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posted by LaminatorX on Monday January 26 2015, @03:25AM   Printer-friendly
from the nothing-funny-to-say dept.

The Independent reports that hacktivist group Anonymous, in a project named Operation DeathEaters, is calling for help in its fight against international pedophile networks, or what it calls the “paedosadist industry” and has issued a video instructing activists on how they can aid in the operation. The Anonymous project is intended to break what it says is a conspiracy of silence among sympathetic politicians, police and mainstream media to downplay the full extent of the online child sex industry. “The premise behind OpDeathEaters is to expose high level complicity, obstruction of justice and cover-up in the paedo-sadist industry in order to show the need for independent inquiries,” says Heather Marsh, an online activist who is helping to co-ordinate the operation and describes herself as an “old friend” of Anonymous. The Anonymous database, which will be hosted on the GitHub online repository, promises to collate cases from all around the world, cross-referencing connections within sub-groups including the police, armed forces, schoolteachers, politicians, media, academics and religious organisations. The database’s ultimate purpose has yet to be fully determined, but in the first instance the group says it wants to shut down the child-sex industry by “dismantling the power structure which held it there” and by “educating to create a cultural change”.

The group is calling on volunteers to help with the ongoing work, which has been divided into three steps. The first is about collecting “all the factual information,” second is to “share that information as widely as possible,” and the third step is “to set up an independent, internationally linked, inquiry into all the areas which do not appear to have been investigated properly.” Activists point to the muted media coverage given to a recent case in Washington DC in which Michael Centanni, a senior Republican fundraiser, was charged with child sex offences after investigators traced transmissions of child pornography to his computers in his basement. The case was not covered by The Washington Post or the New York Times, and was only picked up by a local NBC affiliate state and The Washington Examiner, a small conservative paper in the city. According to the court filings, Centanni was found in possession of 3,000 images, many apparently filmed in his own bedroom, including one showing a man raping a five year old girl.

 
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  • (Score: 2) by janrinok on Monday January 26 2015, @03:13PM

    by janrinok (52) Subscriber Badge on Monday January 26 2015, @03:13PM (#138179) Journal

    I'm sorry, but Anonymous is not getting my support. No, not because I don't think that the crime deserves punishment but because this is vigilantism. No assurances that the 'evidence' is accurate (“all the factual information”), no chance to challenge what is being claimed or published (“share that information as widely as possible”), and no chance of justice being achieved (“to set up an independent, internationally linked, inquiry into all the areas which do not appear to have been investigated properly.”).

    Who decides that the evidence is accurate? Who decides what should be published? Who conducts this independent, internationally linked [sic], inquiry? And who decides that 'areas have not been investigated properly'? There is much that is wrong in the world but this is not the answer. Come up with an adult plan and international judicial support and I might be behind you, but a silly name ("Op DeathEaters") does not inspire me or make me think that this is anything more than immature people in basements who might have some computer skills.

    I applaud the the aim of the cause, but I disagree most strongly with its execution.

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  • (Score: 2) by GreatAuntAnesthesia on Monday January 26 2015, @05:27PM

    by GreatAuntAnesthesia (3275) on Monday January 26 2015, @05:27PM (#138236) Journal

    Can't disagree with anything you've said. However I would point out that vigilantism is the inevitable result of the populace losing faith in the legitimate law enforcement channels. Vigilantism is a symptom, not a problem. The problem is the corrupt and cynical law enforcements agencies and the well-connected criminals who are immune to prosecution.

  • (Score: 2) by etherscythe on Tuesday January 27 2015, @12:36AM

    by etherscythe (937) on Tuesday January 27 2015, @12:36AM (#138367) Journal

    Agreed. This is too sensitive a topic to be handled by amateurs randomly selecting themselves on the internet. There needs to be professionalism and discretion at work. I'm also opposed to "put all of it out there so that the funding dries up" theory. I might be sympathetic to allowing cartoons and other material of an obviously unrealistic nature, if it were shown to be helpful to those who struggle with their desires to live a normal life that respects others.

    However, if you want to expose corruption in general by our elected or appointed officials - go right ahead. Those guys knew what they signed up for when they agreed t the position.

    --
    "Fake News: anything reported outside of my own personally chosen echo chamber"