these is Lolita City, one of the largest child pornography websites to date containing more than 100GB of child pornography. We will continue to not only crash Freedom Hosting’s server, but any other server we find to contain, promote, or support child pornography.”

The group’s statement ends with the following demands:

“Remove all child pornography content from your servers. Refuse to provide hosting services to any website dealing with child pornography. This statement is not just aimed at Freedom Hosting, but everyone on the internet. It does not matter who you are, if we find you to be hosting, promoting, or supporting child pornography, you will become a target.”

(That is the entire article.)

58 replies = new reply since forum marked as read
Highlight: NoneDon't highlight anything 5 newestHighlight 5 most recent replies
‘Anonymous’ Forces 40+ Child Pornography Sites Offline (Original Post) Fire Walk With Me Feb 2013 OP
WOW Sekhmets Daughter Feb 2013 #1
Awesome libodem Feb 2013 #2
Groovy Benton D Struckcheon Feb 2013 #3
Sweet! I would love to buy Anonymous a drink IRL! In_The_Wind Feb 2013 #4
+1000!! FirstLight Feb 2013 #14
So do I In_The_Wind Feb 2013 #16
Finally! One everyone can agree with. Baitball Blogger Feb 2013 #5
Anonymous!!!!! siligut Feb 2013 #6
The Angel reference made me smile. white_wolf Feb 2013 #25
Cyber heroes!! ailsagirl Feb 2013 #7
K & R !!! WillyT Feb 2013 #8
While I really appreciate any inteference with taking down such filth serving the lowest human namaste2 Feb 2013 #9
To be fair Canuckistanian Feb 2013 #13
The offenders are likely to re-offend and now LE can use the lists as seeds for other investigations Bernardo de La Paz Feb 2013 #17
Law enforcement cannot collect tainted evidence-- tblue37 Feb 2013 #33
It's not tainted. eggplant Feb 2013 #40
That is exactly what I said. The cops cannot collect tainted evidence If they don't follow all legal tblue37 Feb 2013 #54
D'oh! eggplant Feb 2013 #55
and what about this... Swagman Feb 2013 #10
I doubt innocent people will be identified. jerseyjack Feb 2013 #24
I disagree Swagman Feb 2013 #34
Another situation... SwissTony Feb 2013 #44
Hard to forget about their pipoman Feb 2013 #11
these vigilantes can sit by me roguevalley Feb 2013 #22
Ditto! I have a very common name. In a county of 300,000, Dustlawyer Feb 2013 #26
WHAT?? moreland01 Feb 2013 #38
Yes Dustlawyer! It is a strange community! Lol Dustlawyer Feb 2013 #58
Damn. I'm a hypocrite. Fire Walk With Me Feb 2013 #32
Thank you Anonymous!!!!!! Tumbulu Feb 2013 #12
"Anonymous" relies on whistleblowers for their efforts.... Spitfire of ATJ Feb 2013 #15
I remember reading about this when it came out in 2011 Danascot Feb 2013 #18
Correct... Fedaykin Feb 2013 #20
Saved the 2012 election from another Ohio steal by Rove and his thugs usafvet65 Feb 2013 #41
Wow, I missed that Hartmann show.... tpsbmam Feb 2013 #50
Good one! Fedaykin Feb 2013 #57
i know right? iamthebandfanman Feb 2013 #43
Anon vs TOR - Oh the LUZ !!! (nt) reACTIONary Feb 2013 #19
I hope they didn't fuck with an ongoing investigation. MADem Feb 2013 #21
I'll bet Westboro Baptist never had that kind of success Jack Rabbit Feb 2013 #23
GOOOO ANONYMOUS! LadyHawkAZ Feb 2013 #27
The pervs are squirming. nt Zorra Feb 2013 #28
Hey, didn't Free Republic's site just go down?? coincidence? tomm2thumbs Feb 2013 #29
Freedom Hosting? They'd pay extra for that! nt. druidity33 Feb 2013 #36
it's interesting that the main hosting site calls itself Freedom Hosting. BlancheSplanchnik Feb 2013 #30
I wouldn't doubt it get the red out Feb 2013 #47
Please tell me they found some bad shit on Karl Rove's computer. nm rhett o rick Feb 2013 #31
Funny how Anonymous can do this, but the gov't can't seem to be able to? 99th_Monkey Feb 2013 #35
I'd guess that the servers are in foreign countries (n/t) thesquanderer Feb 2013 #37
Good! n/t irisblue Feb 2013 #39
This one sounds like the REAL Anonymous, not some imitation chumps with limited skills Coyotl Feb 2013 #42
I can't feel bad about this. TDale313 Feb 2013 #45
Good job!!!! get the red out Feb 2013 #46
Great work, but old news . . . ET Awful Feb 2013 #48
THANK YOU ANONYMOUS Skittles Feb 2013 #49
It may be old news but it's new to me and clearly others here tpsbmam Feb 2013 #51
I am starting GRENADE Feb 2013 #52
awesome! deafskeptic Feb 2013 #53
Ohio and Child Porn leanforward Feb 2013 #56

