Gene Simmons Doesn’t Understand The Internet

KISS frontman Gene Simmons, besides being a rock god, is the biggest blowhard on the planet. So when he gets in an internet fight with the 4chan-affiliated internet vigilantes Anonymous… well, you end up rooting for Anonymous.

Anonymous is a shady, loosely organised band of bored internet “vigilantes” who like to hang out on the anarchic 4chan message and, embarrassingly, wear V for Vendetta-style Guy Fawkes masks at Scientology events. Recently, with a typically ostentatious and self-important “open letter”, they kicked off “Operation Payback“, a coordinated attack on law firms, trade groups and other organisations and individuals with strong pro-copyright stances, and took down the MPAA website pretty quickly.

But that wasn’t all that funny. This was. According to observers who were hanging out in the Anonymous IRC channel, there was a bit of a split over whether or not to go after “individual artists” like Simmons, who had made some typically aggro comments about copyright lawsuits recently. Some members of the group decided to take down Simmons’ site and were able to do so partially with a DDoS attack – essentially, a flood of traffic that overwhelms the target server.

Tieve.tk, the “official” Operation Payback site, apparently “distanced” itself from the attack. Until Simmons responded, as Slyck reports, with maybe the most clueless lashing out since Jesse Slaughter’s dad back-traced it:

Some of you may have heard a few popcorn farts re: our sites being threatened by hackers.

Our legal team and the FBI have been on the case and we have found a few, shall we say “adventurous” young people, who feel they are above the law.

And, as stated in my MIPCOM speech, we will sue their pants off.

First, they will be punished.

Second, they might find their little butts in jail, right next to someone who’s been there for years and is looking for a new girl friend.

We will soon be printing their names and pictures.

We will find you.

You cannot hide.

Stay tuned

Oh, Demon. Dude. Dude. The blog DANGER NAZI ZOMBIES AHEAD writes:

I read the announcement on his own page, roughly five minutes before Anonymous’s IRC channel did apparently, because a few minutes later the site was completely and utterly dead. It’s fair to say Anonymous didn’t take the threat seriously. He’s now made himself a real target and Tieve is happily advocating attacking him. Stay tuned, Gene Simmons is set to shortly become the first man with a negative IQ.

As several people have pointed out, Simmons’ threats are pretty empty and his claims are nonsensical. You can’t exactly pinpoint which of the IP addresses visiting a site during a DDoS attack are part of the attack, nor which ones are intentionally attacking and which have been roped into the attack as part of a “botnet”. Also, Gene, where did you get their pictures?

As of the writing of this post, genesimmons.com was still down, and “I Was Made for Loving You” was still a jam.

[ReadWriteWeb, DANGER NAZI ZOMBIES AHEAD, Slyck]
Pic via Getty
Republished from Defamer

Discuss

(9 Comments)
  • [–]

    James

    Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 9:25 AM

    I Fully support Anonymous and i fully support people standing up for their right to not pay crazy ammounts for crap that is no good – personally, if something is worth the $$ (like stargate, futurama or southpark) then ill pay it – otherwise it is a waste of my VERY hard earned money.

    To all those who complain about the artists or actors not getting money – I would say to you that most actors get paid a CRAP LOAD – more then almost anyone else will earn, and the artists get ripped off by the recording labels, managers and everyone who takes a % from the work they do – not the consumer.

    Gene has lots and lots of money, and should be more concerned with how he is not giving it to more needy people, then attacking a foe he can not even understand!

    • [–]

      Charles

      Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 10:09 AM

      Too bad about the musicians then eh James? It’s all well and good to stick up for these Anonymous dudes when they’re referring to major movie studios and big scary record companies, but I just feel for the smaller bands who have to tour their asses off to make nothing because record sales are shitty. I KNOW WHAT ITS LIKE MAAAAAAN heh.

