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This is definitely a possibility, but from interacting with supposed participants in Anonymous and such attacks, I'm more inclined to believe that these security firms are really that incompetent. Maybe a well established sense of cynicism at the U.S. government is contributing to my judgement there xD
They do it because they think it's funny. For the lulz, or whatnot.
I certainly see the humour in a bunch of mostly inexperienced people cracking into the data of a security firm.
If legal action was taken against individuals involved, I wouldn't be able to guess if any future attacks would be happening.
Responding to the first line you read and don't even bother reading the rest of the comment?
Then telling someone to grow up?
Need I say anything more?
It's often as easy to pirate as it is to install FOSS, and when money is tight morals are looser than usual.
What makes FOSS more appealing than piracy for a non-power user?
Even with no money to spend, Windows is what most people are used to and what most people will try to stick with one way or another.
The user's name isn't the only thing that can be made anonymous. Location, as you pointed out, is both important and fakeable.
I never said that anonymity makes targeted advertising useless, only less useful.
They DO give you something in return. Remember the days when you had to PAY for e-mail? Quickly finding and contacting someone you know has never been this easy.
That being said, I understand that you may not find these services useful, but to say that they give nothing in return isn't true.
Of course they wouldn't want the possibility of anonymity. That makes their information collection services that much less useful for targeted advertising.