Many, many thanks everyone! That was fun!

Thanks!

I guess I did come into the project with some opinions on Scientology and the truth is, when it comes to the basics those opinions didn’t change a lot. But I do think that the Anonymous raids did dramatically change the Church of Scientology. There was a time when the church notoriously went after their critics and now, I think those days are mostly over. For that I think it’s fair to credit Anonymous.

I am following a few of the cases more specifically for a potential follow up film, and am actually in the very beginning stages of a short film about Aaron Swartz. We are also researching a couple of non-Anon (or hacker-related) documentary projects.

No insider information on “Operation Last Resort” though having watched these closely for as long as I have I think it is a really good idea to be safe.

While I have no inside information on this, I was definitely watching and like you, entertained.

No I don’t think there is a direct connection, but it is really interesting. There were definitely some early anti-Scientology protests with usenet, etc. but I think the Chanology protests were new, starting with the leaked Tom Cruise video. However, that a resurgence of “hacktivist” activity would return to Scientology as a target says something about the underlying principles of both groups and the openness of the internet.

Ha, I hope not! We did get mentioned in the latest DHS report under the “Open Source Situational Awareness Highlights.” Not sure what that means.

Yes, this happens nearly constantly within Anonymous. There are always people pretending to be something they aren’t and trying to uncover the identities of others. It is is almost part of the fabric of the group – my friend the writer Quinn Norton says those people are Anonymous too. In her view Anonymous is the whole thing, the people protesting as well as the people trying to find them, uncover their identities or hijack the group for their own ends.

Thanks Kevin! Barrett’s role within Anonymous was always contentious. He didn’t shy away from the spotlight, which occasionally rankled those in a group that privileges anonymity. But I think most people are long past the argument over whether he was a “spokesman.” The charges he faces right now are enormous. While his case is different in many ways to what Aaron Swartz was facing, the prosecutorial overreach is the same. With the most recent indictment (for “obstructing justice” during a March 6th, 2012 raid on his apartment) you are right he could now be facing nearly 100 years. His crimes? Allegedly making YouTube videos, sharing a link and now, hiding his laptop.

Yeah, tons of DVD extras! We tried the make the DVD something new, with lots of extra material and parts of interviews we loved but had to (sadly) cut from the full film.

As far as I know only two people went to jail for the denial of service attacks on Scientology – Brian Mettenbrink and Dmitriy Guzner. There are many others currently facing charges for a variety of other alleged attacks including the denial of Service attacks on Mastercard, Visa and Paypal.

This is tough to determine with any accuracy. “Hacktivism” the word was coined by a member of a group called Cult of the Dead Cow around 1996 and there were people like the Electronic Disturbance Theater and others conducting “virtual sit-ins” for political protest purposes around 1998. 4chan.org (largely thought of as the birthplace of Anonymous) started in October of 2003. But there is no doubt their Scientology raids in 2008 gave an identity to the group they didn’t have previously. We spent some time on our website tracking the history: http://wearelegionthedocumentary.com/hacktivist-timeline/

Ha, great! That is one of my favorite moments in the film.

Great, many thanks!

I didn’t realize myself the scope of those raids until I was working on this project. I do think it was a moment of innovation, up until that point the internet had never really been used in worldwide protests like that.

Scientology did know about the film. I sent out a letter telling them about the film and asking for an interview or a statement. I didn’t get a response.

Hey Lisa! Yes Barr did want to tell his story. I think at the time he was urged by the people and lawyers around him not to talk to anyone, as well as asked not to be a part of an Anonymous panel at DefCon. He wanted his story out.

@emptywheel – actually there was a group called “LulzSec” that broke off from Anonymous for a while that spent a lot of time attacking the “powers that be” so to speak. They did attacks on CIA.gov, USSenate.gov, and FBI related site called “Infraguard” etc. Attacks like that don’t happen everyday, but they have been a part of Anon history for sure.

Thanks Suin, and James we are selling the DVD through our website here: http://www.wearelegionthedocumentary.com