Difference between revisions of "4chan"
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===Child Pornography=== | ===Child Pornography=== | ||
| − | Because /b/ has no set topic, users post a variety of images, ranging from | + | Because /b/ has no set topic, users post a variety of images, ranging from highly disturbing gore, to sexually explicit and child pornography. Child Porn, commonly referred to as "CP", is joked about by posting pictures of Chris Hansen from the TV show ''To Catch a Predator'' and Pedobear. Since users do get banned for posting actual child porn, they skirt the line by posting suggestive pictures of children, and explicit images of young boys and girls of questionable ages. This is done as a way of fostering simultaneous acceptance and rejection of the topic - so as to comply with the US government's age of consent law. |
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| + | The key point here, is that although users are anonymous to each other, logs and other records of activity are sometimes kept by the 4chan moderators. It is possible, therefore, for a government to obtain the IP logs for the site. This IP address, and the associated logs, can then be used as corroborating evidence in a trial.<ref>http://www.businessinsider.com/here-is-4chan-founder-moots-full-testimony-from-the-palin-email-trial-2010-8</ref> | ||
==References== | ==References== | ||
Revision as of 05:41, 1 December 2011
4chan is an internet image board that was founded by moot Christopher Poole on October 1, 2003. Anyone is allowed to post and share images and comments. There are many different boards relating to different topics like Health and Fitness, Food and Cooking, Video Games, Technology, etc. Its community is best known for fostering internet subcultures, creating internet memes, and organizing internet attacks. (Back to index)
Contents
Background
4chan launched on October 1, 2003 as a place to post pictures of and discuss anime and manga; an English-language version of the popular Japanese website 2chan. Contributors do not have to be identifiable, and have the notorious ability to post anonymously. The format for this online community is a series of image boards where users can post text with an attached image. Although there are many sub-categories of image boards, the random board called "/b/" is 4chan's most popular and notorious board due to its low regard for rules, and creation of popular internet memes such as rickrolling, pedobear, and lolcats.
"Anonymous"
4chan's boards thrive on the ability for users to post anonymously.The term "anonymous" or "anon" is a widely used self descriptive term and username on 4chan due to a perceived sense of community created by sharing an identity. Although membership of anonymous originated in the imageboard 4chan, Anonymous has spread into the realm of the real world, collaborating on many events such as picketing and hacking important government databases. A study examined and discovered that 90% of all posts on the board were from anonymous users.
A reoccurring message regarding anonymity on /b/ reads: "You have just entered the very heart, soul and life force of the internet. This is a place beyond sanity; wild and untamed. There is nothing new here. "New" content on 4chan is not found; it is created from old material. Every interesting, offensive, shocking or debate-inspiring topic you've seen elsewhere has been posted here, ad infinitum. We are the reason for "not safe for work". We are the Anonymous Army. Cross us and you will fail. Anonymous is everywhere. You depend on us every day. We bag your groceries, we fix your computers. Anonymous sees you before you see him. Sitting at desks around the world right now is a nameless, faceless, unforgiving mafia composed of the best of the best, the worst of the worst and most people in between. We are 4channers. The people devoid of any type of soul or conscience; we are products of cynicism and apathy, and we spread those very sentiments daily. Anonymous is the hardened war veteran of the Internet. He does not forgive, nor forget. We have seen things that defy explanations. We have heard stories that would make any God-fearing, law-abiding citizen empty their stomach where they stand. We have experienced them multiple times and eagerly await their return. 4chan is a place of sheer genius and utter stupidity, and there is often a thin line dividing the two." -Anonymous, 10/28.
4chan activities
4chan users have been the source of numerous controversial internet attacks as well as real world attacks. They are known for pulling off some of the highest profile collective actions and attacks on since the history of the internet. One of the first attacks, which are done strictly for "the lulz", was a mass log-on to the social networking site "Habbo Hotel" and the organization of a mass blockade of swimming pools in the game, spamming the chat with internet sayings, and forming into the shape of swastikas.
Hal Turner
- Between December 2006 and January 2007, 4chan collectively attacked Hal Turner's website and prank called his radio show. This caused Hal Turner's website to go down and creating thousands of dollars worth of damage.
Sarah Palin email hacking
- In 2008, Republican vice presidential candidate Sarah Palin was the target of an attack by 4chan user David Kernell, son of Democratic Tennessee State Representative Mike Kernell. Kernell gained access to Palin's private Yahoo Mail account by enabling password recovery, and answered her security questions using Wikipedia and a little research. [1] He then proceeded to read her email hoping to find something incriminating that could derail her campaign. Once Kernell realized there were no emails of the sort, he started a thread on 4chan's /b/ board where he eventually posted the account's password. David Kernell was sentenced to 1 year and 1 day in custody and 3 additional years of probation for his crimes. [2]
Steve Job's heart attack
- In October of 2008, a hoax story was submitted to iReport.com claimed that the CEO of Apple Inc (Steve Jobs) had suffered a heart attack resulting in a significant drop in stock price of Apple Inc.
