420chan

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]

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

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, has gone offline and has not reactivated, rendering the site inactive.

On 20 April 2023, the domain 420chan.org was sold to Fredrick Brennan for $4200 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. "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. 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. 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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