Shameful attack on epileptics
The group of hackers known as Anonymous may have been behind a series of whirling and blinking applications inserted into a popular discussion board run by the non-profit Epilepsy Foundation last weekend, which caused multiple seizures and other uncomfortable symptoms for users. Wired spoke with victims:
RyAnne Fultz, a 33-year-old woman who suffers from pattern-sensitive epilepsy, says she clicked on a forum post with a legitimate-sounding title on Sunday. Her browser window resized to fill her screen, which was then taken over by a pattern of squares rapidly flashing in different colors.Fultz says she “locked up.”
“I don’t fall over and convulse, but it hurts,” says Fultz, an IT worker in Coeur d’Alene, Ohio. “I was on the phone when it happened, and I couldn’t move and couldn’t speak.”
The Wired article points a circumstantial finger at Anonymous, whose most recent claim to fame has been an attack against the Church of Scientology. As much as I detest what’s happened here, this just doesn’t seem to carry the mark of Anonymous, and if it turns out that the group truly is responsible, we may see the Feds step in. I mean, why deliberately hurt epileptics?
There may be a fine line between pranks and terrorism, but this one isn’t even close. What’s wrong with us anyway?
March 31st, 2008 at 2:32 pm
I agree, I do not believe this is the work of Anonymous. I believe this is actually an attack perpetuated by $cientologists to point the finger at Anonymous. $cientology revels in “bringing down” their opposition. I have done a lot of research on this cult. I don’t believe it is a religion because they do not worship a higher being. But that is neither here nor there. If you read the teachings of $cientology, they advocate “getting rid of” those who do not believe as they do. I believe the teachings actually say, in different words of course, to kill those who do not believe as they do. This sounds like something a $cientologist did to try to make Anonymous look bad.