The Sony Story Once Again Proves That Hackers Are Absolutely Not ‘Young Online Activists’

Posted by | December 22, 2014 08:00 | Filed under: Bob Cesca Contributors Opinion Politics Top Stories

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As the North Korea Versus Sony Versus The Interview story continues into the Christmas week, there’s one particular online clique that’s been conspicuously silent on this issue: Glenn Greenwald and his legion of superfans. If you’re just joining us, you might be asking yourself (or me), “What the hell does Greenwald have to do with any of this?” Well, directly, nothing. However, Greenwald has been arguably the loudest online voice in defense of hackers, and considering how hackers are at the center of this fracas, it seems odd that he hasn’t weighed in. (There’s only been one article in The Intercept on the Sony leak, written by Micah Lee, in which the author defended the right of reporters to publish the leaked information.)

Throughout Greenwald’s reporting on the Edward Snowden story, Greenwald has repeatedly legitimized, downplayed and defended hackers against top secret government operations to disrupt their illegitimate activities, going so far as to refer to them as “activists” and “hacktivists.”

–Back in April, Greenwald partied with iPad hacker “Weev,” who became a neo-Nazi while in prison.

–Greenwald has also defended one-time Anonymous associate Barrett Brown on numerous occasions. Brown has been accused, among other things, of engaging in the malicious hacking of the Little Green Footballs website.

–Several months ago, Greenwald described hackers who engage in distributed denial of service (DDoS) attacks as “young online activists,” which is not unlike calling burglars “disgruntled house guests.”

They include invasive methods for online surveillance, as well as some of the very techniques that the U.S. and U.K. have harshly prosecuted young online activists for employing, including “distributed denial of service” attacks and “call bombing.”

–In a previous article… CONTINUE READING

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Copyright 2014 Liberaland
By: Bob Cesca

Bob Cesca is the managing editor at The Daily Banter (www.thedailybanter.com) and a Huffington Post contributor since 2005. He's worked in journalism since 1988 as a print writer/editor, a radio news anchor, a digital media columnist/editor, a book author and blogger. He's the co-host of the Bubble Genius Bob & Chez Show podcast and a Thursday regular on the syndicated Stephanie Miller Show. He's appeared on numerous other radio shows including the John Phillips Show and Geraldo Rivera Show in Los Angeles. Bob has been a commentator/analyst on the BBC (TV and radio), MSNBC, Current TV, CNN and Sky News. Following him on Twitter: @bobcesca_go

2 responses to The Sony Story Once Again Proves That Hackers Are Absolutely Not ‘Young Online Activists’

  1. Obewon December 22nd, 2014 at 08:07

    Who else would care about this film but the DPRK totalitarian dictator Kim, or NK’s Internet provider and prime supporter the Fascist Chinese dictatorial regime?

    It’s not another tribute by brilliant comedians that’s for sure! Video Sacha Baron Cohen arrives at The Oscars as ‘The Dictator,’ dumps ‘Kim’s ashes’ on dim host Ryan Seacrest. http://www.mediaite.com/tv/sacha-baron-cohen-arrives-at-the-oscars-as-the-dictator-dumps-ashes-on-a-very-unhappy-ryan-seacrest/#ooid=hma290Zzq5Z_p7eGLTmFoEQSlYqYIaLR

  2. Obewon December 22nd, 2014 at 09:07

    Who else would care about this film but the DPRK totalitarian dictator Kim, or NK’s Internet provider and prime supporter the Fascist Chinese dictatorial regime?nnIt’s not another tribute by brilliant comedians that’s for sure! Video Sacha Baron Cohen arrives at The Oscars as u2018The Dictator,u2019 dumps u2018Kim’s ashesu2019 on dim host Ryan Seacrest. http://www.mediaite.com/tv/sacha-baron-cohen-arrives-at-the-oscars-as-the-dictator-dumps-ashes-on-a-very-unhappy-ryan-seacrest/#ooid=hma290Zzq5Z_p7eGLTmFoEQSlYqYIaLR

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