Fronzel said:
I don't think this "collateral damage" shines a particularly bad light on the hackers, if it's true the hacking was an act of protest. This was "direct action" of wrecking shit, and you can't do that without hurting someone. I don't think that means it's inherently wrong. The real question is the argument for attacking in the first place.
I'm actually getting tired, now, of seeing silly apologetic statements like this to defend hackers when they commit illegal, criminal acts such as what has transpired. While I will not defend Sony for its complete negligence of security(and I do consider Sony 100% accountable for the current affairs due to their negligence), the hackers are 100% culpable for the current situation as it is a direct result of
THEIR actions, not Sony's. Sony did not hack into its own servers, the hackers did. Sony did not steal information from the servers, the hackers did. Sony did not attempt to sell this information on the Internet, the hackers did. At every point, there was a direct action on the part of the hackers that had an identifiably negative consequence. Any grieves or issues the hackers may have had with Sony, there are legal and legitimate methods to address them. These actions are simply the action of thugs, thieves, and unrepentant criminals.
Another thing, there has been constant undertone in the media that the hackers' actions are as a form of protest against Sony's refusal to allow the OtherOS option anymore. Well, grow up, kids! Sony is perfectly in right to include or not include a particular feature in a device it sells, and it has right to protect its interests if such a feature could cause damage or losses to its business. You don't always get to do what you want, when you want, how you want, where you want to whomever you want, because, like it or not, your actions have an effect and consequence on others outside yourself(remember the Golden Rule? This is the reason behind it). This is why we have laws to arbitrate in order to avoid or mitigate the conflicts that can arise within our society from our collective actions. Vigilantism and vegeance are not proper and stable means of addressing conflict and grievences; they only beget social unrest, instability, and mutual destruction.
But even more so, as one poster mentioned, in this world, there do exist actual criminals, people without scruples who are willing to commit extreme harm to others for purposes of their own personal gain. This is easily what we are dealing with. The coincidence with the GeoHot case and the Anonymous DDoS is circumstantial until a direct link can be made. It is very likely that the hackers saw an opportunity and took advantage of it purely with an intent to profit from it, not make any statement or protest against Sony(and certainly, any merits their position of protest may have had, if this were such, have long since been lost in light of the consequences of their actions; the same thing happens to terrorists). Sony did indeed fail to take sufficient account of this reality to protect its servers from intrusion, and I will agree that they are 100% accountable to everyone affected for their negligence. But, these criminals were not necessarily trying to do anything noble(even if misguided); they were simply committing theft with the intent of personal gain, caring not one wit the effect their actions beyond such ends.
Regardless of how lax Sony's security may have been, the fact still exists that entry onto the servers was restricted to only authorized personnel, which the hackers were not, and that information on those servers was not meant to be extracted for any reasons other than legitimate business commerce by authorized entities, a fact which the hackers also violated. By no means are these hackers' actions legal or justified on either moral, legal, or civil grounds. They committed an act of trepass by gaining unauthorized access to a restricted area, the servers, and compounded that with an act of theft, unauthorized extraction of restricted information. These are criminal acts punishable by law. However weak the lock may have been, the fact is the door was still locked, and one is not allowed in without the correct key; breaking past the lock and taking what's inside still constitutes criminal acts.
No matter how people try to spin it, the actions of these hackers were unnecessary, unwarranted, and criminal in nature, regardless if it is a protest or not. Stop apologizing for them. Yes, Sony is at fault for their negligence and should be held 100% accountable by law, but the hackers are also 100% accountable for actually committing the act and, by law, should be criminally punished accordingly.
EDIT: Spelling errors and minor rewrites.
