Say hello to men who hate the NSA but love invading the privacy of women

[+Frank B. Subscriber²]

Say hello to men who hate the NSA but love invading the privacy of women

 

Over the weekend someone released hundreds of revealing photos of celebrities that appear to have been stolen from private storage. In response to this, a bunch of anonymous guys on the internet copied them and posted them all over the town square, because the internet is written in ink and if you are ever a victim once in your life the internet will remind you of it forever.

 

These men are the detritus of human society for whom the internet provides a warm blanket, so let's remove the warm blanket for a minute.

 

It's still not clear how the private photos were obtained, but there's a good chance the victims were hacked ? it's happened before. The last time, a man named Christopher Chaney illegally accessed more than 50 email accounts to steal nude photos and was later rewarded with 10 years in prison. Now, the hunt is on for the latest perpetrator. One theory pegs at least one user of AnonIB for the hack, and 4chan thinks it has already identified the guy who did it. While that's going on, people are looking for other things to blame, like iCloud and victims that didn't use better passwords. In any event, there's a small group of one or more people responsible for this heinous intrusion. But they're not the only ones responsible for it.

 

Take the members of Reddit, for example. If you're not familiar with Reddit, this is the best way I know how to describe it: it's an "anything goes" online message board where the loudest voices belong to misogynistic trolls who value anonymity over decency. In reality, "anything goes" is a bit of hyperbole, since the site does have two major rules: no child porn, and no posting "personal information." And because Reddit is a special place, its ban on posting personal information will protect you unless you happen to be an attractive woman that lots of people want to see naked.

 

At ground zero of Reddit's celebrity nude leak, where, as you are reading this, an orgy of men are sharing and ogling and re-sharing and re-ogling, lies this placard:

 

 

DO NOT POST ANY INFORMATION, TRUE OR FALSE, ABOUT THE IDENTITY OF THE PERSON(S) LEAKING THESE PHOTOGRAPHS AND VIDEOS. IF YOU DO THAT YOU WILL BE BANNED FROM THIS SUBREDDIT.

 

If the hypocrisy of this dim herd is not bare enough for you, consider this: these people want to protect someone who stole and exposed the private nude photos of women because logically their actions are roughly equivalent to someone who leaks state secrets like illegal mass spying on American citizens.

 

Fortunately, the internet is written in ink. Here are some of those men:

 

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Larry Wachs is a creator and host of an Atlanta talk radio show called "The Regular Guys," which, according to Wikipedia, has a target demographic of men aged 25 to 49. He's been fired by Clear Channel Communications more than once. He apparently doesn't like it when the NSA spies on Americans illegally, especially since Barack Obama is president. Surely he would be horrified to learn that private citizens are being violated in a crass public manner!

 

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Oh, nope. Larry thinks it's the victim's fault.

 

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Twitter user "Zaiger" has issues with women. He doesn't like that feminists are attacking the games industry for being sexist. "You light one bitch on fire and everybody freaks out," he once tweeted. Zaiger is so concerned with privacy that he puts electrical tape over his webcam so the government can't see him.

 

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But Zaiger doesn't mind looking through other people's cameras and pleasing himself at their expense.

 

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If America has an embarrassment of riches, it is from the endless wealth of talk radio wisdom. Steve Yuhas, another talking head, has strong opinions on privacy. He thinks we need to ??? ??????? of the government because the NSA is spying on citizens. Surely he will sympathize with the victims of a severe privacy breach!

 

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Steve doesn't think it's a big deal, the victim is obviously enjoying the fact that her private nude photos are on the internet.

 

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Sean Bartley is a music producer and self-described "big booty enthusiast." He doesn't have much to say on Twitter about the NSA, but he definitely supports women. Sean appears to be against the idea that society would leverage the legislative and judicial systems to impose religious beliefs on women's bodies...

 

 

 

@crazedy @M_E_Winstead The main point being, if you take nude photos of yourself and they leak, thats your own fault.

? Sean Bartley (@SeanBartley) September 1, 2014

 

... but blames women when someone commits crimes against their bodies.

 

That's just a sample ? you, reader, are familiar with the vile and lecherous tendencies of the internet by now. Except blaming "the internet" is a dumb way of talking about what happened yesterday. "The internet" is just a series of tubes, connecting us to miserable ###### from around the world. In the coming days we'll find out who leaked the photos and which room of the house they did it in and which weapon they used, but those details are just a different kind of pornography for people who would rather know the caliber of a mass shooter's guns instead of the names of his victims.

 

The perpetrator of this crime will probably one day be unmasked, vilified by the decent and heroized by jerks, and then fall into oblivion the moment they're shipped to prison. (Remember Christopher Chaney? Exactly.) But just like the photos themselves, the jerks who inflamed this spectacle, the ones who shared the photos and poked the victims publicly, will still be around.

