We Are Legion: The Story of the Hacktivists (2012)

1. IT WAS 6:00 IN THE MORNING.

2. I GOT A KNOCK ON MY DOOR — A

3. REALLY LOUD KNOCK — AND I

4. THOUGHT IT WAS MY DAD, WHO HAD

5. LOCKED HIMSELF OUT OR SOMETHING.

6. SO I OPENED IT, AND IT'S THE

7. L.E.D. FLASHLIGHTS AND THE

8. REALLY OBNOXIOUS BULLET-PROOF

9. VEST AND THE DRAGGING ME OUT

10. INTO THE COLD WHEN I'M IN MY

11. PAJAMAS.

12. THAT WAS NOT FUN.

13. THEY SEEMED PRETTY SHOCKED BY

14. THE SARCASTIC, BELLIGERENT,

15. ANGRY TEENAGER THAT THEY DRAGGED

16. OUT OF BED THAT DAY.

17. I DON'T KNOW IF IT'S JUST THAT I

18. WAS 19 OR THAT I WAS A GIRL, BUT

19. THEY DIDN'T EXPECT... THIS.

20. 10,000 ANGRY KIDS — WHOEVER

21. THEY ARE, THEY SCARED THE SHIT

22. OUT OF SOME PEOPLE THOSE DAYS.

23. THEY SCARED THE SHIT OUT OF THE

24. POWERS THAT BE, AND THAT'S WHY

25. THIS IS BEING INVESTIGATED.

26. THAT'S WHY I'M UNDER

27. INDICTMENT.

28. THAT'S IT, BECAUSE BETWEEN THE

29. DAYS OF DECEMBER 6th AND

30. DECEMBER 10th, 10,000 ANGRY

31. PEOPLE PROVED TO THE GOVERNMENT

32. THAT THEIR REGULATIONS, THEIR

33. IDEAS, THEIR VIEW OF PayPal,

34. THEIR VIEW OF WikiLeaks, THEIR

35. VIEW OF THE AFGHAN WAR, AND

36. EGYPT AND TUNISIA AND LIBYA —

37. IT DIDN'T... MATTER.

38. THEIR OPINION NO LONGER MATTERED

39. BECAUSE SOMEONE WAS OUT ON THE

40. INTERNET KICKING ASS.

41. THE COMPUTER HACKER GROUP

42. ANONYMOUS IS CLAIMING TONIGHT

43. THAT IT TOOK DOWN THE WEBSITE OF

44. THE FEDERAL APPEALS COURT IN

45. SAN FRANCISCO THIS AFTERNOON.

46. SERVERS, THEY'VE TAKEN DOWN

47. HBGary, SONY'S CLAIMING THEY DID

48. $150 MILLION WORTH OF DAMAGE.

49. SO MANY CONFIDENTIAL FILES

50. THAT TONIGHT, BECAUSE OF THESE

51. HACKERS, CAN BE IN THE HANDS OF

52. ANYONE.

53. VISA, MasterCard, THE PayPal

54. SITUATION.

55. THE CRIMINALS WHO HACKED INTO

56. SARAH PALIN'S PRIVATE E-MAIL.

57. THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY

58. SAYS ANONYMOUS IS A

59. CYBER-TERRORIST GROUP OF

60. RELIGIOUS BIGOTS.

61. ANONYMOUS AND THIS OTHER

62. GROUP CALLED LulzSec — THEY

63. SEEM TO BE WANTING TO PROVE A

64. POINT.

65. ANONYMOUS KIND OF WAS LIKE

66. THE BIG, STRONG, BUFF KID WHO

67. HAD LOW SELF-ESTEEM, AND THEN

68. ALL OF A SUDDEN, PUNCHED

69. SOMEBODY IN THE FACE AND WAS

70. LIKE, "HOLY SHIT, I'M REALLY

71. STRONG!"

72. AND ANONYMOUS CALLS ITSELF "THE

73. FINAL BOSS OF THE INTERNET," AND

74. SOMETIMES IF PROVES TO BE

75. REALLY FUCKING TRUE.

76. IF YOU ARE GOING TO VIOLATE THE

77. FREEDOMS OF THE INTERNET, YOU

78. CERTAINLY BETTER WATCH THE FUCK

79. OUT.

80. THEY ARE KIND OF THE RUDE

81. BOYS OF ACTIVISM.

82. THERE'S A REAL ROUGH EDGE TO

83. THEM, WHICH I THINK ALSO IS ONE

84. REASON WHY THEY GARNER SO MUCH

85. LOVE AND HATE FROM PEOPLE, TOO.

86. THEY REPRESENT A CERTAIN SORT OF

87. CHAOTIC FREEDOM.

88. INDIVIDUAL, YOUNG, NAMELESS,

89. FACELESS FOLKS ARE HAVING

90. GEOPOLITICAL IMPACT.

91. I MEAN, IT'S BOTH EXHILARATING

92. TO REALIZE THAT AND TERRIFYING

93. TO REALIZE THAT.

94. IT KIND OF DEPENDS ON HOW THAT

95. POWER IS WIELDED.

96. WE ARE LEGION.

97. WE DO NOT FORGET.

98. EXPECT US.

99. WE STAND FOR FREEDOM.

100. WE STAND FOR FREEDOM OF SPEECH,

101. THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE, THE

102. ABILITY FOR THEM TO PROTEST

103. AGAINST THEIR GOVERNMENT, TO

104. RIGHT WRONGS.

105. NO CENSORSHIP, ESPECIALLY ONLINE

106. BUT ALSO IN REAL LIFE.

107. WE HAVE MEMBERS THROUGHOUT

108. SOCIETY, IN ALL STRATAS OF IT

109. WORLDWIDE.

110. YEAH, WE HAVE NO LEADERSHIP.

111. IT'S ONE VOICE — IT'S NOT

112. INDIVIDUAL VOICES.

113. THAT'S WHY WE DON'T SHOW OUR

114. FACES, THAT'S WHY WE DON'T GIVE

115. OUR NAMES.

116. WE'RE SPEAKING AS ONE.

117. IT'S A COLLECTIVE.

118. GOOD TIMING.

119. I GOT CALLED A TERRORIST

120. SYMPATHIZER.

121. WE'VE BEEN CALLED KIDS, WE'VE

122. BEEN CALLED CYBER-BULLIES, WE'VE

123. BEEN CALLED HOOLIGANS, AND, YOU

124. KNOW, SOMETIMES THOSE WORDS

125. AREN'T ENTIRELY UNFAIR, BUT THIS

126. IS A SERIOUS POLITICAL MOVEMENT.

127. NO ONE IN THE GENERAL PUBLIC

128. REALLY SEEMS TO GET IT.

129. WHAT THEY DON'T SEEM TO GET IS

130. THAT THE ABILITY FOR ANONYMOUS

131. TO BE EVERYTHING AND ANYTHING IS

132. IT'S POWER.

133. ANONYMOUS IS A SERIES OF

134. RELATIONSHIPS — HUNDREDS AND

135. HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE WHO ARE VERY

136. ACTIVE IN IT, AND WHO HAVE

137. VARYING SKILL SETS, AND WHO HAVE

138. VARYING ISSUES THEY WANT TO

139. ADVANCE AND WHO ARE

140. COLLABORATING IN DIFFERENT WAYS

141. EACH DAY.

142. THEY'RE A LITTLE BIT LIKE A

143. PRISM OR A KALEIDOSCOPE —

144. THEY'RE GOT MANY DIFFERENT

145. FACETS AND MANY DIFFERENT SIDES.

146. OF COURSE, WHEN YOU SPEND ENOUGH

147. TIME WITH THEM, YOU START TO GET

148. A SORT OF FEEL OR TEXTURE THAT'S

149. NOT JUST RANDOM, RIGHT?

150. YET IT'S VERY MULTIFACETED,

151. VERY RICH, WHICH DOES SPAN FROM

152. THE QUITE LIGHTHEARTED TO THE

153. VERY, VERY SERIOUS.

154. BOB DYLAN HAD A LINE IN HIS

155. SONG, TO SING, "TO LIVE OUTSIDE

156. THE LAW, YOU MUST BE HONEST."

157. THEY MIGHT DO SOMETHING WHICH

158. ISN'T TECHNICALLY CORRECT,

159. MAYBE IT'S NOT LEGALLY CORRECT,

160. BUT THEY'RE DOING IT FOR

161. PURPOSES THAT, IN THEIR MINDS AT

162. LEAST, ARE ETHICAL.

163. PEOPLE WHO KNOW WHAT THEY'RE

164. DOING, WHO SHARE AN ETHOS, WHO

165. HAVE A COMMITMENT TO EXPOSING

166. AND HUMILIATING "THE MAN," WHO

167. HAVE A VERY LOW TOLERANCE OF

168. LIES AND WHAT THEY PERCEIVE AS

169. EVIL ON THE PART OF OVERWEENING

170. POWER STRUCTURES.

171. THEY SHARE INFORMATION, THEY

172. SHARE TOOLS AND TECHNIQUES, AND

173. THEY ARE CURRENTLY HAVING A VERY

174. GOOD TIME.

175. THEY HACKER CULTURE, AS WE

176. KNOW IT, REALLY SPRANG FROM ONE

177. PLACE.

178. IT WAS M.I.T., AND IT WAS

179. SPECIFICALLY THE PEOPLE IN THE

180. MODEL-RAILROAD CLUB, THE

181. TECH-MODEL-RAILROAD CLUB.

182. HACKING ORIGINATED AS

183. HUMOROUS PRANKS WHEN THE GUYS AT

184. M.I.T. PUT A VOLKSWAGEN UP ON

185. TOP OF THE DOME OF THE BUILDING,

186. AND PEOPLE WOKE UP AND SAW THE

187. CAR UP THERE IN THE MORNING.

188. OR THEY MEASURED A BRIDGE BY THE

189. BODY LENGTHS OF SOMEBODY, I

190. WOULD SAY HIS NAME WAS BRIAN,

191. AND DISCOVERED THE BRIDGE OVER

192. THE CHARLES RIVER WAS

193. 822 BRIANS.

194. THESE ARE FUNNY THINGS.

195. THAT'S WHERE HACKING ORIGINATED,

196. AND IT MIGRATED INTO ENGINEERING

197. AND COMPUTER COMMUNITIES.

198. IT'S WITTY. IT'S PRANKS.

199. BASICALLY, MICROSOFT AND

200. APPLE BOTH GOT THEIR ENTIRE

201. START OFF COMPUTER CRIME.

202. BILL GATES STOLE PRETTY MUCH ALL

203. OF MS-DOS.

204. STEVE JOBS — HE WAS CREATING

205. BOXES TO DEFRAUD THE PHONE

206. COMPANY.

207. I ALWAYS SAW HACKING AS

208. IMPLICITLY POLITICAL.

209. HACKERS, WHETHER THEY'RE

210. CONSCIOUS ABOUT IT OR NOT,

211. WHETHER THEY'RE EXPLICIT ABOUT

212. IT OR NOT, MAKE A STATEMENT

213. ABOUT HOW WE SHOULD TREAT

214. INFORMATION.

215. AND SOME YEARS AFTER MY BOOK

216. CAME OUT, ONE OF THE PEOPLE I

217. WROTE ABOUT, RICHARD STALLMAN,

218. GOT VERY PUBLICLY AND

219. EXPLICITLY POLITICAL ABOUT

220. SOFTWARE.

221. AND HE BELIEVED THAT SOFTWARE

222. SHOULD BE FREE — FREE AS IN

223. FREEDOM, NOT FREE AS IN BEER, AS

224. HE PUT IT THERE.

225. BEHIND IT, WHETHER MISGUIDED OR

226. NOT, THERE'S A POLITICAL

227. IMPULSE.

228. I'M CHRIS WYSOPAL, FORMER

229. MEMBER OF THE LOPHT.

230. WE DON'T NECESSARILY SAY

231. "HACKING GROUP" BECAUSE IT MAKES

232. IT SOUND LIKE WE'RE HACKING, SO

233. WE USED TO CALL IT

234. "A HACKER'S THINK TANK."

235. "HACKTIVISM" WAS A TERM COINED

236. BY A GROUP CALLED

237. "THE CULT OF THE DEAD COW."

238. THE LOPHT HAD AN INTERESTING

239. RELATIONSHIP WITH

240. THE CULT OF THE DEAD COW.

241. ACTUALLY, THERE WERE SOME

242. MEMBERS THAT WERE IN BOTH

243. ORGANIZATIONS.

244. AND WE KIND OF KEPT, LIKE, THE

245. SERIOUS SECURITY RESEARCH THAT

246. THEY WERE DOING, THEY WOULD DO

247. UNDER THE LOPHT NAME, AND IF

248. THEY WERE DOING SOME SORT OF

249. JUST GOOFY STUNT-LIKE THINGS,

250. THEY WOULD DO IT UNDER

251. THE CULT OF THE DEAD COW NAME,

252. BECAUSE THE CULT OF THE DEAD COW

253. WAS REALLY KIND OF SORT OF LIKE

254. A PROPAGANDA TYPE OF

255. ORGANIZATION.

256. THEY HAD A GUY WHO WAS THE

257. MINISTER OF PROPAGANDA.

258. THEY'RE KIND OF MERRY

259. PRANKSTERS, LIKE EVERYTHING THEY

260. DID WAS COMPLETELY OVER THE TOP.

261. ONE OF THE GUYS THERE COINED THE

262. TERM "HACKTIVISM" BECAUSE HE SAW

263. ONE OF THE THINGS HIS GROUP WAS

264. DOING, WHICH HE CALLED

265. "HACKTIVISM," WAS WRITING

266. SOFTWARE THAT PEOPLE IN OTHER

267. COUNTRIES COULD USE TO

268. COMMUNICATE SECURELY, EVEN IF

269. THEIR GOVERNMENT WAS SPYING ON

270. THEM.

271. SO THE PRINCIPLE WAS REALLY

272. FREEDOM OF EXPRESSION.

273. IT WAS EVERYONE SHOULD HAVE

274. ACCESS TO THE INTERNET, EVERYONE

275. SHOULD BE ABLE TO COMMUNICATE

276. AND GET THEIR MESSAGE OUT ON THE

277. INTERNET, EVEN MORE IMPORTANT,

278. IN COUNTRIES WHERE THERE WAS

279. REPRESSIVE REGIMES THAT IF YOU

280. SAID SOMETHING AGAINST THE

281. REGIME, THEY WOULD COME AND TAKE

282. YOU AWAY AND YOU WEREN'T SAYING

283. IT ANYMORE.

284. "HACKTIVISM" HAS OFTEN MEANT

285. TO DESIGNATE A FORM OF POLITICAL

286. ACTIVITY IN WHICH TECHNOLOGY

287. ASSISTANCE IS USED FOR

288. HUMAN-RIGHTS ACTIVISM.

289. THAT'S KIND OF THE NARROW SENSE

290. OF THE WORD.

291. IT USUALLY STAYS WITHIN THE

292. PURVIEW OF THE LAW — USUALLY,

293. BECAUSE BY PROVIDING

294. TECHNOLOGICAL ASSISTANCE, YOU

295. MAY BE BREAKING A LOCAL LAW,

296. HOWEVER.

297. AND YET, OTHER FORMS OF DIGITAL

298. INTERVENTIONS, PROTEST, DISSENT,

299. DISOBEDIENCE ARE CLEARLY PUSHING

300. THE BOUNDARIES OF THE LAW, ARE

301. SEEKING TO ACTIVELY BREAK THE

302. LAW IN PROTEST, OR ARE JUST

303. MERELY TRANSGRESSIVE, AS WELL.

304. JUST LIKE IN TRADITIONAL

305. ACTIVISM, IT SPANS THE FULL

306. GAMUT FROM SIT-INS OR PICKETS TO

307. ACTUALLY SPIKING TREES AND

308. POURING SAND IN THE ENGINES OF

309. CONSTRUCTION VEHICLES.

310. I MEAN, THERE'S REAL SABOTAGE.

311. THE SAME THING DOES ALL FALL

312. UNDER THE "HACKTIVISM" LABEL.

313. THERE IS A SPECTRUM.

314. A GOOD PLACE TO START ARE

315. WITH WHAT HAS OFTEN BEEN CALLED

316. VIRTUAL SIT-INS, WHICH USE THE

317. TACTIC OF A DENIAL OF SERVICE

318. ATTACK.

319. DENIAL OF SERVICE HAS BEEN

320. AROUND FOR A LONG, LONG TIME.

321. THE EQUIVALENT OF IF YOU, FOR

322. SOME REASON, WANTED TO DISRUPT A

323. BUS SERVICE, RIGHT?

324. YOU CAN HIRE A THOUSAND EXTRAS

325. TO ALL GO AND LINE UP AT THE BUS

326. STATION AND GET ON THE BUS.

327. AND SO THEN ANYONE WHO WAS

328. REALLY TRYING TO GET ON THE BUS

329. COULDN'T DO IT.

330. IT'S AS SIMPLE AS THAT — WHEN

331. YOU STOP TRYING TO VISIT,

332. WEBSITE GOES BACK UP, NO

333. PERMANENT DAMAGE.

334. AND THIS TACTIC HAS BEEN USED

335. BY A NUMBER OF DIFFERENT GROUPS.

336. PROBABLY THE MOST FAMOUS IS THE

337. ELECTRONIC DISTURBANCE THEATER.

338. ANOTHER REALLY INTERESTING CASE

339. HAPPENED IN GERMANY WHERE A

340. GROUP OF ACTIVISTS GOT TOGETHER

341. WHO WANTED TO PROTEST THE FACT

342. THAT THE AIRLINE LUFTHANSA —

343. THEY WERE USING THEIR PLANES TO

344. DEPORT IMMIGRANTS.

345. AND THEY WOULD TAKE DOWN THE

346. SITE.

347. AND, IN FACT, EVENTUALLY, THE

348. GERMAN COURTS RULED THAT THIS

349. COULD BE A LEGITIMATE FORM OF

350. PROTEST.

351. THIS SOMETIMES HAS STRONG

352. ANARCHIST FLAVOR TO IT, AS WELL.

353. IT'S RESISTANCE TO AUTHORITY AND

354. THOSE WHO WOULD IMPOSE

355. GROUP-THINK AND GROUP-BEHAVIOR

356. ON THE PEOPLE, WHICH WAS

357. RIGHTLY PERCEIVED TO BE A

358. CONSEQUENCE OF THE DIGITAL

359. REVOLUTION AS IT WAS USED BY

360. PEOPLE IN POWER — TO DO

361. HACKING ON BEHALF OF

362. RIGHTEOUSNESS AND TO REDRESS THE

363. GRIEVANCES OF THE WORLD.

364. LANCE-LOWERED DON QUIXOTE ON HIS

365. HORSE, NAG THOUGH SHE WAS,

366. FLYING AT THE WINDMILLS OF

367. MODERN LIFE.

368. ANONYMOUS GREW OUT OF WHAT'S

369. KNOW AS 4chan.

370. AND ESSENTIALLY, THIS IS JUST A

371. WEBSITE WHERE PEOPLE CAN UPLOAD

372. IMAGES AND YOU DON'T ACTUALLY

373. GIVE YOUR NAME, IT'S JUST SORT

374. OF ANONYMOUS.

375. WHEN YOU LOOK AT 4chan,

376. YOU'RE OFTEN SURPRISED BECAUSE

377. IT LOOKS LIKE A SITE FROM LIKE

378. 1995 OR SOMETHING.

