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[News Thetan]

Hacker group takes aim at BART - San Jose Mercury News
14 August 2011, 4:28 am

SAN FRANCISCO -- A secretive, international group of hackers has aimed its keyboards and social media masses at BART, threatening to retaliate against the transit agency for its decision to cut off cellphone service at a planned protest Thursday.

The activist group, Anonymous, which has targeted everyone from dictatorships to the Church of Scientology, has planned a "peaceful protest" at 5 p.m. Monday in the Civic Center station, asking participants to wear "blood" stained shirts in remembrance of a homeless man who was killed at that station.....

....The question of how BART handled the Thursday protest resonated with others as details emerged of agency officials' decision to cut off underground cellphone service for a few hours at several stations. Commuters at stations from downtown to near the San Francisco Airport were affected as BART officials sought to tactically thwart the planned protest over the recent fatal shooting of a 45-year-old homeless man by transit police.

Two days later, the move had civil rights and legal experts questioning the agency's move and drew backlash from one transit board member who was taken aback by the decision.

"I'm just shocked that they didn't think about the implications of this. We really don't have the right to be this type of censor," said Lynette Sweet, who serves on BART's board of directors. "In my opinion, we've let the actions of a few people affect everybody. And that's not fair."

Similar questions of censorship have arisen in recent days as Britain's government put the idea of curbing social media services on the table in response to several nights of widespread looting and violence in London and other English cities. Police claim that young criminals used Twitter and Blackberry instant messages to coordinate looting sprees in riots.

Prime Minister David Cameron said that the government, spy agencies and the communications industry are looking at whether there should be limits on the use of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook or services such as BlackBerry Messenger to spread disorder.

The suggestions have met with outrage -- with some critics comparing Cameron to the despots ousted during the Arab Spring.

In San Francisco, Sweet said BART board members were told by the agency of its decision during the closed portion of its meeting Thursday afternoon, less than three hours before the protest was scheduled to start.

"It was almost like an afterthought," Sweet said. "This is a land of free speech, and for us to think we can do that shows we've grown well beyond the business of what we're supposed to be doing, and that's providing transportation -- not censorship."

Complete article at http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18679828?nclick_check=1

[SocialTransparency]

Hacker group takes aim at BART - San Jose Mercury News
14 August 2011, 4:28 am

SAN FRANCISCO -- A secretive, international group of hackers has aimed its keyboards and social media masses at BART, threatening to retaliate against the transit agency for its decision to cut off cellphone service at a planned protest Thursday.

The activist group, Anonymous, which has targeted everyone from dictatorships to the Church of Scientology, has planned a "peaceful protest" at 5 p.m. Monday in the Civic Center station, asking participants to wear "blood" stained shirts in remembrance of a homeless man who was killed at that station.....

....The question of how BART handled the Thursday protest resonated with others as details emerged of agency officials' decision to cut off underground cellphone service for a few hours at several stations. Commuters at stations from downtown to near the San Francisco Airport were affected as BART officials sought to tactically thwart the planned protest over the recent fatal shooting of a 45-year-old homeless man by transit police.

Two days later, the move had civil rights and legal experts questioning the agency's move and drew backlash from one transit board member who was taken aback by the decision.

"I'm just shocked that they didn't think about the implications of this. We really don't have the right to be this type of censor," said Lynette Sweet, who serves on BART's board of directors. "In my opinion, we've let the actions of a few people affect everybody. And that's not fair."

Similar questions of censorship have arisen in recent days as Britain's government put the idea of curbing social media services on the table in response to several nights of widespread looting and violence in London and other English cities. Police claim that young criminals used Twitter and Blackberry instant messages to coordinate looting sprees in riots.

Prime Minister David Cameron said that the government, spy agencies and the communications industry are looking at whether there should be limits on the use of social media sites such as Twitter and Facebook or services such as BlackBerry Messenger to spread disorder.

The suggestions have met with outrage -- with some critics comparing Cameron to the despots ousted during the Arab Spring.

In San Francisco, Sweet said BART board members were told by the agency of its decision during the closed portion of its meeting Thursday afternoon, less than three hours before the protest was scheduled to start.

"It was almost like an afterthought," Sweet said. "This is a land of free speech, and for us to think we can do that shows we've grown well beyond the business of what we're supposed to be doing, and that's providing transportation -- not censorship."

Complete article at http://www.mercurynews.com/breaking-news/ci_18679828?nclick_check=1

 The future...... It is here!

[Mary_McConnell]

August 15, 2011, 9:38 pm
Anonymous Protest Turns Tumultuous
By NICK BILTON
10:00 p.m. | Updated

Anonymous may be better at hacking than organizing a protest.

