A Nietzschean Analysis of Cybercrime and Deviance. by Wayne Noble A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment for the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy at the University of Central Lancashire March 2020 STUDENT DECLARATION FORM Type of Award PhD School Lancashire Law School Sections marked * delete as appropriate 1. Concurrent registration for two or more academic awards Either *I declare that while registered as a candidate for the research degree, I have not been a registered candidate or enrolled student for another award of the University or other academic or professional institution or *I declare that while registered for the research degree, I was with the University’s specific permission, a *registered candidate/*enrolled student for the following award: _________________________________________________________________________ _________________________________________________________________________ 2. Material submitted for another award Either *I declare that no material contained in the thesis has been used in any other submission for an academic award and is solely my own work or *I declare that the following material contained in the thesis formed part of a submission for the award of: _________________________________________________________________________ (state award and awarding body and list the material below): _________________________________________________________________________ 3. Collaboration Where a candidate’s research programme is part of a collaborative project, the thesis must indicate in addition clearly the candidate’s individual contribution and the extent of the collaboration. Please state below: ______N/A________________________________________________________________ 4. Use of a Proof-reader Either *The following third-party proof-reading service was used for this thesis Corina Rogerson in accordance with the Policy on Proof-reading for Research Degree Programmes and the Research Element of Professional Doctorate Programmes. A copy of the confirmatory statement of acceptance from that service has been lodged with 1 2 3 Contents Acknowledgements 5 Abstract 6 Chapter One - Introduction, Methodology and Meta Theoretical Framework 7 Chapter Two - Intellectual Property Crime 44 Chapter Three - Trolling on Social Media 83 Chapter Four - Cyber vigilantism, righteous trolling and activism. 118 Chapter Five - Slave Morality & The Politically Correct 148 Chapter Six - Conclusion 202 Bibliography: 211 4 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank my supervisors Dr Terry Hopton, Dr Mahmood Chandia and especially Dr Tim Owen for their advice and guidance during this research project. I would like to thank Dr Owen for his dedication, unending inspiration and wise counsel. I could not have achieved this without your enthusiasm and support. I would also like to thank my wife, Joanne who is the rock in my life. She keeps me grounded and I am constantly inspired by her kindness and support. I could never have completed this project without you. Finally, I would like to dedicate this work to the memory of my sister Nina. She was taken from us very suddenly and is missed every day. I know she would have been proud to see this work finished. This thesis is for her. 5 ABSTRACT The intention of this thesis is to examine various types of online deviance, such as ‘trolling’ and other forms of cyber bullying with special attention paid to the deviance which occurs on social networking sites and peer-2-peer file sharing websites. The central claim of this thesis is that deviant behaviour can be influenced (encouraged, magnified) by ‘ressentiment’, which can reside within the individual. This ‘ressentiment’ forms part of a complex array of situational factors called ‘Flexible Causal Prediction’, whereby individuals may experience a particularly strong influence on behaviour but are not predetermined to act in certain ways. In this thesis the author uses Nietzsche’s philosophical notions of ‘Nihilism’, ‘Slave Morality’, ‘ressentiment’, ‘Will to Power’ and the ‘Übermensch’ to build an existential picture of deviant behaviour. The author also draws upon the criminological/sociological notions of ‘Drift’, ‘Master Status’ and the ‘Techniques of Neutralisation’ (Sykes and Matza 1957) to introduce the new concepts of ‘Flexible Causal Prediction’ (previously referred to as ‘Causal Probability’); and the idea of ‘Situational Influences’. This undertaking is done with the intention of building upon the Meta-theoretical work of Owen (2007 – 2015), which seeks to build bridges between the social and physical sciences. The theory of ‘Flexible Causal Prediction’ is also applied to the deviant activities of internet trolling and anti-social behaviours to demonstrate the influences on behaviour. Nietzsche’s philosophical notion of ‘Slave Morality’ and ‘ressentiment’ will also be extended when looking at some radical social justice movements, such as ‘AntiFa’, ‘Black Lives Matter’ and the ‘#MeToo’ movement to demonstrate the role that ‘ressentiment’ may play in behavioural choices. To assist this analysis Saul Alinksy’s 1971 book ‘Rules for Radicals’ will be referenced to demonstrate how the rules are based on a collectivist ‘herd’ mentality of slave ‘ressentiment’ and how these rules have themselves lead directly to deviant behaviour, online and offline and how a political correct ideology could be responsible for encouraging such behaviours. 