Filed under: Internet, Security, News
Griefers attack Epilepsy Foundation forums. Humanity reaches new low.
The internet: How can a medium so conceptually full of potential win attract so many people full of utter lose and fail?Wired reports that "griefers" (which is a polite euphemism, I suppose, for a term Weblogs Inc really wouldn't want me to use) lodged an attack on the non-profit Epilepsy Foundation last weekend.
Epilepsy is one of those really fun conditions that can vary wildly in seizure type and severity. About 3% of people with epilepsy have visual triggers. Griefers first put up a few GIFs that flashed, and then begin using links (with legitimate sounding names) to entire pages with flashing lights and color patterns.
There were seizures of various types and migraines reported from the event. Ever had a true migraine? Not a bad headache, but a true migraine? It's something you wouldn't wish even on a griefer.
Sorry, but why would anyone find this particularly amusing? And before anyone (again) ventures the comment spotted on Wired ("Why didn't the EF disable GIFs?"), really, let's think about this. How freaking low do you have to be to do this sort of thing? Hello? Maybe they should have disabled GIFs. And maybe we should all have some personal freaking responsibility to each other as, you know, people.
Full disclosure. As a person with a neurological condition (not epilepsy) I've found the internet is a lifeline in meeting other people with the same condition. I learn things from them I can not learn from my doctors. Doctors are very good, but they don't have the experiences I have. When these sites have issues, real live people do suffer. Sometimes not medically, but definitely in terms of support.
I don't believe any Download Squad readers are, or aspire to be, griefers. Our readers are way too cool for that. But restore my faith in the citizens of the interwebs. Do something nice to someone, anyone, online today.
[via Wired by way of Slashdot]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 2)
James M. said 11:17AM on 3-30-2008
Needless to say, this was a cruel, heartless prank.
The sociologist Emile Durkheim suggested (around the beginning of the 20th century) that moving from villages to cities caused many people to feel anomie, or a sense of dislocation and rootlessness, as a result of their new anonymity. Other people then may seem less real to one, and social norms less binding. The Internet may sometimes have a similar effect; perhaps this is why Usenet flaming was so scorching.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anomie
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Steve said 11:32AM on 3-30-2008
It's a sad day when these things occur. We should all reach out to those in need and voice our concern over these shameless acts.
http://www.planetberries.com
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Mimzy said 12:27PM on 3-30-2008
Ugh. Disgusting.
Now, maybe I'm being slightly lenient, but I think these people should be rounded up and shot.
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Munky said 4:50PM on 3-30-2008
There is definitely a disconnection between people and their actions these days. When people feel disconnected they want to affect some sort of change, whether it is positive or negative. For a lot of these people, the negative is much easier to attain. You know, these people (probably kids, but maybe not) are either laughing at the response that this caused or are feeling pretty crappy. I would like to think the latter was true, but my lack of faith in present humanity make me believe otherwise. The downside is that others will see what happened here and try to do some sort of thing that is similar. Remember all the copycats after Columbine? Now, this is no Columbine, but the idea is similar.
I agree those of us who are angered by this should enact some sort of positive change. If not just to level out the karma a little more in the world. And I also agree that just rounding up and shooting these turds is a little lenient. I think they should be given drugs to induce seizures and made to walk across a land mine field. Sounds like fun to me.
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TEILLU said 5:41PM on 3-30-2008
No words to that people thinking it's fun to play with someothers health... It's a terrible, cruel fact, hope soon authorities take care of them.
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WolvenSpectre said 6:16PM on 3-30-2008
I think an apprapiate sentence should be house arrest with a teathered stun gun of low power being attached to their lower backs and set to go off at random intervals and under certain enviromental conditions....
so long as they are heathy enough to endure it... wouldn't want to be cruel...
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Tim M. said 10:34PM on 3-30-2008
Good post, Kristin. I'm a visitor who found my way here just looking for details on the attack. My own migraines and seizures are not triggered by flashing lights, but it's still a little hard not to take this whole episode personally. Thanks for working hard to understand how this sort of thing feels to those who are targets.
Setting aside some of the theatrical reactions here, it would still be wonderful if some of the outrage over this incident could result in identification and prosecution of the people involved. There are people over on the EF boards who are feeling like their formerly safe support forum is now scary. Some people did have seizures and migraines, and as Kristin says, those things are no joke. People who have been seizure-free can lose driver's licenses if they have a seizure. People fall and break bones. People can be vaguely disoriented for days. Migraines can be devastating. Even if no real harm gets done, seizures like mine in which you are confused and convulsing and unable to breathe can be scary both to the person having the seizure and to bystanders. And people can (very rarely) die - look up SUDEP, Sudden Unexplained Death in Epilepsy.
This wasn't a prank. It was an actual attack on a whole class of harmless and courageous people, and some people did get hurt.
Thanks, Kristin and friends, for helping educate folks.
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Kristin Shoemaker said 7:58AM on 3-31-2008
Thanks Tim... It sounds like the EF site admins actually did a pretty good job getting things under control, but of course the shadow of the doubt is there for many users. And that's understandable.
