WBC told to shut up...

[VulcanRider]

Hackers warn Westboro Church: Stop now or else

A group of hacktivists acting under the banner, "Anonymous," has warned a church with a controversial history that unspoken retribution will follow it continues its practice of inflammatory protests. In an open letter to the Westboro Baptist Church, Anonymous has put the anti-gay, fundamentalist church on notice that "the damage incurred will be irreversible," and that "neither your institution nor your congregation will ever be able to fully recover."

and WBC responded with BRING IT!

Much as I believe the freedom of speech is critically important, I gotta admit I'm rooting for the hackers...

[SpiritWarrior]

Who isn't? Other than the family members who will be ridiculed and exiled if they speak up. Here's hoping they get pwnt.

[Bungleau]

One cannot expect the troll and his minions to respond in any other way.

That said, I also root for the hackers. But they need to realize that they cannot hope to meet the troll on his own turf and terms... he is strongest there. Rather, they need to make the game their *own* game, forcing the troll to meet them.

And as always, I anticipate the day when the troll heads off to his own eternal reward. I believe he'll find it quite... warm....

[Cerek]

Originally Posted by Bungleau One cannot expect the troll and his minions to respond in any other way. That said, I also root for the hackers. But they need to realize that they cannot hope to meet the troll on his own turf and terms... he is strongest there. Rather, they need to make the game their *own* game, forcing the troll to meet them. And as always, I anticipate the day when the troll heads off to his own eternal reward. I believe he'll find it quite... warm....

By bringing the attack into cyberspace, the hackers are making the game their own and forcing the troll to meet them.

Remember the article I posted recently states the primary focus of the troll and his family is to incite hostility and angry reactions in person, so they can then file a frivolous (but legal) lawsuit in hopes of an award or settlement. The family business has been focused almost exclusively on creating lawyers for this very purpose and they have become very proficient at what they do when at their protests, but this battlefront (if the threat from Anonymous is real) will be in virtual reality.

While the troll may have some family members proficient in web design and (perhaps) even hacking and protection from the same, I really doubt they have the same number of programmers with the same ability level as Anonymous. I also doubt Anonymous would make such a bold claim and forewarning unless they had already tested the protection on the WBC websites and were confident in their ability to overcome any new defenses the troll might put in place.

Bottom line? This is one time when the troll and his family may be waaaaay out of their league.

The hackers are the ones that will be setting the rules of engagement and launching the attacks, a fitting case of the shoe finally being on the other foot for the Trolly Rollers. Oh sure, the troll and his family of lawyers can definitely file lawsuits against the group for their attacks, IF they can ever identify the actual people behind the attacks. Unfortunately, they will be going against a group of collective individuals that have made the hiding of their true identities a life-long passion.

Of course, this may all just be wishful thinking on my part, but I'm with the rest of you - I hope it IS real and Anonymous accepts the challenge to "Bring It".

[Bungleau]

By hacking the troll's websites, they are making it their game.

But by delivering the message of "back off or else", they are going back to playing the troll's game. I suppose you could make the claim that it's a warning shot fired across the bow, one last chance before the fireworks start, but as you can see from the response, the troll merely took it as another opportunity to spread his trollish message.

As for the hackers being confident they can breach the troll's web sites' security, by definition that is only going to be temporary. I'm sure the troll is investigating (and investing in) new defenses.

However, the troll has a budget to manage. The hackers are constrained by only two things... time, and their willingness to keep on trying to break in. I'm fond of saying that locks are there to keep honest people honest... no lock will keep out someone determined to get in.

That, I believe, may be the difference.

C'mon, Anonymous... bring it some more. How about "God pities people who hate...."

[Ziroc]

Why oh why couldn't the DC sniper have picked that "church" (a church to satan maybe) instead? j/k.

God doesn't 'hate' dumbasses. They just don't get it.

[SpiritWarrior]

I mean, they have the godhatesfags websites and the like to hit, but there's only so much computer hackers can do. I am sure they print their signs from computers, or post bulletins on their websites, but ultimately, I don't see much damage being done in the long run. They can use a friends computer or a store to print signs (or make them the old fashioned way with sharpies), and access emails from any library. They can also print from a computer that doesn't access the internet. The premise is that their internet access can be obstructed, but the question is, just how much do they rely on the internet to stage protests? After all, they've been doing it for years before the web. And they still have other mediums of communication (cellphones, landlines, fliers etc.). While this will probably prove an annoyance to them, I doubt it will stop them showing up at funerals and most likely will make the old guy just that more resolute as he is "tested by God".

[wellard]

The best attack that they could do is to leave the Westboro Baptist Church alone - their actions themselves condem them in front of the world. For this church to suffacate without the oxygen of media attention feeding it is perhaps the quickest death.


BTW - they call themselves a baptist church - is their a way of the 'real' baptist church could force them to remove that part of the title. It brings such shame on to the term

[Cerek]

Originally Posted by wellard The best attack that they could do is to leave the Westboro Baptist Church alone - their actions themselves condem them in front of the world. For this church to suffacate without the oxygen of media attention feeding it is perhaps the quickest death. BTW - they call themselves a baptist church - is their a way of the 'real' baptist church could force them to remove that part of the title. It brings such shame on to the term

Unfortunately, the answer to that is "No".

The Southern Baptist Convention (basically the "ruling body" of all Southern Baptist churches) has officially denounced the Westboro church and condemned their message of hatred, but that is about all they can really do.

In the meantime, Westboro continues to give all Baptist churches a bad name to those who consider their actions to be representative of the Baptist faith.

[VulcanRider]

Originally Posted by wellard The best attack that they could do is to leave the Westboro Baptist Church alone - their actions themselves condem them in front of the world. For this church to suffacate without the oxygen of media attention feeding it is perhaps the quickest death.

Maybe the best attack they could make is to hack the news sites and REMOVE references to WBC. Take away their media attention & let them stew in the dark...