Subject: RE: Anonymous movement interview
Hi Barrett,
Not sure why number wasn't working, I was dialing with US country code (001 512-560-2302). I'm about to head to bed as it's late on this side of the world. I'm yazlydia on Skype, if you add me then we can try for tomorrow, morning your time?
I'll be freer tomorrow so just let me know when suits you and I'll call then. Will let you know for your feature too, thanks for forwarding.
Best,
Yasmine
Yasmine Ryan | Web Journalist
Al Jazeera English | PO Box 23127 | Doha | Qatar
M: +974 33362518 | Fax: +974 4892256
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net
http://www.aljazeera.net/english
________________________________________
From: Barrett Brown [
barriticus@gmail.com]
Sent: 04 January 2011 00:36
To: Yasmine Ryan
Subject: Re: Anonymous movement interview
Well, I'm going to be leaving this office soon. My 512-560-2302 is a cell phone and my only line; U.S. country code, of course. If you are unable to connect for some reason we can use Skype, which might work better anyway. Let me know. In the meantime, here is an op-ed I have written if you'd care to pass it along to the editors; it will also give you some background into our thinking, I believe.
Never in human history has there been a period that compares to our own in the degree to which the terminology employed at the end of a twenty-year period would have been entirely incomprehensible at its beginning. This is, or should be, the first sign that something is afoot. All significant human activity is the result of human collaboration, and over this same period the potential for human collaboration has exploded in a manner that has never before been seen. This is the second sign, and the fact that these developments and their implications have been greeted with the usual mix of silly and inane commentary for which our career media personnel have become known even to themselves is in turn a perfect indication of why this period has been so necessary, and why many of us are working to ensure that the dynamics now in play continue to accelerate.
Wikileaks, a force that was ignored by a news media incapable of identifying important trends until such time as it became impossible to disregard, has ushered in a new period of human history in which state actors have lost the privacy that they never deserved in the first place. Anonymous, a similarly misunderstood harbinger of the coming age, has taken a series of actions to defend that organization, including information campaigns and DDOS attacks on national governments - including Tunisia, as of this writing - that have welcomed the new age with tighter controls on what their citizens are allowed to see. As someone who has worked with and promoted certain factions of Anonymous for a number of years, I would like to explain what it is that is happening and why it will continue until such time as individual liberty escapes its controversial status.
Throughout history, the majority has been consistently wrong and consistently willing to initiate violence in service to the local flavor of foolishness. Not long ago, many took for granted the divine right of kings - and some still do, of course. Today, many in the West believe that anything is moral just so long as it is done in some accordance with the will of the voting population of a particular nation-state; to some, even a kings intent will suffice. Actions of extraordinarily lesser negative impact on the innocent, taken by any organization that lacks the arbitrary status of a state, are meanwhile denounced with a fervor that the more fair-minded might reserve for those who routinely cause the deaths of women and children - for instance, the large majority of American voters who have exercised their rights to topple one dictator while propping up others, and who pat themselves on the back for their participation in a civic entity that has made such a mockery of the rule of law that those of us who were born too late to see the America that once existed no longer feel any loyalty to its government whatsoever.
This is the context that has turned Anonymous from a Dadaist cultural phenomenon into a geopolitical harbinger. Its first notable target was the violent white supremacist and FBI informant Hal Turner; its second was the Church of Scientology and the degenerate manner in which it deals with critics and apostates; its third was the government of Australia on the occasion of a proposed internet censorship policy that would have opened the door for further state control of expression, as such policies always do.
Over time, Anonymous has changed. Some of us are no longer anonymous, for one thing; my associate Gregg Housh was outed by the Church of Scientology after they discovered he was one of the five participants who launched the Chanology raids via a YouTube proclamation, and thus now gives interviews to those outlets that care to know more; my associate Sean Carasov killed himself last month after a great deal of legal harassment from the Church that helped to ensure that his career would never see a revival. Others have been arrested as well, and more will be arrested in the future. This will stop nothing. And the typically flawed reception that the movement has received from those who will justify most any government action will not change the fact that we have entered a new age in which individuals around the world can form their own entities to counter those that now exist, and will do so increasingly as the implications of our time become more widely understood. And they will indeed be made understood, soon and forever after, to all who choose to listen.
On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 3:14 PM, Barrett Brown <
barriticus@gmail.com<mailto:
barriticus@gmail.com>> wrote:
I'm in the U.S., incidentally; not sure if that was clear. Will you be trying that number now? Otherwise, I'm going to go out for a quick cigarette; please let me know.
On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 3:11 PM, Barrett Brown <
barriticus@gmail.com<mailto:
barriticus@gmail.com>> wrote:
That's the landline of an office I'm working out of today.