379. THE IDEA IS VERY SIMPLE — YOU

380. POST A COMMENT AND YOU POST A

381. PICTURE, AND YOU CAN POST UNDER

382. YOUR NAME OR ANONYMOUSLY.

383. AND IT'S SEPARATED INTO BOARDS

384. ABOUT PARTICULAR TOPICS, SO

385. THERE'S A TOPIC ON ANIME,

386. THERE'S A TOPIC ON WEAPONRY.

387. THERE'S LIKE A 4chan BOARD

388. FOR ORIGAMI AND YOU JUST UPLOAD

389. INTERESTING PICTURES OF ORIGAMI.

390. AND THEN, THERE WAS A GROUP

391. CALLED THE "/b/ board," WHICH

392. ESSENTIALLY WAS FOR, LIKE,

393. ANYTHING GOES.

394. THE FIRST TIME ANYBODY GOES

395. ON /b/, IT'S KIND OF AN INSTANT

396. REVULSION, 'CAUSE THERE'S NEVER

397. A TIME THAT YOU GO ON THERE

398. WHERE YOU DON'T SEE SOMETHING

399. HORRIBLE.

400. THAT INSTANTLY PUTS OFF A LOT OF

401. PEOPLE.

402. THE IDEA IS POST SOMETHING

403. THAT CAN NEVER BE UNSEEN.

404. HALF OF THE POSTS ON /b/ ARE

405. THERE SPECIFICALLY TO MAKE

406. PEOPLE NOT WANT TO COME BACK TO

407. /b/.

408. HAVE YOU EVER READ

409. "LORD OF THE FLIES"?

410. 4chan AND ESPECIALLY /b/ IS

411. "LORD OF THE FLIES," EXCEPT SOME

412. OF THEM AREN'T 16 ANYMORE.

413. THEY'RE JUST ALLOWED TO ACT 16.

414. IT'S THE MOST VILE,

415. DISGUSTING, AND FUNNY THING ON

416. THE INTERNET.

417. 4chan WAS FOUNDED BY

418. CHRIS "MOOT" POOLE WHEN HE WAS

419. VERY YOUNG, MAYBE 15, IN THE

420. EARLY 2000s.

421. HE STARTED 4chan BECAUSE HE WAS

422. A BIG FAN OF JAPANESE ANIMATION.

423. CHRIS "MOOT" POOLE'S THE

424. SWEETEST KID YOU'VE EVER MET IN

425. YOUR LIFE.

426. HE'S SMALL, AND HE'S, LIKE —

427. HE'S GOT THESE SORT OF LIKE TINY

428. FEATURES, AND HE RUNS THE MOST

429. DISGUSTING WEBSITE IN THE WORLD.

430. WHAT I THINK IS REALLY

431. INTRIGUING ABOUT A COMMUNITY

432. LIKE 4chan IS JUST THAT IT'S

433. THIS OPEN PLACE.

434. AS I SAID, IT'S RAW, IT'S

435. UNFILTERED, AND SITES LIKE IT

436. ARE KIND OF GOING THE WAY OF THE

437. DINOSAUR RIGHT NOW.

438. THEY'RE ENDANGERED BECAUSE WE'RE

439. MOVING TOWARDS SOCIAL

440. NETWORKING.

441. WE'RE MOVING TOWARDS PERSISTENT

442. IDENTITY.

443. WE'RE MOVING TOWARDS, YOU KNOW,

444. A LACK OF PRIVACY, REALLY.

445. THE /b/ board — THAT'S THE

446. EXACT OPPOSITE OF FACEBOOK.

447. FACEBOOK, YOU'RE SUPPOSED TO BE

448. WHO YOU ARE AND THERE'S SORT OF

449. ONE MODEL, WHICH IS THAT YOU'RE

450. FRIENDS WITH PEOPLE, RIGHT?

451. IN 4chan, YOU'RE A TOTALLY

452. ANONYMOUS NOBODY.

453. AND ANONYMOUS SPEECH IS — A LOT

454. OF IT'S UGLY, BUT NOT ALL OF IT

455. IS.

456. IT'S ACTUALLY SORT OF A PLACE

457. WHERE PEOPLE CAN BE HONEST.

458. ONE OF THE IMPORTANT THINGS

459. ABOUT 4chan IS TO HAVE A THREAD

460. THAT REALLY EXPLODES AND LASTS

461. FOR A LONG TIME.

462. 'CAUSE IF IT DOESN'T, THEN IT

463. DISAPPEARS — IT'S A SITE THAT'S

464. NOT ARCHIVED.

465. SO IT CREATES CONDITIONS FOR

466. ANYTHING THAT GRABS ATTENTION,

467. AT SOME LEVEL, AND SO HUMOR AND

468. GROTESQUENESS, AS A RESULT, ARE

469. QUITE GOOD FOR THAT.

470. I'D RATHER JUST BE REFERRED

471. TO AS ANONYMOUS, I GUESS, IN THE

472. INTERVIEWS 'CAUSE I HAVE SOME

473. DOCS OUT ON ME.

474. YOU'LL SEE SOMETHING POSTED ONE

475. DAY, AND THEN A WEEK LATER IT'S

476. GOT 50,000 DERIVATIVES OF IT.

477. A LOT OF THE GREAT INTERNET

478. MEMES THAT WE ALL KNOW AND LOVE,

479. YOU KNOW, LOLCATS, RIGHT, YOU

480. KNOW, LITTLE CATS DOING FUNNY

481. THINGS AND THEN THEY HAVE "I CAN

482. HAS CHEEZBURGER," RIGHT?

483. ALL THAT STUFF SEEMS TO START IN

484. THIS PETRI DISH THAT IS 4chan,

485. /b/ board.

486. NAME ANY MEME FROM THE LAST

487. ABOUT SIX YEARS, AND I'LL BET

488. YOU, EITHER IN IT'S FIRST

489. POSTING EVER WAS ON 4chan, OR AT

490. LEAST ONE OF IT'S EARLIEST

491. REVISIONS THAT BECAME WHAT IT

492. WAS WAS ON 4chan.

493. I CAN SEE THE FOOD SITUATION

494. IS SO WE'LL BE ON OUR

495. WAY.

496. IT'S BASICALLY THE BEST

497. BREEDING GROUND FOR INTERNET

498. CULTURE, AS FAR AS I'M

499. CONCERNED.

500. 4chan IS ALSO VERY KNOWN FOR

501. ACTS OF TROLLING.

502. FOR THEM, IT'S FUNNY, THAT

503. PEOPLE THINK THE INTERNET IS

504. SERIOUS BUSINESS.

505. AND IF PEOPLE THINK THE INTERNET

506. IS SERIOUS BUSINESS, IT'S A

507. TROLL'S JOB TO MAKE THEIR LIFE

508. TERRIBLE.

509. THE IDEA OF ANONYMOUS CAME

510. INITIALLY AS A JOKE.

511. I MEAN, SOMEBODY SUGGESTED THAT,

512. "WHAT IF THE WHOLE SITE, WHAT IF

513. 4chan, WHAT IF /b/ WAS JUST ONE

514. PERSON, AND WHAT IF THAT'S JUST

515. ONE GUY CALLED ANONYMOUS SITTING

516. SOMEWHERE AND YOU'RE JUST

517. READING ALL THESE POSTS BY ONE

518. GUY?"

519. AND IT KIND OF LOOKED LIKE

520. THAT, FROM THE OUTSIDER'S

521. PERSPECTIVE.

522. I MEAN, THERE'S NO WAY TO TELL

523. THE DIFFERENCE.

524. IT MIGHT AS WELL BE ONE GUY.

525. FOX NEWS DID A VERY FAMOUS

526. SEGMENT ABOUT IT.

527. THEY CALL THEMSELVES

528. "ANONYMOUS."

529. THEY ARE HACKERS ON STEROIDS,

530. TREATING THE WEB LIKE A

531. REAL-LIFE VIDEO GAME — SACKING

532. WEBSITES, INVADING MYSPACE

533. ACCOUNTS, DISRUPTING INNOCENT

534. PEOPLE'S LIVES, AND IF YOU FIGHT

535. BACK, WATCH OUT.

536. THREATS FROM A GANG OF

537. COMPUTER HACKERS CALLING

538. THEMSELVES "ANONYMOUS."

539. I'VE HAD SEVEN DIFFERENT

540. PASSWORDS, AND THEY'VE GOT THEM

541. ALL SO FAR.

542. ANONYMOUS HACKED HIS SITE AND

543. PLASTERED IT WITH GAY-SEX

544. PICTURES.

545. HIS GIRLFRIEND LEFT HIM.

546. SHE THOUGHT THAT I WAS

547. CHEATING ON HER WITH GUYS.

548. AS LONG AS I CAN THINK BACK,

549. ANONYMOUS HAS DONE SOME PRETTY

550. OFF-COLOR THINGS IN THE NAME OF

551. GETTING CHEAP LAUGHS, YOU KNOW?

552. BUT, I MEAN, THAT'S PART OF THE

553. CULTURE.

554. THEY GET WHAT

555. THEY CALL "LULZ."

556. "LULZ" IS A CORRUPTION OF

557. "LOL," WHICH STANDS FOR LAUGH

558. OUT LOUD.

559. ANONYMOUS GETS BIG "LULZ" FROM

560. PULLING RANDOM PRANKS.

561. FOR EXAMPLE, MESSING WITH ONLINE

562. CHILDREN'S GAMES LIKE

563. "HABBO HOTEL."

564. "HABBO HOTEL" WAS THIS ONLINE

565. COMMUNITY WHERE YOU HAD AN

566. AVATAR AND YOU WALKED AROUND AND

567. TALKED TO OTHER PEOPLE.

568. IT WAS KIND OF LIKE AN EARLY

569. VERSION OF "WORLD OF WARCRAFT"

570. OR "SECOND LIFE" OR ANY OF THOSE

571. VIRTUAL WORLDS.

572. WHAT THE PEOPLE ON /b/ DID WAS

573. INVADE "HABBO HOTEL," CREATED

574. THOUSANDS OF AVATARS.

575. THEY ALL HAD THIS ONE UNIFORM OF

576. A BLACK GUY WITH A BIG AFRO

577. WEARING A BLACK SUIT.

578. AND SO THERE WOULD BE THOUSANDS

579. OF THESE PEOPLE — BLACK GUYS,

580. BLACK SUIT, HUGE AFRO — WALKING

581. AROUND THIS WORLD, AND THEY

582. WOULD DO THINGS LIKE FORM A

583. SWASTIKA OUT OF THEMSELVES.

584. AND I THINK THAT WAS A REAL

585. LANDMARK BECAUSE IT WAS WHEN

586. THEY WERE ABLE TO SEE THAT THEY

587. CAN USE THEIR NUMBERS TO DO

588. SOMETHING REALLY INTERESTING AND

589. REALLY DISRUPTIVE.

590. THOSE KIDS LOVED THAT POOL.

591. THEY LOVED THE SHIT OUT OF THEIR

592. POOL.

593. THE GOAL WAS ACTUALLY TO

594. OFFEND EVERYONE, SIMPLY BECAUSE

595. THE IDEA THAT WE COULD OFFEND

596. YOU BY DRAWING A LITTLE SHAPE ON

597. THE SCREEN WAS STUPID TO THE

598. PEOPLE INVOLVED IN IT.

599. THEY WERE LIKE, "REALLY?

600. YOU'RE GONNA GET THAT MAD OVER

601. US DOING — JUST DRAWING THIS ON

602. THE SCREEN?

603. WOW, WELL, YOU NEED TO REFOCUS A

604. LITTLE ON LIFE, 'CAUSE THIS

605. SHOULD NOT BE UPSETTING YOU THAT

606. MUCH."

607. BARRETT BROWN, I'M THE

608. DIRECTOR OF PROJECT PM AND A

609. FORMER OPERATIVE WITH ANONYMOUS.

610. WE WERE TARGETING FURRIES, WHICH

611. MEANT WE ENTERED A SUBCULTURE OF

612. PEOPLE, OF COURSE, WHO A LOT OF

613. PEOPLE ON 4chan FIND IRRITATING

614. BY VIRTUE OF THEY'RE BEING

615. IRRITATING.

616. A FURRY IS SOMEONE, GENERALLY A

617. MALE IN HIS 20s, WHO IDENTIFIES

618. WITH ANIMALS AND OFTENTIMES HAS

619. SEXUAL ATTRACTION TO OTHER

620. PEOPLE DRESSED AS ANIMALS.

621. WE HAD FURRY INFILTRATORS,

622. PEOPLE TRYING, YOU KNOW — WE

623. HAD SECRET GROUPS.

624. MINE WAS CALLED THE

625. "ILLUMINATI/I/ILLUMINATI," AND

626. OUR GOAL WAS TO WREAK AS MUCH

627. HAVOC AS POSSIBLE, BECAUSE IT

628. WAS STUPID.

629. THERE WAS A POINT WHEN I

630. OTHERWISE SEEMED A RESPECTABLE

631. WRITER, IN 2007, AND MY FIRST

632. BOOK HAD COME OUT LIKE THAT, BUT

633. I SPENT MY EVENINGS ON

634. "SECOND LIFE," THAT BIG VIRTUAL

635. WORLD RIDING AROUND IN A VIRTUAL

636. SPACESHIP WITH THE WORDS

637. "FAGGORY DAGGORY DO" WRITTEN ON

638. IT, WEARING AFROS, AND DROPPING

639. VIRTUAL BOMBS ON LITTLE VILLAGES

640. AND CONCERTS, AND WAVING GIANT

641. PENISES AROUND.

642. AND THAT WAS THE MOST FUN TIME I

643. EVER HAD IN MY LIFE.

644. ALL THESE DIFFERENT

645. ORGANIZATIONS ONLINE, WHETHER

646. IT'S 4chan OR JUST ANY WEBSITE,

647. THERE'S TYPICALLY A COMMUNITY

648. ASPECT TO IT.

649. THIS IS WHERE PEOPLE HAVE THEIR

650. SOCIAL RELATIONSHIPS.

651. THIS IS WHERE THEIR FRIENDS ARE.

652. THIS IS WHERE THEY HAVE A

653. CREATIVE OUTLET.

654. AND SO ALL THOSE ASPECTS ARE

655. GOING IN TO GROUPS LIKE

656. ANONYMOUS WHERE PEOPLE FEEL LIKE

657. THEY'RE PART OF A BIGGER THING

658. AND THEY'RE ABLE TO EXPRESS

659. THEMSELVES WITHIN THAT GROUP.

660. THERE WERE CERTAIN WORDS,

661. CERTAIN PHRASES, CERTAIN WAYS

662. PEOPLE RESPOND TO THINGS,

663. CERTAIN IMAGES THAT ARE POSTED

664. THAT CREATED A PATTERN, AND THAT

665. PATTERN WAS, I GUESS, THE ORIGIN

666. OF WHAT IS NOW ANONYMOUS.

667. IT'S LIKE FREE MASONS WITH A

668. SENSE OF HUMOR, IN SO MUCH THAT

669. THEY HAVE THIS COMMON SYMBOLOGY

670. AND ONE OF THEIR CHIEF JOYS,

671. WHICH IS KIND OF WRAPPED UP IN

672. POWER AND SECRECY, WAS THE FACT

673. THAT THEY COULD RECOGNIZE EACH

674. OTHER BY REFERENCING THESE

675. SYMBOLS, REFERENCING THESE

676. PHRASES — "OVER 9,000."

677. IT'S OVER 9,000!

678. "I LOST MY iPod,"MUDKIPZ,"

679. ANYTHING INVOLVING MUDKIPZ.

680. SO YOU HAVE THIS WEIRD SORT OF

681. INTERNATIONAL CULTURE DEVELOPING

682. WITH PEOPLE ACROSS THE WORLD,

683. WHEREVER THEY MAY BE.

684. IN LATE '06, AND INTO EARLY

685. '07, THERE'S A BIT OF A SEA

686. CHANGE WHERE INSTEAD OF JUST

687. POSTING A BUNCH OF CONTENT, OR

688. RANDOMLY SAYING, "WE'RE GOING TO

689. GO OVER TO SOME WEBSITE AND POST

690. A BUNCH OF DIRTY COMMENTS

691. AGAINST SOMEONE," IT BECOMES A

692. LITTLE MORE ORGANIZED.

693. WELCOME TO

694. "THE HAL TURNER SHOW"!

695. THEY WENT AFTER A GUY NAMED

696. HAL TURNER.

697. I AM BEING DISCRIMINATED

698. AGAINST BECAUSE I'M WHITE.

699. HAL TURNER WAS A NEO-NAZI WHO

700. WAS BIG ONLINE AND HAD A

701. PODCAST.

702. I THINK THAT THE 14th

703. AMENDMENT WAS NOT RATIFIED

704. PROPERLY, AND I THINK,

705. THEREFORE, IT IS STILL OKAY TO

706. HAVE NEGROES AS SLAVES IN

707. AMERICA.

708. I'M LIKE, "YEAH, SCREW THAT

709. RACIST SON OF A BITCH!

710. LET'S DO THIS," YOU KNOW?

711. SO I JOINED IN, AND I MADE SOME

712. OF THE PHONE CALLS AND I PLAYED

713. AROUND ON THE CHAT THING ON HIS

714. WEBSITE AND POSTED IN THE

715. THREADS, AND WHATNOT.

716. WHO ARE YOU?

717. WHERE YOU CALLING FROM?

718. Hola!

719. This is Pedro! From San Diego!

720. SPIC, DON'T CALL MY RADIO

721. SHOW ANYMORE, YOU FILTHY SPIC

722. ANIMAL!

723. The college that I go to has

724. begun an integration program

725. where they try and purposely

726. lower standards to bring more

727. blacks and "diversify" the

728. campus.

