(Reblog) I am Julian Assange
09 Dec 2010 19:55 Filed in: Media
Something bad happened. Governments around the world, and the U.S. government in particular, decided freedom of speech was no longer allowed on the internet. WikiLeaks was the target. They put massive pressure on EasyDNS.net, Paypal, VISA, Mastercard, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook and PostFinance (Switzerland) to cease business with WikiLeaks. They all caved in, choosing to side with the elites rather than holding true to the principles of freedom. Governments launched DDoS attacks on the WikiLeaks website and forced it offline, while demanding the founder be tried for treason. Others called for him to be assassinated.
Something wonderful happened. The little people recognised that their freedom was being stamped on by the governments. They grew angry. The Governments had blocked every method of donating to WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks pleaded with them to clone its site, to reproduce it in the thousands so that the Government DDoS attacks would be futile. They responded. As of now there are over 1,300 clones up and running and growing every hour. The Government DDoS attack have failed. WikiLeaks is still accessible to anybody who wants - and they have a choice of over 1,300 places to access WikiLeaks.
Something wonderful happened again. The little people decided it was not fair that the commercial companies had betrayed them. They decided to act. Just like DDoS attacks had been launched against WikiLeaks, the little people launched DDoS attacks against PayPal. Mastercard was taken offline for a day. VISA was down for hours. EasyDNS.net enjoyed only sporadic access to the internet. The Swedish government website was taken down due to the attacks. Next in line are Twitter, who are currently suppressing the #wikileaks tag from appearing in its trending topics and who have banned the account of #anon_operation - the little people that were involved in keeping twitterers updated on 'Operation Payback.'
The government is stunned. What they thought as being smart - the taking down of WikiLeaks and finally grabbing control of the internet - has provoked a backlash from the ordinary punter who have taken the route of a Governments worst nightmare. They have self organised, loose collections of people that voluntary offer bandwidth and their computers in support of the 'payback operation.' The little people, instead of sitting down and being quiet, have given the proverbial middle finger to the Government and the companies that acted with gross unfairness.
What you are witnessing is the beginnings of a war. A war over the freedom of the internet. On the one hand you have the Government. They want to tell you what sites you can access, what you can read, they want to monitor you to make sure you are doing nothing that displeases them. You'll know you are on their side if you agree that WikiLeaks should have been taken down by the Government. On the other side, are the people that want to retain the privacy and freedom currently afforded by the internet, without the sinister big-brother eye glaring down upon their every typed word.
Today it's WikiLeaks. Tomorrow, it a complete record of everything you've done online stored for five years and anything the government deems against its interests, taken off-line.
So what can little old you do? You can spread the word. Make sure everybody knows about the undemocratic actions of the companies listed. Contact EasyDNS.net, Paypal, VISA, Mastercard, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook and let them know what you think of their actions. There is only one thing more they fear than the government - YOU. YOU are their business, their lifeblood. YOU are how they make money.
If you have a blog or website, repost this article. We're giving you permission right here, right now to repost it. Or write your own. Everyone needs to get involved in spreading the word. The little people don't expect to win this battle, but there is always the next one.
You can do more though. If you have a server, consider hosting a mirror of WikiLeaks. The more people do it, the more we've won. You can find instructions here. http://213.251.145.96/mass-mirror.html
Reblogged from: http://tzunder.livejournal.com/ who may have reblogged from elsewhere...
If you want to see what the fuss is about, follow the IP address link in the menu. Read the real material, not what the spin doctors want you to believe.
Something wonderful happened. The little people recognised that their freedom was being stamped on by the governments. They grew angry. The Governments had blocked every method of donating to WikiLeaks. WikiLeaks pleaded with them to clone its site, to reproduce it in the thousands so that the Government DDoS attacks would be futile. They responded. As of now there are over 1,300 clones up and running and growing every hour. The Government DDoS attack have failed. WikiLeaks is still accessible to anybody who wants - and they have a choice of over 1,300 places to access WikiLeaks.
Something wonderful happened again. The little people decided it was not fair that the commercial companies had betrayed them. They decided to act. Just like DDoS attacks had been launched against WikiLeaks, the little people launched DDoS attacks against PayPal. Mastercard was taken offline for a day. VISA was down for hours. EasyDNS.net enjoyed only sporadic access to the internet. The Swedish government website was taken down due to the attacks. Next in line are Twitter, who are currently suppressing the #wikileaks tag from appearing in its trending topics and who have banned the account of #anon_operation - the little people that were involved in keeping twitterers updated on 'Operation Payback.'
The government is stunned. What they thought as being smart - the taking down of WikiLeaks and finally grabbing control of the internet - has provoked a backlash from the ordinary punter who have taken the route of a Governments worst nightmare. They have self organised, loose collections of people that voluntary offer bandwidth and their computers in support of the 'payback operation.' The little people, instead of sitting down and being quiet, have given the proverbial middle finger to the Government and the companies that acted with gross unfairness.
What you are witnessing is the beginnings of a war. A war over the freedom of the internet. On the one hand you have the Government. They want to tell you what sites you can access, what you can read, they want to monitor you to make sure you are doing nothing that displeases them. You'll know you are on their side if you agree that WikiLeaks should have been taken down by the Government. On the other side, are the people that want to retain the privacy and freedom currently afforded by the internet, without the sinister big-brother eye glaring down upon their every typed word.
Today it's WikiLeaks. Tomorrow, it a complete record of everything you've done online stored for five years and anything the government deems against its interests, taken off-line.
So what can little old you do? You can spread the word. Make sure everybody knows about the undemocratic actions of the companies listed. Contact EasyDNS.net, Paypal, VISA, Mastercard, Amazon, Twitter, Facebook and let them know what you think of their actions. There is only one thing more they fear than the government - YOU. YOU are their business, their lifeblood. YOU are how they make money.
If you have a blog or website, repost this article. We're giving you permission right here, right now to repost it. Or write your own. Everyone needs to get involved in spreading the word. The little people don't expect to win this battle, but there is always the next one.
You can do more though. If you have a server, consider hosting a mirror of WikiLeaks. The more people do it, the more we've won. You can find instructions here. http://213.251.145.96/mass-mirror.html
Reblogged from: http://tzunder.livejournal.com/ who may have reblogged from elsewhere...
If you want to see what the fuss is about, follow the IP address link in the menu. Read the real material, not what the spin doctors want you to believe.