`..--.
                                          `:.#antisec#;:
                                         :antisec#anti;+.`
                                         :sec#antisec#a;/:
                                         ntisec#antisec#+a
                                         .ntisec#antisec;:
      `-`                                 +#antisec#anti:s/
 /.:+:/+.`..`                             `;+;ec#antisec::+
  :.;;+`-./-:`                            .+:#antisec#anti-++`
   `-` -:.``;                          `:.+.sec#antisec#a:  -;-
      `;   -:::.                   `-:+..;/:ntisec#an.-` :+``+-
      `.+-  `./;.-            `-/++++:`.:-;tisec#anti++   -s;`/;//-
        `-:`    .-:-        /::+-`      :/+;ec#ant;i;/..   ;s:.;:++.:
          `/      .:`     `;:/`          .+..+///:::/:.    /:e;c#a:;/+-`
       `:+..      ..   .:.;n+/++.         `---...````      `tisec#an:/:++-
     -::-`    `.--`  -t:./;:ise./.`..                  .:+.;;c#antisec#:.;;
    +-      .::.`  .;:.;antisec;.+;;+`                 .--:;..:.#;antisec;;/
   `.`   `++-`   ./;;#antisec#a;:nt;i+.`         `         ;.    `-;sec#an:.`
    .:.  .;-`    t+.isec#;a:;:;;nt;i+::.-``  ..:-`         ..      .;sec#a+:.
     --::...;    ..;ntise+c;:-`  :;.-`:++.+//:-           `/        `;#ant;+:
       ./:::.:   +::isec;#.      `an..                 .-/.;          -tisec/
        `.+.::/``/+:#an:;.        .ti+`            `./;;:`;+           sec#.+`
           /anti:;..sec#;          .an.         `-+.;+::.-..          ti;+:`:;`
           /sec#antise/c           `#a-     ``-;..//+.+:.-.          -ntis:::/;
           ec#antisec#:+            /a.    ////+//./..+++..`         `;nti./:`:`
           `sec#antisec#/           /;:+///...+:/.//;;;:././+-         `;ant+/;`
             isec#antis;.         `;ec#antisec#antisec#ant:.:;;.         :/:-`
              isec#antis:        -;ec#antisec#antisec#anti;.- .;/
              /sec#antise/       c#antisec#antisec#antis.:-`    .
               /;;ec#an::.       tise.`
                `+.c#..+`        ;+-.;`
                                  `:/:          

There’s been a rash of document leakages this summer coming from groups that are easy to lazily associate with Anonymous. Internet miscreants, hackers, and anarchists have all had reason to seek anonymity over the years, so any activity of this sort would almost necessarily involve the agent of misbehavior attempting to hide his identity. We laugh about bank robbers that give real information about themselves to tellers before holding the place up. We joke about stupid liquor-store cowboys that drop their wallets at the scene of the crime. Yet we as a society find it easy to point at Lulzsec or Anonymous and relate their anonymity with cowardice. They don’t have the guts to speak out publicly. They don’t have the courage of their convictions to behave like the EFF or ACLU.

This past weekend some folks claiming association with AntiSec put up a lot of documents grabbed from law enforcement web servers. On sites like Know Your Meme many recent comments on their Operation Antisec article decry the so-called hackivists as having totally crossed the line. As of this writing, comments taking this position are being received better than those supporting the hackers’ behavior.

What did the AntiSec hackers do that was so bad? They revealed personal information about police. For decades, law enforcement agents have operated with a kind of pseudo-anonymity. They typically have names and ID numbers visible on their persons when acting officially, but very little is publicly available — legally, that is — about who they are. Society has held that these people we trust to enforce the law, keep the peace, and exercise person judgement in life-or-death decisions may as well, in many ways, be patrolling our streets in Guy Fawkes masks and black sweatshirts for all the personal accountability they seem to have.

It seems to take extremely vocal outcry by a community to get meaningful repercussions laid onto a badly-behaved police officer; a gauntlet of special legal statuses, internal loyalties among law enforcement, union reps, and politicians that live in fear that they may be painted as “soft on crime” must be penetrated before the mother of a boy shot by a policeman can get justice.

So anonymous hackers build up a gauntlet of proxies and encryption and pseudonyms and false trails. It may not be right, but there’s a kind of symmetry here.