2 ms·

If you're smart and know that using your home PC for DDoS attacks is likely to result in trouble for you, a DDoS attack is no less sacrificial than a sit-in (in

If you're smart and know that using your home PC for DDoS attacks is likely to result in trouble for you, a DDoS attack is no less sacrificial than a sit-in (in fact, due to the propaganda against "hackers", you're quite likely to get a harsher sentence). Also, where do you get the idea that non-violent protest doesn't hurt the people being protested against? If someone chains himself to a tree about to be cut down, cutting the chain will disrupt the tree logging operation. Greenpeace isn't violent, but some people/organizations hate them, and with good reason. Gandhi wasn't violent, but he did cost the British a sizable chunk of their empire (which they'd arguably have lost anyway, but still.) Now, DDoS is likely not as effective a protest as a sit-in, and it's entirely possible that most of the anons figured they'd never get caught - but that's not the point.

InclinedPlane 16y ago
As I mentioned, sit-ins are non-violent, disruptive protests designed to raise awareness. This does not mean that any form of disruption is analogous to a sit-in. If you know that you'll be arrested for a DDoS attack then certainly that's a sacrificial act (though to map closely to a sit-in you'd have to announce publicly what you are doing). However, even then that doesn't necessarily account for the damage participating in a DDoS can bring. Sit-ins rarely cause the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in business. As it stands the debate is academic and the comparison is irrelevant. To date the number of DDoS attacks that have been carried out in public with full listings of the names and contact information of the participants is precisely zero. You can hide behind a mask, or an IP, and you can throw your packets or your molotov cocktails at those folks you consider "the bad guys", securely smug in your knowledge that you're fighting the good fight. But that's an illusion. You're not Ghandi, you're not Rosa Parks. You're just another jerk with an ax to grind who doesn't have the guts to accept any consequences for his actions. The reason sit-ins are lauded and DDoS's are shunned is because people who abuse the disruptive power of a sit-in to fight for worthless causes or their own self interest are simply sent to jail. Whereas most perpetrators of DoS attacks go uncaught.
ergo98 16y ago
I suspect that most of these people had no realization that reality would come and bust in their door. There remains a widespread illusion of anonymity and invulnerability when it comes to the tubes.

InclinedPlane 16y ago

As I mentioned, sit-ins are non-violent, disruptive protests designed to raise awareness. This does not mean that any form of disruption is analogous to a sit-in. If you know that you'll be arrested for a DDoS attack then certainly that's a sacrificial act (though to map closely to a sit-in you'd have to announce publicly what you are doing). However, even then that doesn't necessarily account for the damage participating in a DDoS can bring. Sit-ins rarely cause the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars in business. As it stands the debate is academic and the comparison is irrelevant. To date the number of DDoS attacks that have been carried out in public with full listings of the names and contact information of the participants is precisely zero. You can hide behind a mask, or an IP, and you can throw your packets or your molotov cocktails at those folks you consider "the bad guys", securely smug in your knowledge that you're fighting the good fight. But that's an illusion. You're not Ghandi, you're not Rosa Parks. You're just another jerk with an ax to grind who doesn't have the guts to accept any consequences for his actions. The reason sit-ins are lauded and DDoS's are shunned is because people who abuse the disruptive power of a sit-in to fight for worthless causes or their own self interest are simply sent to jail. Whereas most perpetrators of DoS attacks go uncaught.

ergo98 16y ago

I suspect that most of these people had no realization that reality would come and bust in their door. There remains a widespread illusion of anonymity and invulnerability when it comes to the tubes.