729. And by the end of the next five

730. years, they intend to bring

731. over 9,000.

732. HE WAS JUST A HORRIBLY RACIST

733. RADIO PERSONALITY WHO SEEMED TO

734. HANDLE IT WELL WHEN YOU CALLED

735. IN.

736. LIKE, HE COULD HANDLE BEING

737. BERATED BY ANONYMOUS.

738. AND THAT MADE IT VERY

739. INTERESTING.

740. IT MADE IT A BIT OF A CHALLENGE.

741. IT WASN'T SOME GUY WHO JUST

742. EITHER CRUMBLED OR STOPPED

743. ANSWERING THE PHONE.

744. IT WAS A GUY WHO WOULD YELL

745. BACK.

746. I don't see really where

747. you're going with this.

748. WHERE I'M GOING IS I BELIEVE

749. BARACK OBAMA IS GENETICALLY

750. INCAPABLE OF EXERCISING THE

751. POWER NECESSARY TO GOVERN THE

752. MOST COMPLICATED NATION ON

753. EARTH.

754. THAT'S WHERE I'M GOING WITH

755. THIS.

756. AND I THINK PART OF THE REASON

757. HE'S INCAPABLE OF DOING IT IS

758. BECAUSE OF RACIAL-GENETIC

759. INFERIORITY.

760. IS THAT CLEAR ENOUGH FOR YOU?

761. No, you changed the subject

762. again.

763. WAIT A SECOND, YOU ASKED

764. ME...

765. HAL TURNER WASN'T THE FIRST

766. ACTUAL PERSON THAT ANONYMOUS HAD

767. CAUSED TROUBLE FOR, BUT THE

768. CIRCUMSTANCES ENDED UP BEING

769. SIGNIFICANT.

770. THEY DDoS'd HIS WEBSITE, STUFF

771. LIKE THAT, COSTING HIM THOUSANDS

772. OF DOLLARS IN BANDWIDTH FEES.

773. AND THEN THEY ENDED UP

774. GETTING SOME REAL HACKERS TO

775. HELP THEM OUT, LIKE THIS WASN'T

776. SORT OF PRANKS.

777. THEY ACTUALLY WERE ABLE TO GET

778. INTO HAL TURNER'S PRIVATE

779. SERVERS AND HIS MAIL SERVERS AND

780. FIND SOME INTERESTING E-MAILS

781. THAT HE WAS SERVING AS AN FBI

782. INFORMANT, WHICH IF YOU'RE A

783. RIGHT-WING NEO-NAZI IS NOT A

784. GOOD THING BE.

785. AND OBVIOUSLY, HIM BEING AN

786. FBI INFORMANT, AND ALSO HIS

787. REACTION — HIS SORT OF

788. DOUCHE-BAGGY REACTION — TO THE

789. RAIDS DAMAGED HIS CREDIBILITY

790. WITHIN THE WHITE NATIONALISTS

791. SCENE, WHICH IS A SHAME.

792. HAL TURNER'S GONE.

793. HE'S BEEN PROSECUTED BY THE FEDS

794. FOR THREATENING JUDGES.

795. IT WASN'T SUPPOSED TO BE

796. DIFFERENT, BUT IT ENDED UP BEING

797. DIFFERENT.

798. PEOPLE WHO OBSERVE ANONYMOUS SEE

799. THIS GROUP CALLED ANONYMOUS IS

800. GOING AFTER THIS WHITE

801. NATIONALIST AND SAY, "OH, HEY,

802. LOOK, ANONYMOUS MUST BE SOME

803. KIND OF ACTIVIST ORGANIZATION."

804. SO, BY VIRTUE OF THOSE PEOPLE

805. JOINING ANONYMOUS, ANONYMOUS

806. BECOMES MORE OF AN ACTIVIST

807. ORGANIZATION.

808. WHAT FOLLOWS IS A PERIOD OF

809. CONFUSION AND ANGER IN WHICH THE

810. ORIGINAL ANONYMOUS PEOPLE — THE

811. SORT WHO WANT TO KEEP ANONYMOUS

812. AS THIS NIHILIST LITTLE

813. RIDICULOUS GROUP — ARE UPSET

814. THAT NOW THE MOST TERRIBLE THING

815. ON THE INTERNET IS NOW BECOMING

816. A FORCE FOR GOOD ALL OF A

817. SUDDEN.

818. ANONYMOUS HAS NEVER BEEN

819. ABOUT GETTING MEDIA ATTENTION OR

820. GETTING ALL OF THIS ATTENTION

821. TOWARDS IT.

822. I MEAN, IT'S A COMMUNITY, A

823. PRETTY SOMETIMES INSULAR

824. COMMUNITY THAT JUST KIND OF KEPT

825. TO ITSELF, MADE JOKES AND MADE

826. CONTENT.

827. BUT THAT WAS, OF COURSE, CHANGED

828. COMPLETELY.

829. IT'S THROWN COMPLETELY ON ITS

830. HEAD WHEN CHANOLOGY STARTED.

831. ANONYMOUS BEGAN TO BECOME

832. LESS JUST OF A CULTURE, YOU

833. KNOW, OF PEOPLE WHO WANTED TO

834. PERFORM PRANKS AND MORE OF THE

835. INTERNET'S FIRST ARMY.

836. I'M MIKE VITALE, AND MY

837. HANDLE'S "SETHDOOD."

838. NOW, THIS IS JANUARY 2008.

839. ANONYMOUS IS STRONG NOW.

840. YOU KNOW, WE'RE NOT A LITTLE

841. DINKY FUCKING GROUP ANYMORE.

842. LIKE, THIS IS, LIKE, MILLIONS OF

843. PEOPLE WORLDWIDE, AND WE'RE

844. WATCHING.

845. AND THEN SCIENTOLOGY STEPPED IN

846. WITH A BIG TARGET ON ITS CHEST.

847. A VIDEO CAME OUT OF

848. TOM CRUISE.

849. IT WAS SUPPOSED TO BE, LIKE, AN

850. INTERNAL SCIENTOLOGY VIDEO

851. TALKING ABOUT SECRETS OF

852. SCIENTOLOGY.

853. BEING A SCIENTOLOGIST, WHEN

854. YOU DRIVE PAST AN ACCIDENT, IT'S

855. NOT LIKE ANYONE ELSE.

856. AS YOU DRIVE PAST, YOU KNOW YOU

857. HAVE TO DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT

858. BECAUSE YOU KNOW YOU'RE THE ONLY

859. ONE THAT CAN REALLY HELP.

860. TALKS ABOUT "YOU'RE THE ONLY

861. ONE WHO CAN STOP, YOU KNOW, BAD

862. THINGS FROM HAPPENING."

863. AND SO, THIS IS KIND OF WILDLY

864. MOCKED ONLINE.

865. IT CIRCULATED LIKE WILDFIRE.

866. THERE'S NOTHING

867. PARTING A WAVE FOR ME.

868. IT'S JUST "WHOO!"

869. THESE PEOPLE FOUND IT

870. HUMOROUS AND GOOFY.

871. AND THE CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY

872. WENT INTO THEIR LEGAL MODE, AND

873. THEY THREATENED WEBSITES WITH

874. LAWSUITS IF THEY DIDN'T PULL

875. DOWN THE VIDEO.

876. INSTANTLY, THE SCIENTOLOGISTS

877. POST A DMCA — DIGITAL

878. MILLENNIUM COPYRIGHT ACT.

879. AND THIS IS A WAY THAT IF YOU

880. OWN CONTENT, YOU CAN GO TO VIDEO

881. SITES, UPLOAD SITES AND HAVE

882. YOUR CONTENT PULLED WHEN SOMEONE

883. UPLOADS IT ILLEGALLY.

884. SCIENTOLOGY'S ALWAYS AT ODDS

885. WITH THE INTERNET, ALWAYS TRYING

886. TO LEGALLY BULLY PEOPLE OUT OF

887. FUCKING THEM OVER ON THE

888. INTERNET.

889. THEY ALWAYS DID THAT.

890. AND THEN HERE THEY ARE TRYING

891. AGAIN, BUT YOU KNOW WHAT?

892. ANONYMOUS SAW THAT, AND THEY

893. SAID, "OH, YOU GUYS JUST FUCKED

894. AROUND BADLY.

895. LIKE, YOU'RE TRYING TO CENSOR

896. OUR INTERNET.

897. YOU KNOW, LIKE, ARE YOU TRYING

898. TO TAKE A JOKE AWAY FROM

899. ANONYMOUS?

900. LIKE, YOU DON'T DO THAT."

901. WHAT THESE PEOPLE DID, IN

902. THIS CASE — GREGG HOUSH AND

903. THESE OTHER PEOPLE — WAS, THEY

904. DECIDED, YOU KNOW, "WE CAN

905. PROBABLY HARNESS ANONYMOUS IN

906. THIS CASE AND TARGET

907. SCIENTOLOGY."

908. A FEW ANONS, A FEW PEOPLE ON

909. 4chan POSTED "HEY, WE SHOULD

910. GRAB THAT VIDEO AND POST IT ON A

911. FEW OTHER SITES."

912. AND I WAS ONE OF THE PEOPLE IN

913. THAT THREAD TALKING ABOUT IT.

914. WE GOT THE ORIGINAL SOURCE OF

915. THE VIDEO BY REACHING OUT TO THE

916. PERSON BEHIND THE ACCOUNTS AND

917. EVERYTHING.

918. WE START POSTING IT.

919. THE SURPRISING THING WAS HOW

920. FAST THEY WERE DMCAing THEM ON

921. EVERY SITE.

922. IT LOOKED TO US LIKE THEY MUST

923. HAVE DIRECT CONTACT WITH THE

924. LAWYERS AND THE TEAM WHO

925. ACTUALLY PULLS VIDEOS AT ALL OF

926. THESE SITES.

927. LIKE, IT WAS — IT WAS MINUTES

928. AND THESE THINGS WERE FALLING

929. DOWN.

930. WE'RE LIKE, "HOLY CRAP.

931. THAT'S MESSED UP."

932. WHAT FOLLOWED WAS — THIS IS

933. A TERM CALLED THE

934. BARBRA STREISAND EFFECT — AND

935. THIS VIDEO, AS THEY'RE

936. ATTEMPTING TO SUPPRESS IT, WENT

937. EVERYWHERE.

938. LIKE, EVERYWHERE YOU LOOK ON THE

939. INTERNET, YOU WERE GONNA STUMBLE

940. UPON THIS VIDEO.

941. ACTUALLY, GAWKER, THE SITE

942. THAT I WORK FOR, WAS, I THINK,

943. THE FIRST ONE TO PUT IT ON THE

944. WEBSITE, AND WE GOT IN A HUGE

945. LEGAL BATTLE WITH SCIENTOLOGY,

946. WHO WANTED US TO TAKE IT DOWN.

947. A GUY JOINS THE CHANNEL, AND

948. HE SAYS, "YOU SHOULD ALL LOOK AT

949. GAWKER."

950. SO, WE GO OVER TO GAWKER, AND

951. THE STRANGEST THING HAS

952. HAPPENED.

953. THIS BIG MEDIA COMPANY HAD THE

954. VIDEO UP ON THEIR FRONT PAGE AND

955. BASICALLY HAD A COMMENT

956. UNDERNEATH OF IT THAT STATED

957. VERY CLEARLY THAT THEY WERE SICK

958. OF THIS ABUSE THAT WAS GOING ON.

959. THAT MADE US THINK, "WHAT HAVE

960. WE GOT OURSELF MIXED UP IN

961. HERE?"

962. SCIENTOLOGY IS AN INTERESTING

963. TARGET, BECAUSE IN SOME WAYS,

964. IT'S THE PERFECT INVERSION OF

965. WHAT GEEKS AND HACKERS VALUE.

966. AT SO MANY DIFFERENT LEVELS —

967. SCIENCE FICTION, INTELLECTUAL

968. PROPERTY, DISCOURSES OF FREEDOM,

969. SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY.

970. IT'S VERY PROPRIETARY.

971. IT'S CLOSED.

972. AND SO, IN SOME WAYS, IF YOU HAD

973. SOMETHING LIKE A CULTURAL

974. INVERSION MACHINE AND YOU STUCK

975. GEEKS AND HACKERS IN THERE,

976. YOU'D GET SOMETHING THAT LOOKS A

977. LOT LIKE SCIENTOLOGY.

978. SO IT'S QUITE OFFENSIVE, AND

979. THERE'S A REAL PLEASURE IN

980. ATTACKING YOUR PERFECT NEMESIS.

981. WHAT REALLY KIND OF DARED US

982. AND SET US OFF ABOUT SCIENTOLOGY

983. IS SPECIFICALLY THE TREATMENT OF

984. THEIR CRITICS.

985. ANYBODY WHO SAYS ANYTHING BAD

986. ABOUT SCIENTOLOGY IS

987. AUTOMATICALLY SOME SORT OF

988. CRIMINAL, SOME SORT OF CRAZY

989. PERSON, A DRUG ADDICT.

990. IT'S JUST THAT KIND OF

991. MENTALITY, THAT KIND OF — LIKE,

992. IF ANYBODY SAYS ANYTHING BAD

993. ABOUT YOU, WE'RE GONNA FUCK YOU

994. OVER IN THE WORST POSSIBLE WAY.

995. IT'S JUST — IT RESONATED, LIKE,

996. THIS FEELING OF DISGUST WITHIN

997. US.

998. THAT WAS A BIG PROBLEM.

999. THAT WAS THE BIG PROBLEM, THE

1000. CENSORSHIP ASPECT OF IT, THE

1001. AUDACITY OF THIS CULT, THIS

1002. CREEPY CULT, TO GO INTO OUR

1003. TERRITORY AND TELL US THAT WE

1004. CAN'T POST THIS?

1005. NO. FUCK THEM.

1006. NO. IT'S NOT GONNA HAPPEN.

1007. AND PEOPLE WHO KNEW WHAT

1008. ANONYMOUS WAS TO BEGIN WITH WERE

1009. LIKE, "OH, MY GOD.

1010. ANONYMOUS IS GONNA GO TO WAR

1011. WITH SCIENTOLOGY?

1012. THIS SHOULD BE REALLY

1013. INTERESTING."

1014. ESPECIALLY 'CAUSE IT'S TWO

1015. WEIRD-ASS GROUPS.

1016. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, I'VE BEEN AN

1017. ANON FOR A LONG FUCKING TIME.

1018. I KNOW ANONYMOUS IS REALLY

1019. STRANGE.

1020. LIKE, THEY'RE WEIRD, AND THE

1021. STUFF WE LIKE IS WEIRD, AND IT'S

1022. REALLY NOT MAINSTREAM AT ALL.

1023. NOW YOU HAVE SCIENTOLOGY — ALSO

1024. REALLY WEIRD.

1025. A LOT OF CRAZY SHIT GOES DOWN.

1026. ANYBODY ON THE OUTSIDE WHO'S

1027. SEEN THIS IS GOING, "LET'S WATCH

1028. THESE TWO RETARDS FIGHT.

1029. LIKE, BOTH THEIR PANTS ARE GONNA

1030. FALL DOWN.

1031. THEY'RE GONNA TRIP, AND IT'S

1032. GONNA HURT EVERYBODY, AND IT'S

1033. GONNA BE HYSTERICAL."

1034. AND WHAT HAPPENED WAS ALL THESE

1035. PEOPLE WHO WERE GEARED UP, THE

1036. INFRASTRUCTURE WAS BUILT TO WAR

1037. WITH OTHER ANONS, SAID, "YOU

1038. KNOW WHAT — FUCK IT.

1039. EVERYBODY'S GONNA GET TOGETHER

1040. AND POUND THE FUCK OUT OF

1041. SCIENTOLOGY."

1042. AND THEN THAT'S WHEN 4chan

1043. KIND OF REARED INTO ACTION,

1044. REALLY REARED INTO ACTION.

1045. AND THEY STARTED TO TROLL THE

1046. CHURCH OF SCIENTOLOGY.

1047. AND THIS TOOK THE FORM OF

1048. PRANKING THE DIANETICS HOTLINE,

1049. ORDERING PIZZAS.

1050. EVERY FAX NUMBER WE GET, AND

1051. WE'RE SHARING THEM ALL.

1052. YOU KNOW, EVERY NUMBER WE GET,

1053. WE'D SEND BLACK PIECES OF PAPER

1054. ON A LOOP UNTIL IT WASTES ALL

1055. THEIR INK.

1056. I GO TO CALL THEM ON THE PHONE,

1057. AND IT'S BUSY, BUSY, BUSY.

1058. YOU KNOW, AND THAT'S THEIR MAIN

1059. FUCKING DIANETICS HOTLINE, THEIR

1060. DIANETICS 800-NUMBER.

1061. YOU CAN'T GET THROUGH BECAUSE

1062. ANONS HAVE COMPLETELY FUCKING

1063. CLOGGED IT AND JUST PROBABLY

1064. SAYING STUPID SHIT.

1065. THE WHOLE IDEA WAS JUST YOU CALL

1066. THEM JUST TO KEEP THEM ON THE

1067. PHONE.

1068. "WHAT'S AN ELROND?

1069. HOW DO I DIANETICS MY FACE?"

1070. THEY WERE NOT EXPECTING THAT,

1071. AND THEY COULDN'T HANDLE IT.

1072. I'M BRIAN METTENBRINK.

1073. I ALWAYS LIKED ANYTHING

1074. TECHNICAL, MECHANICAL, ANYTHING

1075. SCIENCEY, REALLY.

1076. COMPUTERS DO WHAT YOU TELL THEM

1077. TO.

1078. THEY DON'T ALL OF A SUDDEN START

1079. DOING WEIRD STUFF.

1080. AND IF THEY DO, IT'S PROBABLY

1081. YOUR FAULT, AND I ALWAYS LIKE

1082. THAT, YOU KNOW.

1083. THEY'RE PERFECT, REALLY, IN A

1084. WAY.

1085. I'D JUST GONE TO 4chan JUST ON

1086. PURE HAPPENSTANCE, AND I SAW A

1087. POST ABOUT THE SCIENTOLOGY

1088. THING, AND I STARTED LOOKING UP

1089. STUFF.

1090. AND I'M LIKE, "OH, THIS IS

1091. ACTUALLY FOR A DECENT CAUSE.

1092. I THINK I'LL, YOU KNOW, DO

1093. THIS."

1094. ANONYMOUS MEMBERS HAVE

1095. DEVELOPED A DISTRIBUTED

1096. DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACK TOOL

1097. CALLED LOW-ORBIT ION CANNON,

1098. WHICH IS A NAME TAKEN FROM A

1099. COMPUTER GAME.

1100. LOW-ORBIT ION CANNON IS

1101. WHAT'S CALLED AN ENDGAME WEAPON

1102. IN "RED ALERT."

1103. ALL YOU HAD TO DO WAS LITERALLY

1104. FOLLOW INSTRUCTIONS STEP BY

1105. STEP.

1106. I DOWNLOADED A PROGRAM THAT'S

1107. FREE AND LEGAL FOR ANYONE TO

1108. DOWNLOAD AND USE.

1109. AND I FOLLOWED THE INSTRUCTIONS,

1110. AND I TYPED IN

1111. www.scientology.org, AND I

1112. PUSHED "GO."

1113. AND WHAT IT DOES IS IT TELLS

1114. scientology.org, IN THIS CASE —

1115. IT TELLS THEM TO SEND THEIR

1116. WEBSITE TO MY COMPUTER ABOUT, I

1117. THINK, IT WAS 800,000 TIMES IN A

1118. WEEKEND.

1119. AND I'M PRETTY SURE I PROBABLY

1120. TOOK IT DOWN MYSELF A COUPLE OF

1121. TIMES.

1122. THIS TOOL IS LOW-ORBIT ION

1123. CANNON, SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS

1124. "LOIC."

