Hacker group threatens cyberwar against BART

[alp227]

Source: San Francisco Chronicle

An international group of hackers threatened Saturday to wage a cyberwar against BART in retaliation for the agency's decision to cut cell phone service to prevent a separate protest last week.

The activist group, known as Anonymous, also called for a nonviolent protest Monday evening at BART's Civic Center Station.

Members of the Anonymous group have claimed responsibility for disrupting Tunisian and Libyan government websites to coincide with street protests.

BART's shutdown of service was condemned by some free-speech advocates who said the transit officials, fearing that organizers used phones to coordinate their movements, had denied the protesters' rights to peacefully gather.

Read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/08/13/BAH71KN6CK.DTL

[MADem]

1. Jesus, you don't have a "right" to a cellphone signal in every venue.

I think they should work on "cone of silence" technology so I don't have to hear cellphones in restaurants and movie theaters. Wanna make a call? Go to the lobby. That's what you had to do in the "olden days" when you had to put a dime in the phone and use a rotary dialer.

These people want to have a protest? Have a protest. Pick a place, get your permit, and do it. They don't need to be tweeting each other that everyone needs to go to platform B and set a car on fire or something.

[Harmony Blue]

6. The problem is BART is wrong is so many ways

They pre-emptively ensured that a protest wouldn't disrupt their services, but they did it by disrupting their customers ability to use their cell phones? Someone at BART probably should have stepped in and said this was a dumb idea from the very start.

Kudos to anon and the rest for bringing heat to these losers.

[GodlessBiker]

2. People in power shouldn't think that their actions do not have consequences.

When they were in their BART-bunker hatching up this plan, I hope someone among the BART lords and masters had the guts to say, "Do you think we are setting ourselves up for retaliation of some sort?"

[karnac]

3. That's why people in power should try to please everybody

And failing that, please nobody.

Same difference.

[BlueStater]

4. Are they going to threaten a cyberwar against HOMER too?

Wah wah waaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh.

[RandySF]

5. Nice way to win hearts and minds

Disrupt services to thousands of commuters. Yep, that's a winner.

[CBHagman]

10. Bingo. Thank you.

And really, hacking is as much a power grab as anything else -- "Do it my way, or I'll take revenge" mindset that doesn't care if ordinary people bear the consequences.

Spite and a power grab that harms regular Joes and Janes.

[DFab420]

14. Yea I mean its not like BART police have killed Oscar Grant, Charles Hill,

and countless other unarmed civilians..but hey what about my morning commute!!!



Perspective...find some.

[alp227]

18. Charles Hill had a knife, can't compare him to Oscar Grant n/t

[DFab420]

15. dupe.

[starroute]

7. Anon's own press release . . .

http://youranonnews.tumblr.com/post/8850132926/this-is-a-message-from-anonymous-to-the-bay-area-rapid

To BART:

We will not tolerate censorship.
We will do everything in our power (we are legion) to parallel the actions of censorship that you have chosen to engage in.
We will be free to speak out against you when you try to cover up crimes, namely on behalf of those who have engaged in violence against a mostly unarmed public.
We will set those who have been censored free from their silence. That’s a promise.
Anonymous demands that this activity revolving around censorship cease and desist and we know you are already planning to do this again.
We will not issue any more warnings.

TO THE PEOPLE OF SAN FRANCISCO:

People of San Francisco, join us Monday, August 15th at 5pm for a peaceful protest at Civic Center station to illustrate the solidarity with people we once knew and to stand up for your rights and those of your fellow citizens.

We will be wearing “blood” stained shirts for remembrance to the blood that is on the hands of the BART police. (Protest flier)

For the people outside of San Francisco, show solidarity by using black fax, email bombs, and phone calls to the BART Board of Directors. BART decided to cut off your communications and now we will flood theirs.

[GOTV]

9. Do you think anon's press release writer actually wears a cape while writing these?

[starroute]

11. If you grow up on superhero movies, that's your model for saving the world

I kind of enjoy their over-the-top rhetoric, but I suppose tastes vary.

[AsahinaKimi]

8. Some of the replys to the article

are sickening. These are not San Francisco citizens, these are right wing extremists trolls who have joined the conversation, from where ever they are, to throw in their line of pure crap. SF gate has become infested with them, as of late.


seems I am not the only one to notice this:

The people who comment on SF Gate must be mailed in from East Texas, they certainly do not represent a progressive Bay Area constituency that is utterly fed up with an undemocratic, unconstitutional government and growing police state that attempts to terrorize citizens into complacency. And a corporate media that spins every protest event as a threat to public safety or "terrorism".

http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article/comments/view?f=/c/a/2011/08/13/BAH71KN6CK.DTL&plckOnPage=4&plckItemsPerPage=10&plckSort=TimeStampDescending

[santamargarita]

12. I agree, stinks of freeper...

[RandySF]

13. But the last protest did turn off a lot of people

Commuters were prevented from entering or exiting trains. One protestor climbed on top of a rail car and a police officer was dragged off a motorcycle and kicked. as annoyed as people might have been over cutting off cell phone coverage, there's not much sympathy for the protesters, either.

[DFab420]

16. Yea those poor commuters, at least they weren't SHOT IN THE BACK while handcuffed on the ground by

the BART police.. Like Oscar Grant was...

[AsahinaKimi]

17. I am not sure about that..however Randy...

If you ever peek at the SF Gate stories and the response to them, its like Freepers or Right Wing extremists are SITTING on top of SF Gate, waiting for a story to come out, ready to pounce on any liberal idea or thought. It NEVER USED TO BE THAT WAY.


I used to post comments there a few years back, and its gotten worse and worse, to the point, they have INFESTED SF gate with a right wing agenda. Do they think they are helping their cause in doing this? Do they think making comments like this will turn San Francisco to the right?


Never in a million years. If there is any bastion of Democratic thought anywhere its places like San Francisco and they know it. In fact, I have seen so much Gay Bashing on SF Gate, you would think the city hated the Castro district, which of course is not true, at any stretch of the imagination.

[alp227]

19. Gay bashing? Not anymore, comments generally lean against Prop 8 and for same sex marriage

those comments are the most highly rated