Signal Boost: Return of the DDoS

[deathpixie]

For those wanting to know more about the recent DDoS attacks, yes, it looks like it was the Russian government trying to shut down the dissidents again.

As I said last time, while it's frustrating not to have access, LJ is a lot more than a social network platform. From the article:

"LiveJournal isn’t just a social network. It’s also a platform for organizing civic action. Dozens of network projects and groups mobilize people to solve specific problems — from defending the rights of political prisoners to saving endangered historic architecture in Moscow."

So while I know many are considering the move over to Dreamwidth and other such sites, supporting LJ is a way we can help support those who use it for more than a writing/roleplaying/social venue.


Also, as a FYI, LJ is giving paid users effected by the outage two weeks of paid time as compensation.

Comments

[fionacat.livejournal.com]

Uh ... do you have any proof of this?

Just saying it was the Russian goverment trying to shut down dissidents is fine, but do you have any kind of evidence this is the case?

[deathpixie]

I said it looks like it's the case, from the article and the previous DDoS incident. Given the individual dissident journals were attacked first in both cases, it seems a bit off. But no, I have no evidence, beyond what was offered in the various articles that I've linked to, in this and the previous post.

[athousandsmiles]

Now that bloggers’ main communications resource has been brought down again, most of the best-known bloggers have already created mirrors of their blogs on other social networks.

I'm not sure why anyone should feel obligated to stay here if the Russian bloggers themselves have found other outlets for communicating.

[deathpixie]

'Most' is not 'all', and 'best-known' doesn't encompass those who aren't 'popular'. It's also harder for entire networks to transfer over a new service.

Besides, why should we let the DDoS generators/hackers drive people off LJ? I don't agree with all of LJ's policies over the years, but they have tried to do their best by those who need them the most.

[catana1.livejournal.com]

Of course, there's no mention in the article that Live Journal is home to millions of people who aren't Russian, and their access to LJ was cut off, too. And not just for a few hours, as it claims.

[deathpixie]

It's a Moscow paper, there's going to be a local perspective.