1125. I AM ACTUALLY NOT BREAKING ANY

1126. LAWS BY USING THIS TOOL AGAINST

1127. MY OWN COMPUTER, 127.0.0.1,

1128. WHICH IS A NON-ROUTABLE ADDRESS.

1129. BUT, OF COURSE, IF I WERE TO

1130. HAVE ATTACKED ONE OF THOSE OTHER

1131. BIGGER SITES OUT THERE, I WOULD

1132. HAVE SEVERELY BEEN BREAKING THE

1133. LAW AND WOULD HAVE BEEN DOING IT

1134. IN A WAY THAT WAS QUITE EASY TO

1135. TRACK.

1136. WHAT YOU DO IS, YOU PUT IN THE

1137. SITE.

1138. YOU SEE THAT THE I.P. IS

1139. CORRECT.

1140. YOU MAKE SURE THAT ALL THESE

1141. SETTINGS ARE GOOD, AND YOU HIT

1142. THE BUTTON.

1143. AND OFF IT GOES.

1144. IT FELT LIKE YOU WERE MAKING

1145. A DIFFERENCE, YOU KNOW, JUST YOU

1146. YOURSELF AND YOU DIDN'T EVEN

1147. HAVE TO LEAVE YOUR HOME, YOU

1148. KNOW?

1149. YOU JUST SAT AT YOUR COMPUTER

1150. AND FOLLOWED INSTRUCTIONS AND

1151. STOOD UP FOR WHAT YOU BELIEVE

1152. IN, SO TO SPEAK.

1153. YOU MADE YOUR SAY IN THE WORLD,

1154. AND HOPEFULLY IT TURNS OUT

1155. BETTER FOR IT.

1156. AND LIKE I SAID, WE NEED TO

1157. MAKE A VIDEO.

1158. WE HAVE TO MAKE A VIDEO.

1159. HELLO, LEADERS OF

1160. SCIENTOLOGY.

1161. WE ARE ANONYMOUS.

1162. WHEN THE VIDEO CAME OUT ON

1163. JANUARY 21st, THAT WAS ONE OF

1164. THE FIRST TIMES THAT ANONYMOUS

1165. AS A CULTURE STARTED REFERRING

1166. TO ITSELF AS "ANONYMOUS," AS A

1167. MOVEMENT AND DECLARED THAT IT

1168. WAS GOING TO TAKE DOWN AND

1169. DESTROY THE CHURCH OF

1170. SCIENTOLOGY.

1171. THAT VIDEO PROBABLY CHANGED

1172. EVERYTHING.

1173. KNOWLEDGE IS FREE.

1174. WE ARE ANONYMOUS. WE ARE LEGION.

1175. WE DO NOT FORGIVE.

1176. WE DO NOT FORGET. EXPECT US.

1177. IT BASICALLY LOOKED LIKE IF A

1178. COMPUTER WAS GOING TO TELL YOU

1179. THAT HE WAS GONNA BEAT THE SHIT

1180. OUT OF YOU, THIS IS WHAT IT

1181. WOULD LOOK LIKE.

1182. THAT ONE VIDEO, IT REALLY

1183. GALVANIZED THAT MOMENT, THAT

1184. MOMENT OF INNOVATION THAT THAT'S

1185. EXACTLY — LIKE, WITH THAT

1186. VIDEO, INTERNET ACTIVISM, AS

1187. IT'S KNOWN TODAY, WAS BORN.

1188. WHAT THE VIDEO WAS SAYING

1189. WAS, "IT'S OVER.

1190. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO

1191. FOLLOW PEOPLE BACK TO THEIR

1192. HOUSE ANYMORE WITH IMPUNITY.

1193. YOU'RE NOT GOING TO BE ABLE TO

1194. JUST ISSUE A CEASE-AND-DESIST

1195. LETTER TO ANY REPORTER WHO WANTS

1196. TO WRITE SOME SHIT ABOUT YOU

1197. THAT YOU DON'T LIKE, YOU KNOW.

1198. THAT'S DONE WITH.

1199. EVERY TIME YOU DO THAT,

1200. ANONYMOUS IS GONNA HIT YOU

1201. HARDER."

1202. SO, WE MADE A VIDEO NAMED

1203. "CALL TO ARMS."

1204. IT SAID "WE'RE GOING TO THE

1205. STREETS.

1206. EVERY MAJOR CITY OF THE WORLD

1207. HAS A SCIENTOLOGY BUILDING."

1208. BE VERY WARY OF THE 10th OF

1209. FEBRUARY.

1210. ANONYMOUS INVITES YOU TO JOIN US

1211. IN AN ACT OF SOLIDARITY.

1212. ANONYMOUS INVITES YOU TO TAKE UP

1213. THE BANNER OF FREE SPEECH, OF

1214. HUMAN RIGHTS, OF FAMILY AND

1215. FREEDOM.

1216. JOIN US IN PROTEST OUTSIDE OF

1217. SCIENTOLOGY CENTERS WORLDWIDE.

1218. AND YOU JUST SEE THIS

1219. CONSENSUS FORMING THAT IT'S

1220. GOING TO HAPPEN.

1221. SO WE MADE THE THIRD VIDEO, THE

1222. "CODE OF CONDUCT."

1223. "DON'T BRING WEAPONS.

1224. DRESS ACCORDINGLY.

1225. COVER YOUR FACES 'CAUSE THEY

1226. WILL TRY AND FIND OUT WHO YOU

1227. ARE AND SCREW WITH YOUR LIFE."

1228. RULE NUMBER 17 — COVER YOUR

1229. FACE.

1230. THIS WILL PREVENT YOUR

1231. IDENTIFICATION FROM VIDEOS TAKEN

1232. BY HOSTILES.

1233. SCIENTOLOGY HAS A HISTORY OF

1234. HARASSING, STALKING, AND JUST

1235. DOING HORRIBLE THINGS TO ITS

1236. CRITICS.

1237. SO PEOPLE NEEDED A WAY TO HIDE

1238. THEIR IDENTITIES.

1239. A LOT OF PEOPLE HAD VERY

1240. LEGITIMATE FEARS.

1241. THEY DON'T WANT TO BE FOLLOWED

1242. HOME.

1243. THEY DON'T WANT TO BE STALKED.

1244. THEY DON'T WANT TO PUT THEIR

1245. FAMILIES AND THEMSELVES IN

1246. DANGER.

1247. EVERYONE WAS GOING, "WELL,

1248. WE'RE GONNA WEAR A MASK.

1249. WHAT'S THE ONLY FUCKING MASK

1250. THAT WE ALREADY KNOW OR HAVE A

1251. JOKE ABOUT?"

1252. AND IT'S THE GUY FAWKES MASK.

1253. YOU SEE THE MOVIE

1254. "V FOR VENDETTA."

1255. YOU KNOW, THE ENDING SCENE WHERE

1256. EVERYONE'S WEARING THE

1257. GUY FAWKES MASK, THAT IS VERY

1258. REMINISCENT OF WHAT ANONYMOUS

1259. THINKS ANONYMOUS IS.

1260. WE WANTED TO REPRESENT ANONYMITY

1261. IN SOME WAY WHEN IT MOVED INTO

1262. REAL LIFE.

1263. I THINK THAT THE GUY FAWKES MASK

1264. WAS ONE OF THE MOST NATURAL

1265. THINGS TO HAPPEN.

1266. IT IS THE IDEA THAT NONE OF US

1267. ARE AS CRUEL AS ALL OF US.

1268. YOU HAVE THIS MASSIVE CROWD OF

1269. PEOPLE WHO ARE ANONYMOUS THAT IS

1270. GOING TO FIGHT AGAINST A BIGGER

1271. THING AND WIN.

1272. EVEN AFTER WATCHING THE

1273. VIDEOS, LIKE, "YEAH, THIS IS

1274. GREAT, BUT WHO'S ACTUALLY GONNA

1275. DO IT?

1276. WHO'S GONNA STEP UP?

1277. ARE PEOPLE ACTUALLY GONNA GET

1278. OUT OF THEIR HOUSE?"

1279. LIKE — AND I GUESS WE WERE

1280. REALLY AFFECTED BY THE

1281. STEREOTYPE OF THAT WHOLE

1282. COMMUNITY, BEING INTERNET NERDS.

1283. THEY'RE TOO AFRAID TO LEAVE

1284. THEIR MOMS' BASEMENTS.

1285. I FIGURED MAYBE 15 NERDS FROM

1286. EVERY CITY SOMEWHERE MIGHT SHOW

1287. UP AND WEAR THEIR MASKS AT A

1288. BUILDING FOR AWHILE AND LEAVE.

1289. NO ONE THOUGHT THAT THEY WERE

1290. GONNA COME OUT.

1291. THIS IS ME ON THE WAY THERE.

1292. I HAVEN'T SLEPT.

1293. I'M VERY FUCKING TIRED.

1294. AND I REMEMBER GOING TO THE PARK

1295. THAT DAY, AND IT'S REALLY

1296. FUCKING EARLY IN THE MORNING,

1297. WHICH I THOUGHT WAS A BAD IDEA.

1298. AND I'M SMOKING A CIGARETTE, AND

1299. I'M LOOKING AROUND LIKE, "WHERE

1300. THE FUCK IS EVERYBODY?

1301. LIKE, THERE'S NOBODY HERE."

1302. SO, HERE I AM SITTING IN

1303. BRYANT PARK.

1304. WAITING FOR THE OTHER ANONS TO

1305. SHOW UP.

1306. I REMEMBER THINKING LIKE, "OH,

1307. FUCK.

1308. LIKE, AM I GONNA BE THE ONLY ONE

1309. IN THE PARK?

1310. AM I GONNA WALK TO SCIENTOLOGY

1311. WITH FUCKING SIX OR SEVEN

1312. PEOPLE, WHICH TOTALLY DEFEATS

1313. THE ENTIRE PURPOSE OF THIS

1314. BECAUSE NOW THEY COULD SINGLE ME

1315. OUT?"

1316. YOU KNOW, THEN I GET UP, AND I

1317. START WALKING AROUND, AND I SEE

1318. THERE'S A LOT OF GREEN BALLOONS

1319. OVER THERE FOR SOME REASON.

1320. ON THE OTHER SIDE OF THE PARK,

1321. THERE WAS LIKE FUCKING 200

1322. PEOPLE.

1323. THERE WAS GUY FAWKES MASKS

1324. EVERYWHERE, AND I'M LIKE, "HOLY

1325. SHIT, THIS IS HUGE!"

1326. THERE'S A FUCKING LOT OF US.

1327. THAT'S PRETTY GOOD.

1328. I HAD NO IDEA HOW MANY ANONS

1329. THERE WERE UNTIL WE STARTED

1330. MOVING.

1331. HA HA.

1332. AND IT JUST FUCKING GOT BIGGER.

1333. I REMEMBER WALKING THROUGH

1334. TIMES SQUARE, AND EVERYBODY IN

1335. TIMES SQUARE WAS AN ANON.

1336. LIKE, YOU KNOW, THIS IS, LIKE, A

1337. FUCKING 1,000-PERSON PER, LIKE,

1338. FUCKING MINUTE FOOT-TRAFFIC

1339. AREA, AND EVERYWHERE I'M

1340. LOOKING, I'M SEEING FUCKING ANON

1341. SYMBOLS.

1342. IT WAS FUCKING WILD.

1343. IT WAS REALLY WILD.

1344. [ CROWD CHANTING

1345. "DON'T DRINK THE KOOL-AID" ]

1346. WHOO!

1347. HELL, YEAH!

1348. SO WE START GETTING NUMBERS

1349. IN, AND SYDNEY.

1350. WE'RE THINKING THAT IT'S GOING

1351. TO BE 50 PEOPLE.

1352. AND BEFORE 10:00 A.M., BEFORE

1353. EVEN TIME, THERE'S ALREADY 50

1354. PEOPLE THERE, AND THERE ARE

1355. STILL STREAMS OF PEOPLE WALKING

1356. DOWN THE STREETS.

1357. A COUPLE HOURS INTO IT, YOU

1358. KNOW, 'CAUSE I DIDN'T GO TO BED

1359. UNTIL 1:00 IN THE MORNING, YOU

1360. KNOW, YOU'RE LOOKING AT SYDNEY

1361. AS, "WOW, THERE'S 250 PEOPLE IN

1362. SYDNEY.

1363. THE COPS ARE ESTIMATING HIGHER

1364. THAN THAT FOR THEIR REPORTS.

1365. WHAT JUST HAPPENED?

1366. ADELAIDE, PERTH, AND MELBOURNE

1367. HAPPENED.

1368. AND, YOU KNOW, OVER 200 AT EACH

1369. OF THEM.

1370. WE NEARLY BROKE 1,000 LEAVING

1371. AUSTRALIA.

1372. NOW, THE NEXT PROTEST WAS

1373. TEL AVIV, WHICH HAD ACTUALLY

1374. GOTTEN ITS FIRST SCIENTOLOGY

1375. BUILDING RIGHT BEFORE THIS.

1376. THERE WERE PALESTINIANS AND

1377. ISRAELIS AT THIS PROTEST BOTH

1378. HOLDING THEIR FLAGS.

1379. AND AT ONE POINT, THEY ACTUALLY

1380. SWITCHED FLAGS AND HELD UP EACH

1381. OTHER'S FLAGS AND WHATNOT.

1382. IT WAS AWESOME TO SEE.

1383. I CALL OUR GUY IN LONDON,

1384. BRITERNON, AND I SAY, "HEY,

1385. WHAT'S GOING ON THERE?"

1386. AND HE'S LIKE, "DID YOU JUST GET

1387. OUT OF BED?"

1388. I SAID, "YEAH, I HAVEN'T EVEN

1389. TURNED ON THE COMPUTER.

1390. I JUST FIGURED I'D CALL YOU."

1391. AND HE SAID, "WE GOT 600 PEOPLE

1392. AND THE COPS ARE REALLY, REALLY

1393. MAD AT ME."

1394. ALL THE MAJOR CITIES WERE

1395. HAVING HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE COME

1396. OUT.

1397. IT WAS MASSIVE.

1398. CLEARWATER HAD LIKE 300 PEOPLE.

1399. I DON'T THINK ANYONE BEAT OUT

1400. L.A.

1401. I THINK L.A. HAD OVER 1,000

1402. PEOPLE.

1403. THE THING THAT HAPPENED WAS

1404. SOMETHING COMPLETELY DIFFERENT.

1405. HUNDREDS AND HUNDREDS OF PEOPLE

1406. FROM EVERY CITY JUST SWARMED THE

1407. STREETS.

1408. IT WAS KIND OF OVERWHELMING, A

1409. LITTLE EVEN SCARY, BUT SCARY IN

1410. A GOOD WAY.

1411. SOON, YOU KNOW, WE'RE AT

1412. AROUND THE 10,000 MARK, YOU

1413. KNOW, AND WE WERE JOKING THE

1414. WHOLE TIME "OVER 9,000," YOU

1415. KNOW, ONE OF THOSE MEMES.

1416. IT WAS TOO SURREAL.

1417. IT WAS NOT BELIEVABLE.

1418. AND YOU GO BY WHAT NAME?

1419. WE ARE ANONYMOUS.

1420. IT WAS VERY EMPOWERING,

1421. ESPECIALLY AFTER PEOPLE SAW THE

1422. THOUSANDS OF PEOPLE SHOWING UP.

1423. THIS WAS IT.

1424. WE OWNED THE WORLD AT THAT

1425. POINT.

1426. YOU'VE GOT LOLCATS AND YOU'VE

1427. GOT RICKROLLING.

1428. YOU'VE GOT ALL THESE OTHER

1429. THINGS THAT ANONYMOUS HAS BEEN

1430. INVOLVED IN.

1431. THEN, YOU KNOW, TAKE US A MONTH

1432. LATER AND, YOU KNOW, 10,000

1433. PEOPLE WERE JUST IN THE STREETS

1434. AND IN EVERY MAJOR COUNTRY IN

1435. THE WORLD IN EVERY MAJOR CITY

1436. IN THE WORLD AND WHAT THE HELL

1437. JUST HAPPENED?

1438. WHAT CHANGED, YOU KNOW?

1439. WHO FLIPPED THE SWITCH?

1440. THE WORLD LOOKED VERY DIFFERENT

1441. TO ME AT THAT POINT.

1442. WE ALL MET EACH OTHER.

1443. THE IDEA OF AN ANON IS YOU'RE

1444. FUCKING ALONE UNTIL YOU GET TO

1445. 4chan, YOU KNOW, AND THEN THESE

1446. PEOPLE THINK LIKE YOU, YOU KNOW.

1447. THEN ALL OF A SUDDEN, YOU'RE NOT

1448. ALONE.

1449. YOU ARE WITH FUCKING 500 OTHERS,

1450. YOU KNOW.

1451. THEY ALL KNOW THE SAME JOKES AS

1452. YOU.

1453. THEY ALL HAVE — CLEARLY HAVE

1454. SIMILAR INTERESTS AS YOU.

1455. HERE'S YOUR CULTURE.

1456. YOU MEET YOUR OWN PEOPLE

1457. FINALLY.

1458. [ CROWD CHANTING

1459. "DON'T DRINK THE KOOL-AID" ]

1460. IMMEDIATELY, YOU FELT LIKE

1461. YOU WERE AT HOME.

1462. IF YOU WERE AN ANON, YOU WERE AT

1463. HOME.

1464. WE ALL, LIKE, SPENT YEARS IN THE

1465. SAME PLACE, LOOKING AT THE SAME

1466. PICTURES, LAUGHING AT THE SAME

1467. JOKES, AND WE PRETTY MUCH WERE

1468. ALREADY FRIENDS EVEN THOUGH

1469. WE'VE NEVER, EVERY MET.

1470. IT WAS VERY HAPPY.

1471. IT'S PERHAPS A LITTLE

1472. SURPRISING.

1473. IT'S NOT JUST PRETEENS OR

1474. TEENAGERS.

1475. THERE'S A FAR MORE EVEN MIX OF

1476. MALES AND FEMALES THAN YOU WOULD

1477. IMAGINE OTHERWISE.

1478. EVERYONE ALWAYS FIGURED

1479. ANONYMOUS WAS A VERY MALE, YOU

1480. KNOW, THING, BUT IT WASN'T LIKE

1481. THAT AT ALL — AT ALL.

1482. THERE'S SOME FUCKING HOT GIRLS

1483. COME THROUGH.

1484. LIKE, THERE'S SOME REALLY —

1485. LIKE, YOU'D BE SURPRISED.

1486. AND, YOU KNOW, THERE WERE A

1487. LOT OF — A LOT OF, YOU KNOW,

1488. THESE SO-CALLED GUYS WHO WEREN'T

1489. SOCIALLY GOOD.

1490. THEY WERE VERY AWKWARD.

1491. THEY STILL LIVED AT HOME AT

1492. 23 — HALF OF THEM ARE VIRGINS.