namaste2

(74 posts)
9. While I really appreciate any inteference with taking down such filth serving the lowest human
Sun Feb 24, 2013, 10:31 PM
Feb 2013

activity imaginable, but my question is this; they posted specific details, but can law enforcement use that to prosecute those involved or will this prevent any criminal charges?

Canuckistanian

(42,290 posts)
13. To be fair
Sun Feb 24, 2013, 10:51 PM
Feb 2013

Law enforcement agencies don't have the expertise that Anonymous has.

Besides, Anonymous doesn't want a cozy relationship with authority of any kind. They prefer their own brand of justice.

tblue37

(65,619 posts)
33. Law enforcement cannot collect tainted evidence--
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 02:54 AM
Feb 2013

i.e., evidence they gather without dotting "i's" and crossing "t's" of defendants' legal rights without risking having the evidence tossed out if the taint becomes known. But Anonymous is not law enforcement, so evidence they expose is not subject to the same rules.

eggplant

(3,926 posts)
40. It's not tainted.
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 11:53 AM
Feb 2013

If you break into your neighbor's house, discover something, then tell the cops, they can certainly get a warrant and go search the place themselves. You just can't do it on their behalf (in collusion with them).

tblue37

(65,619 posts)
54. That is exactly what I said. The cops cannot collect tainted evidence If they don't follow all legal
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 06:24 PM
Feb 2013

procedures (dotting "i's" and crossing "t's&quot , then the evidence will be inadmissable. But Anonymous is not law enforcement. They can collect evidence any way they want, and the evidence is untainted because it was not collected by the cops. Of course, if Anonymous break laws while collecting that evidence, then they themselves could run afoul of the law, but the original evidence would still be admissible.

Swagman

(1,934 posts)
10. and what about this...
Sun Feb 24, 2013, 10:41 PM
Feb 2013

"with account details of its 1589 users being posted online as evidence. "

I believe that is irresponsible and dangerous.

While taking out child porn sites is positive, how do we know these are genuine 'users' and not people using false names...like yours for instance.

There could be a terrible backlash against an innocent person and it's happened before.

 

jerseyjack

(1,361 posts)
24. I doubt innocent people will be identified.
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 12:05 AM
Feb 2013

they source IRL. That is where the bills for the internet service go to. While it is reasonable that many people have the same name, they would not have the same home or business address.

Swagman

(1,934 posts)
34. I disagree
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 03:28 AM
Feb 2013

could be using stolen credit card details.

I'm all for them taking down the sites but perhaps better to preserve the evidence and err on the side of caution.

SwissTony

(2,560 posts)
44. Another situation...
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 01:45 PM
Feb 2013

what if it's Dad's credit card being used but it's son accessing the sites.