TIME 100 Poll Hacking
- In 2009, moot was the winner of TIME magazine's 3rd annual TIME 100 online poll. He won with 16,794,368 votes and an average influence rating of 90 (out of a possible 100). TIME noted that everyone who moot beat actually held a job to emphasize the magnitude of this victory. [3] While TIME technical staff detected some hacking attempts and tried to extinguish them, they were unsuccessful. Not only did moot win with an abnormally high influence rating (runner-up Anwar Ibrahim only had 47 out of 100), the hackers manipulated the winners so the first 21 names spelled out "marblecake also the game." Marblecake refers to Anonymous's IRC channel, and The Game is a popular meme.
/b/ - Random
The most popular board on the site, /b/, is what people are most commonly referring to when they speak about 4chan. The board can be depicted as the garbage dump of the internet or as Mattahias Schwartz of the The New York Times put it, “the inside of a high-school bathroom stall, or an obscene telephone party line.” It is, essentially, used for misdoing.[4]
This is also the board where a large portion of internet memes originate.
Common Terms
- /b/
- The "Random" board on 4chan. It is the site's most popular board.
- /b/tard
- A person who actively participates on /b/.
- newfag
- A person who is new to 4chan and unaccustomed to its culture and behaviors.
- oldfag
- A veteran of 4chan who knows about old memes, customs, and threads.
- moralfag
- A person who goes against the norms of 4chan and tries to prevent harm to others.
- whiteknight
- See moralfag.
- troll
- A person who deliberately acts naive in order to incite others.
- lurker
- A person who reads threads, but does not contribute to them.
- lulz
- A bastardization of the internet acronym “lol,” meaning to laugh out loud.
- CP
- Short for Child Porn.
- OP
- Short for Original Poster; the person who starts a thread.
- bump
- (verb) To post in a thread, so that it is floated to the top of the board.
- sage
- A term included in the email box of a post, so that the post does not bump the thread.
Ethics and Controversy
4chan is the source of many ethical controversies and is in the new at least once every few months. Of primary concern is the site's staple of full anonymity which has lead to the rise of the Anonymous persona. Under this guise, participants will target any person or organization they have a disagreement with. The targets range from random, and otherwise unknown, people off the internet to groups like the Church of Scientology or companies like Google.[5]
Ruining People's Lives
One mode of attack is to lure victims into revealing private or embarrassing information and then spreading it to the victim's friends and family. For instance, a 4chan user might go onto the site Omegle and pretend to be an underage girl. The 4chan user will then get the victim to make sexually explicit advances, by offering nude pictures for instance. The 4chan user will then ask for the victim's email or facebook, so the pictures can be sent. Once this information is given, however, it becomes extremely easy to find the victim's family and friends. Using fake Facebook accounts, the 4chan user may then send screenshots of the conversation to these people with notes condemning the victim's actions.[6]
Obviously, this kind of behavior is ripe for discussions on ethics. First, it demonstrates that one can never know and, therefore, should never trust a person who is anonymous. The consequences of this trust were previously made evident. Second, this is an example of one's online actions spilling over into the real-world, meaning that the boundaries between cyberspace and the real-world can be extremely porous. As such, one should be careful and mindful of the amount of their personal information being exposed online. Third, the 4chan user's actions are illegal in most jurisdictions, yet the user continues to break the law. This can be attributed to the user's high level of anonymity. It is highly unlikely that the person would ever be caught.
Child Pornography
Because /b/ has no set topic, users post a variety of images, ranging from highly disturbing gore, to sexually explicit and child pornography. Child Porn, commonly referred to as "CP", is joked about by posting pictures of Chris Hansen from the TV show To Catch a Predator and Pedobear. Since users do get banned for posting actual child porn, they skirt the line by posting suggestive pictures of children, and explicit images of young boys and girls of questionable ages. This is done as a way of fostering simultaneous acceptance and rejection of the topic - so as to comply with the US government's age of consent law.
The key point here, is that although users are anonymous to each other, logs and other records of activity are sometimes kept by the 4chan moderators. It is possible, therefore, for a government to obtain the IP logs for the site. This IP address, and the associated logs, can then be used as corroborating evidence in a trial.[7]
References
- ↑ Zetter, Kim. Palin E-Mail Hacker Says It Was Easy. Wired. 2008-09-08. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
- ↑ Zetter, Kim. Sarah Palin E-mail Hacker Sentenced to 1 Year in Custody. Wired. 2011-11-10. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
- ↑ TIME staff. The World's Most Influential Person Is... TIME. 2009-04-27. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
- ↑ Schwartz, Mattathias. The Trolls Among Us. The New York Times. 2008-08-03. Retrieved 2011-11-11.
- ↑ http://www.guardian.co.uk/technology/2008/feb/04/news
- ↑ http://4chanarchive.org/brchive/dspl_thread.php5?thread_id=296327330&x=Ultimate+Omegle+Trolling
- ↑ http://www.businessinsider.com/here-is-4chan-founder-moots-full-testimony-from-the-palin-email-trial-2010-8