1493. AND I'LL TELL YOU THE AMOUNT OF

1494. THOSE PEOPLE WHO GOT LAID FROM

1495. THESE PROTESTS HAPPENING IS IN

1496. THE THOUSANDS — THAT WOULD NOT

1497. HAVE, FOR YEARS PROBABLY.

1498. AND THAT'S WHY THOSE PROTESTS

1499. WERE SO IMPORTANT.

1500. IT WAS A CHANCE TO FINALLY MEET

1501. OTHER PEOPLE THAT WERE

1502. PREVIOUSLY ANONYMOUS AND

1503. UNKNOWN, AND HENCE IT WAS THE

1504. MOMENT OF THE END OF THEIR

1505. ANONYMITY.

1506. SCIENTOLOGY — THEY KIND OF

1507. FOUGHT BACK, SO TO SPEAK.

1508. THEY POSTED STUFF ONLINE.

1509. WHILE CLAIMING THEY ARE

1510. PEACEFUL, IN LESS THAN THREE

1511. WEEKS, ANONYMOUS MEMBERS MADE OR

1512. ENCOURAGED 8,139 HARASSING OR

1513. THREATENING PHONE CALLS, 3.6

1514. MILLION MALICIOUS E-MAILS, 141

1515. MILLION HITS AGAINST CHURCH

1516. WEBSITES, 10 ACTS OF VANDALISM,

1517. 22 BOMB THREATS, AND 8 DEATH

1518. THREATS AGAINST MEMBERS AND

1519. OFFICIALS OF THE CHURCH OF

1520. SCIENTOLOGY.

1521. THEY WANTED TO FIND ME.

1522. THEY DID. THEY HIRED P.I.s.

1523. THEY STARTED TAKING PICTURES

1524. OF US, THREATENING TO SUE US.

1525. PEOPLE WERE GETTING FOLLOWED.

1526. PEOPLE WERE GETTING FOLLOWED

1527. HOME.

1528. IT'D BE A REGULAR THING FOR

1529. SOMEONE TO SAY, "OH, I HAD TO —

1530. I HAD TO LOSE SOMEONE ON THE

1531. SUBWAY.

1532. I SAW SOMEONE FROM THE

1533. SCIENTOLOGY CENTER, AND THEY

1534. WERE FOLLOWING ME."

1535. THEY WOULD FOLLOW US TO OUR

1536. HOUSES, TRY TO INTIMIDATE US,

1537. SEND US CEASE-AND-DESIST

1538. LETTERS.

1539. THESE OLD TACTICS THAT THEY USED

1540. TO FIGHT THE ACTIVISM THEY FACED

1541. BEFORE THE INTERNET WERE

1542. COMPLETELY INEFFECTIVE AGAINST

1543. CHANOLOGY.

1544. YOU KNOW, MOST OF THE PEOPLE

1545. WHO RECEIVED THEM ACTUALLY

1546. FRAMED THEM AND PUT THEM ON

1547. THEIR WALL.

1548. I'VE SEEN MULTIPLE OF THEM

1549. FRAMED AND PUT ON THE WALL.

1550. MINE'S SITTING IN MY CLOSET

1551. SOMEWHERE IN A BOX.

1552. I DID THE WHOLE LOW-ORBIT ION

1553. CANNON STUFF, AND THEN I PRETTY

1554. MUCH JUST WENT ABOUT MY LIFE

1555. AFTER THAT FOR PROBABLY, LET'S

1556. SEE, I THINK IT'S SIX MONTHS.

1557. AND THEN THE FBI SHOWED UP HERE

1558. AT MY PARENTS' HOUSE, WHERE I

1559. WASN'T, LOOKING FOR ME.

1560. TWO MEN GOT OUT OF THE CAR,

1561. AND TOOK THEIR JACKETS OFF, AND

1562. LAID THEIR GUNS ON THE FRONT

1563. SEAT, AND CAME UP TO ASK US IF

1564. BRIAN WAS HOME, AND EXPLAINED

1565. THAT THEY WERE THE FBI AND THEY

1566. WERE LOOKING FOR BRIAN.

1567. AND I'VE NEVER BEEN SO SCARED.

1568. AND THEN MY PARENTS DIRECTED

1569. THEM TO WHERE I WAS LIVING, AND

1570. THEY SHOWED UP AND SAID, "I'D

1571. LIKE TO HAVE A FRIENDLY

1572. CONVERSATION WITH YOU."

1573. AND I HAD THE WORST FRIENDLY

1574. CONVERSATION OF MY LIFE.

1575. WE SAT DOWN AT MY DINING-ROOM

1576. TABLE, AND THEY JUST STARTED

1577. ASKING ME QUESTIONS.

1578. AND I'M TRYING TO FIGURE OUT

1579. WHAT THEY'RE HERE FOR 'CAUSE I

1580. HAVE NO IDEA.

1581. AND THEY EVENTUALLY STARTED

1582. ASKING ME QUESTIONS ABOUT

1583. ANONYMOUS.

1584. I WAS SCARED TO DEATH.

1585. I MEAN, MY SON IS... IS LOOKING

1586. AT FIVE YEARS IN JAIL AND A

1587. $100,000 FINE.

1588. YOU KNOW, I HAD NO IDEA THAT

1589. IT WAS ANY SORT OF — THIS BIG

1590. OF A CRIME TO DO WHAT I DID.

1591. I THOUGHT IT WAS THE KIND OF

1592. "SLAP ON A WRIST," $200-FINE

1593. TYPE CRIME.

1594. SO, I ACTUALLY TOLD THEM THAT I

1595. DID IT AT THAT POINT.

1596. THEN IT WENT FROM THERE.

1597. YEAH.

1598. AS HE EXPLAINED IT TO ME AT

1599. THE TIME, IT WAS LIKE PUSHING

1600. THE REFRESH BUTTON OVER AND OVER

1601. AND OVER AND OVER 800,000 TIMES.

1602. AND IT SEEMS LIKE SUCH A LITTLE

1603. THING.

1604. I DID THE SECOND-MOST DAMAGE

1605. IS WHAT SCIENTOLOGY SAID I DID.

1606. I SENT THE SECOND-MOST OUT OF

1607. EVERYBODY SO I GOT THE MAXIMUM

1608. FOR MY CATEGORY, WHICH WAS ONE

1609. YEAR IN PRISON AND ONE YEAR

1610. SUPERVISED RELEASE.

1611. I THINK — YOU KNOW, THE WAY I

1612. FEEL IS, FOR WHAT I DID — WAS

1613. ONE OF THE MOST, LIKE, LOPSIDED

1614. PUNISHMENTS I'VE EVER, LIKE,

1615. READ ABOUT OR HEARD OF.

1616. YEAH, I THINK IT'S RIDICULOUS,

1617. ESPECIALLY THE YEAR SUPERVISED

1618. RELEASE WHERE I CAN'T TOUCH A

1619. COMPUTER FOR A YEAR.

1620. I'M NOT SURE WHAT THAT'S

1621. SUPPOSED TO SOLVE, EXCEPT MAKE

1622. MY, LIKE, LIFE DIFFICULT.

1623. SO, THAT COMPUTER BEHIND ME,

1624. BACK THERE, I COULD GO BACK TO

1625. PRISON IF I WENT OVER AND

1626. TOUCHED IT, BECAUSE I CAN'T

1627. KNOWINGLY ASSOCIATE WITH MEMBERS

1628. OF ANONYMOUS.

1629. THEY JUST MADE A BIG DEAL ABOUT

1630. SCIENTOLOGY AS A RELIGION AND

1631. THAT THIS IS AMERICA AND YOU CAN

1632. BELIEVE IN WHATEVER YOU WANT TO

1633. BELIEVE.

1634. I'M PRETTY SURE THEY ACTUALLY

1635. COMPARED ME TO, LIKE, THE KKK

1636. AND THE NAZIS AND STUFF IN THE

1637. COURTROOM.

1638. YEAH, IT'S — IT'S A

1639. COMPLETELY DIFFERENT ISSUE.

1640. I'M VERY PROUD OF WHAT HE DID.

1641. HE STOOD UP FOR WHAT HE BELIEVED

1642. IN, BUT THAT WAS NEVER, EVER

1643. MENTIONED.

1644. I NEVER WOULD EVEN DREAM OF

1645. HURTING ANYBODY, YOU KNOW.

1646. IT'S JUST... NOT ME.

1647. PRIOR TO ANONYMOUS, CRITICS

1648. OF THE CHURCH STILL HAD TO BE

1649. VERY, VERY CAREFUL BECAUSE OF

1650. THE AGGRESSIVE LAWSUITS THAT

1651. WERE LAUNCHED AGAINST ACADEMICS,

1652. JOURNALISTS, AND OTHER CRITICS.

1653. I WOULD SAY THAT ERA IS OVER.

1654. AND ANONYMOUS MORE THAN ANY

1655. OTHER SORT OF INTERVENTION IS

1656. PROBABLY RESPONSIBLE FOR THAT

1657. CHANGE.

1658. THIS ACTUALLY CAUSED A DECENT

1659. RIFT IN ANONYMOUS.

1660. THERE WAS ONE BIG GROUP —

1661. SIGNIFICANT GROUP OF PEOPLE, WHO

1662. WOULD SAY, "THIS CHANOLOGY

1663. STUFF, IT'S CANCER, IT'S AWFUL,

1664. IT'S BAD, IT'S — IT'S JUST

1665. BRINGING ATTENTION TO US THAT WE

1666. DON'T WANT."

1667. THE TROLLING ISN'T HAPPENING.

1668. WE AREN'T GETTING OUR JOLLIES.

1669. LIKE, NOW THIS IS ALL REALLY

1670. SERIOUS AND MORAL AND SOMBER.

1671. AND, LIKE, "WELL, THAT'S NOT

1672. WHAT I SIGNED UP FOR — THAT

1673. KIND OF THING."

1674. AND THEN THERE ARE THE PEOPLE

1675. WHO WERE ON THE OTHER SIDE, WHO

1676. WERE GOING, "WELL, I ONLY SIGNED

1677. UP FOR THE SERIOUS AND SOMBER.

1678. YOU GUYS, GO AWAY.

1679. THIS IS — THIS IS," YOU KNOW.

1680. AND, YOU KNOW, THERE BECAME THIS

1681. VERY FIERCE CLASH OF IDEOLOGIES,

1682. AND IT WAS ALIEN TO US.

1683. AND THEY DECIDED — IN THEIR

1684. OWN WORDS, WHICH I WAS PRIVY TO,

1685. 'CAUSE IT WAS TOLD TO ME —

1686. "STOP RUINING OUR BAD NAME."

1687. SO, TO MAKE ANONYMOUS LOOK BAD,

1688. THEY GO OFF AND THEY POST

1689. ANIMATED GIFs — ANIMATED

1690. IMAGES — TO EPILEPSY FORUMS,

1691. THAT ARE BLACK AND WHITE, JUST

1692. STROBING REALLY QUICKLY, SO ANY

1693. OF THE EPILEPSY PEOPLE ON THESE

1694. SUPPORT FORUMS SEE IT AND THEY

1695. FALL OFF THEIR CHAIRS, YOU KNOW,

1696. IN SEIZURE.

1697. YOU START HEARING THIS TERM,

1698. "MORALFAG."

1699. IF YOU'RE NOT OUT THERE MAKING

1700. EPILEPTICS HAVE SEIZURES, THEN

1701. YOU'RE DOING IT WRONG —

1702. SO, YOU'RE A MORALFAG.

1703. WHICH IS WHAT I AM — A

1704. MORALFAG, THOSE WHO WANT TO

1705. USE ANONYMOUS AS, YOU KNOW, A

1706. TOOL FOR GOOD IN SOME SENSE

1707. RATHER THAN JUST DOING WHAT WE

1708. USED TO DO, WHICH WAS TO SCREW

1709. WITH VIDEO GAMES.

1710. ONE ANON SAID IT WELL ONCE.

1711. "THERE IS NO LEADER.

