Operation Payback': Notorious Hacker Group 'Anonymous' Unveils Pro-WikiLeaks Message

One of the World Wide Web's most notorious underground "hacking" groups came forward Thursday with a pronouncement of their own agenda.

Anonymous, an online conglomerate of computer geniuses, nerds and troublemakers have prided themselves on carrying out disruptive stunts in the past, namely targeting Scientologists, hacking TIME's "Most Influential" online vote and flooding YouTube with uncensored pornographic videos.  Most recently, however, the group has thrown its widespread support behind WikiLeaks and its controversial founder, Julian Assange, as the organization recently published thousands of classified government documents.

On Wednesday evening, Anonymous' Twitter feed was unexpectedly shut down, prompting increased speculation that the group had been responsible for "hacking" several companies which have severed ties with and services to WikiLeaks -- such as Visa and Mastercard -- and even former Alaska Gov. Sarah Palin.  The group, as identified by Scientific American, is dubbing its latest ventures as "Operation Payback" and has been openly bragging of their coordinated cyber attacks.

Now, an eerie new video has been released which describes their agenda:

We are not a terrorist organization or a group of “hackers” as governments, demagogues, and the media would have you believe. We are a diverse group that touches every aspect of philosophy, religion, and politics ever conceived by man. At this time, Anonymous, as a distributed consciousness, is focused on protesting peacefully for Freedom of Expression on the Internet. We ask the world to support us, not for our sake, but for your own. When governments control information they control you. We will resist until our dying breath. Pay attention citizens and governments of the world.