Yo - started writing to you when you first wrote re: David
House.
The
prospect of the activist warehouse is enticing, but it seems
a
little
ephemeral at this stage. Until we know that it's a go, and
that
pretty
much
everyone who would be living there would be OK with being
filmed, I
won't
mention it to the pitch committee. I think we are in good
shape
without
it,
though - I don't think the lack of warehouse will weaken the
show.
(If
it
is a go, I will need to have statements and bios from
everyone
who
wants
to
participate by the beginning of August.)
If the warehouse thing does happen, and if you think the
"unprecedented"
project is a go, I'd love to hear more about that. I
imagine
there
won't be
all that much for you to share, if you are hoping to
maintain
some
element
of surprise, but what would matter to me most is the
projected
timeframe
of
that project. The odds of our being able to shoot anything
before
September
are low, so if it's slated for before then, we'll likely
miss
it.
And
if
it's a long-term thing, I'd like to have an idea of how long
it
might
last,
just so I know whether to frame it as a season-long thing or
perhaps
just a
one-episode arc.
I was glad to receive the adventure bio. It's really
densely
packed
- I
am
going to need to read through it a few times before I
isolate
more
elements
that I want to focus on. The things that initially jumped
out
at me:
- Aaron Barr, Jennifer Emick, Thomas Ryan, Ron Moore - It's
great,
from
my
perspective, that you have these foes, especially in that
they
are
individual people, rather than abstract corporations. Are
there
other
public figures that you feel merit a mention in your
antagonist/nemesis
category? (I know you are focused on security issues now,
but
I'd
also
love
to hear about feuds outside of that realm, say, with the
Scientologists
or
any other religious folks.)
- Sabu. Is anyone still in contact with him?
- Jenna - Has Jenna ever been in the public eye? Have you
talked to
her
much about the prospect of being on the show? From what
you've
told
me
about her, I think she would be great, particularly since
she
understands
your work... but I am a little wary of positioning her as a
full-on
cast
member, since a) I'm not sure to what extent she would be
willing to
be
involved, and b) correct me if I'm wrong, but it seems like
your
romantic
relationship is somewhat recent.
- Karen - Frankly, Karen would be an ideal regular element
of
the
show.
Have you mentioned it to her at all? I understand that if
you
were
to
move
to Boston, she'd be out of filming range, but if you're in
Texas
at
any
point, it would be amazing to have direct face-to-face time
between
the
two
of you. Let me know how you feel about this. I completely
understand
if
you'd like to keep your family out of the spotlight. But
knowing
Authentic
as I do, I know that her on-screen involvement would make a
huge
difference.
No one will care more about your exploits than she will...
and
that
will
translate powerfully on screen.
(I've mentioned her before, and I don't want to seem
repetitive,
but
I
wonder how you feel about Mirna. I feel more confident
pitching
Mirna
than
Jenna, perhaps because I've met her face to face, but also
because I
know
that you have a decade, at least, of history together, and
she
knows
what to
expect around you. I also think that her law background
could
provide
an
interesting angle on or counterpoint to the hacktivist
perspective.
Just
let me know if you'd be interested/willing to include her.
FYI,
I
will
probably ask her for a skype interview just for the purpose
of
the
pitch
video, regardless of whether or not she's in the show. I
just
need a
few
quick sound bytes of people describing you.)
I've gone through a lot of articles and video this weekend,
and
I am
really
happy with what I've found so far. I'm listening to your
conversation
with
Aaron Barr now, and I'll be going through the Russia Today
videos
over
the
next few days. All of the video I have, though, centers
around
political
talk. I wasn't able to find any bathtub videos that
included
your
native
audio, for some reason. If you are able to get that hunting
video to
me,
let me know. I'm just dying for anything that's spontaneous
and
not
fully
geared towards activism.
By the way, I wasn't thinking of hunting as a regular
element of
the
show -
just mentioned it as a way of expressing your personality
outside of
the
internet realm. Which brings me to my most important point
- as
you're
drafting your mission statement and thoughts on the show,
keep
in
mind
that
Authentic produces reality TV, not investigative journalism.
The
best
way I
can think to differentiate the two right now is to emphasize
that
reality TV
is about characters, first and foremost, whereas journalism
is
more
about
objective facts, demonstrable trends, history, etc. To win
this
pitch,
we
have to position this as a show about the people, especially
you, who
take
it upon themselves to pursue whatever it is you choose to
pursue
(transparency, justice? You'd know best how to phrase it).
