420chan

420chan
Type of site
Imageboard
Founded20 April 2005
HeadquartersToronto, Ontario, Canada[1]
OwnerTaima Enterprises
Created byAubrey Cottle (Kirtaner)
URL420chan.org
not420chan.org
(defunct)
not420chan.com[2]
(defunct)
RegistrationNo
Current statusoffline

420chan was an anonymous imageboard founded on 20 April 2005[3][4][note 1] by hacker[5] and freelance web developer[6] Aubrey Cottle.[1] According to its founder, its name was a portmanteau of 420, a slang word originating in cannabis culture but now applicable to drug culture more generally, and 4chan, another imageboard website.[7] Discussion on the site was primarily focused around recreational drug use and wrestling, with other boards related to topics including humor and academia.[8]

While in its early history it was primarily known for hosting a board known as /i/,[note 2][note 3][2] then used by the hacker collective Anonymous[8][9] to stage "invasions" against individuals and web platforms such as Habbo Hotel,[10] and Hal Turner.[8]

The modern incarnation of the website was primarily known for hosting discussions about psychoactive drugs legal and illegal.[11] The site was also known for its LGBT discussion boards, /cd/[note 4] and /sd/.[12][note 5]

As of 1 June 2022, 420chan's main URL, 420chan.org, went offline. On 20 April 2023, the domain was sold to Fredrick Brennan for $4,200 in Ethereum, and a temporary landing page went up.

Footnotes

Notes

  1. ^ The .org TLD specifies its creation dates in its WHOIS data using ISO 8601 dates. The creation date of 2005-04-21T03:39:16Z specifies that the domain was registered on 21 April 2005, in UTC. However, because Cottle is from Toronto, which in April has time zone UTC−05:00, the registration actually did happen in the final hours of 20 April 2005.
  2. ^ As on 4chan, boards are identified by their URLs, which are typically acronyms or shorthand for the full name of the board.
  3. ^ /i/ — "Invasion".
  4. ^ /cd/ — "Transgender Discussion".
  5. ^ /sd/ — "Sexuality Discussion".

References

  1. ^ a b "Internet Intruder From Australia May Be Behind Early Morning Prank That Led To Local ETF Raid". CityNews Toronto. 15 May 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  2. ^ a b Singel, Ryan (27 July 2007). "Investigative Report Reveals Hackers Terrorize the Internet for LULZ". Wired. ISSN 1059-1028. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  3. ^ Cottle, Aubrey (10 October 2015). "First New Board in Four Years". 420chan. Archived from the original on 24 February 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  4. ^ "WHOIS for 420chan.org". Domain WHOIS. Archived from the original on 8 February 2019. Retrieved 19 May 2020 – via WHOIS.com.
  5. ^ "Fallout begins for far-right trolls who trusted Epik to keep their identities secret". Washington Post. ISSN 0190-8286. Retrieved 21 April 2023.
  6. ^ Villarreal, Daniel (10 March 2020). "In the Late 1980s, Nintendo Revealed That Super Mario Has an Uncircumcised Penis". Hornet. Retrieved 19 May 2020.
  7. ^ Cottle, Aubrey. "420chan FAQ". Archived from the original on 7 February 2008. Retrieved 19 May 2020. I was talking to some friends and one of them came up with "420chan", a stupid combination of 4chan and drugs.
  8. ^ a b c Beran, Dale (11 August 2020). "The Return of Anonymous". The Atlantic. Retrieved 25 August 2020.
  9. ^ Caneppele, Stefano; Calderoni, Francesco (30 October 2013). Organized Crime, Corruption and Crime Prevention: Essays in Honor of Ernesto U. Savona. Springer Science & Business Media. p. 235. ISBN 978-3-319-01839-3.
  10. ^ Shuman, Phil (26 July 2007). "FOX 11 Investigates: 'Anonymous'". MyFOX Los Angeles. KTTV (Fox). Archived from the original on 22 May 2008.
  11. ^ Olson, Parmy (5 June 2012). We Are Anonymous: Inside the Hacker World of LulzSec, Anonymous, and the Global Cyber Insurgency. Little, Brown and Company. p. 403. ISBN 978-0-316-21353-0. 420chan is known for its discussion of drugs.
  12. ^ Sauerbier, Rachel Ann (2011). Word is out: the use of social media sites during the coming out process (PDF). California State University, Chico. pp. 8, 52.
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