Anonymous Declares War on Scientology - Tilted Forum Project Discussion Community

LoganSnake · 01-24-2008, 01:27 PM

Quote:

Internet Group Anonymous Declares "War on Scientology"
By Chan Enterprises
Dated: Jan 21, 2008
"Anonymous" are fighting the Church of Scientology and the Religious Technology Center.

CLEARWATER, Florida - Anonymous announced their intention to combat the activities of the Church of Scientology on Monday. A spokesperson said that the group's goals include bringing an end to the financial exploitation of Church members and protecting the right to free speech, a right which they claim was consistently violated by the Church of Scientology in pursuit of its opponents.

This announcement came as a response to attempts by the Church to keep secret an internal video meant to be viewed only by Scientologists, featuring actor Tom Cruise. Despite their efforts, the movie was leaked and rapidly spread across the Internet. The video caused much controversy, and members of Anonymous posted a message to several of their websites proclaiming war against Scientology. Soon after, Anonymous struck at the church; they blocked access to its website, made prank calls, organized protests, distributed anti-Church pamphlets and information, and extracted secret files from the Church of Scientology and its parent company, the Religious Technology Center.

Anonymous' members cited several reasons for their actions against the Church of Scientology: many have stressed the alleged human rights violations under the auspices of the Church. Others accused the Church of fraud due to its costly ceremonies, while some merely sought the entertainment they refer to as "lulz," a corruption of the Internet slang "LOL," or "laugh out loud." Most members, however, were concerned with the threat to free speech that the Church posed. This was most evident in the recent attacks on websites such as Digg and YouTube, where the Church filtered anti-Scientology comments and replaced their content with the text "[This comment is no longer available due to a copyright claim by Church of Scientology International]." "The so-called Church of Scientology actively misused copyright and trademark law in pursuit of its own agenda," one Anonymous commented. "They attempted not only to subvert free speech, but to recklessly pervert justice to silence those who spoke out against them."

The Church of Scientology's legal struggle with its online detractors began in 1994 with the Usenet group "alt.religion.scientology", a community which spoke out against the Church. Legal representatives from the Church confronted them specifically over the use of Scientology in their name, citing trademark infringement and misrepresentation. This led to numerous lawsuits, and the group was shut down. The Church of Scientology later found itself in several further conflicts on the Internet, including some with popular websites such as Google and Slashdot, as well as an alleged "war" with users of the website YTMND.com.

The members of Anonymous do not plan to end their attacks on the Church of Scientology. Instead, they will continue until the Church of Scientology reacts, at which point they will change strategy. Their main goal is to render the church powerless, and so the war could be one of attrition. Science fiction author L. Ron Hubbard founded the Church in 1953. In the 55 years since its inception, the Church has faced allegations of being a commercial enterprise that harasses its critics, exploits its members, and neglects adults in its care. Scientology has also faced criticism over the cost required to progress through its "auditing" system, with the total bill for completing the course estimated at $365,000 - $380,000.

http://www.whyaretheydead.net/Univer...an_Rights.html
http://www.discord.org/%7Elippard/sk...ientology.html
http://www.nyupress.org/netwars/text...r06/ch06_.html
http://www.news.com/2100-1023-959236.html
http://slashdot.org/yro/01/03/16/1256226.shtml
http://www.ytmnd.com/news/?news_id=40
http://www.xenu.net/archive/prices.html

Category Religion, Internet, Society
Email Click to email author
Website http://chanenterprises.org
Phone 206-600-7880
Fax 206-600-7880
City/Town Clearwater
State/Province Florida
Country United States

http://www.prlog.org/10046797-intern...ientology.html

Should be fun.

Willravel · 01-24-2008, 01:37 PM

It's a simple strat. Shit on Scientology's website for a bit, pass out flyers, release "secret" documents that are more than a little embarrassing, etc.

Lawyers can only protect an organization that pushes people around for so long. Anon is here to remedy that, along with human right's violations and the fact that it's a scam. Had they not been so forceful in their methods to control, they'd be fine. Now? They've put themselves in a situation where they are dealing with an adversary that's vastly more capable. Scientology cannot fight against aggressive guerrilla tactics.