 

Let them know the internet is written in ink. Let their horrible ideas be preserved and ridiculed publicly. It's their own fault.

 

Source: The Verge

 

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[simonlang]

guys in the irc channnel had just a little debate about it.

i think i have to agree with the opinion, that if you hate the nsa for reason that they are potentially influencing your privacy, then you have no business in looking to leaked prom porn pics.

i mean they have a right of privacy too; same i have no tolerance for the guy who tried to sell info about schueys hospitalizing.

but some people obviously like to have it easy and only their way. it's like living in a democratic stable country, enjoying therefore all benefits, yet complaining that the us invaded iraq and tried to install democracy there as well. never liked these attitude. it's cherry picking for me.

[FloatingFatMan]

I think the whole thing is sickening and hope the culprits are caught.

 

However, I do think that if you're going to take such pictures of yourself, and you have -every- right to do so if you want! However, putting them in online storage isn't really the best idea in the world, especially if you're a celeb.  You're already a target just by your celebrity status, so certain lowlife people WILL be trying to hack your accounts.

[MikeChipshop Member]

However, putting them in online storage isn't really the best idea in the world, especially if you're a celeb.

I think this sums it up pretty damn well, all the NSA rubbish aside, and all the privacy blah blah blah aside, the fact that these people were as daft as to think it'd stay private, is what worries me.

[TPreston]

Zaiger will not be pleased..

https://forum.encyclopediadramatica.es/members/zaiger.2/

 

Thought that name sounded familiar

[hankyhank]

I have to laugh.

"Say hello to men who hate the NSA but love invading the privacy of women"

 

Thats right, say hello to MEN.

 

Further into the article, 'These men are the detritus of human society for whom the internet provides a warm blanket, so let's remove the warm blanket for a minute." and of course "it's happened before. The last time, a man named Christopher Chaney illegally accessed more than 50 email accounts to steal nude photos and was later rewarded with 10 years in prison." and don't forget, "At ground zero of Reddit's celebrity nude leak, where, as you are reading this, an orgy of men are sharing and ogling and re-sharing and re-ogling, lies this placard:"

 

Way to paint everyone with the same brush, Verge and Neowin!!

 

Justice?? NAAA, IT HAD TO BE A MAN WHO DID IT BECAUSE IT WAS A MAN WHO DONE IT LAST TIME!!

 

Maybe it was a man who done the hacking, and maybe everyone involved with spreading them were also men - but thats information that isn't known at present. Glad people who are actually responsible for the investigation don't botch it like these artcles do.

[LaP]

While i don't agree with people sharing those illegally obtained photos there's a big difference between gov spying and illegal sharing of private photos by individuals.

 

Those individuals if caught will have to pay. The gov is sadly over the laws and nobody pays. Gov should be whiter than white. For individuals there's laws to cover their reprehensible acts.

[FiB3R]

I think there is a huge difference between the mass surveillance of every communication of every citizen, and viewing a few pics that some little #### gained assess to, by using publicly available software to hack a few celeb accounts.

 

They are both violations of privacy, no doubt, but one of them is off the charts, the other is a stupid prank.

[Nick H. Supervisor]

Was this article written by a Tumblr user? It has the similar "all men are scum for being men" vibe, at least at the beginning.

While the breach of privacy was wrong, were people not brought up like I was, being told not to put anything online that I didn't want to be seen by others?

Privacy and security have been heated subjects for a long time. Why these people thought they would be safe is a bit confusing to me, especially given their high public profile. I'm not saying that it's their fault, nor that what the hackers did was right (it certainly wasn't) but you have to be careful when you achieve such a level of popularity. They are not the first celebrities, and they won't be the last.

[123456789A]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with what the NSA is doing. If you eliminate the NSA, you will eventually get beheaded by ISIS.

[simonlang]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with what the NSA is doing. If you eliminate the NSA, you will eventually get beheaded by ISIS.

 

people just always see and complain about the "oh so bad stuff" nsa would apparently be doing, but never see the broader context.

nsa could do a bit more in their own advertisement - showing how many terrorist attacks and other stuff they have successfully prevented. i mean  isis is also using twitter full blast to propaganda their horrendous stuff!

[123456789A]

people just always see and complain about the "oh so bad stuff" nsa would apparently be doing, but never see the broader context.

nsa could do a bit more in their own advertisement - showing how many terrorist attacks and other stuff they have successfully prevented. i mean  isis is also using twitter full blast to propaganda their horrendous stuff!

 

Well I'd prefer for the NSA to remain secretive about their capabilities. If the NSA isn't spying, you can rest assured that we're playing a bad game of StarCraft 2 (you need to know what's happening on the map).

