This is a rough draft of the answers you gave me earlier. You spoke faster than I can write some it may not be entirely word for word. If there's anything you think I should revise, let me know. I don't want to misquote you. Thanks.
Arm The Homeless: What is the goal of Operation Metal Gear?
Barrett Brown:
There's several things we want to accomplish with Operation Metal Gear.
People within Anonymous are working with activists and journalists
around the world to help raise awareness of these technologies and the
firms that sell them to governments and corporations around the world.
If you have enough money, you can purchase persona management
technologies and obtain information on your competition or your enemies.
We
are also trying to get the EU involved to combat these firms and
agencies and speak out against Metal Gear type software and methods.
We
also want to eventually identify these fake personas and figure out the
algorithms they use. This will be particularly difficult since the
intent is to not be detected.
ATH: How would you like to see the activist community use this information?
BB:
We want people to have an active stance against these firms and the
governments that support them and make them accountable. These
technologies are sold to governments and dictators and used in U.S.
psy-ops in Afghanistan and Iraq against their people and even visiting
U.S. Senators in the Middle East. These kinds of software have been
shown to be misused by governments many times. I make phone calls to the
CEO's of these companies and catch them in lies while I record them. I
upload the audio online and send them to journalists because people like
those kinds of things where we catch them in obvious lies and make them
look stupid.
We want to humiliate these people the same way we
humiliated Aaron Barr with the HBGary affair because people remember
that sort of stuff. We want to make it dangerous for these companies to
use and sell these technologies so it's kind of a taboo to use them.
ATH: What kind of sources do you have in the intelligence community if any?
BB: Barry
Eisler is a former CIA directorate of operations "employee" and now a
novelist and commentator, critic of intelligence community. I also have
two informants from military intelligence.
ATH:
Last question: How can grassroots activists get involved with Operation
Metal Gear and Anonymous? Do you have to have much computer and
programming knowledge?
BB: No. As long as you
know how to use Google and websites like Wikipedia where you can post
information on our Wiki page, you can contribute to the operation. Also
simply getting this information out there with blogs and contacting your
local media or mailing your congressman helps.
It's a small
component, but an important one. Raising awareness is key and
communities can create their own small groups and do their own research
into these firms and expose them. You can then post your research on our
Wiki page and work with others who are doing the same thing.
ATH: Thank you for your time Barrett.