If you're interested in helping, google the story. Everything you need is there.

telekinetic · 01-24-2008, 01:39 PM

Been fun to track so far. Encyclopediadramatica.com's Project Chanology page (specifically the talk page) is a pretty up-to-date info source.

In case anyone has missed it, here's a message from ANON to CoS:

LoganSnake · 01-24-2008, 01:52 PM

Fucking Deus Ex personofied. Awesome.

Sedecrem · 01-25-2008, 02:15 AM

willravel, what do you mean 'If you're interested in helping, google the story. Everything you need is there.'?

Willravel · 01-25-2008, 08:32 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Sedecrem

willravel, what do you mean 'If you're interested in helping, google the story. Everything you need is there.'?

Yes. The information is all there.

tiberry · 01-27-2008, 03:28 AM

what kind of BS is this? I've not seen any of this stuff, although I am aware of their "war" on scientology. How come that's not mentioned in this article?

allaboutmusic · 01-27-2008, 04:27 AM

Can we expect a chain e-mail anyday now?

Shauk · 01-27-2008, 07:49 AM

This story is just bullshit. The original video came out like 6 months ago, the forum they are showing is fucking 4chan for fucks sake.

Seems like sensationalist bullshit.

When "anonymous" does some real damage then maybe I'd be interested but chances are it's some bored 17 year old with a computer fetish and his myspace friends stirring up the shit. Getting videos and documents available to actual members only isn't impressive to me, it's on par with me getting pictures and movies available only to porn site subscribers.

Hain · 01-27-2008, 10:17 AM

I liked it better when I imagined allied hackers going after big corporations, like Halliburton, CoS, Ellingson Mineral Company...

Shauk · 01-27-2008, 10:24 AM

yeah it's a nice thought, but it isn't the hackers movie ;p

speaking of... angelina jolie boobies make me smile, all, day, long.

funydjane · 01-27-2008, 10:49 AM

Knowledge is free.

We are Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

eribrav · 01-27-2008, 10:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by funydjane

Knowledge is free.

We are Anonymous.

We are Legion.

We do not forgive.

We do not forget.

Expect us.

Isn't that what the Borg said?

Willravel · 01-27-2008, 11:01 AM

That was something more along the lines of:

Quote:

Originally Posted by The Borg

We are Borg.
Lower your shields.
Your biological and technological distinctivness will be added to our own.
Resistance if futile.

BTW, is anyone else a little tired of ANON posers? If you want to know what I'm talking about, go to Digg and find an ANON article. Every few posts is someone claiming to be a member. It's stupid.

Hain · 01-27-2008, 11:20 AM

Who knows, maybe they are. The only thing I know is that there isn't a firewall powerful enough to stop my ex-neighbor... he scares me. He now lives in the boonies and works on cars for a living. Once upon a time he had a garage filled with computer parts, and a tool shed with running computers. You should see what he has done to his cell phone. I am glad he doesn't get angry.

Willravel · 01-27-2008, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Augi

Who knows

I do. I actually do know someone who was in the organization months ago, and it wasn't that big. The only way they could all be involved is if they were just letting anyone join, and that seems foolish from a security standpoint. The Church of Scientology International won't stop until they've either lost completely or sued EVERYONE involved. As such, allowing anyone to join is extremely foolish.

Hain · 01-27-2008, 11:31 AM

One of my friends says he is part of it too... Doesn't phase me. If these people are such great hackers (which my friend is not, he is just knowledgeable with computers) then they could have as many identities, other persons' identities, or invent new identities whenever it was suitable.

This is one of those Ultimate Conspiracy moments.

By the way, out of everyone on TFP there isn't a single Scientologist with words to say????

Willravel · 01-27-2008, 11:35 AM

Statistically, there may be one out of all 50k members, but they have a much smaller presence online, so it's likely there are none.

