back to article Activists unleash Operation Titstorm on Aussie.gov

Cyberactivists have launched an distributed denial of service attack on Australian government servers, as part of a protest against proposed anti-porn and net censorship regulations. Operation Titstorm, launched on Wednesday, will also involve spam emails, junk faxes and prank phone calls. Spam emails will focus on small- …

COMMENTS

This topic is closed for new posts.
  1. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    "criminal hacking attacks only hurts their cause"

    But results and action are needed now, not in some far off committee based nonsense.

    Those implementing net censorship (including our own ignorant leaders in the UK) need to be made aware that there is more to the game (of governing) than the aspects they control, particularly now the internet has been invented.

    "Stick it to the man" and other such effusive slogans!

    1. Il Midga di Macaroni
      Paris Hilton

      Disagree

      Australian voters are (mostly) sheep. They will believe most things a politician tells them. Sad but true.

      It's especially true of things they don't understand - especially things the pollies have deliberately made difficult to understand. Climate change is a case in point.

      In the case of net censorship, any pollie with half a brain, a hundredeth of a clue and zero conscience can point to attacks like this and say "Oh look, that's a kind of e-crime! Our filter will reduce e-crime! Just imagine if the wicked, bad, naughty, evil e-criminals were to attack you! It's too perilous!" - and a lot of people would slowly change their minds and be in favour of censorship.

      Paris because most voters are equally scintillating in intelligence.

  2. The BigYin

    Why worry

    If Haystack is good enough to by-pass the filtering in Iran, why don't the Aussies just use that?*

    Or Tor?

    Governments will have to learn that no matter what they do, they cannot compete with an legion of frustrated geeks with entirely too much time on their hands. :o)

    *I agree it's the principle of the thing that's important.

  3. Captain TickTock
    Coat

    It's raining ____,

    Hallelujah! It's raining ___,, amen!

    Fill in the blanks with your preference.

    Mine's the single-breasted suit jacket.

    boom-tish. And the coat, please.

  4. Chris Collins

    Ebaums

    I think you'll find that disenfranchised youths lurk in "moar" places than just 4chan. Send in the party vans

  5. Count Ludwig
    Coat

    You didn't hear me say it

    Nope, I never made any joke about a storm in a D-cup. No sirree, not me.

    But I'll get my coat anyway.

  6. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Now this is the stuff you can get behind

    more cyber civil liberty style activism post millennium style. This is where public support is more likely to be found.

    Governments have become far too interfering in everyone's lives and there are a lot of injustices out there allowed because of 'lobbying' power, so this is the beginning of the balance and the road to democracy and freedom.

    1. RanTalbott
      Happy

      Only if you're a woman.

      Or a thoracic surgeon.

      Otherwise, you're limited to being in front of it.

  7. Andrew 99

    would that site be banned then?

    banned site? storm in a d-cup?

    http://www.storminadcup.com.au

  8. Anonymous Coward
    FAIL

    Who censors the censor?

    how age appropriate is that material. don't want any of those gubmint people warped.

  9. ceebee

    uncivil disobedience...

    As an Australian the proposed 'net filer will directly affect me.

    I have done all the "correct" things.. written to the Minister and my local MP, left messages and posts on numerous newspapers and IT websites.

    My own MP (in fact a member of Cabinet and therefore directly involved in the decision making on this issue) admitted he had received many letters of complaint about the filter.

    In my letter both to him and the Sen. Conroy I said in no uncertain terms that this was a cynical vote buying exercise aimed at the religious right (of with Conroy is a member).

    The Minister responds with a standard letter about preventing access to "illegal" material.

    But it is all rubbish. The government has no intention of backing down despite massive opposition from the IT industry, business, free speech groups and the media.

    This is all about votes in marginal electorates and sucking up to a rich and very powerful religious lobby.

    The opposition Liberal party (ie Tories) originally opposed the filter but since a change of leader late last year, have been very quiet on the subject which is deeply disturbing.

    I am sure they are being lobbied hard on the issue by the religious right and by free speech supporters. But I am sure they are contemplating the impact of being seen to side with "pornography" if they oppose Conroy's idiocy.

    The level of debate has been appalling with Conroy calling anyone who opposes his laws a supporter of child pornography. This gives you an insight into how vicious and unprincipled the government is on this issue.

    I do not really approve of DoS attacks but civil disobedience against this sort of vile and undemocratic legislation maybe the only way open to oppose this nasty legislation.

  10. JassMan
    Gates Horns

    DDoS seems to be having some effect then.

    http://www.aph.gov.au/ the Australian Parliament House server

    and

    http://www.dbcde.gov.au/ the Department of Broadband, Communications and the Digital Economy

    seem to be dead in the water. Whether the oz gov will take any notice in the wishes of their population seems to be another matter entirely.

    I think they would have had more effect by finding which politicians were in favour of the law and spamming them instead.

    Rather sad that the press have reported the DDoS as hacking. 'Tis not, nor is it even cracking. Policiticians would be more useful if they passed a law to make sure journalists know the definition of every word before they use it. I suspect however that this would result in news being written with a vocabulary of about 500 words (the same as a smart chimpanzee).

  11. Tony Paulazzo
    Thumb Up

    letter writing

    pretty sure the suffragettes, blacks and gays didn't get governments to change their minds by writing about it.

  12. tyciol
    Heart

    Leyden is awesome

    I am glad reporters cover this monumental shot for free speech.

  13. Pan Narrans

    @JassMan ...

    your post is offensive to smart chimps!

  14. Winkypop Silver badge
    Stop

    I'll give the Government a DoS

    ...at the ballot box.

This topic is closed for new posts.

Other stories you might like