back to article Plymouth 'animal rights' teen admits Florida SeaWorld cyber attack

A British teenager has admitted taking part in cyber-attacks against Florida's SeaWorld theme park and Devon and Cornwall Police. However, the 16 year-old from Plymouth, Devon – who can’t be named for legal reasons – denied sending threatening messages to airlines. During a hearing at Plymouth’s youth court the youngster …

  1. ukgnome

    As soon as he turns 18 I would like to buy him a pint. Seaworld is a despicable slave centre.

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      And cyber-attacks is a sensible, reliable, grown-up way to solve this problem, right?

      1. localzuk Silver badge

        Not much different to holding a blockade protest outside their entrance really though. So, in the scheme of civil disobedience, yeah it is a way to work against the problem.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Not much different?

          Definitively quite different from something you need to physically do, with others, with at least some organization, with a purpose.

          Now one yoof decides do DDoS an organization he doesn't like because DDoSing is relatively simple to do (again, very different from getting out of his basement and joining a protest). And you call that "civil disobedience". Next, other yoofs would decide to DDoS whatever organization, institute, university, church, club, etc. because he didn't agree with their policies or views or hours or they didn't play his favorite song or they asked him for ID to buy a beer.

          As one who participated in peaceful street protests, I'd say it is quite different, and not a bit better.

      2. Alan Davies

        To be fair,

        he's not an adult.

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Devil

          @ Alan:

          He only "thought" he was.. Good enough for me. To the alligator pond with him!

        2. TVU Silver badge

          Re: To be fair,

          "he's not an adult."

          I agree and he should be treated as a minor for legal purposes with due process taking place in th UK and certainly not the USA or elsewhere.

    2. AndyS

      Seaworld is a despicable slave centre

      ...and looks like a party of saints compared to his other (admitted) target, the Japanese dolphin hunt.

      Next we'll find out he's been targeting UKIP too. Then he really will be a national hero.

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      The man

      The man kidnapped Shamu and put her in a chlorine tank.

  2. not.known@this.address

    "Seaworld is a despicable slave centre."

    And you base this on what exactly? Have you ever been there and seen how it compares to other zoos and research establishments? Of course, *everybody* knows animals are so much better off having to fight for survival in the wild, aren't they?

    Never mind waiting until he turns 18 to buy him a pint, how about we send him out to the middle of the ocean to see how whales and dolphins survive in the real world.

    1. OliP

      have you been to seaworld?

      sounds like you to need to do some research.

      "despicable slave centre" is highly accurate from what i can tell.

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Can't say that I have ever gave them $$$ or entered their park. Defeats your argument if you did. :/

    2. localzuk Silver badge

      Last I checked, the average life span of an orca is 30 to 50 years in the wild, with older animals having been observed also. The average age an orca dies at Seaworld is 13.

      So, yes, the animals have a better life in the wild.

      Think of it this way. Would you like to spend your entire life living in an under-stairs cupboard? That's about the scale of the living space captive dolphins and orcas have when compared to the massive oceans they live in in the wild. Would you want to live in there on your own too? No other humans to interact with?

      1. James 51

        I would have thought strapped to a gurney would be a better comparison or perhaps trapped in a coffin.

      2. James 51

        I remember reading about the orca that killed its handler. One expert said that as it was raised and lived alone it was basically crazy and from that perspective the attack was still a shock but not a surprise.

      3. Trigonoceps occipitalis

        "Would you like to spend your entire life living in an under-stairs cupboard?"

        Is this the first sighting of Rowling's law in the wild? (Rowling's Law is the Harry Potter equivalent of Godwin's Law.)

    3. ukgnome

      @not.known@this.address

      You are mistaking entertaining hairless apes as research.

      But since you ask, I visited Seaworld two years ago and it made me want to throw up. I already knew before I visited that I would detest it. But I needed to witness how fucking horrific it was just so that my opinion was validated.

      You cannot compare such an awful place with reputable centres with breeding programs and return to the wild programmes.

      And I am sure the young chap would love to join a research vessel or have a stint on a Sea Sheppard vessel. Lord knows I would jump at the chance

      1. Steve Todd

        @ukgnome

        So you went in completely open minded and gave an objective opinion then?

        1. Anonymous Coward
          Anonymous Coward

          Re: @ukgnome

          So you went in completely open minded and gave an objective opinion then?

          I know you're referring to confirmation bias, but I still think it's commendable that he at least bothered to verify instead of being an armchair activist who has never been close to the topic of derision (I know, that's sooo unfashionable). I haven't been the US for years, and given the current situation it's unlikely I'll ever go again, so I would have no option but to base an opinion on reports which may have their own bias (I've seen some documentaries that were not exactly positive either) - he went in.

          I hope he managed that without paying for it, though..

        2. Anonymous Coward
          Coat

          Re: @ukgnome

          @ Steve:

          Of course he did! As he drove his vehicle that spews pollution @ <65 degrees to the airport.

          https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2016/apr/21/what-is-behind-the-diesel-cars-emissions-scandal

      2. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Re: You are mistaking entertaining hairless apes as research.

