I have very little patience for people online who think it is their right to disrupt, harass, and harm others purely because they can. I am talking about griefers: a term that began its life in multi-player games as a name for all the people for whom the primary source of fun was ruining everyone else’s fun. Griefers and their ilk come in all forms, some claiming to have a somewhat valid cause like harassing Scientology, most simply being out and out asshats.
At the root of much of “griefer” behavior is a belief that, if something is possible, it must not only be acceptable, but demand being done. If a game can be twisted to permit one to steal someone else’s virtual possessions, destroy their simulated house, or disrupt their electronic “wedding”, then it must be okay to do so. If a website can be hacked, images of horrific pornography posted, or seizure inducing videos posted, then obviously the website allows it so it should be done. A rallying cry amongst these Junior Psychopaths are terms like “it’s all fake, so who cares?” and “if they didn’t want me to do it, they’d make it more secure.” Purely because they can hide behind the mask of “anonymity”, they think their behavior is both acceptable and encouraged.
Earlier this week some of the most pathetic warts on the buttocks of humanity decided that it would be great fun to cause true physical pain and real harm using the computers their mummsies and dadsies gave them. They logged in to a support forum for sufferers of epilepsy and posted hundreds of messages that led to content intended to induce epileptic seizures.
Apparently these geniuses hail from one of the cesspits of the Internet, the hallowed halls of 4Chan and Anonymous. While some of the things done by denizens of these loose associations can be described equally loosely as “funny” or “creative”, what was done this time demonstrated no real skill, wit, or charm. Instead, what they they did was a form of physical assault with an intent to cause harm to hundreds of individuals. Those misguided individuals who say that the forum was at fault for not “securing” their service appropriately are so incredibly dense and lacking in empathy as to cast doubt on their claims of humanity.
This is not funny, it is not “harmless”, it is not tolerable in any way, shape or form. I would argue that these acts go beyond most incidents of electronic fraud, DoS attacks, or other digital crimes with purely financial impacts. Just like swatting, these so-called pranks can result in real harm, even death, to real people. The instigators of these acts of physical assault should be sought out, their guilt proven, and they should be charged with real crimes that will result in hard jail time.
Updated to add some explanation of the term “griefer” and related behavior
http://www.penny-arcade.com/comic/2004/03/19
Enough said…
That’s the one I referenced in my OP for the text “…behind the mask of “anonymity—. It is a good one. Hopefully there is some police action on this, and hopefully they find those responsible. But I suspect they’ll never be identified or punished.
um… right… I knew that. *looks sheepish* sorry I was already fired up about something else this morning and didn’t want to read into anything else that would make me hate humans more than I was at the moment.
Sorry, go ahead and remove it. 🙂
No need to look sheepish 🙂 And I have very mixed opinions about humanity: but the general rule seems to be, the more humans I interact with, the more I like my cats 😉
Humans have their uses … opening doors, operating can openers and cleaning litter boxes being the most important 😉
How true…. last night I thought it was love… turns out that Rhogan’s food dish was low. 😉
Then she ate, napped and then came and napped on my chest after all while I played games. I am loved after all!
Of course she loves you! Who doesn’t love their favorite chair? 😉
I don’t know… as much as it is fun to suggest that cats consider us servants or furniture, I think that the relationship is a bit more complex. It is far too easy to anthropomorphize, but it seems to me that our six cats (and all the ones that have shared our lives before) consider us part of their “family”, something akin to a parent or sibling. I think there is love there, different from the slavish devotion a dog might give, but real.
I’m happy these comments got away from the original, anger-filled post. I probably don’t need more anger, frustration, and disappointment in humanity in my life anyway 🙂
I agree less anger is good. It’s been a less than stellar week for me. I gave my cat a good lovin’ this morning because starting the day with contented cat purrs is just fine with me.
And I also agree that in reality they interact in a much more complex manner. Mine treats me as the lead I suppose, if cats have such a structure, though she’s very persecutive if I’m feeling down and has ‘mothered’ me in the past. All in all, I wouldn’t give her up for the world.
There are days that I come home that I feel torn between crying and hitting something. Sitting down with one of our cat family for ten minutes generally causes a startling shift in my attitude.
If I were to characterize how our cats treat us… it is more akin to being part of their family. A dog on the other hand, in my experience, generally thinks of me as a God, or a mighty King, or a Prophet. Neither dogs nor cats are automatons, though, and the personalities vary tremendously.
Rommel, for example, was like a partially reformed former juvenile delinquent. He would be all thuggish one moment, intimidating people and generally playing the “heavy”. Then the next minute he’d desperately want love: he’d launch himself into my arms, purring and drooling. He had a certain amount of respect for me as well- I just had to look at him and change the tone of my voice, and he’d back down: but that respect was earned, after “rescuing” him from a number of unpleasant situations. He had similar respectful relationships with some of our elder cats like Bilbo and Susu. But new humans (visitors) and new cats generally were greeted by the thuggish personae.
Interestingly, Iris (the last cat we added to our household before Rommel’s untimely death) could get away with murder when dealing with him. I was amazed to see her regularly push underneath his head while he was face-planted in the food bowl, and Rommel actually let her: well, he did put his paw on her head and push her into the bowl…