Dear Anonymous

An open letter to the Anonymous collective.

Dear Anonymous,

You don't know me. That's ok; I don't know you. I have read stuff about you and theoretically, by you online and on the news but when you go by the name "anonymous" it is hard to know what is real and not.

When I first read stuff about I actually thought that what you were doing was somewhat righteous -- you were ensuring that information was available. You were standing up for the little guy. You hid behind the name anonymous both because you were a boat rocker and because the media wouldn't be as entranced by a force known collectively as "Ralph."

But, I have to say, the bloom is off the rose. First, it was your threats against Israel. Fact is, I'm an ardent supporter of Israel and don't think that internet piracy is a particularly moral direction for any group, especially when one is doing so for the sake of appearing to stand up for the little guy, history and facts be darned. But, though I disagree with your politics (and doubt you have any real, cohesive representative politics), I let that go. You have the right to be wrong.

Then I saw threats against Facebook. What? Really? Facebook is a voluntary activity for people. If you don't like it, don't join. But to threaten to let loose worms, viruses or trojans on Facebook (even if you have valid concerns about Facebook's privacy policies) is immature. No one forces anyone to be a part of Facebook so if you sign up, do so as an involved consumer who is getting a free service and has to stay informed of the consequences. Do we really need a knight in shining armor saving us from our own ignorance? Where lies personal responsibility?

Then I heard about this Mexico thing. Apparently, a member of your group was kidnapped by a Mexican drug cartel. In response, Anonymous threatened to reveal the identities of the drug personnel. Then the hacker was released so Anonymous relented. Since the beginning of November, this narrative has become a bit muddled (http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2011/nov/02/anonymous-zetas-hacking-climbdown?newsfeed=true) so I don't know what to believe, except that you have, historically, gone after corporations, politicians (and the occasional nation state) but have NOT gone after patently criminal organizations.

You could be such a force for good, ignoring politics. You could expose drug cartels left and right if you wanted to. And for a moment, it seemed like you wanted to. But (either because you were afraid of reprisals, or your kidnap victim was released) so far you have done nothing to use your skills and power against the groups who are universally considered to be criminals. That is unforgivable. If you mixed in some real social conscience with your politics, your politics would seem all the more noble. But you haven't. It shouldn't take a kidnapping to motivate you, nor should your higher moral obligation be sacrificed when physical safety is on the line.

Have some principles. Don't go after faceless corporations because they can't do anything back. Don't go after governments because you think that they are doing wrong on some grand opinionated scale (there are plenty of governments doing all sorts of evil right now so your choice of any one will smack of some favoritism or subjectivity), go after the people who are causing real problems in the world and we all know it. Be the savior, not the trouble maker. Have some guts to do what we all know is right and needed. Otherwise, you come off as a bunch of petty wonks who pick on people who can't or won't defend themselves.

I have no way of knowing if you will see this, answer me, or decide that I, sitting in front of my cheap-o netbook pose any real threat to your veneer of importance and your self-image and must, therefore, be dealt with. I just think that you could reach respectability and acceptance by doing some simple "good" stuff instead of going for the controversial splash which is sure to make people think less of you.

Sincerely yours,
Dan. But you knew that. My name's right there, Ralph.