1712. THEIR OPS HAVE... MOMENTARY

1713. LEADERS, DE FACTO LEADERS."

1714. ALMOST THROUGH MERITOCRACY.

1715. THERE'S MORE RESPECTED OR MORE

1716. PERSISTENT PARTICIPANTS.

1717. SOME PEOPLE PARTICIPATE IN A

1718. SINGLE OPERATION AND ARE NEVER

1719. HEARD FROM AGAIN.

1720. IT MIGHT EVEN BE A HOUSEWIFE WHO

1721. JUST, YOU KNOW, AGREES WITH THAT

1722. POLITICAL STATEMENT OR THAT

1723. PROTEST.

1724. IF YOU HAD ASKED ME ALL

1725. THROUGHOUT 2008 AND MOST OF

1726. 2009, "IS THE POLITICS OF

1727. ANONYMOUS ALWAYS GONNA BE

1728. SUTURED AND HINGED TO THE CHURCH

1729. OF SCIENTOLOGY?" I WOULD HAVE

1730. SAID YES.

1731. AND IT BECAME UNSUTURED,

1732. UNHINGED, WHEN A DIFFERENT

1733. POLITICAL WING WAS BORN IN 2010.

1734. IT'S OUR TASK TO FIND SECRET

1735. ABUSIVE PLANS AND EXPOSE THEM

1736. WHERE THEY CAN BE OPPOSED BEFORE

1737. THEY'RE IMPLEMENTED.

1738. THE INTERESTING THING ABOUT

1739. SOMEONE LIKE ASSANGE IS THAT HE

1740. ACTUALLY ALSO SPRANG FROM, YOU

1741. KNOW, A HACKER CULTURE.

1742. IT'S A MENTALITY OF SPREADING

1743. INFORMATION.

1744. JULIAN WAS MENDAX.

1745. HE WAS THE GREATEST HACKER THAT

1746. EVER WALKED THE FACE OF THE

1747. EARTH WHEN I WAS A KID.

1748. I MEAN, THEY RUMORED HE COULD

1749. MOVE SATELLITES AROUND IN SPACE

1750. BY HACKING INTO NASA.

1751. I MEAN, YOU KNOW, MAYBE IT NEVER

1752. HAPPENED BUT, I MEAN, YOU KNOW,

1753. IT WAS A MYTH THAT KEPT YOUNG

1754. KIDS LIKE ME WANTING TO, LIKE,

1755. YOU KNOW, PLUG A COMPUTER INTO A

1756. MODEM AND SEE IF I CAN MOVE SOME

1757. SATELLITES AROUND.

1758. WikiLeaks IS AN EXTENSION OF

1759. THE HACKERS ETHOS — TRUTH WANTS

1760. TO BE FREE, AND WE WANT TO

1761. LIBERATE IT.

1762. WikiLeaks RELEASED A HUGE

1763. TROVE OF DIPLOMATIC CABLES.

1764. THERE WAS A LOT OF CONTROVERSY

1765. FROM EVERY QUARTER OF SOCIETY.

1766. THE WikiLeaks WEBSITE

1767. RELEASED NEARLY 400,000 SECRET

1768. U.S. FILES ON THE IRAQ WAR LATE

1769. TODAY.

1770. IT WAS THE LARGEST LEAK OF

1771. CLASSIFIED U.S. FILES IN

1772. HISTORY.

1773. THE DIPLOMATIC CABLES SHOW

1774. THE U.S. IS SPYING ON ITS

1775. ALLIES.

1776. LOTS OF THINGS WHICH WERE

1777. UNDERSTOOD IN PRIVATE AND MAY

1778. HAVE BEEN NOT EVEN TALKED ABOUT

1779. EXPLICITLY — SUDDENLY THEY'RE

1780. OUT THERE IN THE COLD LIGHT OF

1781. DAY, AND IT'S GONNA MAKE SOME

1782. GOVERNMENTS AND SOME INDIVIDUALS

1783. VERY UNCOMFORTABLE.

1784. THERE WAS ONE PARTICULAR

1785. MOMENT THAT REALLY SPARKED THE

1786. FIRE, AND THIS WAS WHEN PayPal,

1787. MasterCard, AND AMAZON PULLED

1788. SERVICES FOR WikiLeaks.

1789. SO, ALL OF A SUDDEN, THERE'S

1790. NO WAY TO ACTUALLY, LIKE,

1791. PROCESS DONATIONS TO WikiLeaks.

1792. AND THEN PEOPLE WENT AND FOUND,

1793. LIKE, NEO-NAZI GROUPS.

1794. VISA AND MasterCard WERE

1795. PERFECTLY FINE WITH YOU BEING

1796. ABLE TO, LIKE, YOU KNOW, PayPal,

1797. BEING ABLE TO, LIKE, MAKE

1798. DONATIONS TO THEM.

1799. BUT WikiLeaks — NO.

1800. ANONYMOUS VERY QUICKLY MOVED

1801. INTO AN ATTACK MODE.

1802. CYBER PROTESTS, SIT-INS —

1803. HOWEVER YOU WANT TO LOOK AT

1804. IT — DDoS IS A TOOL THAT IS A

1805. BIG GIANT — IT'S LIKE DRIVING A

1806. FINISH NAIL IN WITH A

1807. SLEDGEHAMMER.

1808. THE NUMBERS OF PARTICIPANTS

1809. WERE MASSIVE — MASSIVE.

1810. AND THEY MANAGE OVER THE COURSE

1811. OF A COUPLE OF DAYS TO DISABLE

1812. THE WEBSITES OF MasterCard AND

1813. PayPal.

1814. IT WAS LIKE WATCHING THE HACK

1815. MAGICIAN FINALLY GET A TRICK

1816. RIGHT, BECAUSE YOU'RE NOT

1817. EXPECTING IT AND THEN IT'S

1818. MAGNIFICENT.

1819. IT WAS BEAUTIFUL.

1820. 'CAUSE WHAT YOU HAD IS PEOPLE

1821. FINDING YOU STOOD UP FOR

1822. SOMETHING.

1823. HOW LONG HAS IT BEEN SINCE WE

1824. HAD A HUGE, REALLY RELEVANT

1825. PROTEST.

1826. I'M NOT TALKING TEA PARTY, "I

1827. WANT TO BRING MY GUNS IN

1828. PUBLIC."

1829. I'M TALKING... I'M TALKING 10,000

1830. ANGRY PEOPLE SAID, "THIS IS NOT

1831. RIGHT, AND I WANT TO DO

1832. SOMETHING ABOUT IT."

1833. SOON AFTER, WikiLeaks WAS

1834. BLOCKED IN TUNISIA.

1835. AND ANONYMOUS GOT WIND OF THAT.

1836. THEY THEN INTERVENED — AT

1837. FIRST, SOLELY FOR THE PURPOSES

1838. OF, LIKE, STOPPING THE KIND OF

1839. CENSORSHIP THAT WAS HAPPENING.

1840. AND THEY DID SOME DDoSing.

1841. AND THIS WAS A TIME PERIOD WHERE

1842. THEY WERE GETTING INVOLVED WITH

1843. WHAT I WOULD CALL

1844. "NON-INTERNETY" SOCIAL

1845. MOVEMENTS AND BUILDING LINES OF

1846. SOLIDARITY.

1847. MY NAME'S PETE FEIN.

1848. YOU CAN CALL ME AN INTERNAUT OR

1849. A HACKTIVIST.

1850. TELECOMIX IS AN AD HOC CLUSTER

1851. OF VOLUNTEER NET ACTIVISTS WHO

1852. HAVE HAVE SPENT MUCH OF LAST

1853. YEAR TRYING TO KEEP THE INTERNET

1854. RUNNING IN THE MIDDLE EAST.

1855. DURING THAT TIME, WE SAW THE

1856. TUNISIAN GOVERNMENT NOT ONLY

1857. CENSORING AND FILTERING THE

1858. INTERNET BUT ALSO DOING SOME

1859. KIND OF TECHNICAL TRICKERY TO

1860. STEAL PEOPLE'S FACEBOOK

1861. PASSWORDS AND DELETE THEIR

1862. POSTS AND SEE WHO WAS POSTING

1863. WHAT AND, YOU KNOW, FAKE

1864. POSTS — STUFF LIKE THAT.

1865. SOME TUNISIAN HACKERS CAME TO

1866. US.

1867. THEY WERE MEMBERS OF ANONYMOUS,

1868. AND I DIDN'T EVEN KNOW WE HAD

1869. MEMBERS OF ANONYMOUS IN TUNISIA,

1870. SO IT WAS A SHOCK TO ME.

1871. AND THEY HAD SOME — THEY HAD

1872. THE KEYS TO SOME PARTS OF THE

1873. KINGDOM, SO TO SPEAK, WHEN IT

1874. CAME TO THE DICTATOR IN TUNISIA.

1875. WE WENT IN ON BEHALF OF THOSE

1876. TUNISIAN ANONS, AND WE HELPED

1877. THEM GET THAT AND EXTRACT IT,

1878. AND THEN IT WENT TO WikiLeaks.

1879. THE TUNISIANS OVERTHREW

1880. BEN ALI, WHO WAS KIND OF A

1881. REPRESSIVE DICTATOR.

1882. A REVOLUTION THAT WAS

1883. FACILITATED BY — BY THE

1884. INTERNET, BY FACEBOOK, AND BY

1885. TWITTER.

1886. NOT CAUSED BY IT.

1887. I MEAN, 50 YEARS OF DICTATORSHIP

1888. HAS CAUSED THE ARAB SPRING, BUT

1889. THE INTERNET HAS CERTAINLY BEEN

1890. HELPING.

1891. THE SAME GROUP OF HACKERS

1892. THAT TARGET ANTI-WikiLeaks SITES

1893. HAVE NOW TURNED THEIR ATTENTION

1894. TO EGYPT.

1895. IN KIND OF THE LEAD-UP TO THE

1896. EGYPTIAN REVOLUTION, WE WOULD

1897. TWEET ON PEOPLE'S BEHALF.

1898. WE'D GET PEOPLE FROM EGYPT WHO

1899. WERE UNABLE TO ACCESS TWITTER ON

1900. THEIR OWN, ON OUR R.C. NETWORK,

1901. AND WE WOULD TAKE REPORTS FROM

1902. THEM AND TWEET THEM OUT USING —

1903. USING OUR ACCOUNT TO KIND OF

1904. HELP THEM GET THE WORD OUT ABOUT

1905. WHAT THEY WERE EXPERIENCING.

1906. SOME OF THIS SHIT IS

1907. PERSONAL, AND ONE OF THE THINGS

1908. ABOUT THE MOVEMENT AS A WHOLE

1909. WHEN EGYPT ROLLED AROUND IS THAT

1910. EGYPT BROKE US EMOTIONALLY.

1911. WATCHING IN REAL-TIME WITH LIVE

1912. FEEDS THAT WE HELPED SET UP,

1913. EGYPTIANS GETTING MASSACRED WITH

1914. MACHINE GUNS.

1915. IT WAS DIFFERENT, AND I HAVE

1916. NEVER IN CYBER-ACTIVISM WEPT

1917. BEFORE.

1918. IT'S NEVER BOTHERED ME LIKE

1919. THAT.

1920. IT'S NEVER BEEN ABLE TO TOUCH

1921. ME THE WAY EGYPT TOUCHED ME.

1922. IT WAS FUCKED UP THAT WE WERE

1923. WATCHING PEOPLE KILLED FOR NO

1924. REASON OTHER THAN LEAVING THEIR

1925. HOMES, THAT THESE PEOPLE HAD

1926. EVERY RIGHT TO FREEDOM, THAT

1927. THEY HAD EVERY RIGHT TO CHOOSE

1928. THEIR GOVERNMENT.

1929. AND THEN JANUARY 27th,

1930. JANUARY 28th ROLLS AROUND AND

1931. THE EGYPTIAN GOVERNMENT STARTS

1932. SHUTTING DOWN THE INTERNET.

1933. I MEAN, JUST — FOR THE WHOLE

1934. COUNTRY, FOR THE WHOLE COUNTRY.

1935. THERE'S THIS FANTASTIC TRAFFIC

1936. GRAPH THAT YOU CAN SEE THE

1937. TRAFFIC COMING OUT EGYPT, AND IT

1938. LOOKS LIKE — YOU KNOW, LIKE

1939. THIS.

1940. JUST TOTALLY STOPS.

1941. AND WE WERE JUST SHOCKED.

1942. WE WERE JUST LIKE, "WHAT THE

1943. FUCK — LIKE, WHAT THE FUCK?"

1944. TO THINK THAT A COUNTRY WOULD

1945. COMPLETELY CUT ITSELF OFF AS

1946. MUCH AS IT WAS ABLE TO FROM THE

1947. OUTSIDE WORLD WAS PRETTY

1948. UNTHINKABLE.

1949. YOU KNOW, WE KNOW — WE KNOW BAD

1950. THINGS GO ON IN THE DARK PLACES.

1951. I PUT MYSELF IN THEIR PLACE,

1952. AND I FOUND MYSELF IN A DESERT

1953. OF NOTHINGNESS BECAUSE HE JUST

1954. WIPED OUT EVERYTHING THAT MY

1955. WORLD INCORPORATED.

1956. THAT JUST SHOWED ME AND

1957. EVERYBODY ELSE THAT THIS SAME

1958. THING CAN HAPPEN AT ANYTIME,

1959. ANYWHERE, IN ANY GOVERNMENT.

1960. ANONYMOUS AND THE PEOPLE ON

1961. THE INTERNET STOOD UP AND SAID,

1962. "GO FUCK YOURSELF."

1963. YOU WANT TO SHUT DOWN THEIR

1964. INTERNET — FINE.

1965. THE PEOPLE ON THE INTERNET WILL

1966. SHOW THEM HOW TO TURN IT BACK

1967. ON.

1968. IN EGYPT, THE CARE PACKAGE WE

1969. PUT TOGETHER INCLUDED SOME KIND

1970. OF RCom INFORMATION, THE HAM

1971. RADIO AND DIAL MODEM DETAILS.

1972. IN TOTAL, WE HELPED COORDINATE

1973. AND RUN ABOUT 500 DIAL-UP MODEM

1974. LINES.

1975. WE ALSO GOOGLED TREATMENTS FOR

1976. TEAR GAS AND OTHER KIND OF BASIC

1977. MEDICAL TREATMENT AND FOUND

1978. FOLKS WHO COULD TRANSLATE THAT

1979. INTO ARABIC — SORT OF PUT THIS

1980. TOGETHER IN A NICE ONE-PAGE PDF

1981. AND FAX, AND OFF IT GOES.

1982. I THINK THE MOST EFFECTIVE

1983. THING WAS SHUTTING DOWN

1984. GOVERNMENT WEBSITES.

1985. WE'RE TAKING YOUR DICTATOR'S

1986. WEB PAGES DOWN.

1987. PRESIDENT HOSNI MUBARAK HAS

1988. DECIDED TO STEP DOWN FROM THE

1989. OFFICE OF PRESIDENT OF THE

1990. REPUBLIC.

1991. WE HAD EGYPTIANS COME THANK

1992. US AS WE'RE DOING THIS STUFF,

1993. AND I SAID — I'M LIKE, "LOOK,

1994. YOU GUYS JUST GET OUR BACK IF

1995. STUFF GOES DOWN HERE."

1996. THE FBI IS NOW INVESTIGATING

1997. ANONYMOUS — A LOOSE COLLECTION

1998. OF ROGUE, TECH-SAVVY HACKERS

1999. CREDITED WITH BRINGING DOWN THE

2000. WEBSITES OF MasterCard AND VISA

2001. LAST DECEMBER.

2002. SO, OVER 40 RAIDS BACK THEN,

2003. THEY SEIZE COMPUTERS,

2004. CELLPHONES, AND THOSE KINDS OF

2005. TECHNICAL APPARATUS, SOMETIMES

2006. INCLUDING, IN THE CASE OF THE

2007. 19-YEAR-OLD GIRL LIVING WITH HER

2008. FAMILY, THEY TOOK HER PARENTS'

2009. STUFF, TOO.

2010. THERE'S ALWAYS BEEN A SORT OF

2011. CAT-AND-MOUSE DYNAMIC, NOT JUST

2012. IN RELATION TO THE FEDS BUT ALSO

2013. TO THESE SORT OF GROUPS THAT

2014. HAVE APPOINTED THEMSELVES AS

2015. GUARDIANS OF THE REPUBLIC.

2016. SUDDENLY ON FEBRUARY 5th,

2017. A FINANCIAL TIMES ARTICLE COMES

2018. OUT THAT WE ALL SEE.

2019. IT'S QUOTING THIS GUY NAMED

2020. AARON BARR, WHO'S THE C.E.O. OF

2021. HBGary FEDERAL, WHICH IS AN

2022. INTELLIGENCE CONTRACTOR, AND

2023. AARON BARR IS TELLING THIS

2024. FINANCIAL TIMES JOURNALIST

2025. JOSEPH MENN THAT HE'S BEEN

2026. SECRETLY MONITORING THE AnonOps

2027. SERVER, WHERE ALL THIS IS GOING

2028. ON, AND HAS DONE SO FOR SEVERAL

2029. WEEKS, AND USING HIS OWN CUSTOM

2030. BRAND OF INFORMATION-OPERATIONS

2031. TECHNIQUES HAS MANAGED TO

2032. IDENTIFY THE ALLEGED LEADERSHIP

2033. OF ANONYMOUS, INCLUDING 25

2034. "LIEUTENANTS" OF SOME SORT.

2035. WE HAVE TO SEE THIS DOCUMENT.

2036. EVERYONE WANTS TO KNOW.

2037. WE DON'T NEED TO DESTROY HIM.

2038. WE DON'T NEED TO DESTROY HIS

2039. COMPANY.

2040. WE JUST NEED TO SEE THE

2041. DOCUMENT, AND WE'LL DECIDED WHAT

2042. COMES NEXT AFTER LOOKING AT THE

2043. DOCUMENT.

2044. SO, THEY GET IT.

2045. IT WAS UNBELIEVABLY EASY TO GET

2046. INTO THAT NETWORK.

2047. AND MY NAME WAS ON THERE —

2048. AS A SCREEN NAME.

2049. AND GREGG HOUSH WAS LISTED THERE

2050. BY HIS SCREEN NAME.

2051. THE FACT OF THE MATTER IS WHAT

2052. HE TOLD FINANCIAL TIMES WAS —

2053. EVERYTHING HE TOLD THEM WAS

2054. DEMONSTRATIVELY UNTRUE AND VERY

2055. MUCH HILARIOUSLY SO.

2056. HE HAD TO BE SHUT UP.

2057. IT HAD TO BE PROVEN TO THE WORLD

2058. THAT THIS GUY WAS A RETARD AND

2059. THAT HIS INFORMATION WAS IN NO

2060. WAY VALID.

2061. AND TO PUT THAT IN HACKER

2062. TERMS, ANONYMOUS IS A HORNET'S

2063. NEST AND BARR SAID, "I'M GONNA

2064. STICK MY PENIS IN THAT THING."

2065. IN A MERE 24 HOURS, HE WAS

2066. OWNED, PWNED COMPLETELY BY A

2067. SMALL GROUP OF PARTICIPANTS WHO

2068. BASICALLY WENT ON A HACKING

2069. RAMPAGE.

2070. FASTER THAN YOU CAN SAY, "GET

2071. THESE HORNETS OFF MY PENIS,"

2072. ANONYMOUS TOOK DOWN BARR'S

2073. WEBSITE, STOLE HIS E-MAIL,

2074. DELETED THE COMPANY'S BACKUP

2075. DATA, TRASHED HIS TWITTER

2076. ACCOUNT, AND REMOTELY WIPED HIS

2077. iPad.

2078. AND HE HAD JUST REACHED THE

2079. "HAM 'EM HIGH" LEVEL ON

2080. "ANGRY BIRDS."

2081. THE HBGary HACK BROUGHT ABOUT

2082. 70,000 E-MAILS.

2083. PROBABLY THE MOST IMPORTANT

2084. ONES HAD TO DO WITH A PROPOSAL

2085. THAT HBGary HAD ALREADY

2086. FORMULATED.

2087. IT WAS PACKAGED UP AS A NICE

2088. PowerPoint PRESENTATION.

2089. KIND OF ACT AS PRIVATIZED AGENT

2090. PROVOCATEURS WHERE THEY WERE

2091. GONNA DISCREDIT WikiLeaks.

2092. HBGary WAS PROPOSING

2093. SUBMITTING FAKE DOCUMENTS TO

2094. WikiLeaks AND THEN, WHEN

2095. DISCOVERED AS FAKE, THE ERROR

2096. COULD BE CALLED OUT AND IT WOULD

2097. DISCREDIT WikiLeaks.

2098. SO, THERE'S A LOT OF, LIKE,

2099. SPECIFICS I CAN'T TALK ABOUT, SO

2100. LET ME TRY TO ANSWER THAT,

2101. THOUGH, IN A GENERAL SENSE.

2102. WELL, FIRST OF ALL, I'M — IT'S

2103. PROBABLY NO SURPRISE TO ANYBODY

2104. I'M NOT A BIG FAN OF WikiLeaks.

2105. I THINK THAT THE BROAD PURPOSE

2106. OF TRYING TO GET AS MUCH

2107. INFORMATION — PROPRIETARY OR

2108. CLASSIFIED INFORMATION FOR THE

2109. GOVERNMENT — EXPOSE THAT, IS AN

2110. EXTREMELY DESTRUCTIVE AND

2111. DANGEROUS PURPOSE.

2112. THE PROPOSALS INVOLVED

2113. CONDUCTING INFORMATION WAR ON

2114. WikiLeaks AND ITS SUPPORTERS,

2115. CREATING DISSENSION WITHIN

2116. WikiLeaks, DDoS ATTACKS.

2117. YOU ALSO WANTED TO LAUNCH

2118. CYBER ATTACKS ON WikiLeaks

2119. INFRASTRUCTURE TO GET

2120. INFORMATION ON DOCUMENT

2121. SUBMITTERS.

2122. ONE THING, I GUESS, I WANT TO

2123. MAKE SURE IS CLEAR IS...

2124. NONE OF THOSE ACTIVITIES HAD

2125. ACTUALLY OCCURRED.

2126. YOU KNOW, THERE'S — IN

2127. BUSINESS, THERE'S... YOU KNOW,

2128. WHEN YOU START PROPOSING OR

2129. THINKING ABOUT AN IDEA, THERE'S

2130. A BRAINSTORMING PHASE.

2131. AND SOMEBODY SAYS, "WELL, WHAT

2132. IF, YOU KNOW — WHAT COULD WE

2133. DO?

2134. WHAT'S THEORETICALLY POSSIBLE?"

2135. WELL, STILL, THIS WAS AN

2136. IDEA.

2137. THIS WAS PROPOSED.

2138. THIS WAS SOMETHING THAT YOU

2139. THOUGHT ABOUT.

2140. RIGHT.

2141. THEY ALSO WANTED TO GO ON A

2142. CAMPAIGN KIND OF TARGETING

2143. GLENN GREENWALD, WHO'S A

2144. REPORTER FOR SALON, WHO'S AN

2145. OUTSPOKEN KIND OF CRITIC OF THE

2146. GOVERNMENT AND SUPPORTER OF

2147. WikiLeaks.

2148. IT SEEMS LIKE YOU'RE TRYING

2149. TO ATTACK A JOURNALIST HERE.

2150. YEAH, AND I, YOU KNOW — I

2151. DON'T WANT TO TALK TOO MUCH MORE

2152. ABOUT GLENN GREENWALD, BUT OTHER

2153. THAN, YOU KNOW, WHAT I

2154. PREVIOUSLY SAID IS, YOU KNOW —

2155. THERE WAS NEVER AN INTENT TO

2156. ATTACK... JOURNALISTS.

2157. NOT ON MY PART.

2158. YOU KNOW... I GUESS I SHOULD

2159. SAY — I SHOULD GENERALIZE THAT

2160. AND TO SAY THAT, YOU KNOW, I

2161. WOULD NEVER JUST OUTWARDLY

2162. ATTACK A JOURNALIST OTHER THAN

2163. IF I FELT THAT THERE WAS A

2164. JOURNALIST, IN MY MIND, THAT WAS

2165. ACTING UNETHICALLY.

2166. THAT'S A FAIR GAME FOR HAVING A

2167. PUBLIC DISCUSSION ABOUT IT.

2168. THEY WERE WALKING A VERY FINE

2169. ETHICAL LINE AT POINTS, AND, IN

2170. MANY CASES, THE MASS OPINION IS,

2171. "NO, THEY STEPPED WELL PAST IT."

