Much has been made in recent times of the cyber-antics of the hacker collective known as Anonymous. The group has claimed responsibility for data breaches and Distributed Denial of Service attacks on countless religious, corporate, and government servers in the past few years, with 2011 seeing a sharp rise in activity. This increase in activity can mainly be attributed to the notorious rise of splinter group LulzSec, the publishing of military files and diplomatic cables by watchdog group Wikileaks (and subsequent government responses), and the attempted legislation of internet censorship in the U.S. via SOPA and PIPA, although there are those who believe that the time has simply come.
There have been a plethora of responses to Anonymous and their active resistance tactics against what they perceive (not without cause) as widespread wrongdoing, corruption and censorship in our political and economic systems. These responses generally range from hero worship to cries of Terrorism, and everywhere in between.
However, the media and the blogosphere have been relatively mum on the topic of what Anonymous (not to mention the social media-driven Arab Spring) has shown us about the power of the Internet, especially as it pertains to the United States' Second Amendment.
We have already pointed out that there is a large-scale ground war being waged for the soul and future of the Internet. Now, more than ever, it is important to take a look at what has made this war possible; specifically, how a single father living in a housing project can obtain the power to successfully take on the U.S. Government (and, subsequently, the power to help the U.S. government track and arrest other such individuals).
The Internet is a beast unlike any mankind has seen before. With a seemingly-infinite amount of information freely available to anybody with a phone or cable line, it is now possible to do just about anything online, from shopping to earning a Master's Degree. Theoretically, a motivated individual could learn just about anything online; with enough patience (and a skillful choice of Google search terms), one could learn everything a college degree has to offer, and more, for free. In fact, university sites worldwide have begun posting lesson materials and even offering free courses with open and limitless enrollment. With this much information available (and currently uncensored) to the average citizen, ignorance and lack of education have become a willful choice, rather than a tragedy of circumstance.
Equally important is the Open Source movement, which has exploded over the past decade and created a vast market of tools and utilities which are free to download, use, modify and distribute. Such projects are run by a dedicated base of volunteer coders who modify, expand and perfect the software as they see fit, creating customized and powerful tools for almost any use case. With thousands of such tools emerging from the movement every year, there is an open source alternative to everything.
As any true believer in the Second Amendment will tell you, the right to bear arms is not merely just a tool to ensure citizens have the right to defend themselves against lone criminal aggressors (unless they are outside their house, and as long as they can prove to a court that they made every effort to hide and retreat, and had no choice but to use deadly force). The Founding Fathers, having just fought a war for freedom against a tyrannical and vastly superior force, wanted to ensure that there would be an everlasting physical deterrent against tyranny and opression (having correctly predicted that the lawful deterrent of the Constitution may not always be strictly adhered to). Perhaps V said it best from behind the Guy Fawkes mask: "People should not be afraid of their government; Government should be afraid of its people."
Here we are, 236 years later. There is no civilian militia (nor any foreign power) which can match the technology, training and discipline of the United States Military - but then again, the Second Amendment is not about being superior in might to the government, nor is it about violence or coups. To me, anyway, the Second Amendment is about reminding the powers-that-be that this country was founded on a Fuck-You-Attitude towards authoritarianism, and that we will not bow to threats against our freedom, be they foreign or domestic in origin.
And that, if nothing else, is what the Anonymous movement has shown. Through an albeit controversial show of force, Anonymous has proven that with free military-grade encryption and powerful anonymization tools, a little bit of patience and motivation, and a whole lot of talent, the playing field has been effectively leveled by the Internet. There are no social, educational or financial barriers to what one can achieve on the Internet; all one needs is a connection and a willingness to learn. The technology and training available to the NSA and the Military are effectively identical to those freely available to citizens online; the discipline is something that must be developed from one's self.
As recent events worldwide have shown, the power of an idea has become increasingly competitive with the power of an armed force. And on the Internet, Ideas are free. On the Internet, Ideas are weapons.
On the Internet, Ideas are King.
There have been a plethora of responses to Anonymous and their active resistance tactics against what they perceive (not without cause) as widespread wrongdoing, corruption and censorship in our political and economic systems. These responses generally range from hero worship to cries of Terrorism, and everywhere in between.
However, the media and the blogosphere have been relatively mum on the topic of what Anonymous (not to mention the social media-driven Arab Spring) has shown us about the power of the Internet, especially as it pertains to the United States' Second Amendment.
We have already pointed out that there is a large-scale ground war being waged for the soul and future of the Internet. Now, more than ever, it is important to take a look at what has made this war possible; specifically, how a single father living in a housing project can obtain the power to successfully take on the U.S. Government (and, subsequently, the power to help the U.S. government track and arrest other such individuals).
The Internet is a beast unlike any mankind has seen before. With a seemingly-infinite amount of information freely available to anybody with a phone or cable line, it is now possible to do just about anything online, from shopping to earning a Master's Degree. Theoretically, a motivated individual could learn just about anything online; with enough patience (and a skillful choice of Google search terms), one could learn everything a college degree has to offer, and more, for free. In fact, university sites worldwide have begun posting lesson materials and even offering free courses with open and limitless enrollment. With this much information available (and currently uncensored) to the average citizen, ignorance and lack of education have become a willful choice, rather than a tragedy of circumstance.
Equally important is the Open Source movement, which has exploded over the past decade and created a vast market of tools and utilities which are free to download, use, modify and distribute. Such projects are run by a dedicated base of volunteer coders who modify, expand and perfect the software as they see fit, creating customized and powerful tools for almost any use case. With thousands of such tools emerging from the movement every year, there is an open source alternative to everything.
As any true believer in the Second Amendment will tell you, the right to bear arms is not merely just a tool to ensure citizens have the right to defend themselves against lone criminal aggressors (unless they are outside their house, and as long as they can prove to a court that they made every effort to hide and retreat, and had no choice but to use deadly force). The Founding Fathers, having just fought a war for freedom against a tyrannical and vastly superior force, wanted to ensure that there would be an everlasting physical deterrent against tyranny and opression (having correctly predicted that the lawful deterrent of the Constitution may not always be strictly adhered to). Perhaps V said it best from behind the Guy Fawkes mask: "People should not be afraid of their government; Government should be afraid of its people."
Here we are, 236 years later. There is no civilian militia (nor any foreign power) which can match the technology, training and discipline of the United States Military - but then again, the Second Amendment is not about being superior in might to the government, nor is it about violence or coups. To me, anyway, the Second Amendment is about reminding the powers-that-be that this country was founded on a Fuck-You-Attitude towards authoritarianism, and that we will not bow to threats against our freedom, be they foreign or domestic in origin.
And that, if nothing else, is what the Anonymous movement has shown. Through an albeit controversial show of force, Anonymous has proven that with free military-grade encryption and powerful anonymization tools, a little bit of patience and motivation, and a whole lot of talent, the playing field has been effectively leveled by the Internet. There are no social, educational or financial barriers to what one can achieve on the Internet; all one needs is a connection and a willingness to learn. The technology and training available to the NSA and the Military are effectively identical to those freely available to citizens online; the discipline is something that must be developed from one's self.
As recent events worldwide have shown, the power of an idea has become increasingly competitive with the power of an armed force. And on the Internet, Ideas are free. On the Internet, Ideas are weapons.
On the Internet, Ideas are King.
Outstanding piece. A long time ago a handful of individuals with 6-shooters (or, a longer time ago, muskets) could pose a challenge to government. Now with our paramilitary police forces any resistance to the government wrongdoing can be violently squashed. In that respect, the Internet is an equalizer. And as Sabu's case has shown, individuals are free to act and deal with the consequences of their actions.
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