Hain · 01-27-2008, 11:38 AM

Damn! Any Scientology bait we can leave lying around to draw them in for discussion? Then spring the trap shut on 'em!

SecretMethod70 · 01-28-2008, 10:31 PM

QuasiMondo · 01-29-2008, 06:20 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by eribrav

Isn't that what the Borg said?

No, they said, "Resistance is futile."

AngelaSI · 01-30-2008, 12:43 PM

There are some good bits to every religion, including Scientology. I doubt that attacking sites will cause the demise of Scientology.

skier · 01-30-2008, 03:39 PM

The fox news was just a sensationalist piece. Especially the van bomb thing. lol

4chan and the rest of the *chans have never been hacker groups, although hackers may be among the ranks. "Anon" is a convenient way to describe a member, like "Goon" for the SomethingAwful forums.

4chan in particular, while before was quite a large imageboard, has multiplied at least 10x in size over the course of just a few months. This is significant because the old community there has been diluted and then washed away because of the massive influx.

The subculture of the site pressured members to create original content by ridiculing those who repeated tired internet memes created by the site itself. (commonly by simply stating "lurk moar", implying you're new to the site, and everyone's tired of the content you reposted)

Starting about 6 or 8 months ago, the community lost control over new members. There wasn't enough of a presence to tell newbies to shut up and sit down- people who had come because they enjoyed the memes propagated from the site.

All these members were in a consume mindset, rather than a create mindset, and what was 4chan was washed away in posts oft repeated and old jokes, LOLCATS, camwhores, and other memes overused and discarded long ago.

Cut to today. A group ten or twenty times the size of the original *chans which created a large amount of humour content on the internet today is basically starving for something new and funny. Old memes while still used constantly are getting boring. Old raids while worn out (Hal Turner) are yet ongoing over a year later. "Anon" is going to latch on to this because they don't have much else. The movement is bolstered by it being generally approved by the internet community at large and scientology being so ridiculous.

It's not something that Anon is just going to give up, and it's likely to gain steam as time goes on. There is a worldwide protest on February 10th and many people are already on board. There are 15 members planning on going out for my city alone, with over a week still to go.

I think there is potential for something very interesting to happen with this.

Willravel · 02-09-2008, 05:47 PM

It's about to start in Japan.

http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/story...-turns-violent
The Sydney protest has apparently attracted problems. Scientologists came and attacked Anon protesters legally protesting and the police arrested a few Anon members.

BTW, here you can find all protests.

MSD · 02-09-2008, 08:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by willravel

It's about to start in Japan.

http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/story...-turns-violent
The Sydney protest has apparently attracted problems. Scientologists came and attacked Anon protesters legally protesting and the police arrested a few Anon members.

BTW, here you can find all protests.

That is a fake story. Those pictures are from a Halliburton protest in Houston back in 2005.

Willravel · 02-09-2008, 09:11 PM

You're right, I just got word. Sydney is going strong.

Edit: updated story:
http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/story...ch-scientology
So far there are no incidents.

LoganSnake · 02-10-2008, 09:13 AM

Any other stories of other cities? I wonder if there's anything going on in Chicago. Nothing on the net about it yet.

SecretMethod70 · 02-10-2008, 11:13 AM

I know there's going to be something in Chicago, but I don't know where or when

Willravel · 02-10-2008, 11:54 AM

All locations are available at the following address:

http://harbl.wetfish.net/cosplay/

biznatch · 04-30-2008, 10:17 PM

wow. their propaganda is scary

01-24-2008, 01:39 PM	#3 (permalink)
telekinetic zomgomgomgomgomgomg Location: Fauxenix, Azerona	Been fun to track so far. Encyclopediadramatica.com's Project Chanology page (specifically the talk page) is a pretty up-to-date info source. In case anyone has missed it, here's a message from ANON to CoS: __________________ twisted no more Last edited by telekinetic; 01-24-2008 at 01:45 PM..

