Justifying the Wrong

To Richmond and Bilton,

     The many events and circumstances surrounding LulzSec and similar hacker groups that were mentioned in your article, "Dissolution of Hacker Group Might Not End Attacks", are tough to analyze. Simply reading through this article and picking out all the illegal activities the group was involved in would have you thinking that they're noting but a nuisance. A deeper look into their motives and objectives behind these actions, however, would have you think twice. Despite it being against the law, LulzSec and Anonymous have successfully hacked into many websites in attempts at "righting the wrongs" in their eyes. Whether or not you agree with what they're doing, I certainly wouldn't classify these people as criminals due to the reasons behind the hacking.
     One of the major issues mentioned in your article dealt with the efforts between Wikileaks' and LulzSec to expose corruption within the government and certain organizations. One way to look atwhat they're doing is to say they're "hacking for the good of the people". These hackers don't agree with some of the corrupt politics and government actions that are taking place in society and want to put a stop to it in the best way they know - through the use of the internet. In a way, both LulzSec and those of whom are attacked are both doing wrong however. The difference is, our government is supposed to be doing good and being just, whereas hackers are in no way expected to do the same. Rather than just being criminals and derelicts however, LulzSec, Anonymous, and various other groups have decided to hack for what they believe in and what they think needs to be fixed in our society.
     In my opinion, these hackers are no different from most people in our country, aside from the fact that they possess the ability to actually "do something". Occupy Wall Street is the perfect example of a large mass of people who have come together in the name of fixing an injustice in today's society. The way in which they went about protesting and demonstrating can be directly related to the hackers' methods of seeking the exact same  goal. The difference between the two groups however, is the fact that these hacker groups have the skill and power to actually take it upon themselves to get the change they want. Sometimes their type of actions is the only way to get through to these people who continue to steal from, lie to, and cheat their citizens.