On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 2:05 PM, barri2009 <
barriticus@gmail.com<mailto:
barriticus@gmail.com>> wrote:
Try 214 219 3210
Sent via BlackBerry by AT&T
________________________________
From: Yasmine Ryan <
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net<mailto:
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net>>
Date: Tue, 4 Jan 2011 00:04:17 +0300
To: Barrett Brown<
barriticus@gmail.com<mailto:
barriticus@gmail.com>>
Subject: RE: Anonymous movement interview
Hi Barret,
Just tried calling but it's not going through, can I just confirm the dialling code? Thanks!
Yasmine Ryan | Web Journalist
Al Jazeera English | PO Box 23127 | Doha | Qatar
M: +974 33362518 | Fax: +974 4892256
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net<mailto:
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net>
http://www.aljazeera.net/english
________________________________
From: Barrett Brown [
barriticus@gmail.com<mailto:
barriticus@gmail.com>]
Sent: 03 January 2011 22:07
To: Yasmine Ryan
Subject: Re: Anonymous movement interview
Thanks, Yasmine; look forward to your call.
On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 1:00 PM, Yasmine Ryan <
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net<mailto:
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net>> wrote:
I think we might well be interested, I'll speak to our Op-ed editor tomorrow, I'm sure he'll get back to you immediately.
Yasmine Ryan | Web Journalist
Al Jazeera English | PO Box 23127 | Doha | Qatar
M: +974 33362518 | Fax: +974 4892256
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net<mailto:
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net>
http://www.aljazeera.net/english
________________________________
From: Barrett Brown [
barriticus@gmail.com<mailto:
barriticus@gmail.com>]
Sent: 03 January 2011 21:51
To: Yasmine Ryan
Subject: Re: Anonymous movement interview
Yasmine-
Sorry, I meant to ask if al-Jazeera might be interested; I accidentally wrote The Guardian because I had just replied to one of the editors there regarding an op-ed I'm doing for them. Anyway, do let me know if al-Jazeera would like to take a look at a piece of that sort.
On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 12:40 PM, Yasmine Ryan <
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net<mailto:
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net>> wrote:
Hello,
Great I'll call in about 2 or 3 hours if that's okay. Not sure about the Guardian, try contacting Brian Whitaker (you could try via @guardian).
Looking forward to speaking with you.
Yasmine Ryan | Web Journalist
Al Jazeera English | PO Box 23127 | Doha | Qatar
M: +974 33362518 | Fax: +974 4892256
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net<mailto:
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net>
http://www.aljazeera.net/english
________________________________
From: Barrett Brown [
barriticus@gmail.com<mailto:
barriticus@gmail.com>]
Sent: 03 January 2011 21:02
To: Yasmine Ryan
Subject: Re: Anonymous movement interview
Yasmine-
It is currently noon my time; I should be available to talk between now and midnight, so feel free to call at any time. Also let me know if the Guardian would be interested in running an op-ed regarding Anonymous' intent and the context that has prompted us to act.
On Mon, Jan 3, 2011 at 4:38 AM, Yasmine Ryan <
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net<mailto:
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net>> wrote:
Dear Barrett,
Many thanks for getting in touch. I'm definitely interested in speaking with you. I would be very grateful for the chance to speak with someone about Anonymous's operations against government websites .
Let me know when would be the best time to call you to discuss this.
Many thanks,
Yasmine
Yasmine Ryan | Web Journalist
Al Jazeera English | PO Box 23127 | Doha | Qatar
M: +974 33362518 | Fax: +974 4892256
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net<mailto:
Yasmine.Ryan@aljazeera.net>
http://www.aljazeera.net/english
________________________________
From: Barrett Brown [
barriticus@gmail.com<mailto:
barriticus@gmail.com>]
Sent: 03 January 2011 06:40
To: Yasmine Ryan
Subject: Anonymous movement interview
Hello, Yasmine-
This is Barrett Brown; I'm a contributor to Vanity Fair, The Guardian, Skeptical Inquirer, and other outlets and also serve as a sort of activist in service of such things as Wikileaks. I'm also a longtime participant in Anonymous' actions against various entities, which is to say I'm not really a journalist any more. I am writing to you because the de facto leadership of the faction of Anonymous which has been operating against various governments and other entities have identified you as someone who is capable of reporting on their actions in a fair manner - not necessarily entirely positive, but rather in a way that conveys their intent - and would like to grant you exclusive information on their new efforts against the Tunisian government and other such things. If this interests you, let me know, and I will provide you instructions on how to connect to their IRC channel or otherwise make contact.
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
________________________________
Notice: This email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential and privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of our firm shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it.
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
________________________________
Notice: This email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential and privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of our firm shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it.
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
________________________________
Notice: This email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential and privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of our firm shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it.
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
________________________________
Notice: This email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential and privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of our firm shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it.
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
--
Regards,
Barrett Brown
512-560-2302
Notice: This email is intended only for the use of the individual or entity named above and may contain information that is confidential and privileged. If you are not the intended recipient, you are hereby notified that any dissemination, distribution or copying of this email is strictly prohibited. Opinions, conclusions and other information in this message that do not relate to the official business of our firm shall be understood as neither given nor endorsed by it.