We
want
to
highlight what choices you'll make in your individual lives
to
achieve
those
goals, and what the personal consequences to you and your
foes
are,
whether
you do or don't succeed. A lot of the details of your work
won't
translate
to this format unless we can humanize them - hacking
HBGary's
emails
is
a
remarkable feat, but hacking HBGary's emails thanks to Aaron
Barr's
careless
password management and causing Aaron Barr to resign -
that's a
feat
with a
face attached - something that anyone, regardless of
background,
can
relate
to.
I know you want to raise awareness for your work. It seems
to
me
that
you'll have to approach this show as a way of driving
Internet
traffic
to
your various sites. It will be difficult to convey a lot of
the
details
of
your work on screen, and honestly, most of it's probably
easier
to
understand in written form. As I see it, what the show
should
do is
demonstrate that a) you are focused on issues that affect
real
people;
b)
you, Barrett, do whatever it takes to affect a change; c) if
you
can,
anyone
can. Forgive me if any of that sounds trite - in terms of
sleep, my
10
AM
is like most people's 5 AM - but I hope you see what I'm
getting
at
here. I
want to portray you candidly as a person who's achieved
international
awareness through the power of his own determination, and in
spite of
the
obstacles of social status and chemical dependency that may
have
stood
in
his way.
On Mon, Jul 16, 2012 at 1:29 PM, Barrett Brown
<barriticus@gmail.com>
wrote:
Finally got the damn internet to work again. Below find the
adventure
bio up to my March 6th raid by FBI, followed by brief
descriptions
of
two characters (mom and gf) who would be coming up most
consistently
(gf especially since she lives with me and is involved in
Anon);
there
are quite a few more people with whom I interact on Skype,
Next
thing
I'll get you is draft of mission statement regarding how I
can
expect
to provide content that's both interesting/entertaining and
uniquely
informative re: both the "new activism" and the
cyber-industrial
issues that motivate me, my group, and other activists I
work
with.
Will also include ideas on how a few things that do occur
on
the
text-driven internet can be "brought to life" a bit when
warranted.
As
a preview, I should note that I enjoy going out drinking,
and I
also
enjoy giving my little lectures on government and activism
to
patrons
and bartenders alike. The bartenders at The Quarter, the
bar
next to
my apartment, would thus be a good venue by which to
accomplish
any
"man on the street" sort of thing while giving it a twist.
Hunting,
as
you mention, is also a possibility; will think a bit more
on
that
and
other options by which to facilitate some variation. I'll
need
to
make
certain that David House is indeed set on this "activist
warehouse"
idea, in which case there'll be quite a bit more to work
with
on all
fronts; will plan to talk to him in next day or so to find
out
where
we are on that.
Also, here's a video clip in which I talk to former HBGary
Federal
CEO
Aaron Barr shortly after the 2011 hack:
http://www.mediafire.com/?7vb98xu7cobcif2
Barr has been an ongoing foe of mine, and just tweeted
something
about
me to another fellow, "Hubris," an ex-military hacker who
helped run
the group "Backtrace Security" which in turn secretly
contracted
with
HBGary to identify and locate the individuals responsible
for
the
hack, as well as to find something to "get [me] picked up
on."
This
has only been confirmed due to a hack on e-mail accounts
belonging
to
Backtrace's other founder, Jennifer Emick, by a group
called
UGNazi
(several members of which were soon afterwards arrested);
the
e-mails
released also show that Emick, a former Anon, was indeed
serving as
an
FBI informant at the same time that she and her partners at
Backtrace
were working for HBGary. More recently, Hubris and Emick
got in
some
sort of ridiculous fight that's resulted in Hubris
confirming
other
details and releasing documents that shed more light on all
of
this.
Only a few elements are worth noting at any point in the
series, but
anyway Barr and another contractor named Thomas Ryan are
both
interesting enemy figures that also happen to be involved
in a
couple
of the methodologies/capabilities that Project PM works to
document
and expose.
For more on Tom Ryan see this
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Robin_Sage
And for more on Tom Ryan and Aaron Barr's known cooperation
against
Occupy Wall Street, see this:
http://threatpost.com/en_us/blogs/aaron-barrs-strange-trip-occupy-wall-street-102111
and this (http://gawker.com/5850054/). Barr himself was
fired
from
the
job he took after resigning from HBGary because he spent
too
much
time
on Anonymous, as noted by his former boss here:
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2012/01/20/aaron-barr-cybersecurity-anonymous-occupy-wall-street_n_1219328.html
Adventure Bio:
1981: Born to Robert Brown and Karen Lancaster in Dallas.
