protesters

Members of the Anonymous collective are not just taking their activism to the Internet and the streets; they're now targeting corporate financials with a securities research arm.

The mission of Anonymous Analytics is to "expose companies that practice poor corporate governance and are involved in large-scale fraudulent activities," according to the Web site.

Anonymous researchers--who include unnamed and unnumbered "analysts, forensic accountants, statisticians, computer experts, and lawyers"--will base their investigative reports on information "acquired through legal channels, fact-checked, and vetted thoroughly before release."

Their first target is a produce firm listed on … Read more

The Anonymous activist collective today released personal information about a New York police officer who is believed to have sprayed pepper spray on women protesters on Wall Street.

The group released a phone number, addresses, names of relatives, and other personal data for a New York police officer that numerous Web sites identified as Deputy Inspector Anthony Bologna, as well as photos that appear to show him at the protest and a close-up of his badge.

Bologna was identified as the officer in a slow-motion video who sprayed pepper spray directly in the faces of a handful of women who … Read more

Yahoo apologized yesterday after people using its e-mail service were prevented from sending messages about anti-Wall Street demonstrations over the weekend.

The company said that an external spam filter had blocked the messages but maintained that it was inadvertent. It said that the problem has since been resolved, though there may be some residual issues.

ThinkProgress, which first noticed the problem, posted the following video of someone being blocked from e-mailing a message inviting their friends to visit the "Occupy Wall St." campaign Web site.

After typing in to the text field a message suggesting a visit to … Read more

OAKLAND, Calif.--Bay Area Rapid Transit should only interfere with public communications in extreme emergencies, a director for the agency said in a special meeting called here today to discuss its cutting off of cell phone service to block an anti-police violence protest a few weeks ago.

"The First Amendment and the right to have a communications channel are what people are looking for because it's part of this democratic society we live in...We can't sit back like Big Brother and say we don't like the message," said Lynette Sweet, a member of the … Read more

Hackers have broken into a second Web site affiliated with the San Francisco Bay Area subway system, which has come under fire in the last week for turning off cell phone service before a planned protest.

A database belonging to the BART Police Officers Association was posted online today, complete with full names, e-mail addresses, home addresses, and passwords. BART stands for Bay Area Rapid Transit.

It was not immediately clear who was responsible for the embarrassing information leak--a Twitter account affiliated with Anonymous said that no one has "claimed responsibility for the hack," and speculated that it … Read more

Anonymous claimed a new accomplishment today: its first physical denial-of-service attack.

The Bay Area Rapid Transit District police closed at least four San Francisco subway stations this evening following a short, peaceful protest at the Civic Center stop, forcing hordes of commuters to trudge up and down Market Street in search of an open station or an alternate way home.

Cell service remained accessible this evening. Meanwhile, the U.S. Federal Communications Commission said earlier today that it would review BART's shutting off cell service in its stations last week.

The online activist collective Anonymous called for the demonstration … Read more

Update 6:30 p.m. PT: So far, at least, the protests have remained peaceful. A dozen or so people showed up in the BART station at 5 p.m., chanting and occasionally blocking train doors. Police closed the station about 20 minutes later and threatened to arrest any protestor who didn't immediately leave. Entrances to nearby BART stations, too, were closed soon afterward (although people in those stations could board trains). A group of at least 50 people ended up at the Ferry Building. Trains now appear to be skipping the Embarcadero station near the Ferry Building.

The … Read more

Hacktivist group Anonymous says it will take the Web site of the Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) system off line later today for six hours while also inundating BART fax lines and e-mail accounts. A press release published online detailing the group's plans says the actions are in retaliation for BART's unilateral shutdown of cell phone service Thursday night at some BART stations to prevent another planned protest.

The Thursday demonstration had been planned to protest the fatal shooting of a man by a BART police officer last month. BART officials said they took cell phone service offline … Read more

The operators of the Bay Area Rapid Transit subway system temporarily shut down cell service last night in four downtown San Francisco stations to interfere with a protest over a shooting by a BART police officer, a spokesman for the system said today.

"BART staff or contractors shut down power to the nodes and alerted the cell carriers," James Allison, deputy chief communications officer for BART, told CNET. The move was "one of many tactics to ensure the safety of everyone on the platform," he said in an initial statement provided to CNET earlier this afternoon. … Read more