Moral justification.

http://torrentfreak.com/acslaw-anti-...emails-100925/

I realize this may be the wrong section, but according to the point I wanted to argue, it felt like the most appropriate one.

Pirates, who troll the internet, are being commended for running a program that a two year old can download, install, setup and use in order to take down a law firm's website, then harassing its CEO endlessly.

There used to be a time where pirates were the respectable crowd. Where it wasn't about being "ahead of the curve", or being smarter than the system, either. Nowadays, the line drawn between morally justified actions, and criminal has blurred, and criminals justify their moral stance, then call more heinous criminal acts "payback." Nowadays, the most intelligent pirates still stand their ground, as the heads of University IT departments, as IT departments' members in fortune 500 companies, and as bona fide geniuses. Following is a bunch of sheep that click a button when being told to do so, and appreciate/enjoy the fact that another man's life is being destroyed.

I'm fairly young, but ever since I touched my first computer (1994) I've been a pirate, so I reckon I've got a few years of experience on most people. I've been through it all, between starforce being the justification, between community being the reason, and between september-jailtime (scene reference) being the incentive for payback. Filesharing, as well as all other dubious activities associated with it, has always had good reasoning behind it, and better/more intelligent individuals (than ye average redneck) backing it up.

Nowadays, it seems like it's more about idiotic buffoons throwing a tantrum to get what they want, thinking that outsmarting the system and dislocating where power lies is a solution to a problem they themselves created; people thinking that a pseudo-revolution is somehow tantamount to sticking up for what's "right", even when all of them know deep down that pro-piracy arguments aren't convincing, even to their own selves.

So here's the question: By what moral justification does one stand up for a criminal act, that people deliberately argue is an action carried out by white hats? Am I the only one that does not think the actions carried out in the past few weeks were done for the right reasons? Should I let this argument go, in favor of my previous stance that every pirate is free to make his own choices, as we all draw the lines between good and bad differently; or are there true evils that cannot be justified?

The actions taken were against an extortion ring. I don't care if the ones destroying this "law firm" are using scripts that can be run by 4 year-olds. Seriously. We are the targets of this extortion scheme. If we do not make a show of force, more and more of these scumball, bottom-feeders will come after us. It is about time pricks like this get some shit thrown back at them.

I agree with ringhunter:blink: there is an appreciable difference between "sharing files" or "piracy" or whatever euphemism you want to apply to what we do and malicious intent.
Btw I am also firmly of the belief that the "action" for most involved had little if anything to do with defense or even retribution.As ringhunter alluded to it was a bunch of children doing the internet equivalent of picking up and smashing their toys with about the same amount of thought process involved.

Even if I am totally wrong then I'm still pretty sure that the words defending and attacking have two entirely different meanings.
Also not sure on this one but probably a safe bet that someone in the "law firm" said something remarkably close to "If we do not make a show of force, more and more of these scumball, bottom-feeders will come after us". :mellow:

No, if you read RH's link, the "law firm's" email analized (sic) how much cash they could extort from people who's IPs had been collected. It's a scam; its extortion. Plain and simple.

If there is a pedophile/rapist in my neighbor hood, and someone- anyone be they 4 or 94, burns down their house (law firm) I'm calling the neighborhood a safer place.

And I hope the prick running this "law firm" loses his 30K pound deposit on his Ferrari/Lambo.

You're absolutely right; this goes back to thieves stealing from thieves. But at the same time, how can someone wish for payback/vengeance when they put themselves in the pinch in the first place? Everyone knows that when you do something wrong/irresponsible you only keep your head down and act normal. The asking for money is not extortion, and if you think taking money from offenders as a penalty/subsidization is wrong, then please never visit a courthouse. Did you know that the coptic pope is being sued for 150,000$? Right. There are more serious cases out there that deserve being worked up on, than simple legal theft going head-to-head against illegal theft. And no matter the circumstance, I'm finding this habit of trying to ridiculously harass the hell out of someone, under the veil of anonymity, and calling it heroism more and more inane.

By your analogy in your second post, killing is morally justified. Does that mean any action, no matter the gravity of the evil associated with it can have acceptable motives backing it up? What's wrong with simply reporting the rapist to the authorities? I recently (not sure how whack this will sound) caught a spy in my neighborhood. My first action was to level with him, I went over to his place to make him feel comfortable, and told him I had no idea what he was doing but I knew what he was. He explained to me that a house down the block has "rape parties" where they host a party, drug chicks, drag them to a locked room in the basement and use the facade of the party as cover-up. When I said I doubt the legitimacy of his claim, he took me down to the station with him, and showed me months' worth of proof he had collected, some of which was him inside the rape room itself. Now he might have as well pulled out a gun and put two lead droplets of justice in those guys' heads, but he didn't. This is about being morally right. If people think payback, especially through means such as the one up in the example is morally just, then something is wrong with the world. If you want to do what is right, then do it. Don't reason with morally gray areas, then convince yourself that killing/stealing/harassment is morally justified in your case.

This is the right way to go about things: http://beingthreatened.yolasite.com/ in the cases of the people above.

MBM is 'Merican so what do you expect?

Just be thankful that as of yet you can't shoot someone over the internet.

tit for tat.

Makes the whole world blind.

When the whole world is already dark?

Makes no sense turning the last light off.