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The War Between The Hackers & Scientology


DudeAsInCool

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A group of hackers and pranksters, who call themselves Anonymous, have declared war on the Church of Scientology. In retaliation for the removal of the Tom Cruise video from the internet, the group, who believes 'information should be free', and disapproves of Scientology's treatment of its parishoners, have begun releasing secret documents from the church across the web and have promised to take down Scientology's websites. Scientology is offering a $5000 reward to expose Anonymous

For more details, check out Wired's story.

******

This is an extremely well-organized group. They already have their own Wiki and have created several videos to recruit more pranksters with their message:

Knowledge is free.

We are Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

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David Miscavige, the head of Scientology, discusses their global plans

The Second Tom Cruise Scientology Video

Jerry O'Connell parodies Tom Cruise's Scientology video

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Fox's report on Anonymous is pretty poor reporting - it's totally overblown, and amusingly so. It's one thing to criticize the tactics of Anonymous, some of which are illegal, but quite another to suggest they are violent terrorists:

Here is their satyrical esponse to Fox:

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So far, the response from the Church of Scientology has been subdued:

"Karin Pouw, public affairs director for the Church of Scientology, focused on the leak of a Tom Cruise video on YouTube earlier in the week," according to CNet.

As the Church previously announced, the pirated and edited excerpts of Mr. Cruise were contained in an official Church event in 2004, an event attended by 5,000 Scientologists and their guests and further available for viewing in any Church of Scientology world over. Having presented these selective and out-of-context excerpts with the intent of creating both controversy and ridicule, nevertheless resulted in people searching for and visiting Church of Scientology Web sites as evidenced by "most searched for" lists of various search engines. Those wishing to find out the Church of Scientology's views and to gain context of the video have the right to search official Church Web sites if they so desire."

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lol

Don't you know where anonymous hangs out? Search out project chanology on ED. Or just look at the project's name.

edit - hoho. Scratch that. Encyclopedia Dramatica has been knocked offline currently.

Regardless, anonymous isn't a group of hackers. They are anonymous.

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lol

Don't you know where anonymous hangs out? Search out project chanology on ED. Or just look at the project's name.

edit - hoho. Scratch that. Encyclopedia Dramatica has been knocked offline currently.

Regardless, anonymous isn't a group of hackers. They are anonymous.

They hang out anonymously in IRC channels.

"According to Jose Nazario, security engineer with the company Arbor Networks, the denial-of-service attacks on Scientology.org flooded the site with 220M bps of traffic. Nazario described this amount of traffic as a mid-range attack. The attacks each lasted an average of thirty minutes and used 168M bps of bandwidth. Arbor Networks has recorded data on attacks to other sites in the last year which were 200 times this amount. Nazario stated that there were 448 denial-of-service events on January 19, 2008, prior to the Church of Scientology's move to Prolexic Technologies. These attacks averaged 15,000 packets per second. Nazario described this as "common, garden-variety DDoS attacks." Speaking with SCMagazineUS.com, a security strategist for Top Layer Networks, Ken Pappas, told SCMagazineUS.com that he thought that botnets were involved in the "Anonymous" operation: "There are circles out there where you could take ownership of the bot machines that are already owned and launch a simultaneous attack against [something] like the church from 50,000 PCs, all at the same time"."

- Wikipedia

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I will never understand the appeal of Scientology.

in short, they help their constituents with their secret tools remove emotional blocks that hold them back in life and provide a communal support base so the individuals can achieve their goals. that's the positive side

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Anonymous Hackers Track Saboteur, Find and Punish the Wrong Guy - UPDATED

Anti-Scientology agitators have repeatedly harassed and threatened violence against a 59-year-old PG&E worker and his wife, who were mistakenly flagged as pro-Scientology hackers.

Read More

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Newsweek takes a look at the "The Passion of Anonymous":

"Mark Bunker, a prominent critic of the church whose Web site claims to get a million hits a month, says he is delighted to see a large group of young activists galvanized to take on Scientology. But in a popular YouTube video of his own, he cautioned Anonymous against vandalism or any other illegal displays of disaffection. "I know the way Scientology works: they're going to get these people in trouble," he tells NEWSWEEK. "I'm very concerned about their safety, and I'm concerned about the Scientologists' safety, too." Last week a suspicious white powder was mailed to several church locations in Southern California, and the FBI is investigating whether the mailings are connected to previous hacking. On its Web site and in the local press, Anonymous has denied sending the powder. Bunker, unaffiliated with the group himself, says he has received nearly 6,000 e-mails, largely supportive, from people claiming to belong to Anonymous."