      But yeah you’re very right about the artist getting ripped off by the labels and management – they do provide a service to the artist, but their cuts are usually pretty brutal.

      The recording industry hasn’t died because of the manager taking their usual cut though. Mehhhhhh gimme money.

      • [–]

        James

        Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 10:23 AM

        Charles,

        I agree with you that the smaller bands dont get squat for their work (usually) – however we (4Chan, Anaon + everyday person) dont pirate (steal from) these guys. KISS has made millions and millions from their sales, and given little back to the community or really done much at all, except live extravagant lives while others die around them or live in terrible condition – do you know that (rough estimate) 10% of Americans have 90% of the wealth?. This fact alone is enough to make us feel quite good about taking a little bit from the greedy pricks, who are quite comfortable sitting in their mansions, having more cars then they could drive and really not doing too much to better the lives of those who have supported them.

        So really, downloading an episode of ‘Scrubs’, ‘How I Met Your Mother’ or ‘Big Bang Theory’ is not going to bankrupt these guys, not going to destroy the industry and really, will actually promote their brand! – I don’t watch TV, so I rely on my mates to recommend a show to me, so when they say, “have a look at this” I do. If the show is good (like Scrubs), then ill go and buy it. However, if the show is bad (like…….Desperate Housewives……..*shoots self in head*) then you can be dam sure that I don’t want to waste my money on this crap.

        Finally, think of it this way – what is the difference between downloading a show to watch and seeing it on TV and recording it to your PVR? (Actually, the recorded show on the TV will probably be better quality) – the answer is; Nothing. There is no difference, only that the shows that you can download come when you want and where you want – you can live your life how you want to.

        So my point is this – people need to stop throwing around the idea that piracy is done by the worst kind of people, and they need to be raped in prison like Gene suggests…that is just dumb – make a good show (or song) and people will buy it because it is worth the money.

      • [–]

        Selfish_Meme

        Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 10:47 AM

        Charles, even if you sign with a label and get a record deal, and then somehow manage to make a hit record, you still won’t get any money. Read http://www.techdirt.com/articles/20100712/23482610186.shtml to find out why no one except big name tours make money.

      • [–]

        glennc

        Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 4:24 PM

        @ james. just the typical idiotic justifications from a pirate. if no one pays then the industry dies, simple as that. whether it is your money or advertising dollars, this shit still costs money to make. i agree the record companies get all the profits etc. and the rest of your tired boring cr@p but don’t justify taking something of worth for nothing just because you don’t want to pay for it. are you 12?

        just quietly pirate, just like me

  • [–]

    Phillip Harsant

    Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 10:54 AM

    Good grief, you aren’t fucking Robin Hood!

    • [–]

      James

      Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 11:34 AM

      Phillip Harsant,

      Thanks for taking the time to write a comment like Charles did – It is good to see you have put some thought into your response.

      I am sorry to say that i am not Robin Hood – First off i dont TAKE anything FROM anyone. I use Merlin magic to create a copy! (I understand this is probably witchcraft to you), However yes, i do GIVE to the poor.

      I appreciate you think that i am a good guy :)

  • [–]

    Painkiller

    Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 11:55 AM

    I think most people want the music industry to come into the digital age and give up the archaic business model. If they accepted the internet is here to stay and gave people cheaper buying options. they’d probably make money again.

    • [–]

      Devz

      Tuesday, October 19, 2010 at 2:35 PM

      Spot on. Its the prehistoric business model thats at fault. And they arnt willing to change it, because in the ‘good-ol-times’ it used to make them rich, damn-filthy-rich. Why risk it on a new paradigm?

      Like for example, $2/month for anyone to have access to any music they want, digitally, whenever. Bundle it in with ISP accounts if they must. $2 * %-that-want-the-versatility of this and your making more when ur producing plastic discs & having to ship them around the globe.

      I support forward thinking, and big business clearly doesnt grasp the concept of making money anymore, they only follow whats been done in the past.

Join The Discussion