        Speak for yourself. I'm quite hairy, except for a balding spot (thankfully, not over my ass).

    4. wolfetone Silver badge

      "And you base this on what exactly? Have you ever been there and seen how it compares to other zoos and research establishments? Of course, *everybody* knows animals are so much better off having to fight for survival in the wild, aren't they?

      Never mind waiting until he turns 18 to buy him a pint, how about we send him out to the middle of the ocean to see how whales and dolphins survive in the real world."

      Let me put you in a cage for a year and see how you feel about zoos then yeah?

  3. Kumar2012

    He sure showed them!

    "Hey mum I showed the man, DDoSed a website, that'll teach em who's boss, can you bring my tea and biscuits down now please...."

    <insert we-have-a-bad-ass-over-here.gif>

  4. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    Two "wrongs" don't make a right. This teenager can/could be labelled as a terrorist - terrorism = the unofficial or unauthorised use of violence and intimidation in the pursuit of political aims. If anyone accuses me of posting propaganda then I can eaisly accuse my accuser of posting propagnada as well. This is more complicated than demanding that Seaworld should be closed down or that orcas should be released straight back into the wild.- https://seaworldcares.com/the-facts/truth-about-blackfish/ http://awesomeocean.com/2014/07/05/blackfish-full-blacklies/ https://theecotoneexchange.com/2013/11/12/another-perspective-on-sea-world-orcas-and-captive-animals-2/ https://reelrundown.com/movies/blackfish-film http://www.dawnsfoundation.org/our-mission.html http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/magazine-36045576 http://www.killingkeiko.com/ http://awesomeocean.com/2014/10/29/3-seaworld-rescue-program-facts-activists-rather-know/ http://blackfish-lies.weebly.com/the-blackfish-lies.html http://zooreproduction.com/blog/2016/03/21/follow-the-money/ http://marineanimalwelfare.blogspot.co.uk/2013/06/lies-damned-lies-and-propaganda.html https://theunlikelyconservationist.wordpress.com/2016/03/18/seaworlds-big-mistake/

    1. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Is that the American NewSpeak definition of terrorism, which covers everything doubleplusungood?

      Would you say farting in your general direction is terrorism now?

      1. Anonymous Coward
        Anonymous Coward

        Would you say farting in your general direction is terrorism now?

        Depends on what you had for dinner.

    2. AndyS

      Wow. That's a lot of links. I think. Although it's hard to tell to be honest, they're all kind of jumbled up in there. Still, it's a lot of text, so I'm sure you know what you're talking about.

      You know nobody is going to go to the bother of copying and pasting any one of them, right? Also, did you know El Reg supports hyperlinks?

      1. WolfFan Silver badge

        Some of us don't copy and paste, we select and right-click.

        And I, for one, have never got hyperlinks to work properly on El Reg, despite playing around with HTML a little. How do you get them to work?

        1. AndyS

          >And I, for one, have never got hyperlinks to work properly on El Reg, despite playing around with HTML a little. How do you get them to work?

          Seems a little esoteric. I had to edit my comment a couple of times to make it work (which was a bit ironic...)

          I eventually dropped the inverted commas around the href argument of the html tag, although playing about now, it seems to work with or without inverted commas, and either single or double work.

          It also seems that any abortive attempt to put html in a comment prevents the rest of the html in the comment from being parsed, and also prevents you from being able to post the comment. When you hit post, it tells you "There are some problems with your post. The post contains some invalid HTML".

    3. Anonymous Coward
      Anonymous Coward

      Let me guess. Whale biologist?

    4. Crazy Operations Guy

      Line breaks are your friend, you can insert them in a text field using that button on the right side of the keyboard labeled "return" or "enter".

      Although looking at your 'links', I kinda doubt that any of them would be neutral and unbiased with names like "Blackfish lies" or "Killing Keiko"

  5. Anonymous Coward
    Anonymous Coward

    great pick of Plymouth Hoe. The Terrace Café on the far right of the picture does a fab breakfast! With glorious views out over the sound, cracking on a nice hot summers day. Not quite as good today as its a bit shite down here!

  6. Crazy Operations Guy

    Never understood why activists bother with DDoS attacks

    I don;t think there has ever been an organization that thinks "Hmmm, someone took down our website, better shut down our whole operation!"

    IN fact, from my admittedly basic knowledge of psychology, I'd think that attacking an organization would only strengthen its resolve and cause them to double-down on whatever they are doing. Such an attack would only hurt the cause this kid was fight for; specifically, now there are several employees and members of the public that would become angry at the activists and be far less likely to join their cause when they may have sympathized with them before. Plus, this gives SeaWorld the the ability to label animal-rights activists as criminals.

  7. MrDamage Silver badge

    Fighting for animal rights?

    Really? What about the poor animal who has to sit hunched in an uncomfortable chair, repairing the damage this idiot did, because management still won't spend any decent money securing their infrastructure.

  8. stu 4

    pfft

    Never mind that - I followed some of those things, and apparently in the wild these poor creatures risk the very real possibility of falling off the edge of the world, which as we all know is flat.

    Seaworld is protecting these poor creatures from falling into the ether.

    May there good work continue.

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