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DDOS Ethics

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Stoic Joker:
But in these cases, the information is of questionable use, while causing real concern about diplomatic ties and future effectiveness.  I think it's pretty dangerous, personally.-wraith808 (December 09, 2010, 11:08 AM)
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Really? Why? Because some self important blow hard got caught popping off in an internal memo about a foreign dignitary? How about in the interest of professionalism (which isn't too much to expect given what they're paid...) they just kept the snide comments to themselves instead of documenting them on government servers where they're supposed to be archived forever?

It is absolutely no different then two IT pros leaving a location and (after accidentally butt-dialing said client) running the client into the ground. End result? somebody looses a client, and/or gets fired. Quite simple really, don't say anything that you're not willing to stand behind.

...This is the core premise behind why drunken ramblings are bad.
-Stoic Joker (December 09, 2010, 05:54 PM)
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These aren't drunken ramblings, they are talks between colleagues in order to spread opinions and snap analyses, and weren't spread publicly.-wraith808 (December 10, 2010, 08:22 AM)
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It's an analogy, not a direct reference. The point being if you don't want to risk being quoted on something, don't say it.

In the interest of full disclosure all internal correspondence are to be stored for a period of time just in case they need to be reviewed by a committee of unknown people. So, tossing derogatory comments about foreign dignitaries around (which was "the rub" according to the main stream news reports) in that atmosphere is really pretty dumb ... As there is no actual expectation-of-privacy.

Sure Wikileaks short-stroked this to a much larger crowd than anticipated, but hay... Once again... For a group of people that are paid specifically for their ability to brilliantly articulate delicate subjects in a tactful manner... There almost just had to be another way of phrasing what ever it is that they said that would have been just as clear yet (some how) less abrasive ... Don't Ya think?


You are going to play the morality/ethics card for credit card companies and banks? Huge fortunes built on corpses and cocaine that haven't paid a dime in taxes because they pride themselves on tax (evasion) "loop-holes" that typically involve storing (hiding) money in other countries.
-Stoic Joker (December 09, 2010, 05:54 PM)
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That's such absurd hyperbole that I won't bother to respond.-CWuestefeld (December 10, 2010, 10:05 AM)
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Funny really, some folks seem to understand that part quite well. antidisestablishmentarianism much?


Aside from the morality argument, you haven't addressed my point about the attacks being bad tactics (because they may give incentives for other companies to stay away).

You attempted to address the point about bad strategy:
Do you really think the government needs an incentive to strip away additional rights and freedoms?
-Stoic Joker (December 09, 2010, 05:54 PM)
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But this isn't quite right. Of course they don't need any incentive. What they do need is an excuse, some rationalization that they can claim is the reason they need to do this. The fact that millions of dollars in revenue were lost because some of our most important commercial institutions were crippled by terrorists -- and that this happened during the Christmas shopping season, so mommy couldn't buy that doll for little Suzy -- proves that the government is needed to protect the citizens. The DDoS attacks give that fig leaf of rationalization (even though we both know there's nothing they could do about it anyway), and this is the opposite of what (I assume) the Anonymous folks want.-CWuestefeld (December 10, 2010, 10:05 AM)
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Keep your head down. Don't rock the boat. Don't make waves. Do what you're told. These are all popular phrases quipped by people that wish to keep individuality to a minimum so the line remains toed and the status quo enforced. Strangely nothing great has ever been accomplished this way.

Incentive vs. excuse, semantics - opposite sides of the same coin. Both words work perfectly in my sentence above. The point is the government gets what the government wants because it can and will spin-doctor anything into anything for the purpose of attaining a goal regardless of any (inconvenient) facts that may stand in the way. Much like the spaceship weather balloon that made Roswell New Mexico so popular back in the 40s. The only viable roadblock is to get enough people interested in what all the hub-bub is about that they stop and look into what is actually going on instead of just reflexively buying the party line. Then and only then, can you can get a grass-roots movement going that will have a chance of stopping the hammer from falling.

Now as far as tactics go. Is it considered to be a proper and acceptable tactic to try and silence ones opponent by filling all of the available space for communication with senseless chatter solely for the purpose of preventing them from stating their business in a timely fashion, even if this denies them of their right to a proper say? The answer to this - according to the rules of parliamentary procedure - is simply, yes. It's called a filibuster.

If the US government goes after this guy as a terrorist, for tattling on the US government it will most likely blowup in their faces by lending credence to his claims that they are indeed lying and hiding behind half-truths.

40hz:
I'm guessing that with Wikileaks effectively shut down (now that most future sources of information will be thinking twice) the whole incident will be allowed to fade into the background.

I also wouldn't be surprised if several of the principles involved eventually wound up: being arrested and convicted on some serious but unrelated criminal charge; overdosing on drugs or alcohol; committing suicide; or running their cars off deserted roads with no witnesses should they continue to embarass national governments after this.

Sad truth: you play in the big leagues, it's always for high stakes - and it's played for keeps.  :(

 

Stoic Joker:
I also wouldn't be surprised if several of the principles involved eventually wound up: being arrested and convicted on some serious but unrelated criminal charge; overdosing on drugs or alcohol; committing suicide; or running their cars off deserted roads with no witnesses should they continue to embarass national governments after this.-40hz (December 12, 2010, 01:15 PM)
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History is rather full of strange (but timely for some) accidents isn't it.

f0dder:
I'm guessing that with Wikileaks effectively shut down (now that most future sources of information will be thinking twice) the whole incident will be allowed to fade into the background.-40hz (December 12, 2010, 01:15 PM)
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...and I wonder if the people participating in WikiLeaks really didn't expect this coming? I was a bit surprised that it took so long before the heavy artillery was brought in.

I think it's a really big shame that WL started off by leaking, in the bigger perspective, not so saucy stuff. But of course, if they hadn't started off smallish, they probably wouldn't have got enough attention to get "really good stuff".

Renegade:
Given the timing, it seems like the rape charges are "Julian's accident".

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