More than a dozen members of the hacker group Anonymous joined a small group of San Francisco residents Monday evening to protest the fatal shooting of a 45-year-old man by police officers last month.

The protest, which began peacefully, became more chaotic when individuals tried to disrupt the transit system at a BART station. Police officers in riot gear closed the station gates while protesters chanted at them.

Last week, during a similar protest, Bay Area Rapid Transit officials killed wireless and cellular activity at a number of BART stations with the hopes of quelling protestors. In response, Anonymous members hacked myBart.org, a Web site for BART riders, and leaked the names, phone numbers and passwords of many of the sites users.

The Federal Communications Commission said Monday that it was investigating BART officials decision to cut cellular service.

Several Anonymous members wearing the group’s well-known Guy Fawkes masks, said they had organized the protest to ensure BART officials did not cut cellular and wireless services again.

Dan Hartwig, deputy chief of police for BART police department, said officials had not disrupted cellular activity in the train system, but officials had decided to close the train station until protesters dispersed.

“Protestors began disrupting trains and we did not feel there was safe passage for BART passengers,” Mr. Hartwig said. “We do not oppose protesters exercising their First Amendment rights, but we do need to protect passengers.”
http://bits.blogs.nytimes.com/2011/08/15/anonymous-protest-ends-quietely/

Hackers protest peacefully in San Francisco subway
Mon Aug 15, 2011 9:55pm EDT 
Print This Article[-] Text

• By Emmett Berg

SAN FRANCISCO (Reuters) - A few dozen protesters turned out on Monday for a San Francisco rally organized by the hacker group Anonymous to protest alleged police brutality and what they called anti-free speech tactics by authorities.

Bay Area Rapid Transit, the commuter train service in the San Francisco area, shut down cell phone networks in some stations on Thursday to stop a demonstration over the fatal shooting of a man by police last month.

The cell phone shut-down drew a new wave of criticism, spurring the Monday rush hour action.

"This was a complete silencing of the people." said Carlos Wilson, a 41-year-old gay rights activist who came to protest police brutality and the shut-down of the mobile phone network last week.

The Monday protest ended just before 5:30 p.m. local time, when authorities shut down the Civic Center station.

Police said there were no arrests, although officers arrived dressed in riot gear.

Cell phone service was left on in the station during the action, and some protesters took that as a sign of victory.

"I have more cell service now than usual on BART. I think what they did last time was an empty threat. I have full bars," said Beck Simmons, a 21-year-old student, who was protesting the police shooting.

Anonymous, a loosely knit group that has attacked financial and government websites, had called for protesters to descend on the station at 5 p.m., and media widely publicized the plan.
Would-be protesters were encouraged to download software for short-range mobile-to-mobile messaging, in case the in-station networks are shut down again.

BART said that a website for its users, myBART.org, had been hacked over the weekend, and contact information from at least 2,400 people had been stolen.

(Writing by Peter Henderson; Editing by Dan Whitcomb and Jerry Norton)

http://ca.reuters.com/article/technologyNews/idCATRE77E59G20110816?sp=true

[Sarcasm Pirate]

Organization has never been a strong point for anonymous.

However, I think anything that nudges Americans off their sofas and into social activism is a step in the right direction. ( Though, for those paying attention BART, like our lovely MARTA, is not public property nor is it the proper place to hold a legal protest.)

[Mary_McConnell]

Organization has never been a strong point for anonymous.

However, I think anything that nudges Americans off their sofas and into social activism is a step in the right direction. ( Though, for those paying attention BART, like our lovely MARTA, is not public property nor is it the proper place to hold a legal protest.)

 

[SocialTransparency]

 San Francisco's BART transit system has a website hacked for 2nd time

http://www.cnn.com/2011/US/08/17/california.bart.hacking/index.html?hpt=hp_t2

 The "Well know group anonymous......."

[ethercat]

Might as well say it was the well known bogeyman, since "Anonymous" is becoming the media's metaphor for

an amorphous imaginary being used by adults to frighten children into behaving. The monster has no specific appearance, and conceptions about it can vary drastically from household to household within the same community; in many cases, he has no set appearance in the mind of a child, but is simply a non-specific embodiment of terror. Parents may tell their children that if they misbehave, the bogeyman will get them. Bogeymen may target a specific mischief — for instance, a bogeyman that punishes children who suck their thumbs — or general misbehaviour, whichever need serves the adult's purpose best.

I agree, SP, that Americans need to get off their couches and fight for the things they oppose and/or the things they hold dear.  In a legal way, of course.

[ethercat]

Is disconnecting a cell phone or a social network any different from trashing a printing press?

When ideas become powerful