"One South Carolina-based member in her mid-20s (who asked to remain anonymous for fear of retribution) says the group no longer condones the illegal hacking or spamming it had engaged in previously. "We're trying really hard to prove to the church and the rest of the public that we're very serious about this movement, and we're not just a bunch of hackers on steroids," says the woman, who has never been a Scientologist. "The cause is a very moving one. With just a couple more minutes of research you'll see that they ... have abused their parishioners and they've done the most horrible things to people they say they are helping." (Indeed, a few quick Google searches reveal no shortage of conspiracy theories--some more credible than others.)"

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I sense a flop. Geeks are more the bitch-on-forums sort of protesters.

I thought so, too - on the other hand, there are 6000 of them!

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It's over 9000!

The point is that every one is supposed to do their part. The Church in Saskatoon is no more so I'm left to contribute through the intrawebs.

Our front page top story pic will feature that image tomorrow.

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HERE is a blog they post on, along with a message about tomorrow's uprising: "For those anon who have already acted in their time zone, good fucking job so far. For the rest of you;Anonobots! Transform, and roll out!!" :lol:

And here is video to the legion about the war on the tubes...

...And a video announcement to the Press:

Text to Press:

..Throughout our struggle, we maintain the following thesis: that the Church of Scientology was founded for purposes incompatible with a society holding dear a respect for human rights and the rule of law. These nefarious purposes can only be achieved through criminal enterprise, and remain objectives of the Church to this day. We further maintain that this criminal enterprise is operated by its leaders knowingly and willingly, and that the true extent and tone of the Church's activity is outrageous and sickening. These statements are not contrived, but based on conclusions derived from extensive study of Church history. Our sources include its own documents, the testimonies of its victims, the words of those who have escaped it and educational materials that the Church would keep secret for fear of exposure. We therefore consider the Church of Scientology a despicable criminal organization which, through the indoctrination of its members, predation upon those in need, the dissemination of lies regarding its nature, by way of sadistic retaliatory practices against its critics and through its cynical abuse of civil liberties has forfeit any right it had to exist.

On several occasions, figures within the media have casually dismissed Anonymous as nothing more than a gaggle of restless youth. We remain entirely undeterred by their remarks. Virtually all age groups, creeds and professions are represented within our ranks. Many who are not affiliated with Anonymous have expressed support for our campaign. Their words serve to further underscore the broad demographic base of our initiative. If you remain doubtful of our strength and resolve, we invite you to observe them for yourselves.

Actions speak louder than words. In the name of those who have been silenced by the criminal organization that is the Church of Scientology, Anonymous will be heard. Our cause is just. We shall prevail.

We are Anonymous.

We have Awoken.

We stand as One.

post-9-1202626473.jpg

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About 150 people gathered at the Church of Scientology building in the Sydney CBD this morning, most of them carrying picket signs and wearing costumes or masks.

...The protestors, who said they had worn masks to remain anonymous and prevent possible legal action or retribution from the church, chanted "Church on the right, cult on the left", "Religion is free" and "We want Xenu".

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Flikr: The Sydney Protests

Anonymous Raid in Adelaide

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post-9-1202627176.jpg

post-9-1202627185.jpg

post-9-1202628322_thumb.jpg

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The Economist calls the attack "Fair Game":

Fair game

Jan 31st 2008

From The Economist print edition

A VICIOUS cult run by cynical fraudsters, or a sincerely held religious belief persecuted by zealots? That is the long-standing row about Scientology, founded by the late science-fiction writer, L. Ron Hubbard. In some countries, such as Germany, the group is watched by the security services. In others, such as America and Australia, it has won charitable status as a religion.

Until now the fight could mostly be seen as one-sided. Scientology's lawyers are vigorous litigants. The group argues that its internal materials (which claim, among other things, that expensive courses of treatment can help rid people of infestation by alien souls from an extinct civilisation) are commercially confidential and protected by copyright. They react sharply to any perceived libel.

As a result, public critics of what they derisively term “$cientology” risk expensive legal battles. For example, a new unauthorised biography of Tom Cruise by a British author, Andrew Morton, contains detailed and highly critical material about the film star's involvement in Scientology. It is a bestseller in America but has not been published in Britain. The publisher, St Martin's Press, has even asked internet booksellers not to ship it to foreign customers. Though Scientology representatives vehemently deny breaking any laws, critics have claimed that they experience intensive harassment and intimidation.

Now Scientology is under attack from a group of internet activists known only as Anonymous...

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