I actually had to wait 24 hours before writing this blog post up. It just royally ticked me off that anyone could be so... I don't think cruel is the word (though it does fit), I think stupid is.
Wouldn't wish seizures or migraines on anyone... but that's because I've seen and experienced seizures and migraines and have a shred of empathy. And in order to keep sane in the world, I believe (really) most people do have some capacity for empathy.
I just really wonder about the people who did this. Are they monsters? Or just really that out of touch with the rest of the world?
Keep up the good fight, Tim... ;)
Michael said 10:34PM on 3-30-2008
Seriously, what do you expect?
We've dispensed with right and wrong, along with religion.
No black and white, only gray, and the concept of evil is considered outdated.
These kiddies are the product of liberalism.
Do anything you want to do, and if you get caught, get a lawyer and escape punishment.
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Mysterius said 12:49AM on 3-31-2008
That's right, I have to believe in the supernatural to feel empathy for fellow beings.
And of course we should see everything in black and white! Who needs shades of gray? Burn the shoplifters with the murderers!
And liberalism! The fault of everything that's happened since the hippies of their day began the Enlightenment...
Rocketboy said 6:26PM on 3-31-2008
You're kidding, right?
Isn't it a total mind-f that I'm a (Semi) conservative athiest?
And that I have a concept of Right and Wrong?
Mysterius said 1:00AM on 3-31-2008
I've noticed that the Wired article seems to accuse "Anonymous" of the attacks, pointedly noting that this is the same "group" that's protesting the Church of Scientology.
Also, all comments recording the debate over the article's identification of "Anonymous" the "group" as the perpetrator have been pushed way, *way* down in the comments by a flood of comment spam blaming the various chans.
I think this is irresponsible to blame "Anon" for the attacks, as if it's a group, b/c "Anonymous" by its nature can not control the actions of whatever groups decide to appropriate its name for various actions.
Also, I may be paranoid, but the first thing I thought was "Wow, what a nice break for the Church of Scientology..."
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Kristin Shoemaker said 7:41AM on 3-31-2008
I didn't write anything about Anonymous or any of the chans, mainly because, like you, I believe that was pretty much all speculation in the Wired article. Sure, there was a mention in a post on the EF forums referring to a specific site, but honestly... that doesn't mean anything.
It might be a real PITA to track these guys down, but I hope they do. Absolutely unconscionable, what they did.
Rocketboy said 6:07PM on 3-31-2008
More likely that it was the Co$ trying to blame something on our Anon friends, then it was an 'official' (as far as there can be anything offical in Anon) Anon attack.
They've already accused Anon of death threads and bomb scares (which was an epic fail).
slaguru said 6:52AM on 3-31-2008
Great Post.
My wife has Epilepsy, and its a 24hour battle to get understanding and expectance, let alone having people make it worse with 'pranks' like this.
No doubt its a sign of the times, but we all have to accept that some people are just scum, and they always will be. Cowards too in many cases, as the person or persons that have done this do not seem to have come out of the shadows and own up to their 'work'.
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Kristin Shoemaker said 7:46AM on 3-31-2008
Thanks slaguru... I think that's what really bothers me. I mean, aside from the fact the migraines and seizures are truly truly miserable things...
Getting not only the general public but even health professionals (!) to understand what a person with a neurological condition goes through in a day is difficult... And some days it might feel like you're really making headway, and then some yutz goes and does something like this... Not just meanspirited, but downright dangerous.
Wishing you and your wife well...
James said 11:48AM on 3-31-2008
Are we working on the technology to reach through the Internet and deliver well-deserved smacks to retards like this? 'Cause the "griefers" you mention would be prime candidates for testing it out.
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Brainskip said 4:27PM on 3-31-2008
I just found this article and wanted to say thanks to those here in support of us. I was a victim of this attack and ended up having some grandmals before it was over with. I have severe seizures the kind that can kill. Often I will wake up totally lost in a world of familer faces and never remember it. Imagine going to bed and waking up a month later and not even relize it is gone. Or waking up with your back snapped in four places from muscle contractions arching it till it breaks. I woke up a inch and a half shorter then when I went to bed before, and this has happend more than once.
Its a sad world sometimes and even sader are some of the sick puppies in it. I wish no retrabution just them to leave and not come back to my second home and family.
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Kristin Shoemaker said 4:46PM on 3-31-2008
Brainskip... Thanks for your comments. Honestly, I am still thinking about what happened and I'm still steamed. I can't help but think the attack was carried about by a bunch of stupid kids who don't realize what a seizure (or even a migraine) really is. If that is the case, I think it'd be really a *great* thing to have those people do a whole busload of community service in the medical field, preferably some where they get to meet and know (and hopefully care about) people who deal with this sort of thing every day.
Best wishes, both online and off.
Michael said 6:52PM on 3-31-2008
Whatever helps you sleep at night, Rocketboy and Mysterius.
You don't have to believe in the supernatural.
Just don't tear something down without having a replacement ready, or you'll have little wastes of skin like these script kiddies running around with no moral compass.
Congratulations on having a sense of right and wrong.
These kids didn't, and future kids won't, and that's the point.
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