Almost two years ago the anonymous protest group, creatively named ‘Anonymous’ released a Youtube press release outlining their ‘war on Scientology’. A popular peer to peer file sharing website has recently featured an advert from Anoncontest.org displaying its project ‘Scientology Fails’.
Aside from the simplistic naming conventions, Anonymous is not your typical protest group. And project Scientology Sucks, is not your typical protest.
Anonymous members have engaged in both legal and illegal protests. From physical marches and leafleting to distributed denial of service (DDOS) attacks on Church of Scientology Websites, Anonymous has stood up to an organisation widely known for its legal action against its critics.
The advertisement was placed on Thepiratebay.org homepage. The anoncontest.org website has reportedly already seen over one hundred and thirty seven thousand (137,000) page views. The advertising banner for Anoncontest.org reads:
‘Hello Scientology. For years we have been watching you. Now it is time. Time to prank, record videos and win $$$. We are legion. We do not forgive. We do not forget. Expect us. Anoncontest.org’
The closing sentences are the hallmark of Anonymous announcements. But offering money for protesting? Not so much. Project ‘Scientology Sucks’ involves recording original pranks carried out against The Church of Scientology, recording it and submitting it to anoncontest.org. The top three videos are to be awarded cash prizes by the end of February 2008.
Video content can be anything as long as they are humorous, involve Scientology and an anti-Scientology message. As for the legal side of things, not much is really mentioned. Their rules page has a short part claiming the legal problem is all yours.
‘Any submissions which depict acts in clear violation of the law will be disqualified. However, laws vary from state to state and we do not know them all. It is up to you to stay out of trouble and make sure nobody gets hurt.’
Anoncontest.org and the ‘Scientology Fails’ project is simply a rehash of the current anonymous guerrilla protests with a financial incentive. Unfortunately for Scientology that financial incentive is exactly what attracts the bored internet population. I think I can safely predict Scientology buildings and phone lines seeing more traffic over the next two months.
