Sony under siege by Anonymous

Infamous hacking group “Anonymous” has successfully infiltrated several Sony websites including Sony.com and PlayStation.com. The group has also warned that they plan to attack the PlayStation Network and PlayStation Store next.

Anonymous identified Sony as ‘abusing’ the judicial system, and participating in the suppression of information. This is due to a Sony lawsuit against PS3 jailbreaker George “GeoHot” Hotz, who made the hack publicly available. Sony also removed of the ability to install Linux on the PS3. The main thrust of the pro-hacker argument is that if you've paid for something, you should be allowed to do whatever you like with it.

Anonymous came into public notice especially during the Wikileaks situation, targeting companies that took down their support for the Wikileaks site.

These recent troubles only add on to Sony’s worries.

Jack Tretton, president of Sony Computer Entertainment America told Bloomberg that the PlayStation Portable’s successor, dubbed the NGP, may be delayed due to the Japan quake. This is not good for Sony, because it potentially has nothing to match Nintendo’s 3DS through the next Christmas season.

(Source: Yahoo! News.)

I honestly don't know why Anonymous even bothers; no one's going to thank them for this; last I heard, the US PSN's near inaccessible due to Anonymous' DoS attack. Needless to say, PSP and PS3 players aren't happy at all.

If they hack into the PSN and make everything FoC, or distribute certain DLC for free (like God Eater Burst's DLC; it was made pre-order exclusive in the US apart from 6 codes or so given out on Facebook), I'm sure all those players wouldn't mind rooting for them. As it stands, Anonymous members are just making themselves look more like cyber-terrorists than cyber-vigilantes. As far as I'm concerned, they really need to be much more concerned about their own image or they will be despised even by the people they're fighting for.

In case anyone thinks otherwise, no I do not have anything against Anonymous nor am I against their actions. They do have a right to do whatever the hell they think is right, but they do have to keep in mind that there is a line they should never cross; while fighting for the people, do not ever harm the people.

No, I do not condone their actions either. Just because they can (or are free) to do something doesn't mean that they should do it. There's a difference between rights and responsibilities.

IMO, they don't need to care that much about their own image. They are already anonymous so they are not targettable and they don't get benefits from popularity.
It's one of their advantages, they can fight for what they want without fear of backlash or need of approval (except of their own members).

IMO, they don't need to care that much about their own image. They are already anonymous so they are not targettable and they don't get benefits from popularity.
It's one of their advantages, they can fight for what they want without fear of backlash or need of approval (except of their own members).

Even so, as it stands "Anonymous" as a whole currently has a very bad reputation. Even if there is no backlash, there will be hatred targeted at the group in its entirety.

I didn't see anything different at either sony.com or playstation.com

Even so, as it stands "Anonymous" as a whole currently has a very bad reputation. Even if there is no backlash, there will be hatred targeted at the group in its entirety.

And this had been any different when? Anonymous has always done what they feel is right and they've always been hated by many.

Yeah, since when have Anonymous been doing good deeds? Once in a while their interest compass converges with the society's moral compass (discovering the identity of the cat torturer, I believe) but that would be insufficient to assume that they are in the slightest interested in what people think of them.
In fact, no matter what incident involving Anonymous, it is easy to see the mentality behind their actions, they just feel like f'ucking around with it.

http://anonnews.org/?p=press&a=item&i=797

OpSony Update, to all
Greetings, Sony Customers And PS3 Users. We are Anonymous.

During the last few days, Anonymous has been targeting Sony for their outrageous treatment of not only PS3 users and jailbreakers, but also of the general public. Their propaganda regarding jailbreaking implies that it encourages piracy and thereby makes people lose their jobs, whereas jailbreaking actually just means you are making YOUR device do what it should do. Imagine if Microsoft forced you to use Internet Explorer instead of Firefox or Chrome. Imagine if they denied users from using any other web browser than their own. Many people would obviously be pissed... but then, why aren't you pissed at Sony?

