Anonymous Research Paper

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About

Anonymous (used as a mass noun) is an Internet meme originating 2003 on the imageboard 4chan, representing the concept of many online community users simultaneously existing as an anarchic, digitized global brain.

Anonymous, or Anon, is a movement made up of a number of nameless internet activists from around the world. For many, the ‘hacktivist’ group has become the face of the new cyber-war against oppressive governments and all-powerful corporates. Others say the group’s actions are reckless. Describing itself as “the freedom of speech, the freedom of information and the freedom of expression taken to a logical extreme,” Anon says it breaks laws, but only for the greater good.

In its early form, the concept has been
adopted by a decentralized on-line community acting anonymously in a coordinated manner, usually toward a loosely self-agreed goal, and primarily focused on entertainment. Beginning with 2008, the Anonymous collective has become increasingly associated with collaborative, international hacktivism, undertaking protests and other actions, often with the goal of promoting internet freedom and freedom of speech. Actions credited to "Anonymous" are undertaken by unidentified individuals who apply the Anonymous label to themselves as attribution.

Composition

Anonymous consists largely of users from multiple imageboards and Internet forums.
In addition, several wikis and Internet Relay Chat networks are maintained to overcome the limitations of traditional imageboards. These modes of communication are the means by which Anonymous protesters participating in Project Chanology communicate and organize upcoming protests.[10][11]

A "loose coalition of Internet denizens,"[12] the group is banded together by the Internet, through sites such as 4chan,[10][12] 711chan,[10] Encyclopædia Dramatica,[13] IRC channels,[10] and YouTube.[3] Social networking services, such as Facebook, are used for the creation of groups which reach out to people to mobilize in real-world protests.[14]

In the last few years, Anonymous has gained increasing notoriety for its action against websites, agencies and organizations that promote censorship and control. It has helped spread information and supported protestors demanding freedoms and
rights.

But the popularity of the movement, the attention it brings along, and the structure it has engendered threaten to push Anonymous away from the decentralized, collective movement it has been.
As decisions become more centralized and newcomers jump on the bandwagon, Anonymous risks becoming yet another ineffective reformist group, fueled by well-meaning rethoric but subject to third party interests and paralyzed by its fear of authority.

This is why we, as members of Anonymous and anarchists, have decided to start an autonomous group to help spread the ideas of anarchism, anti-capitalism, anti-racism and self-organization within it. We want to provide the skills, tools and experience of direct action in the streets, and take advantage of the new resources and techniques of hacktivism.

Anonymous Anarchist Action hacktivist group founded

Join A(A)A at : irc.anonops.ru (#anarchism) and http://aaa.status.net/

A(A)A is the first specifically libertarian communist grouping to emerge out of Anonymous, the world wide hacking network most famous for retaliation operations actions in late 2010 to the attacks on Wikileaks by the US Government.

A(A)A is not a 'split' from Anonymous, but rather a group that works inside Anonymous's decentralised and open structure, focusing on anti-capitalist targets and solidarity
initiatives.

# Major Activities:

The activities in this section were attributed to Anonymous either by their perpetrators or in the media. The actions taken by Anonymous do not seem to follow any single shared agenda. Those identifying with the term often take action simply for amusement. This is known within sites affiliated with Anonymous as "doing it for the lulz."

* 2.1 Habbo raids

* 2.2 Hal Turner raid

* 2.3 Chris Forcand arrest

* 2.4 Project Chanology

* 2.5 Epilepsy Foundation forum invasion

* 2.6 Defacement of SOHH and AllHipHop websites

* 2.7 No Cussing Club

* 2.8 YouTube porn day

* 2.9 2009 Iranian election protests

* 2.10 Operation Didgeridie

* 2.11 Operation Titstorm

* 2.12 Operations Payback, Avenge Assange, and Bradical

* 2.13 Operation Leakspin

* 2.14 Zimbabwe

* 2.15 Operation Tunisia

* 2.16 Attack on Fine Gael website

* 2.17 2011 Egypt protests

* 2.18 Attack on HBGary Federal

* 2.19 Purported threat against the Westboro Baptist Church

* 2.20 2011 Wisconsin protests

* 2.21 2011 Bank of America document release

1. Formation 2003-2004 2. Type Internet meme; 3. Multiple-use name/avatar; 4. Virtual community; 5. Voluntary association 6. Purpose/focus Entertainment; 7. Internet activism; 8. Internet trolling; 9. Internet vigilantism 10. Region served Global 11. Membership Decentralized affinity group