[hackerspaces] Open letter to Anonymous (please distribute)

[Jaromil]

	please distribute to anyone interested

OPEN LETTER TO THE ANONYMOUS LEGIONS

in reply to

 074 CDS 11 E - INFORMATION AND NATIONAL SECURITY
 http://www.nato-pa.int/default.asp?SHORTCUT=2443

and to

 LulzSec versus FBI (we challenge you, NATO!)
 http://pastebin.com/MQG0a130

re all

We all know that cyberspace has come to an intense moment of
confrontation; it will become more and more difficult to focus on the
very reasons of the conflict opening, as the fog of war is
rising. This Open letter is an effort to focus on what is happening.

Hackers: behind all our actions there is a pulsating will to make
justice and to protect our freedoms. Fighting injustice has long moved
the hearts and souls of many people in history.

Meanwhile, the state of asymmetric cyber warfare in 2011 is
paradoxical: national defense departments against kids in their
bedrooms, an exaggeration depicting well the deep necessity of reform
faced by all forms of organized intelligence that existed before the
proliferation of digital networks; namely the most populous one, the
Internet, now 18 years old.

As usual, the reasons why members of an organization like NATO are
moved to fight are related to territorial control and predominance;
likewise, the reasons moving the legions of Anonymous are in their
deepest sense, and behind the lulz, a political stance supported by
natives and, as such, have a huge constituent potential.

The reasons that invigorate today the courage of the Legions of
Anonymous are also very similar to the political reasons that made the
Legion of Underground declare war to Iraq and China in 1999:

the reiterated threats to the freedom of the population;

the state's efforts to censor, monitor and manipulate the natural flow
of information;

the lies that monopolies, corporations and governments use to hide
failures in the eyes of their citizens and clients;

the resistance of nations to move out of obsolete forms of governance
engulfed by media-dictatorships;

the oppression against investigative journalists, hackers and such
liminal figures operating on the edges of semiospheres;

to name just a few.

Since this scenario is not new, please consider the war that might be
profiling ahead by reading further the statement below.

Solid.

LoU STRIKE OUT WITH INTERNATIONAL COALITION OF HACKERS:
A JOINT STATEMENT BY 2600,
THE CHAOS COMPUTER CLUB,
THE CULT OF THE DEAD
COW,
!HISPAHACK,
L0PHT HEAVY INDUSTRIES,
PHRACK AND PULHAS

Date: 7.1.1999

An international coalition of hackers strongly condemns the Legion of
the Underground's (LoU) recent "declaration of war" against the
governments of Iraq and the People's Republic of China. Citing human
rights violations and other repressive measures the LoU declared their
intention to disrupt and disable Internet infrastructures in Iraq and
China. In a decision that was more rash than wise, the LoU will do
little to alter existing conditions and much to endanger the rights of
hackers around the world.

We - the undersigned - strongly oppose any attempt to use the power of
hacking to threaten or destroy the information infrastructure of a
country, for any reason. Declaring "war" against a country is the most
irresponsible thing a hacker group could do. This has nothing to do
with hacktivism or hacker ethics and is nothing a hacker could be
proud of.

Frank Rieger of the CCC said, "Many hacker groups don't have a problem
with Web hacks that raise public awareness about human rights
violations. But we are very sensitive to people damaging networks and
critical systems in repressive regimes or anywhere else.  The police
and intelligence communities regard hacking as seditious. It is quite
possible now that hackers - not only in totalitarian states - could be
jailed or executed as 'cyberterrorists' for the slightest infraction
of the law."

"It is shortsighted and potentially counterproductive," added Reid
Fleming of the cDc. "One cannot legitimately hope to improve a
nation's free access to information by working to disable its data
networks."

"Though we may agree with LoU that the atrocities in China and Iraq
have got to stop, we do not agree with the methods they are
advocating," said Space Rogue of the L0pht.

Emmanuel Goldstein of 2600 said: "This kind of threat, even if made
idly, can only serve to further alienate hackers from mainstream
society and help to spread the misperceptions we're constantly
battling. And what happens when someone in another country decides
that the United States needs to be punished for its human rights
record? This is one door that will be very hard to close if we allow
it to be opened."

Governments worldwide are seeking to establish cyberspace as a new
battleground for their artificial conflicts. The LoU has inadvertently
legitimized this alarmist propoganda. With its dramatic announcement
the LoU played into the hands of policy makers who want complete
control over the Internet and are looking for reasons to seize it. If
hackers solicit recognition as paramilitary factions then hacking in
general will be seen as an act of war. Ergo, hackers will be viewed as
legitimate targets of warring states.

Strategic combat planning in the United States and among other nations
has reached the point where real-world cases are needed to justify
assigned budgets. The LoU is providing this real-world case now. We
believe that the LoU should carefully investigate the idea of
declaring "war" against China and Iraq.  Was it planted with them by
someone with different interests in mind other than advancing human
rights considerations?

The signatories to this statement are asking hackers to reject all
actions that seek to damage the information infrastructure of any
country. DO NOT support any acts of "Cyberwar." Keep the networks of
communication alive. They are the nervous system for human progress.


-- 
jaromil,  dyne.org developer,  http://jaromil.dyne.org
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