Anonymous speaks up

The plot thickens in the Anonymous/WikiLeaks break up. Yesterday I wrote a piece on the falling out between WikiLeaks and Anonymous at the end of which I asked Anonymous or WikiLeaks to contact me, my readers have asked to let them know if I hear from them, which I have, so here is the follow up.

I am still waiting for an answer from Hrafnsson and WikiLeaks and quite frankly I am a little concerned. However Anonymous was kind enough to answer within hours after the publication of my article with no attempts by me at finding them. They found me themselves in a very impressive and prompt manner.

My contact with them was very cordial and the members I communicated with were very polite and well-mannered. To begin with they were kind enough to point out to me that their position was made clear in their official press release on the WikiLeaks paywall matter, which anyone interested in the matter should take a few minutes to read. The press release details some of the activities that the group took to defend WikiLeaks and Julian Assange and the level of sacrifice that they have shown pales in comparison to a request to get rid of a paywall.

Their actions against MasterCard Visa and Paypal in support of WikiLeaks ended with 14 members all facing 15 year sentences, Jeremy Hammond who provided the Stratfor Global Intelligence files in prison facing 20 years, Bradley Manning facing life and the list goes on.

Anonymous has taken issue with the fact that not a single member of WikiLeaks has been prosecuted except for Assange whom they referred to as the besieged leader. The problem with the paywall is that the information was supposed to be provided to the people, you and me, for free and they say the paywall is an attempt to “sell” the information.

Anonymous is also upset that the focus has been taken away from the “leaks” and is now only on Assange and WikiLeaks. In their statement they say, “We will NOT attack the web assets of WikiLeaks, as they are media. We do not attack media. Any future attack on the WikiLeaks servers attributed to Anonymous is a lie. But what we will do is cease from this day all support of any kind for WikiLeaks or Julian Assange. No longer will Anonymous risk prison to defend WikiLeaks or Julian Assange from their enemies. No longer will Anonymous risk prison to supply material for WikiLeaks disclosures. Anonymous turns it's back on WikiLeaks.”

Anonymous also promises to release secret files about WikiLeaks in the next few days. We will wait and see what those are.

In one of my contacts with Anonymous one of the Hacktivists said, and I quote: “Anonymous isn't a centralized entity, so any statement saying ‘Anonymous does/does not support X’ is utterly without meaning. …some people who claim to be spokespeople for Anonymous say they no longer support Wikileaks. This implies a fundamental misunderstanding of what Anonymous is.”

Anonymous did fill me in on Project Mayhem 2012 which will go ahead without WikiLeaks. One of the main aspects of the project which is designed to expose corruption malfeasance and counter internet censorship is called TYLER, which is to go out of beta testing mode on November the 5th (Guy Fawkes Day) and go live on December 21, 2012 (End of Mayan calendar and some say end of the world day).

TYLER will be like WikiLeaks on steroids according to Anonymous. The structure of the system will be massive, encrypted and completely decentralized. Its structure will also be impregnable to censorship and it will not require the massive funds WikiLeaks has needed to operate. They claim it will require no money.

TYLER is just a small part of Project Mayhem and is in response to the United States government and its Cybersecurity Act of 2012. Anonymous said that before December 21st, “all insiders, moles, and whistleblowers worldwide will release an unprecedented amount of corporate, financial, military and state leaks onto TYLER."

Finally Anonymous reminded me that they are not represented by single entity and never will be. “The power of Anonymous comes from the Hivemind not any individual. Whover states the contrary is trying to use the name of Anonymous for a personal agenda, whatever that might be or trying to misinform the public.

Unfortunately for WikiLeaks and Julian Assange the launching of TYLER and the loss of their most powerful supporter and largest source may spell their demise. I was hoping this wasn’t true but it really looks like there will be no kissing and making up this time.

Thanks to Anonymous for taking the time to contact me and fill me in on the developments, I am still waiting for a response from WikiLeaks and would love to hear their side on this. Will keep you all informed, lot’s of things on the back burner.

Any opinions or views expressed herein are those of the author. He can be reached at robles@ruvr.ru.

Update:  I was contacted by Anonymous due to the fact that I did not make it clear enough that: I quote "a) There is no official Anonymous position on Wikileaks b) TYLER will be out in order to circumvent the problems wikileaks pose namely: having a herarchy and therefore a head to attack c) conversely Anonymous does not have a head to attack and if anyone states to be the leader or talk for Anonymous then they're fundamentaly misunderstanding what Anonymous is (in most cases willingly) which means infiltration."