 

And yes, NSA needs to spy on American citizens because obviously several of them decided to become terrorists.

 

They'll also need to make sure they keep tabs on the Chinese and Soviets.

[Lamp0]

There is absolutely nothing wrong with what the NSA is doing. If you eliminate the NSA, you will eventually get beheaded by ISIS.

 

That's a bit dramatic.

[FloatingFatMan]

That's a bit dramatic.

 

It's the internet. It's MADE of hyperbole. :p

[simonlang]

Well I'd prefer for the NSA to remain secretive about their capabilities. If the NSA isn't spying, you can rest assured that we're playing a bad game of StarCraft 2 (you need to know what's happening on the map).

 

And yes, NSA needs to spy on American citizens because obviously several of them decided to become terrorists.

 

They'll also need to make sure they keep tabs on the Chinese and Soviets.

 

i was not saying they should release and publish their methodical approach of doing things but more advertising still. let them become what coca cola and mcdonalds used to be when us named the new world order.

by now at least everyone knows that the nsa exist, but all the bad trash they are getting, also everywhere in europe is unacceptable for me.

[Som]

does anyone else feel bad for all the other celebrities who barely get mentioned cause everyone is just interested in jennifer lawrence :P

 

also very sexist to think it wasn't a woman hacking the accounts...

[Luc2k]

How curious, Zoe Quinn got a very different treatment from Reddit. I guess it's the people you know, or maybe she wasn't hot enough.

[epk]

I'm not blaming the victims or anything but how is this different than having the photos printed and at your house? Someone could take and leak those as well, breaking in even. If you're really that paranoid you shouldn't take them, or go the extra mile to keep them secure.

 

And like Nick said, especially if you're (or aspiring to be) a celeb!

[Som]

I'm not blaming the victims or anything but how is this different than having the photos printed and at your house? Someone could take and leak those as well, breaking in even. If you're really that paranoid you shouldn't take them, or go the extra mile to keep them secure.

 

And like Nick said, especially if you're (or aspiring to be) a celeb!

 

It isn't different, breaking into someone's home and stealing pictures is highly illegal and a horrible thing to do, just like hacking someone's account.  I'm not sure what your point is....

[Setnom]

I'm so very sorry that this happened to women I really like, like Jennifer Lawrence or Kate Upton.

 

My carnal instincts, on the other hand, are very glad that this happened to women I really like.

 

I'm torn...  :s

[georgevella]

I think this sums it up pretty damn well, all the NSA rubbish aside, and all the privacy blah blah blah aside, the fact that these people were as daft as to think it'd stay private, is what worries me.

No they are not daft.  In this day and age phones, tablets, computers, are advertised with the "store once have it available everywhere" idea, and it's a comfortable idea.  You can't tell your phone "hey sync everything except those photos of me in a bikini".  And frankly, these celebrities have the bloody right to not be hacked, just like you do.

[MikeChipshop Member]

No they are not daft.  In this day and age phones, tablets, computers, are advertised with the "store once have it available everywhere" idea, and it's a comfortable idea.  You can't tell your phone "hey sync everything except those photos of me in a bikini".  And frankly, these celebrities have the bloody right to not be hacked, just like you do.

I in no way condone what happened, never said i did, i also in no way think they should have any less rights than i do.

These people make a living out of being in the public eye where every aspect of their lives is scrutinized and violated. There are literally thousands of people out there whose job it is to dig out dirt on these celebrities. Do i think it's dumb that they're banding around nudes between cloud sync accounts without the slightest hint at research? Yes, yes i do. Do i think any one who throws their personal and privates files in to a cloud service without doing any research is as think as s***, yup, i do.

[Anibal P]

Yes the article had the usual "feminist" bent to it, but too many are missing the bigger issue that it is trying to convey badly it seems 

 

The author is pointing out the hypocrisy of the people that one one side cry like the little entitled internet babies they are about privacy, while on the other side the same people post every minutia about their life on FB or flock to download some celebrities possibly faked nudie shots 

 

 

Now I feel dirty

[DocM]

There is also the hypocrisy of complaining about this loss of privacy (they saw my boobies!!) after they've done nude scenes, scenes where they may as well have been nude, or gone to resort beaches and skinny dipped when they **know** someone is likely to take a pic and sell it.

[compl3x]

There is also the hypocrisy of complaining about this loss of privacy (they saw my boobies!!) after they've done nude scenes, scenes where they may as well have been nude, or gone to resort beaches and skinny dipped when they **know** someone is likely to take a pic and sell it.

 

 

By you logic your wife's doctor should be able to see her naked any time he wants because she consented to him examining her once. See the problem? 

 

 

People who rant against those in power aren't always just ###### off about injustice they may commit, sometimes it's envy.