01-24-2008, 01:52 PM	#4 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	Fucking Deus Ex personofied. Awesome. __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

01-25-2008, 02:15 AM	#5 (permalink)
Sedecrem Upright Location: Gold Coast, Australia	willravel, what do you mean 'If you're interested in helping, google the story. Everything you need is there.'? __________________ Faith is the surrender of Reason, that which separates us from the primates. 'Isn't it enough to see that a garden is beautiful without having to believe that there are fairies at the bottom of it too?' Douglas Adams

01-27-2008, 03:28 AM	#7 (permalink)
tiberry Insane Location: Location, Location!	what kind of BS is this? I've not seen any of this stuff, although I am aware of their "war" on scientology. How come that's not mentioned in this article? __________________ My life's work is to bridge the gap between that which is perceived by the mind and that which is quantifiable by words and numbers.

01-27-2008, 07:49 AM	#9 (permalink)
Shauk Confused Adult Location: Spokane, WA	This story is just bullshit. The original video came out like 6 months ago, the forum they are showing is fucking 4chan for fucks sake. Seems like sensationalist bullshit. When "anonymous" does some real damage then maybe I'd be interested but chances are it's some bored 17 year old with a computer fetish and his myspace friends stirring up the shit. Getting videos and documents available to actual members only isn't impressive to me, it's on par with me getting pictures and movies available only to porn site subscribers. Last edited by Shauk; 01-27-2008 at 07:55 AM..

01-24-2008, 01:37 PM	#2 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	It's a simple strat. Shit on Scientology's website for a bit, pass out flyers, release "secret" documents that are more than a little embarrassing, etc. Lawyers can only protect an organization that pushes people around for so long. Anon is here to remedy that, along with human right's violations and the fact that it's a scam. Had they not been so forceful in their methods to control, they'd be fine. Now? They've put themselves in a situation where they are dealing with an adversary that's vastly more capable. Scientology cannot fight against aggressive guerrilla tactics. If you're interested in helping, google the story. Everything you need is there.

01-27-2008, 04:27 AM	#8 (permalink)
allaboutmusic Aurally Fixated	Can we expect a chain e-mail anyday now?

01-27-2008, 10:17 AM	#10 (permalink)
Hain has a plan Location: middle of Whywouldanyonebethere	I liked it better when I imagined allied hackers going after big corporations, like Halliburton, CoS, Ellingson Mineral Company... __________________ ////\\// IRONSKY.NET \\//\\\\

01-27-2008, 10:24 AM	#11 (permalink)
Shauk Confused Adult Location: Spokane, WA	yeah it's a nice thought, but it isn't the hackers movie ;p speaking of... angelina jolie boobies make me smile, all, day, long.

01-27-2008, 10:49 AM	#12 (permalink)
funydjane Tilted	Knowledge is free. We are Anonymous. We are Legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us.

01-27-2008, 11:20 AM	#15 (permalink)
Hain has a plan Location: middle of Whywouldanyonebethere	Who knows, maybe they are. The only thing I know is that there isn't a firewall powerful enough to stop my ex-neighbor... he scares me. He now lives in the boonies and works on cars for a living. Once upon a time he had a garage filled with computer parts, and a tool shed with running computers. You should see what he has done to his cell phone. I am glad he doesn't get angry. __________________ ////\\// IRONSKY.NET \\//\\\\

01-27-2008, 11:31 AM	#17 (permalink)
Hain has a plan Location: middle of Whywouldanyonebethere	One of my friends says he is part of it too... Doesn't phase me. If these people are such great hackers (which my friend is not, he is just knowledgeable with computers) then they could have as many identities, other persons' identities, or invent new identities whenever it was suitable. This is one of those Ultimate Conspiracy moments. By the way, out of everyone on TFP there isn't a single Scientologist with words to say???? __________________ ////\\// IRONSKY.NET \\//\\\\

01-27-2008, 11:35 AM	#18 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	Statistically, there may be one out of all 50k members, but they have a much smaller presence online, so it's likely there are none.

