LJ, You're Time Is Almost Through
Jul. 30th, 2011 09:57 am![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
peristaltorFor the past six days I've been trying to post something. Six days. I just tried yet again a few seconds ago and got the error message the folks at the Known Problems Desk tell me apply to "long posts."
I know, I know, I shouldn't blame LJ for a DDos attack. Those people are just like terrorists, we are told. They are vandals that strike indiscriminately.
But is this true?
I was in (as a bystander who knew nothing of the issues) the 1999 World Trade Organization Seattle protests, the so-called Battle in Seattle. I can assure everyone that the targets of the vandalism were far from random, at least at first.
The targets were the kind of multi-national corporations that most infuriated the protesters. The protesters, it seemed, were being very discriminate about the targets of their anger.
Which brings me back to LJ.
I honestly don't know what would drive this particular collective of hackers to target LJ for a week straight, but it suggests some real motivation. Maybe payola was the objective. Maybe SUP pissed off the Russian or Belarusian or Ukranian equivalent of a mob.
Or maybe, just maybe, the hackers were pissed about what has been eroding my own confidence in LJ of late:
The constant barrage of unwanted
ADVERTISING.
![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
nasu_dengaku has already bolted, disgusted not just by the Cyrillic spam comments he must delete but by the fact that — though he is a paid member — people viewing his site must put up with video pre-ads and other sales clutter. This bears repeating: Matt pays for his membership, yet SUP feels it necessary to try to raise additional money from those who want to read Matt's work. One truly must wonder then exactly what additional services Matt and any other paid members are paying for.
If so, I feel like paraphrasing the old Sam Kinneson (sp?) routine. No, I don't support hackers attacking web sites. . . but I understand it!!!
I know, I know, I shouldn't blame LJ for a DDos attack. Those people are just like terrorists, we are told. They are vandals that strike indiscriminately.
But is this true?
I was in (as a bystander who knew nothing of the issues) the 1999 World Trade Organization Seattle protests, the so-called Battle in Seattle. I can assure everyone that the targets of the vandalism were far from random, at least at first.
The targets were the kind of multi-national corporations that most infuriated the protesters. The protesters, it seemed, were being very discriminate about the targets of their anger.
Which brings me back to LJ.
I honestly don't know what would drive this particular collective of hackers to target LJ for a week straight, but it suggests some real motivation. Maybe payola was the objective. Maybe SUP pissed off the Russian or Belarusian or Ukranian equivalent of a mob.
Or maybe, just maybe, the hackers were pissed about what has been eroding my own confidence in LJ of late:
ADVERTISING.
nasu_dengaku has already bolted, disgusted not just by the Cyrillic spam comments he must delete but by the fact that — though he is a paid member — people viewing his site must put up with video pre-ads and other sales clutter. This bears repeating: Matt pays for his membership, yet SUP feels it necessary to try to raise additional money from those who want to read Matt's work. One truly must wonder then exactly what additional services Matt and any other paid members are paying for.If so, I feel like paraphrasing the old Sam Kinneson (sp?) routine. No, I don't support hackers attacking web sites. . . but I understand it!!!