The fact that their litigation demanded information on everyone who had viewed the material, was completely unacceptable. This is a threat not only to the gaming community, but to freedom of information in general. The fact that the privacy of individuals can be violated, simply for accessing information, and legal action can be taken for doing something with something you own, are steps far beyond the line. Anonymous decided it could not allow this to stand. If jailbreaking a phone for use of legal (unsigned) apps is found legal, why would this be any different for the Geohot case, seeing as Geohot explicitly states he does not support piracy?

Anonymous is not attacking the PSN at this time. Sony's official position is that the PSN is undergoing maintenance. We realize that targeting the PSN is not a good idea. We have therefore temporarily suspended our action, until a method is found that will not severely impact Sony customers.

Anonymous is on your side, standing up for your rights. We are not aiming to attack customers of Sony. This attack is aimed solely at Sony, and we will try our best to not affect the gamers, as this would defeat the purpose of our actions. If we did inconvenience users, please know that this was not our goal.
This operation is a response to Sony's attempt to deprive their customers of products they bought and therefore own, wholly and completely. Anonymous will not attempt to fight this by following the exact same course of action. We have plenty of tricks up our sleeves.

As a last point, we would like to point out that different operations are "run" by different people. Those who are involved in the organisation of OpSony, are not necessarily those involved in that of SonyRecon. Anonymous Operations are generally independent efforts, and it would be a mistake to assume that the same individuals are responsible for every action taken. Anonymous is comprised of people with diverse points of view, of which not all coincide with one another.

That being said, our campaign against Sony and others that would trample on the idea of free information will continue, until we are satisfied with the outcome.

We are Anonymous,
We are legion,
We never forgive,
We never forget,
Expect us.

Yeah, since when have Anonymous been doing good deeds? Once in a while their interest compass converges with the society's moral compass (discovering the identity of the cat torturer, I believe) but that would be insufficient to assume that they are in the slightest interested in what people think of them.
In fact, no matter what incident involving Anonymous, it is easy to see the mentality behind their actions, they just feel like f'ucking around with it.

Look at CrazyNomad's post. Well, though I really have to say this sounds kinda propaganda-ish. I mean like, duh who would say "HAHAHA WE DON'T GIVE A FLYING pineapple WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU" if they wish to garner public support? Perhaps I'm reading too much into it. In any case, I do think Anonymous can be trusted on their claim of "We are not aiming to attack customers of Sony". In any case, if they will not harm Sony customers in their endeavours, then I shall not delve any further into this matter.

Still, there are some flaws in their argument:

[Sony's] propaganda regarding jailbreaking implies that it encourages piracy and thereby makes people lose their jobs, whereas jailbreaking actually just means you are making YOUR device do what it should do.

Think about it. Installing homebrew allows the player to just download games off of the web and play them. Sounds good, right? Perhaps it is. However, what about the companies who invested so much time, effort and money just to design and develop (and manufacture) those games? Surely they should earn some profit or at the very least break even. However, if everyone downloads a ripped version off of the internet and getting to play the game for free, that company is going to make a huge loss. Sony itself will lose out too, since Sony will also stand to profit from UMD purchases. Even if it is not Anonymous' intention, it is extremely likely that someone somewhere will exploit the custom firmware so as to play these ripped games. The world is not so simple; everything comes at a price. Nothing is completely free. If Sony decides to give in, I can guarantee that all those companies will eventually go bankrupt.

If Anonymous can guarantee that piracy will definitely not occur as a result of this, then I would have nothing more to say.

Fuckin with a corporation like sony will have very bad backlash.

Fuckin with a corporation like sony will have very bad backlash.

Well, it will have a very negative impact on the reputation of the group as a whole, but there will be no repercussions to the individual members. Well, until they get tracked down. But that's a different story altogether.

They are targetable. Several members of Anonymous have been arrested for their actions against Paypal and VISA.

Well, it will have a very negative impact on the reputation of the group as a whole, but there will be no repercussions to the individual members. Well, until they get tracked down. But that's a different story altogether.