01-27-2008, 11:38 AM	#19 (permalink)
Hain has a plan Location: middle of Whywouldanyonebethere	Damn! Any Scientology bait we can leave lying around to draw them in for discussion? Then spring the trap shut on 'em! __________________ ////\\// IRONSKY.NET \\//\\\\

01-28-2008, 10:31 PM	#20 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	__________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

01-30-2008, 12:43 PM	#22 (permalink)
AngelaSI Upright	There are some good bits to every religion, including Scientology. I doubt that attacking sites will cause the demise of Scientology.

01-30-2008, 03:39 PM	#23 (permalink)
skier Rawr! Location: Edmontania	The fox news was just a sensationalist piece. Especially the van bomb thing. lol 4chan and the rest of the chans have never been hacker groups, although hackers may be among the ranks. "Anon" is a convenient way to describe a member, like "Goon" for the SomethingAwful forums. 4chan in particular, while before was quite a large imageboard, has multiplied at least 10x in size over the course of just a few months. This is significant because the old community there has been diluted and then washed away because of the massive influx. The subculture of the site pressured members to create original content by ridiculing those who repeated tired internet memes created by the site itself. (commonly by simply stating "lurk moar", implying you're new to the site, and everyone's tired of the content you reposted) Starting about 6 or 8 months ago, the community lost control over new members. There wasn't enough of a presence to tell newbies to shut up and sit down- people who had come because they enjoyed the memes propagated from the site. All these members were in a consume mindset, rather than a create mindset, and what was 4chan was washed away in posts oft repeated and old jokes, LOLCATS, camwhores, and other memes overused and discarded long ago. Cut to today. A group ten or twenty times the size of the original chans which created a large amount of humour content on the internet today is basically starving for something new and funny. Old memes while still used constantly are getting boring. Old raids while worn out (Hal Turner) are yet ongoing over a year later. "Anon" is going to latch on to this because they don't have much else. The movement is bolstered by it being generally approved by the internet community at large and scientology being so ridiculous. It's not something that Anon is just going to give up, and it's likely to gain steam as time goes on. There is a worldwide protest on February 10th and many people are already on board. There are 15 members planning on going out for my city alone, with over a week still to go. I think there is potential for something very interesting to happen with this. __________________ "Asking a bomb squad if an old bomb is still "real" is not the best thing to do if you want to save it." - denim Last edited by skier; 01-30-2008 at 03:41 PM..

02-09-2008, 05:47 PM	#24 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	It's about to start in Japan. http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/story...-turns-violent The Sydney protest has apparently attracted problems. Scientologists came and attacked Anon protesters legally protesting and the police arrested a few Anon members. BTW, here you can find all protests. Last edited by Willravel; 02-09-2008 at 05:56 PM.. Reason: Automerged Doublepost

02-09-2008, 09:11 PM	#26 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	You're right, I just got word. Sydney is going strong. Edit: updated story: http://sydney.indymedia.org.au/story...ch-scientology So far there are no incidents. Last edited by Willravel; 02-09-2008 at 09:15 PM..

02-10-2008, 09:13 AM	#27 (permalink)
LoganSnake We work alone Location: Cake Town	Any other stories of other cities? I wonder if there's anything going on in Chicago. Nothing on the net about it yet. __________________ Maturity is knowing you were an idiot in the past. Wisdom is knowing that you'll be an idiot in the future. Common sense is knowing that you should try not to be an idiot now. - J. Jacques

02-10-2008, 11:13 AM	#28 (permalink)
SecretMethod70 Human Administrator Location: Chicago	I know there's going to be something in Chicago, but I don't know where or when __________________ Le temps détruit tout "Musicians are the carriers and communicators of spirit in the most immediate sense." - Kurt Elling

02-10-2008, 11:54 AM	#29 (permalink)
Willravel ... a sort of licensed troubleshooter.	All locations are available at the following address: http://harbl.wetfish.net/cosplay/

04-30-2008, 10:17 PM	#30 (permalink)
biznatch Junkie Location: France	wow. their propaganda is scary __________________ Check it out: The Open Source/Freeware/Gratis Software Thread Last edited by biznatch; 04-30-2008 at 10:49 PM..