2172. I WILL NOT SUPPORT BROAD

2173. THEFT OF — OF INFORMATION

2174. RELEASED TO THE PUBLIC 'CAUSE

2175. THAT'S NOTHING BUT DESTRUCTIVE.

2176. IF SOMEBODY HAS INFORMATION

2177. THAT'S BEEN STOLEN FROM THEM,

2178. AND WHETHER OR NOT WikiLeaks

2179. ENCOURAGED THE THEFT OF THAT OR

2180. WHETHER OR NOT IT WAS JUST PUT

2181. IN THEIR LAP — STILL,

2182. THEY'RE — THEY'RE THREATENING

2183. TO RELEASE THE INFORMATION THAT

2184. WAS THE PRIVATE PROPERTY OF

2185. ANOTHER ORGANIZATION.

2186. SO, YOUR CHOICES ARE TO JUST

2187. ALLOW THAT TO HAPPEN OR TO TRY

2188. TO STOP IT.

2189. HOW OFFENSIVE IS TOO OFFENSIVE?

2190. YOU KNOW, WE'VE CERTAINLY SEEN A

2191. LOT OF STRATEGY COMING OUT OF

2192. GOVERNMENTS ACROSS THE WORLD

2193. NOW, SAYING, YOU KNOW —

2194. PUBLICLY ADMITTING THAT THEY

2195. NEED TO BECOME — THEY NEED TO

2196. DEVELOP BETTER OFFENSIVE

2197. STRATEGIES IN CYBER SECURITY,

2198. BECAUSE DEFENSE AS A WHOLE ISN'T

2199. ENOUGH.

2200. IT NEVER IS ENOUGH.

2201. IN THE COURT OF PUBLIC

2202. OPINION THAT TOOK HBGary QUICKLY

2203. FROM BEING A PERCEIVED VICTIM TO

2204. BEING A PERCEIVED VILLAIN

2205. THEMSELVES.

2206. IT WAS BECOMING HARDER AND

2207. HARDER TO DISTINGUISH THE GOOD

2208. GUYS FROM THE BAD GUYS.

2209. HBGary CHANGED ANONYMOUS...

2210. AS TREMENDOUSLY AS OPTUNISIA

2211. DID.

2212. AND WITHIN ESSENTIALLY A MONTH

2213. OF EACH OTHER, THESE TWO EVENTS

2214. WERE TOTALLY FORMATIVE FOR THE

2215. COLLECTIVE.

2216. OPTUNISIA WAS WHERE IT GOT ITS

2217. MORAL COMPASS AND ITS SENSE THAT

2218. IT COULD AFFECT THE WORLD.

2219. HBGary IS WHERE IT GOT ITS

2220. SWAGGER.

2221. GEORGE HOTZ MADE IT POSSIBLE

2222. FOR PlayStation TO RUN

2223. HOMEBREWED SOFTWARE, WHICH ALSO

2224. LETS YOU RUN PIRATED SOFTWARE.

2225. YO! IT'S G.O. HOT.

2226. AND FOR THOSE THAT DON'T KNOW,

2227. I'M GETTING SUED BY SONY.

2228. SO, SONY WENT AFTER HIM,

2229. CLAIMING IT WAS A DMCA

2230. VIOLATION.

2231. THEY JUST KIND OF MASS-LAWYER

2232. NASTYGRAMMED HIM AND SHUT HIM

2233. DOWN AND DID SUE HIM.

2234. HE SETTLED.

2235. AND THE RESPONSE TO THAT WAS

2236. IMMEDIATE AND BRUTAL.

2237. SONY HAS CONFIRMED THAT

2238. HACKERS BROKE INTO ITS

2239. PlayStation NETWORK, EXPOSING

2240. THE PERSONAL INFORMATION OF UP

2241. TO 77 MILLION USERS WORLDWIDE.

2242. OVER THE NEXT SIX TO EIGHT

2243. MONTHS, THEY WERE HACKED OVER 20

2244. TIMES.

2245. THERE'S NO EVIDENCE THAT

2246. ANONYMOUS WAS ANYWHERE NEAR THE

2247. MAJORITY OF THE HACKS.

2248. ONE OF THE REASONS WHY IT

2249. CAPTURED SO MUCH OF THE MEDIA

2250. IMAGINATION WHEN ANONYMOUS DID

2251. IT, AS OPPOSED TO WHEN OTHER

2252. PEOPLE DID IT, IS BECAUSE THEY

2253. WERE LOUD AND BOMBASTIC, AND

2254. THEY HAD A GREAT IMAGE YOU COULD

2255. THROW ON THE TOP OF YOUR

2256. ARTICLE, AND THEY MADE

2257. STATEMENTS THAT, WHEN YOU'RE

2258. CONSTRUCTING A STORY, YOU JUST

2259. CAN'T RESIST.

2260. AND THEN, KIND OF SEEMINGLY

2261. OUT OF THE BLUE, THERE WAS

2262. SOMETHING BY THE NAME LulzSec

2263. THAT SAILED INTO THE SEAS.

2264. LulzSec — IT'S A SORT OF A

2265. GROUP, MOSTLY FROM ANONYMOUS,

2266. WHO — LARGE PART OF THE SAME

2267. PEOPLE WHO HACKED HBGary.

2268. AND THEY DECIDED TO FORM THIS

2269. LITTLE GROUP AND CARRY ON

2270. OPERATIONS OUTSIDE THE PURVIEW

2271. OF ANONYMOUS FOR AWHILE.

2272. LulzSec TRIED TO SAY IT

2273. WASN'T ANONYMOUS FOR AWHILE.

2274. THEY TRIED TO DIVIDE ITSELF OFF.

2275. I DON'T THINK ANYONE BOUGHT IT

2276. FOR A MINUTE.

2277. THERE WAS NO WAY THAT LulzSec

2278. WAS NOT ANONYMOUS, BUT THE

2279. MAJORITY OF TIME, THE MAJORITY

2280. OF ANONS WERE NOT DOING ANYTHING

2281. PARTICULARLY ILLEGAL.

2282. WHEN THEY ARE, A HUGE NUMBER OF

2283. THEM TRY TO DO THAT IN A VERY

2284. SPECIFIC POLITICAL CONTEXT.

2285. FOR THOSE PEOPLE, WHAT LulzSec

2286. WAS DOING — THEY WERE FUNNY BUT

2287. THEY WERE ATTACKING RANDOM

2288. TARGETS.

2289. THEY WERE BREAKING THE

2290. QUASI-RULES BY ATTACKING MEDIA.

2291. THERE WAS A LOT OF

2292. IN-FIGHTING ABOUT IT BECAUSE

2293. THEIR WAY, YOU KNOW, WASN'T

2294. REALLY OUR WAY.

2295. WE WILL NOT ATTACK THE MEDIA.

2296. PBS's "FRONTLINE" RUNS A

2297. DOCUMENTARY MAINLY FOCUSED ON

2298. BRADLEY MANNING, THE ALLEGED

2299. LEAKER TO WikiLeaks, AND A LOT

2300. OF BRADLEY MANNING SUPPORTERS

2301. DIDN'T LIKE IT.

2302. THEY HACKED THE WEBSITE,

2303. PUTTING A STORY THAT 2PAC AND

2304. BIGGIE HAD KIND OF ESCAPED THE

2305. WORLD OF CELEBRITY, FAME, AND

2306. ATTENTION AND RETIRED QUIETLY

2307. AND DISCREETLY IN NEW ZEALAND.

2308. LulzSec, WHEN THEY ATTACKED

2309. PBS, YOU KNOW, THAT GAVE ME THE

2310. CREEPS, YOU KNOW.

2311. AS A JOURNALIST, I'M NOT TOO

2312. THRILLED WITH THE IDEA OF

2313. SOMEONE JUDGING THAT, "WE DON'T

2314. LIKE YOU TO WRITE THAT.

2315. WE DON'T LIKE YOUR REPORTING, SO

2316. WE'RE GONNA SHUT DOWN YOUR

2317. WEBSITE."

2318. I'M UNCOMFORTABLE WITH THAT.

2319. IT COULD BE ME, AND I COULD BE

2320. WRITING SOMETHING ABOUT A GROUP

2321. THAT THEY DIDN'T LIKE.

2322. AND I'M HAPPY TO SIT AND TALK

2323. WITH THEM ABOUT IT, BUT, YOU

2324. KNOW, DON'T SHUT MY WEBSITE

2325. DOWN.

2326. HACKTIVISM STARTED TO

2327. BECOME... SORT OF... I WOULD SAY

2328. ALMOST MORE NASTY, USING, YOU

2329. KNOW, SORT OF MORE

2330. NO-HOLDS-BARRED KIND OF

2331. ATTACKS — SORT OF MORE VICIOUS

2332. ATTACKS.

2333. LulzSec ADDS THIS DIMENSION

2334. OF BOMBASTIC LAWBREAKING TO

2335. ANONYMOUS.

2336. FOR THE PEOPLE WHO ARE FOCUSED

2337. ON THINGS LIKE THE FREEDOMOPS,

2338. WHO WANT ANONYMOUS TO BE A WAY

2339. OF STANDING UP TO THE POWERS

2340. THAT BE, THIS IS DILUTING AND

2341. POSSIBLY COUNTERPRODUCTIVE TO

2342. THEIR PROJECT IN ANONYMOUS.

2343. YOU CAN TRY TO MAKE A CASE

2344. FOR CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE AND FOR,

2345. YOU MIGHT CALL IT, CROWD-SOURCED

2346. INVESTIGATIONS USING

2347. SOMETIMES ILLEGAL MEANS.

2348. IT'S HARD TO KEEP MAKING THAT

2349. CASE, IT'S HARD TO MAINTAIN THAT

2350. CASE WHEN YOU HAVE THESE PEOPLE

2351. FROM THE MOVEMENT...

2352. FUCKING WITH PEOPLE, YOU KNOW,

2353. JUST FUCKING WITH PEOPLE.

2354. THEY SORT OF SAW THEMSELVES

2355. AS GOING OUT THERE AND BREAKING

2356. INTO, LIKE, ANYTHING,

2357. EVERYTHING — GOVERNMENT,

2358. CORPORATIONS, POLICE

2359. DEPARTMENTS — LARGELY FOR THE

2360. SAME REASON THAT ANONYMOUS

2361. WOULD.

2362. THEY WENT AFTER ARIZONA FOR

2363. IMMIGRATION POLICY.

2364. 50-DAY RUN CAUSING MAYHEM,

2365. HAVOC — AND THEN ENDED IT.

2366. THE COMPUTER HACKING GROUP

2367. LulzSecurity HAS ANNOUNCED IT'S

2368. DISBANDING, SAYING IT HAD

2369. ACHIEVED ITS MISSION TO DISRUPT

2370. GOVERNMENT AND CORPORATE

2371. ORGANIZATIONS FOR FUN.

2372. I CALL THIS WHOLE THING THE

2373. RISE OF THE CHAOTIC ACTOR.

2374. AND CHAOTIC COULD BE CHAOTIC

2375. GOOD, NEUTRAL, OR EVIL.

2376. AND IF YOU GO BACK TO THE OLD

2377. "DUNGEONS & DRAGONS" CHARTS —

2378. AND SOME PEOPLE SEE IT ON OPS

2379. INITIALLY AND WILL STICK WITH

2380. ANONYMOUS AS CHAOTIC GOOD.

2381. THEY SAW OPERATION PAYBACK OR

2382. THEY SAW ATTACKING SCIENTOLOGY,

2383. AND THEY SAY, "THAT'S GOOD.

2384. IT'S LIKE ROBIN HOOD, RIGHT?"

2385. CHAOTIC GOOD — OUTSIDE THE

2386. SYSTEM BUT DOING SOMETHING GOOD.

2387. OTHER PEOPLE SAW ANON AS CHAOTIC

2388. EVIL LIKE THE JOKER.

2389. THEY JUST WANT TO SEE THE WORLD

2390. BURN AND ARE DOING POTENTIALLY

2391. IRREPARABLE DAMAGE.

2392. AND THE TRUTH IS, YES, IT'S THE

2393. ENTIRE COLUMN OF CHAOTIC.

2394. I'M ACTUALLY A LITTLE LESS

2395. CONCERNED ABOUT SOME OF THE

2396. THINGS LulzSec HAS DONE AND MORE

2397. CONCERNED ABOUT THE NEXT

2398. GENERATION OF LulzSec, THE NEXT

2399. TURN OF THE CRANK OF "WHO TAKES

2400. IT FURTHER OR IS MORE

2401. AGGRESSIVE?"

2402. WHOEVER FIGHTS MONSTERS, YOU

2403. KNOW, SHOULD SEE TO IT THAT THEY

2404. DON'T THEMSELVES BECOME ONE.

2405. SABU WAS PROBABLY THE MOST

2406. FAMOUS ANON WHO MANAGED TO KIND

2407. OF REMAIN FAMOUS FOR AWHILE.

2408. SOMEBODY WHO GETS FAMOUS IN ANON

2409. GENERALLY GETS PUNISHED VERY

2410. HARSHLY BY ANONYMOUS.

2411. BUT SABU MANAGED TO AVOID THAT A

2412. FEW WAYS.

2413. I MEAN, HE WAS A CONTROVERSIAL

2414. FIGURE — INCREDIBLY

2415. CONTROVERSIAL FIGURE — INSIDE

2416. OF ANONYMOUS.

2417. HE WAS BOMBASTIC.

2418. HE WAS THUGGISH.

2419. BUT HE WAS ALSO VERY GOOD AT

2420. MENTORING AND ENCOURAGING PEOPLE

2421. AND GIVING THEM PERMISSION TO

2422. TRY THINGS.

2423. AND THAT WAS, I THINK, ONE OF

2424. THE MOST PIVOTAL THINGS ABOUT

2425. SABU'S ROLE.

2426. AND IT ALSO SPEAKS TO THE

2427. ABSOLUTELY SOUL-CRUSHING LEVEL

2428. OF BETRAYAL... WHEN IT WAS

2429. REVEALED THAT SABU WAS WORKING

2430. FOR THE FBI.

2431. THERE ARE STILL PEOPLE WHO

2432. CANNOT LET GO OF THE IDEA THAT

2433. HE WAS SOMEHOW ON THEIR SIDE,

2434. THAT SOMEHOW HE HAD TO HAVE BEEN

2435. WORKING AGAINST THE FBI TO HELP

2436. THEM — NO MATTER HOW MUCH IS

2437. REVEALED.

2438. BUT HE HAD BETRAYED THE

2439. COLLECTIVE.

2440. IT DEVASTATED EVERYONE THAT HE

2441. HAD TOUCHED.

2442. HUGH DAVIES.

2443. I'M AN INDEPENDENT BARRISTER.

2444. AMONGST THE CASES I'M WORKING ON

2445. AT THE MOMENT ARE THE LulzSec

2446. BASE PROSECUTION.

2447. I CAN'T COMMENT ON SABU, BUT

2448. WITH CYBER CRIMINALS, WHATEVER

2449. THEIR MOTIVATION, IT MAY NOT BE

2450. PERSONAL PROFIT, BUT IT IS A

2451. VERY STRONG, SOMETIMES

2452. DESTRUCTIVE MOTIVE SIMPLY FOR

2453. THOSE WITH WHOM THEY DISAGREE.

2454. IN CRIMINAL TERMS, IT'S

2455. VANDALISM.

2456. ONE HAS TO BE EXTREMELY CAREFUL

2457. THAT ONE PERSON'S EXERCISE OF

2458. FREEDOM OF SPEECH IS NOT AT THE

2459. EXPENSE OF SOME OTHER QUITE

2460. LEGITIMATE ORGANIZATION'S EQUAL

2461. RIGHT TO HAVE A LAWFUL WEBSITE

2462. OPERATING, AVAILABLE TO THE

2463. PUBLIC IN A DEMOCRATIC SOCIETY.

2464. AND SIMPLY TAKING OUT LAWFUL

2465. WEBSITES 'CAUSE YOU DISAGREE

2466. WITH THEM IS AN EROSION OF

2467. FREEDOM OF SPEECH RATHER THAN

2468. EXTENDING IT.

2469. REALLY, AS POWERFUL AS THEY

2470. SEEM TO BE, LulzSec AND

2471. ANONYMOUS ARE REALLY SMALL

2472. POTATOES COMPARED TO THE BIGGER

2473. OPERATIONS THAT ARE GOING ON

2474. THAT WE DON'T HEAR ABOUT, MAYBE

2475. OPERATIONS FUNDED BY

2476. GOVERNMENTS.

2477. THE CRIMINAL HACKERS — THIS

2478. IS NOT SOME LONE IDIOT, YOU

2479. KNOW, HUNKERED DOWN LIKE

2480. BEAVIS OR BUTT-HEAD, CACKLING AT

2481. MIDNIGHT OVER HIS COMPUTER.

2482. THERE ARE A FEW OF THOSE BUT

2483. IT'S ORGANIZED.

2484. THERE ARE AD HOC CONTRACT

2485. WORKERS.

2486. IT COMES OUT OF RUSSIA, COMES

2487. OUT OF ROMANIA, COMES OUT OF

2488. IRAN — COMES OUT OF WHEREVER.

2489. BUT THEY WORK ON BEHALF OF THE

2490. USUAL CRIMINAL ENTERPRISES

2491. THE COMPUTER-SECURITY

2492. INDUSTRY HAS JUST BEEN GROWING

2493. AND GROWING AND GROWING OVER THE

2494. LAST, YOU KNOW, 10, 15 YEARS.

2495. THERE'S $10 BILLION COMPANIES IN

2496. THE COMPUTER-SECURITY INDUSTRY.

2497. I DON'T KNOW WHAT THE TOTAL

2498. MARKET CAP IS, BUT IT'S

2499. CERTAINLY IN THE BILLIONS OF

2500. DOLLARS.

2501. BLACK HAT, WHEN I FIRST STARTED

2502. COMING, LIKE 15 YEARS AGO, THERE

2503. WAS, LIKE, 500 PEOPLE.

2504. AND THERE'S 8,500 PEOPLE TODAY.

2505. SO, EVERY YEAR, MORE AND MORE