Some people with Wifi don't know how to protect their access. It could be a neighbour accessing their system.

But evidence...yeah11

 

pipoman

(16,038 posts)
11. Hard to forget about their
Sun Feb 24, 2013, 10:43 PM
Feb 2013

disregard for anyone while posting and corrupting other less 'low hanging fruit' like this, to impose their beliefs and morals upon us all..regardless the cost to anyone who may well be innocent..disregard for any sort of due process. They truly are modern day vigilantes..as with vigilantes, they approach recklessly..

Oh, and after some less than favorable sentiment from both sides on some of their activities, it occurred to me this may be a PR campaign.

Dustlawyer

(10,501 posts)
26. Ditto! I have a very common name. In a county of 300,000,
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 12:31 AM
Feb 2013

there are 13 other guys registered to vote in the county w/the same 1st and last name. I am on the FAA No Fly list b/c a suspected terrorist from South Yemen (at least that is what the FBI agent assigned to help clear me every time I fly, which was a lot told me. This was 2001, I am still on the damn list! So when vigilantes start targeting people THEY deem guilty, it is, and will be, wide open for abuse!

 

Spitfire of ATJ

(32,723 posts)
15. "Anonymous" relies on whistleblowers for their efforts....
Sun Feb 24, 2013, 10:52 PM
Feb 2013

That means SOMEONE in authority had the information and was keeping it private.

 

Fedaykin

(118 posts)
20. Correct...
Sun Feb 24, 2013, 11:42 PM
Feb 2013

Last edited Mon Feb 25, 2013, 09:51 PM - Edit history (1)

Because the article is the one from Time Magazine from 2011. A little dated, what have you done for us lately Anonymous??

tpsbmam

(3,927 posts)
50. Wow, I missed that Hartmann show....
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 05:34 PM
Feb 2013

many thanks for sharing that. Thom is a person not at all prone to silly conspiracy theories -- that was well documented & incredibly persuasive. Boy, if true, we truly own Anonymous a massive debt of thanks!

iamthebandfanman

(8,127 posts)
43. i know right?
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 12:47 PM
Feb 2013

i was wondering why a two year old article that had been posted back then, when it was written, was being reposted 2 years later?

MADem

(135,425 posts)
21. I hope they didn't fuck with an ongoing investigation.
Sun Feb 24, 2013, 11:47 PM
Feb 2013

FBI did a huge "roll up" not too long ago, and Interpol was involved as well. Hundreds were arrested and charged. Convictions are ongoing.

Doing the name and shame game could be regarded as "fruit of the poisoned tree." I'm no lawyer, but I would be concerned that getting information "posted on the internet" might not have the right imprimatur....

Perhaps a lawyer could weigh in...

BlancheSplanchnik

(20,219 posts)
30. it's interesting that the main hosting site calls itself Freedom Hosting.
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 01:08 AM
Feb 2013

Like a dogwhistle for conservatives.

Just making an observation. .....

 

99th_Monkey

(19,326 posts)
35. Funny how Anonymous can do this, but the gov't can't seem to be able to?
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 03:54 AM
Feb 2013

or at least that's what this looks like. Maybe I'm wrong.

 

Coyotl

(15,262 posts)
42. This one sounds like the REAL Anonymous, not some imitation chumps with limited skills
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 12:23 PM
Feb 2013

at faking stuff while trying to get donations for their domain.

tpsbmam

(3,927 posts)
51. It may be old news but it's new to me and clearly others here
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 05:35 PM
Feb 2013

so it gets a K&R from me for visibility! Great work, Anonymous!

leanforward

(1,077 posts)
56. Ohio and Child Porn
Mon Feb 25, 2013, 08:00 PM
Feb 2013

Thank you anonymous for busting Freedom Hosting and keeping the Ohio State tabulators accurate.

Once again, thank you. I would like to buy you a beer sometime and just listen to the adventures of your rangers.

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