I strongly believe that sony has the resources not too only protect themselves but retaliate 10x worse. Just my opinion though.

They are targetable. Several members of Anonymous have been arrested for their actions against Paypal and VISA.

As much as they are/aren't targetable, it doesn't change that they are leaving a message. All rebellion, supressed or not, has its effects on the minds of people.

Look at CrazyNomad's post. Well, though I really have to say this sounds kinda propaganda-ish. I mean like, duh who would say "HAHAHA WE DON'T GIVE A FLYING pineapple WHAT HAPPENS TO YOU" if they wish to garner public support? Perhaps I'm reading too much into it. In any case, I do think Anonymous can be trusted on their claim of "We are not aiming to attack customers of Sony". In any case, if they will not harm Sony customers in their endeavours, then I shall not delve any further into this matter.

Wanting good for the public is not the same as bullpomegranateting to get a backbone.

Sony is acting terribly like the DRM bunch, unable to transform to the digital world and thus insisting that everyone should/must stay physical. They seemed to have had no problems at all switching from CD to DVD to Blueray discs (because it wasn't really any change in technology at all), but once we hit the point where softwares are just what they are, entirely digital, they get stuck.

Of course, no one is under the obligation to play Sony's consoles at all, it is a pleasure we pay for at a price. But from a radical bystandaer point of view, instead of thinking of solutions, Sony et al. are simply biting at whatever hands trying to steal food from them, inadvertently holding back the advances of information technology.
Not that I suggest that it is wrong of Sony to be doing so, they have to feed their wives and kids too, who also happen to play their consoles. It is merely a pity.

[COLOR="blue"]Anonymous is like a mafia: The higher-ups may be intelligent, but the grunts are usually sloppy.
A sloppy grunt gets mopped up.[/COLOR]

I hope they dont mess with my Sony Vegas because if they do, I'll have to have my laptop back to factory settings.
Note to self: Dont go on the sony and PS sites.

So basically went from an edgy rebellious group wanting openness in cooperate/government policies to terrorist complaining they can't "mod" the shirt off Laura Croft...

As well nearly every action sony has taken is for a security measure, unless I see records of them selling the info off, I could care less.

Hanabira.Kage

can

you

please

stop

center-align

your

posts?

Tnx!

As much as they are/aren't targetable, it doesn't change that they are leaving a message. All rebellion, supressed or not, has its effects on the minds of people.

The only impact is on the "minds" of sheep. Unfortunately, those sheep make up a large portion of the internet which is why Anonymous exists in the first place.

And yeah, I agree with Dustin. Sony has big money behind them, and law. If GeoHotz had a case the only thing Anonymous is doing is harming it. Sony can easily use this to show why exactly limitations need to be imposed; this sense of entitlement from the children of the internet needs to be stomped on.

All action like this encourages is heavy-handed retaliation -- more rules. They'll keep pushing until they pineapple with the wrong person or peoples and get slammed, be it personally, publicly or internationally. The more enemies they make the easier it becomes for this to get ugly. The support of a hundred thousand 8 year olds or 22 year old manchildren won't mean pomegranate against the corporations and governments of the world.

The only impact is on the "minds" of sheep. Unfortunately, those sheep make up a large portion of the internet which is why Anonymous exists in the first place.

And yeah, I agree with Dustin. Sony has big money behind them, and law. If GeoHotz had a case the only thing Anonymous is doing is harming it. Sony can easily use this to show why exactly limitations need to be imposed; this sense of entitlement from the children of the internet needs to be stomped on.

All action like this encourages is heavy-handed retaliation -- more rules. They'll keep pushing until they pineapple with the wrong person or peoples and get slammed, be it personally, publicly or internationally. The more enemies they make the easier it becomes for this to get ugly. The support of a hundred thousand 8 year olds or 22 year old manchildren won't mean pomegranate against the corporations and governments of the world.

To be honest, though it won't apply to you in this case cus you're fortunately in canada, it'll just support the bill's legislation have been trying to pass to give the government the power of internet usage, much like china.