1986 - 1987: Robert, who had made millions in real estate
projects,
is
investigated and then indicted by FBI for alleged
participation
in
land-flipping. Hes eventually found not guilty, but
legal
bills
combined with economic downturn and exuberant spending
habits
(including big game hunting across Africa and elsewhere)
end
with
him
losing everything. Parents divorce, Barrett and Karen move
into
grandmothers apartment.
1998: Barrett, who had just barely escaped being expelled
from
school
after being caught sleeping in girls hotel room on school
trip,
decides to skip last two years of high school and goes to
Dar
es
Salaam, Tanzania with father and several ex-military men,
and a
Dallas
financier who funded the operation, which was intended to
establish
several business interests in the country, starting with
lumber.
Barrett learned basic Swahili from books and tapes
beforehand
in
order to serve as translator when needed. Various bizarre
conflicts
arise among crew members due to lack of payment and other
matters,
eventually leading to everyones passports being held from
them
by
director of NASACO (National Shipping Company) Ademba Gomba
until
intervention by the State Department. Afterwards Barrett is
flown
back
by worried mother, Robert loses his money once again.
2000: Enters University of Texas to pursue journalism but
then
drops
out after getting some writing gigs.Still owes UT $2,000
according
to
next 12 years of calls from collections agencies.
2001 - 2009: Lives mediocre life of freelance writer in
Austin,
Mexico, New York, twice having to work as a furniture mover
for
six-month periods due to lack of gigs. Eventually gets
small
book
deal, minor reputation as a media critic and political
commentator.
Appears on a few media outlets regarding random topics.
Gets in
public
feuds with various ideological enemies. Struggles with
addiction to
heroin.
Early 2010: Establishes Project PM, experimental net-based
think-tank intended to develop potential new methods for
taking
advantage of internet. Recruits participants via Skeptical
Inquirer
column and various blogs. Group creates blogging/activism
platform
intended to organize crowd-sourced efforts, establishes
small
(but
only slightly successful) Science Journalism Improvement
Project to
partner scientists with journalists, plans crowd-sourced
African
Improvement Project, etc. Contacted by Anonymous
organizer/media
outreach figure Gregg Housh after writing HuffPo article
predicting
that Anonymous will facilitate effective opposition to
states.
Moves
back to Dallas. Prescribed Suboxone, methadone alternative.
January 2011: Begins working with Anonymous participants to
assist
net-driven portion of Tunisia insurgency, promoting
OpTunisia,
writing
Anonymous press releases. Turns Project PM into venue for
organizing
further assistance to North Africans, loses most of
original
participants over concerns about Anonymous legal status.
Arranges
pro
bono legal aid for Anons raided by FBI pursuant to earlier
DDOS
attack
on Visa, MasterCard, and Paypal over Wikileaks blockade.
Increasingly
quoted by journalists on Anonymous and related issues.
February 2011: After HBGary hack reveals Team Themis
scandal,
begins
conducting investigations into other issues stemming from
70,000
leaked e-mails. Records and distributes phone conversations
with
executives at firms in question.
March 2011: Subject of NBC Nightly News segment on
Anonymous
after
interview conducted at home in course of withdrawals from
Suboxone.
Increasingly referred to incorrectly as either official
spokesman
or
leader of movement, prompting hostility from some Anons.
April 2011: Gets back on Suboxone. Publicly quits
Anonymous
after
a
much-publicized civil war occurs between channel
operators
within
Anon server, shift in emphasis away from Arab Spring. Moves
ongoing
investigation on cyber-industrial complex to Project PM,
which
establishes Echelon2.org wiki to disseminate info on
discoveries.
May - July 2011: Further hacks conducted by Anons on firms
with
ties
to HBGary and Aaron Barr. Several establish Lulzsec
group,
begin
unprecedented hacking spree against both legitimate and
random
targets, driving massive media coverage. Barrett
incorrectly
tied to
Lulzsecs activities by several intelligence contracting
firms
and
media reports despite ambiguous relationship with most of
its
participants. Several Lulzsec members arrested in U.K. and
U.S.,
including hacker Sabu, who is quietly turned into FBI
asset.
August - September 2011: Project PM work continues. Barrett
agrees
to
serve as co-writer to Gregg Housh on book project, which is
sold to
Amazon.
October 2011: After an Anon is subjected to routine Mexican
Anons
launch #OpCartel, threatening to release dozens of names of
Zeta-affiliated individuals taken from stolen government
e-mails
unless, before backing off the operatio