2506. PEOPLE COME TO LEARN ABOUT WHAT

2507. ARE THE ATTACKS.

2508. COMPANIES COME TO, YOU KNOW,

2509. SELL NEW PRODUCTS.

2510. AND THE GOVERNMENT IS COMING,

2511. SAYING, "WE WANT TO RECRUIT

2512. YOU TO COME BE OUR NEW CYBER

2513. WARRIORS."

2514. THE KIND OF THING THAT DRIVES

2515. PEOPLE TO SOMETHING LIKE

2516. ANONYMOUS IS THAT SENSE THAT

2517. THEIR GOVERNMENT IS GOING TO

2518. WATCH THEM EVERY MOMENT OF THE

2519. DAY AND, IN AMERICA, OUR

2520. GOVERNMENT IS KIND OF WATCHING

2521. US ALL THE TIME.

2522. LIKE, WE NOW KNOW THAT WITH THE

2523. WARRANTLESS WIRETAPPING.

2524. YOU KNOW, WE LIVE UNDER CONSTANT

2525. CCTVs.

2526. WE HAVE THAT SENSE THAT NOT ONLY

2527. ARE WE BEING TRACKED, BUT IT'S

2528. ABOUT TO GET A LOT WORSE.

2529. THE NSA HAS EMBRACED DOMESTIC

2530. SPYING.

2531. THEY'RE BUILDING A GIANT

2532. SPY CENTER IN UTAH.

2533. AND THE ONLY THING — THE ONLY

2534. THING — THAT EVEN GIVES THEM

2535. PAUSE IS ENCRYPTION.

2536. ANONYMOUS GIVES PEOPLE A WAY TO

2537. EXIST OUTSIDE OF THIS SYSTEM.

2538. THERE'S A CERTAIN ONLINE

2539. CULTURE THAT BELIEVES IN CERTAIN

2540. VALUES LIKE FREEDOM OF

2541. EXPRESSION.

2542. THEY'RE AGAINST CORRUPTION.

2543. THEY'RE AGAINST GOVERNMENTS

2544. CONTROLLING THEIR CITIZENS.

2545. AND WHEN THEY SEE THOSE VALUES

2546. HARMED IN SOME WAY BY SOME

2547. ORGANIZATION, THE HACKTIVISTS

2548. STRIKE BACK.

2549. 16 PEOPLE WERE ARRESTED

2550. TODAY.

2551. DOZENS OF FBI AGENTS TARGETED

2552. ALLEGED MEMBERS OF A LOOSE-KNIT

2553. HACKING GROUP.

2554. ARMED WITH SEARCH WARRANTS,

2555. AGENTS HIT SIX HOMES IN

2556. NEW YORK, ALONG WITH LOCATIONS

2557. ACROSS THE COUNTRY.

2558. THE PEOPLE ARRESTED YESTERDAY

2559. WERE SUSPECTED OF ATTACKING

2560. PayPal's WEBSITE AFTER THE

2561. COMPANY SHUT OFF PAYMENTS TO

2562. WikiLeaks.

2563. DEFENDERS OF THE HACKERS SAY

2564. THEY'RE MERELY ENGAGED IN CIVIL

2565. PROTEST, BUT FBI OFFICIALS WORRY

2566. THE DISRUPTIVE CYBER ATTACKS

2567. COULD MOVE IN A MORE DANGEROUS

2568. DIRECTION.

2569. SO, THE FBI SHOWS UP.

2570. IT'S 6:00 IN THE MORNING, AND IT

2571. WAS REALLY OBNOXIOUS.

2572. AND I REMEMBER BEING FRUSTRATED

2573. AND ANGRY BECAUSE THERE WAS

2574. NOTHING THAT I HAD DONE THAT

2575. WOULD HAVE JUSTIFIED AN FBI

2576. SEARCH WARRANT.

2577. THEY CAME AND... GUNS BLAZING

2578. AND ALL THIS OTHER GOOD STUFF —

2579. BUSTED DOWN THE DOOR.

2580. I IMMEDIATELY JUST DROPPED DOWN

2581. ON THE FLOOR, 180.

2582. I WASN'T TRYING TO FIGHT NOBODY.

2583. THE THEORY OF THE CASE IS

2584. THEY WERE, YOU KNOW — THEY

2585. FLOODED — "A NUMBER OF PEOPLE

2586. FLOODED ACCESS TO PayPal,

2587. THEREBY CREATING ECONOMIC

2588. DISTRESS TO A PROTECTED

2589. CORPORATION."

2590. END OF STORY.

2591. THIS ISN'T — THIS IS NOT A CASE

2592. INVOLVING IDENTITY THEFT,

2593. INVOLVING OUTING E-MAILS,

2594. INVOLVING VIOLATING PRIVILEGE,

2595. INVOLVING THEFT OF SERVICES,

2596. INVOLVING, YOU KNOW, SHUTTING

2597. DOWN BUSINESS.

2598. IT IS A PURE CASE OF INTERNET OR

2599. CYBER SIT-INS.

2600. I THINK WHEN BARRACK OBAMA GETS

2601. ON TELEVISION AND SAYS, "FLOOD

2602. THE SWITCHBOARD, SHUT DOWN THE

2603. REPUBLICANS, SEND THE

2604. MESSAGE" — THAT'S LEGAL.

2605. AND EVEN IF YOU ACCEPT WHAT THE

2606. THEORY OF THIS PROSECUTION IS,

2607. IT'S NO DIFFERENT.

2608. THIS IS AN ELECTRONIC SIT-IN AT

2609. ITS FINEST.

2610. SO, WHAT I'M FACING IS A

2611. FELONY — 15 YEARS IN FEDERAL

2612. PRISON AND A $250,000 FINE.

2613. IF YOU'RE A PEDOPHILE, THE

2614. AVERAGE IS 11 YEARS.

2615. THAT'S RIDICULOUS.

2616. I MEAN, YOU CAN GO MOLEST

2617. CHILDREN AND GET LESS OF A

2618. SENTENCE THAN YOU WOULD FOR

2619. BREAKING INTO SOMEONE'S PHONE.

2620. IF YOU — EVEN IF YOU ACCEPT

2621. WHAT THE GOVERNMENT IS SAYING IS

2622. TRUE, WHAT IS IMPORTANT IS THAT

2623. PEOPLE ARE PARTICIPATING IN THE

2624. PROCESS.

2625. IT IS VERY MUCH THE PROCESS.

2626. IT IS SITTING IN AT A COUNTER IN

2627. SELMA, ALABAMA, 500 FREEDOM

2628. RIDERS REFUSING TO ALLOW PEOPLE

2629. TO GO SIT IN AT A SEGREGATED

2630. LUNCH COUNTER.

2631. THEY WRITE BOOKS ABOUT THAT

2632. STUFF.

2633. IT IS DEMONSTRATING AT A STREET

2634. CORNER SAYING NO TO A WAR.

2635. IT'S JUST A DIFFERENT — IT'S

2636. JUST A DIFFERENT VEHICLE.

2637. IT'S THE SAME RESULT.

2638. YOU KNOW, I WOULD NEVER

2639. COMPARE MYSELF TO PEOPLE LIKE

2640. GANDHI OR

2641. DR. MARTIN LUTHER KING, BUT THEY

2642. WERE ONE PERSON, AND THEY WERE

2643. WILLING TO GO OUT AND CHANGE THE

2644. WORLD.

2645. AND THEIR MESSAGES LIVE ON EVERY

2646. DAY THROUGH EVERYBODY.

2647. AND TO NOT TAKE THE CHANCE OF

2648. HAVING SOMETHING LIKE THAT TO DO

2649. IS FOOLISH.

2650. I ONLY WISH WE HAD 50 MILLION

2651. MERCEDES HAEFER.

2652. I'D FEEL A LOT MORE COMFORTABLE

2653. AS A GUY GETTING TOWARDS THE

2654. TAIL END OF HIS CAREER IF THERE

2655. WERE MORE MERCEDES.

2656. THERE'S ALWAYS GONNA BE LEGAL

2657. CONSEQUENCE WHEN YOU DECIDE TO

2658. BREAK THE LAW.

2659. THAT COMES WITH THE TERRITORY.

2660. AND IT WOULD BE NAIVE NOT TO

2661. EXPECT THAT.

2662. THE QUESTION IS WHETHER THE

2663. PUNISHMENT WILL BE PROPORTIONAL

2664. TO THE CRIME.

2665. AND I SUSPECT IT MIGHT NOT BE.

2666. PEOPLE WILL BE WATCHING VERY

2667. CLOSELY TO SEE HOW THESE CASES

2668. PROCEED ON WHAT GROUNDS AND

2669. WHETHER THERE'S ANY ROOM DURING

2670. THE TRIALS TO THINK ESPECIALLY

2671. OF THE DENIAL-OF-SERVICE ATTACKS

2672. AS A LEGITIMATE FORM OF PROTEST.

2673. SO MUCH OF OUR LIVES ARE NOW

2674. CONFIGURED AT LEAST IN PART ON

2675. THE INTERNET, SO WE BETTER START

2676. THINKING ABOUT HOW WE CLAIM

2677. PARTS OF THE INTERNET AS SPACES

2678. THAT WE CAN ALSO PROTEST.

2679. THIS IS THE POINT IN HISTORY

2680. AT WHICH YOU DECIDE WHETHER OR

2681. NOT PROTESTING IS POSSIBLE

2682. ONLINE.

2683. YOU CAN STAND UP, AND YOU CAN

2684. SAY FREEDOM OF SPEECH EXTENDS TO

2685. ONLINE.

2686. WE HAVE THE RIGHT TO NOT BE

2687. MONITORED BY OUR GOVERNMENT

2688. BECAUSE OF OUR OPINIONS.

2689. IT'S UP TO YOU.

2690. YOU'RE IN THE POSITION OF

2691. HUCK FINN.

2692. DO YOU REMEMBER HUCK FINN AT THE

2693. END OF THE BOOK?

2694. HE'S TOLD HE'S GOT TO TAKE THAT

2695. SLAVE AND GIVE IT BACK.

2696. TWO THINGS WILL HAPPEN IF HE

2697. DOESN'T.

2698. ONE — LEGALLY, HE'LL GO TO

2699. JAIL, AS JIM IS PROPERTY.

2700. TWO — HE'LL BE DAMNED ETERNALLY

2701. AND BURN IN HELLFIRE 'CAUSE HE'S

2702. IN AN EVANGELICAL ENVIRONMENT IN

2703. MISSOURI.

2704. AND HUCK SMOKES HIS CORNCOB PIPE

2705. ALL NIGHT, THINKS ABOUT IT.

2706. AND NEXT MORNING, HE SAYS,

2707. "WELL, DAMN IT, I'LL GO TO HELL,

2708. THEN."

2709. IN OTHER WORDS, HE DISCOVERED

2710. THAT IN ORDER TO BE AN EXPERT AT

2711. ETHICS, YOU HAD TO TRANSCEND THE

2712. LEGAL AND SANCTIONED RELIGIOUS

2713. APPROPRIATE TRUTHS OF THE DAY IN

2714. ORDER TO ACCESS THE META TRUTH

2715. OF BOTH LEGALITY AND

2716. RIGHTEOUSNESS.

2717. WELL, HACKERS SEE THEMSELVES AS

2718. HUCK PUTTING DOWN THAT CORNCOB

2719. PIPE AND SAYING, "ALL RIGHT,

2720. I'LL GO TO JAIL.

2721. ALL RIGHT, I'LL GO TO HELL.

2722. BUT I'M GONNA DO THE RIGHT

2723. THING."

2724. I SUPPOSE THE QUESTION YOU

2725. REALLY WANT TO ASK IS, WOULD I

2726. DO IT AGAIN?

2727. AND HONESTLY, AFTER THINKING

2728. ABOUT IT, I FELT THAT I DID WHAT

2729. WAS RIGHT.

2730. I HAD A BELIEF — I STILL DO —

2731. THAT WHAT I DID WAS THE RIGHT

2732. THING.

2733. AND HOPEFULLY SOMEONE GOT SOME

2734. GOOD OUT OF IT.

2735. YOU KNOW, I'D LOVE TO THINK THAT

2736. MAYBE I STOPPED SOMEONE FROM

2737. JOINING A CULT, YOU KNOW.

2738. PROBABLY WOULDN'T TELL ON MYSELF

2739. NEXT TIME, BUT, YOU KNOW, I

2740. DON'T THINK I WOULD HAVE CHANGED

2741. A SINGLE THING OTHER THAN THE

2742. WHOLE "TALKING TO THE FBI"

2743. THING.

2744. JUST THAT LITTLE DETAIL.

2745. YEAH, JUST THE LITTLE DETAIL

2746. THAT KIND OF CHANGED EVERYTHING.

2747. YEAH.

2748. I'M ANGRY.

2749. OCCASIONALLY, I HAVE SMALL

2750. BREAKDOWN MOMENTS OF TERROR.

2751. BUT I HAVEN'T STOPPED BELIEVING

2752. WHAT I BELIEVE.

2753. I HAVEN'T STOPPED WANTING TO

2754. FIGHT.

2755. I HAVEN'T STOPPED CARING.

2756. SHOW ME WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS

2757. LIKE!

2758. THIS IS WHAT DEMOCRACY

2759. LOOKS LIKE!

2760. SHOW ME WHAT DEMOCRACY LOOKS

2761. LIKE!

2762. WE GOT SOLD OUT!

2763. I DON'T THINK THIS WHOLE

2764. ISSUE IS A TECHNICAL HACKING

2765. THING.

2766. THIS IS MORE ABOUT HUMAN

2767. PHILOSOPHY AND PSYCHOLOGY,

2768. WHAT'S MOTIVATING US, WHY IS

2769. THERE SO MUCH UNREST OR

2770. DISENFRANCHISEMENT OR ANGER THAT

2771. WOULD LEAD PEOPLE TO WANT TO

2772. TAKE MATTERS INTO THEIR OWN

2773. HANDS AND JOIN THEM.

2774. WHETHER YOU THINK IT'S BAD OR

2775. NOT IS IRRELEVANT.

2776. IT'S NOT GOING AWAY.

2777. I HAVE STOOD UPON THE

2778. MOUNTAINTOP KNOWN AS ANONYMOUS

2779. AND LOOKED DOWN ON A WORLD

2780. ENFLAMED WITH REVOLUTION.

2781. WHAT CAN YOU SAY?

2782. YOUR SPINE TINGLES WHEN YOU'RE

2783. AT THE CUSP OF HISTORY.

2784. WHEN YOU'RE SURFING, YOU KNOW,

2785. THE WAVES OF HISTORY, YOUR SPINE

2786. TINGLES.

2787. DESCENT HAS A FACE NOW.

2788. IT HAS AN AESTHETIC.

2789. THERE'S THIS PACKAGE IT CAN PICK

2790. UP AND PUT ON ANYWHERE IN THE

2791. WORLD FOR ANY CAUSE IT WANTS.

2792. AND SOMETIMES THAT'S GONNA BE

2793. TERRIBLE, AND SOMETIMES IT'S

2794. GOING TO BE WONDERFUL.

2795. ONE THING I CAN KIND OF PROMISE

2796. IS THAT IT'S GONNA BE

2797. INTERESTING.

2798. IT'S RARE IN HISTORY THAT NEW

2799. THINGS HAPPEN, BUT I THINK THIS

2800. IS ONE OF THEM.

2801. IF YOU HAVE POWER IN REAL

2802. LIFE AND YOU HAVE MONEY IN REAL

2803. LIFE, YOU KNOW, IT DOESN'T

2804. FUCKING MATTER ON THE INTERNET.

2805. WHAT MATTERS ON THE INTERNET IS

2806. YOUR ACTUAL IDEAS, YOU KNOW, HOW

2807. SMART YOU ARE, THE QUALITY OF

2808. YOU.

2809. AND WHEN CERTAIN ORGANIZATIONS

2810. THAT, YOU KNOW — THEY WANT TO

2811. EXTEND THEIR REAL-LIFE POWER

2812. ONTO THE INTERNET, IT'S NOT

2813. GONNA FUCKING TAKE BECAUSE OF

2814. ANONYMOUS.

2815. I DON'T CARE IF YOU'RE A

2816. DEMOCRAT OR A REPUBLICAN OR AN

2817. INDEPENDENT OR IF YOU LIKE

2818. RON PAUL OR IF YOU WORSHIP

2819. PIGEONS OR SCIENTOLOGY OR IF

2820. YOU'RE CATHOLIC OR ATHEIST OR

2821. METHODIST.

2822. I DON'T CARE ABOUT THAT.

2823. YOUR OPINION MATTERS.

2824. I DON'T CARE IF I DISAGREE WITH

2825. IT.

2826. I DON'T CARE IF I HATE YOUR

2827. GUTS.

2828. YOUR OPINION MATTERS.

2829. IS THERE GOING TO BE ANY

2830. FURTHER ACTION?

2831. I MEAN, DOES ANONYMOUS INTEND TO

2832. PROVE THAT THEY CAN, IN FACT,

2833. MANIPULATE THE WESTBORO BAPTIST

2834. CHURCH NETWORK OF WEBSITES?

2835. WHAT CAN WE EXPECT GOING

2836. FORWARD, ANONYMOUS?

2837. ACTUALLY, I'M WORKING ON THAT

2838. RIGHT NOW.

2839. HE'S WORKING ON THAT RIGHT

2840. NOW!

2841. OH, YAY.

2842. SO, HOLD ON.

2843. I AM GETTING A THUMBS UP FROM MY

2844. PRODUCER THAT THERE HAS BEEN A

2845. MESSAGE POSTED THAT APPEARS TO

2846. BE FROM ANONYMOUS ON downloads.

2847. westborobaptistchurch.com.

2848. ANONYMOUS, ARE YOU TAKING

2849. RESPONSIBILITY FOR THIS?

2850. YEP.

2851. WE JUST DID IT RIGHT NOW THIS

2852. VERY SECOND.

2853. THAT IS SO SPECIAL.

2854. THAT'S SO SPECIAL.