Anonymous, the popular online hacktivist group, has been actively working to counter the desire of governments from around the world to somehow control internet. The Japanese government is endeavoring to do the same, albeit under the cover of banning ‘illegal downloading.’ The ISPs have been asked to monitor any suspicious activity to this end.
Naturally, Anonymous in Japan is not taking all these new laws sitting down. First, the hacktivist group launched a number of DDoS attacks on many key entities related to the government. However, now the group has come up with a rather novel idea of protesting the whole idea of banning illegal downloads.
In a new move, about fifty people with Guy Fawkes masks came out on Miyashita Park in Tokyo and began collecting litter into their garbage bags. This was a kind of a peaceful protest from the Japanese chapter of the hacktivist group. Needless to say, even with such a small audience, the move attracted a lot of attention and did put the message through.
A participant in this silent protest said, while speaking to the media that had gathered there, “We’re not saying we want the government to let people engage in so-called illegal downloading. But we are opposed to the incursions on freedom of information and online privacy that the criminalization of illegal downloading would bring.”
Many masked protestors expressed that they don’t side with DDoS attacks and that they would rather go for other alternate ways of protesting. This was pronounced in the views of one of the participant in the protest, “among the Japanese-speaking Anonymous, a lot of people think that the attacks are bad, which is why we were able to put together this kind of peaceful demonstration so quickly.”
One hopes that Anonymous would expand the scope of such protests which would actually culminate in doing some good while at the same time, getting the message through effectively.
News/ Image Courtesy: The Verge
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