Police booked in for Anonymous anti-censorship protests

By Liz Tay, Ry Crozier on Feb 19, 2010 11:49 AM
Filed under Networking

Project Freeweb denies risk to protestors.

NSW Police confirmed they would maintain a presence at the Sydney leg of national anti-censorship protests planned for this weekend by the Anonymous collective.

A spokesman told iTnews that "NSW Police were aware of [the protest] but were not expecting any trouble.

"We will have a suitable police presence at the location," the spokesman said.

Similar protests under the banner Project Freeweb were to be held in Melbourne and at locations around the nation on Saturday.

A spokesman for Victoria Police told iTnews in a statement that "for operational reasons, we don't disclose police resources or numbers in anticipation of protests/rallies/events."

Likewise, a spokesman for the Australian Federal Police declined to comment "on matters relating to intelligence.

"State and Territory Police have primary responsibility for responding to protests within their jurisdictions," the spokesman said.

An alleged member of Anonymous, known only as ‘Infinite', believed there was no risk of Project Freeweb protesters being identified or arrested for alleged links to attacks on Federal Government web servers last week.

The distributed denial of service (DDoS) attack, dubbed Operation Titstorm, crippled the Australian Parliament House website for days.

"These are two seperate entities, and being a member of one does not constitute being a member of the other," Infinite said in a telephone interview.

"Many of those involved in Operation Titstorm have taken precautions to ensure their anonymity. Many who participated in the actions of Operation Titstorm were not residents of Australia."

Infinite hoped the protests would attract those disenfranchised with a decision by other anti-censorship groups to back down from public protests in favour of picnics.

"The March 6th protests organised by the SIC (Stop Internet Censorship) and EFA (Electronics Frontiers Association) have gone from a protest to some sort of function (which many of us feel is contradictory to the purpose of the protest), so we're hoping that many who hoped to be involved in that protest will join us in ours," Infinite said.

"We're also expecting not only members of Project Freeweb and Anonymous but members of the internet community and public alike to join us in protest."

Police booked in for Anonymous anti-censorship protests

12 comments in this discussion

"Digger11: "Have you ever considered the incredibly remote possibility that Aussies might actually want the filth removed from the Internet" You talk of "filth like it is some absolute quantity ..."

By Sams

Tags

police, nsw, victoria, anonymous, freeweb, censorship, protest, filter, internet, australia

Project Freeweb protest hits Adelaide again

Photos: Anti internet censorship protest hits Sydney

Censorship fears as Iran's internet disrupted

Anonymous wage vendetta on copyright laws

Breaking Stories

Bankwest credits IT for flat operating expenses

Conroy warns of cloud uncertainties

Hiring strategy vital to government IT transformation

Melbourne scientists ready 2013 bionic eye trial

ACCC declares Telstra wholesale pricing

Comments: 12

Trish108 Feb 19, 2010 2:27 PM	Stop the Filter have organised protest rallies in both Perth and Melbourne. These will not be picnics, they will be in central locations, informative to passers by, and also a way for those against the filter to show their opposition to it. In Melbourne the rally will be held outside the State Library from 12 noon, and the Perth rally will also start at 12 noon in Forrest Place. There is growing support for these events on Facebook, with more than 300 confirmed in Perth and 400 in Perth in just one week! Melb RSVP here http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=298307181198&ref=share Perth RSVP here http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=336217294950 Trish - Stop the Filter!
Trish108 Feb 19, 2010 4:23 PM	Just to clarify - the Perth and Melbourne rallies are part of the National Day of Action on March 6th 2010.
rycrozier Feb 19, 2010 7:58 PM	Starting to feel like deja vu http://www.itnews.com.au/News/167442,block-the-filter-accused-of-censorship-protest-hijack.aspx
aciddor Feb 20, 2010 12:43 PM	You have pointed out Infinite's spelling errors, as if this was in some way important, but then you have indicated that it was a telephone interview. Is it that the journalist can't spell in transcribing the conversation, or was this actually written statement? Either way your reporting looks a little shabby.
rycrozier Feb 20, 2010 3:08 PM	@aciddor - good spot. It was an editing error. I was under the impression it was an email interview when incorporating Infinite's comments into the piece, but was wrong - it came from the telephone. The errors were in transcription. Piece has been amended. Edited by rycrozier: 20/2/2010 03:09:26 PM
Digger11 Feb 22, 2010 12:38 PM	I was going to march in protest... but then I saw the type of losers (all 10 of them) that the protest had attracted and thought it might lower my image by associating with them. we should start a "22 million Aussies in support of getting the filth off the internet" protest. We could march in the opposite direction of the 10 unwashed protestors and see the sparks fly when we collide in the middle. They would need at least 0.001 of a policeman to keep us all in line.
thor Feb 22, 2010 3:46 PM	Digger11-Once again you like to make a big deal out of nothing, instead of been negative, these people have a right to go and protest if they feel, that is their rights. As for others, I do agree with other people that the actions of this groups "Anonymous" has not benefit the movement and need to re-think there strategy. Like the EFA suggested we all need to join together and work towards a common goal.
Digger11 Feb 22, 2010 4:27 PM	thor - the protestors looked exactly like I thought they would. I think that some of them may have taken water conservation a bit too far. Have you ever considered the incredibly remote possibility that Aussies might actually want the filth removed from the Internet and will fully support censorship ??? We are all not 16-25 year old Interent users, like the protestors, some of us even have children who need to use the Interent for school.
sexystu Feb 23, 2010 3:32 AM	if only those 300+ facebook ppl had turned up in Perth ... i went past saturday around 11am and there was only 10-15 people!!! ooh nos, those 10-15 ppl may start a riot ... better watch out - they may even take down your local ISP ... ooh nos !!!
bcmobile Feb 23, 2010 8:22 AM	Digger11 wrote: some of us even have children who need to use the Internet for school. So I take it you wouldn't have an issue with an opt-in system? I also have kids but I don't expect the govt to do my job as a parent and control what content is made available to them. I certainly wouldn't want the whole country to be restricted to 'g-rated', govt-friendly content, just in case my kids stumble across something inappropriate. I suggest you get yourself one of the countless filters already out there or opt out of the Internet altogether.
Digger11 Feb 23, 2010 8:53 AM	@bcmobile, I would be very happy with an opt-in system. My children have to change from the school porxy settings to get their laptops to work at home - so a proxy setting is absolutely useless.
Sams Feb 23, 2010 6:18 PM	Digger11: "Have you ever considered the incredibly remote possibility that Aussies might actually want the filth removed from the Internet" You talk of "filth like it is some absolute quantity that can be read on a filth-o-meter. What about the (quite likely) possibility that some of what you decide is "filth" might instead be something that you fail to comprehend, and might be very interesting or useful, or in fact life-saving, to someone else. Or are you in that politician's mindset where you think you are God's infallible gift to humankind and know, without a doubt, what is good for everyone else. I'm pretty sure that most Aussies would agree that arrogant twats like that are a waste of good oxygen ...