Dear Barrett,

Thanks for getting back in touch with us. I looked at your DailyKos post, and while it's definitely interesting, we obviously can't give people...err...tips on how to combat one's own government. After all, we're a news network, not an NGO.

Now, I can't make any editorial decisions regarding content, but I think posting *anything* not Iran-friendly right now would do us no good, considering one of our journalists who is Iranian, Dorothy Parvaz, is currently being detained in Syria. I don't know if Iran is offering anything other than lipservice, but it's better not to make an enemy out of them at this point until Dorothy is released.

I'm being a bit paranoid in that respect, and Naz is more "in the know" than I am, so if he thinks differently, we can obviously take a look at reworking some stuff into an op ed / feature (I assume you'd probably want to write something fresh rather than rework that post).

Have you caught wind of other things in the works for Anon? What about how Anon briefly took down the Sony PSN? I heard that there might have been some division on whether that was a proper Anon activity or not.

Taking that and going further, what about cyber-vigilantism against non-governmental cybercriminals, like those who hacked the PSN and stole millions of user details? I know Anon has some problems with Sony, but I don't think Anon would condone such behavior.

Anyways, get back to me and let me know your thoughts.

Best Regards,
Hashem

________________________________________
From: Naz Khan [nyk284@gmail.com]
Sent: Thursday, May 05, 2011 9:48 PM
To: Barrett Brown
Cc: Hashem Said
Subject: Re: Anonymous, OpMetalGear, and Gamma International

Dear Barrett,

I'm very keen on this. Hash is going to take it on from here, looking forward to see how this evolves into an Op-ed!

keep safe,

Naz



On May 2, 2011, at 6:44 PM, Barrett Brown wrote:

Hi, Naz-

Let me know if you'd like a piece on OpIran, which was re-launched yesterday, or one on the future of Anonymous and the necessity of transmitting what we've learned and developed regarding online activism to the public at large. Here's a post I just did on OpIran, including info on how anyone can easily assist:

http://www.dailykos.com/story/2011/05/02/972425/-Help-Anonymous-help-Iran,-now

On Wed, Apr 27, 2011 at 4:11 PM, Naz Khan <nyk284@gmail.com<mailto:nyk284@gmail.com>> wrote:
Sounds interesting. I'll mail you in the morning ! Bed time!

Sent from my iPhone

On Apr 27, 2011, at 4:07 AM, Barrett Brown <barriticus@gmail.com<mailto:barriticus@gmail.com>> wrote:

Naz-

Barrett Brown here. Thanks again for running my essay earlier this year on our North Africa operations. Wanted to check in with you regarding a couple of things.

First, would you be interested in an article on Operation Metal Gear, an investigation we're leading into the use of persona management (fake online people) as used in conjunction with advanced surveillance and data collection? We're working with several journalists on this while also conducting a crowd-sourced investigation by which Anonymous and other parties work together in a loose network by which to gather and compile information on the companies and government agencies involved. Here's our website:

<http://opmetalgear.zxq.net/OMG/Home.html>http://opmetalgear.zxq.net/OMG/Home.html

<http://opmetalgear.zxq.net/OMG/Home.html>And here's a good explanation from about a month ago by Steve Ragan, one of the journalists we work with:

<http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201111/6939/Anonymous-Government-contractor-has-weaponized-social-media?page=1>http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201111/6939/Anonymous-Government-contractor-has-weaponized-social-media?page=1

And here's the wiki at which we're compiling information on those involved: <http://wiki.echelon2.org/wiki/Main_Page> http://wiki.echelon2.org/wiki/Main_Page

<http://www.thetechherald.com/article.php/201111/6939/Anonymous-Government-contractor-has-weaponized-social-media?page=1>Also, I wanted to make sure that al-Jazeera is aware that a U.K. firm called Gamma International, a component of the Gamma Group, has been discovered to have offered IT intrusion software to Mubarak's Interior Ministry which would have presumably been used to break into the e-mail accounts of dissidents. Here's the piece:

<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/25/british-firm-offered-spy-software-to-egypt/?page=2>http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/25/british-firm-offered-spy-software-to-egypt/?page=2

<http://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2011/apr/25/british-firm-offered-spy-software-to-egypt/?page=2>Anonymous and my own group Project PM intends to retaliate against this firm in order to send a message that this sort of thing will receive an appropriate response in the future.

--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302<tel:512-560-2302>



--
Regards,

Barrett Brown
512-560-2302


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