6 CHAPTER ONE INTRODUCTION, METHODOLOGY AND META-THEORETICAL FRAMEWORK The seeds for this research project were sown in the author’s previous work called ‘A Critical Engagement with Piratical Opinion’ (Noble 2012) in which the views expressed by (so called) internet deviants were examined to better understand the motivations behind criminal behaviour. This not only provides the reader with a better understanding of their motivations/justifications, but also some indication regarding the identity of the person(s) committing acts of piracy. During this study it became increasingly apparent to the author that the sentiments expressed by some users resembled the Nietzschean notions of ‘ressentiment’, ‘slave morality’ and ‘nihilism’. Furthermore, the author became increasingly aware of a sense of users ‘reinventing’ themselves on the internet so that they could enjoy some form of ‘higher’ status. Acts of deviancy (in this case ‘piracy’) were the currency by which one could establish for the ‘self’ a greater status amongst one’s ‘peers’. It became obvious that there are similar traits on social media in the attitudes and utterances by some users and in political demonstrations. It also became apparent to the author that a ‘slave morality’ form of collectivist ‘ressentiment’ may underpin some of the actions and declarations of internet users. That a ‘slave morality’ form of collectivist thinking was helping to shape the narrative of some online individuals and groups. Some of these political pressure groups create a class of victimhood to give themselves moral authority over others in highly polarised contests for power. Offence appears to be the currency of conflict, with conformity to the ‘herd’ morality being the goal. This became the backdrop to this research project, the motivations of individuals and groups from a Nietzschean perspective. To assist the reader some of the key concepts which informed this project, will briefly be examined. Although it should be added that these are only summarised at this point as they are more fully examined in the main body of the text. Nietzschean Concepts The Nietzschean philosophical ideas, which we will be focusing on in this work are summarised here to clarify them in the mind of the reader. Here is a brief outline of the concepts which will be discussed in greater detail during this work: 7 Slave Morality “…the highest standard for the value for all individuals.” (Nietzsche, 2013, pg.115) ‘Slave morality’ is a form of ‘herd’ mentality, where values emerge out of a ‘ressentiment’ and born of repression. This group mentality will seek to impose its own values over other groups, most notably when the ‘herd’ possess feelings of impotent rage against what is perceived to be a ‘dominate’ other. ‘Slave morality’ therefore seeks to level the playing field; it promotes mediocrity as a virtue whilst simultaneously deflating the value of achievement. Mediocrity then becomes the code of ethics for the ‘slave morality’ of conformism and infantalisation. As Armstrong observes: “Instead of strengthening ourselves for competition, we blame others, and then pat ourselves on the back for not being like those dreadful people” (Ibid, pg.80). This weakening of character and self-worship will become obvious to the reader as we progress through this work; particularly when highlighting the actions of some social justice movements and moral entrepreneurs. Nietzsche (Ibid, pg.22) suggests that these traits are “a hatred born of weakness” by the powerless or those that inhabit a lowly status. ‘ressentiment’ As noted above, ‘ressentiment’ is born of feelings of inadequacy and a relativistic view of one’s circumstances in comparison with another. If one perceives another as enjoying status and privilege above that experienced by the self, one does not ask how it was earned, but instead develops a feeling of entitlement towards the goods/services/status that the other enjoys. To the ‘slave morality’ the question is not ‘How can I earn those possessions?’, but rather ‘Why don’t I have them?’. The latter point deriving from a feeling of entitlement and the former from