I'm not saying they don't have the right to protest things; and I'm not saying they shouldn't sit back and do nothing; but I am saying, when you use a medium that a government has given themselves the authority to shut down and/or control, don't be surprised when the majority of the people on whose behalf you think you're "fighting" for, are suddenly very angry with you because that government has exercised their self-given authority and limited the "average joe" use of that medium....
They probably think they are smarter than the government techies and will get away with it.
I didn't see anything in that article pointing to the U.S. government shutting down the internet. If they did, I would argue there would also be a reaction by the typical citizen applauding the hackers because they are rebels and are thwarting the government's efforts and/or pointing out the weaknesses in internet security. I can think of several on this board that would be in the hacker's corner when it comes to hacking into the Federal Reserve (or other government agencies)