01/06/2012 / CANADA
‘Anonymous’ hackers call for boycott of Montreal F1 Grand Prix
The Anonymous network's logo. Screen grab from the video below.
Taking a page out of Bahraini protesters’ playbook, online activists who say they are part of the global network Anonymous are calling for a boycott of the Montreal Formula 1 Grand Prix. Their video, below, explains that they are backing university students who have been protesting against tuition hikes for months, as well as denouncing a recently-passed emergency law that aims to restrict these protests.
These online activists have also hacked into a website selling F1 Grand Prix tickets, revealing the private information of more than a hundred buyers – name, phone numbers, email addresses and the price paid for tickets – on the Internet.
Some of these ticket buyers received a rather ominous email warning them not to attend the event. Here is an excerpt:
“If you intend to use a car, know that your road may be barricaded. If you want to stay in a hotel, know that we may enter it. If you seek to withdraw money from a bank, know that the shattering glass may sting. If you plan on watching a race, know that your view may be obscured, not by exhaust fumes but by the smoke of the fires we set. Know that the evacuation order may not come fast enough.”
The organisers of the Grand Prix, which is set for June 10, say that ticket sales have significantly slowed down in the past weeks due to the unrest in Quebec.
Contributors
