Technology

Operation Payback is now taking aim at Visa and Mastercard, in retaliation for these providers’ withdrawal of Wikileaks website’s capability to accept donations through their services.  Latest rumours suggest they may have succeeded in bringing down the “Verified by Visa” e-commerce service; this will have had a serious impact on peoples’ ability to carry out transactions online.

I’m strongly subscribed to the digital activist, “information wants to be free”, open standards & open source position; none the less, while Operation Payback may have an impact in the short term, I’m concerned about its long term effects.  We’ve heard lots of hype about “infowar” or “cyberwar”; I fear this could be the start of an Internet conflict escalation.

Although obviously DDOS attacks have been around for a long time, they have tended to be shady affairs, coordinated through hackers’ semi-private forums and squarely in the “black-hat” camp.  Payback is different; it is public – until they were recently shut down, they had both Facebook pages and Twitter accounts.  It’s easy – even complete computer novices can join in the attacks.

We’re also into new territory as the attack’s targets are corporations at the very heart of the global financial system… with the power to influence legislation through various governments around the world.  Don’t get me wrong, I don’t believe in the more tinfoil-hat conspiracy theories – but there’s no doubt that as things stand, separation of government and big business isn’t what it should be.  The lobbying power of the IP industries has already led to some highly questionable laws – the DMCA in the USA, the Digital Economy Act in the UK, and the troubling ACTA treaty.

If the financial industry are given a reason to get involved in the Internet freedom debate, they can potentially bring far greater lobbying power to bear.  This is a frightening prospect for the future of our Internet, and risks ever more restrictive laws, invasion of privacy, and limitations on individual freedom.

So what should those who support Wikileaks do?  Nothing?

No.  I believe there is a case for action, and whilst I certainly would not take part in Payback myself, I can’t entirely condemn those who do.  However, I think those coordinating the attacks need to be very careful to make their point, and then to back away.  Meanwhile, everybody who cares about these issues should take every legal, democratic action open to them to put their point of view forward.

It might seem a bit old fashioned, but, you know – writing to elected representatives, organising petitions, even coming together for protests in person – all of these have an effect.  Most importantly, these activities legitimise the process.  It’s not a bunch of criminals vandalising virtual banks; it’s a group of citizens concerned that corporations and governments are not fit to operate in the Internet age.

I am convinced that, ultimately, freedom of information and transparency will win out – but for the moment, governments and large businesses are terrified about what this means for them; hence their default stance of opposition.  Actions to raise awareness of specific issues will always have a place, just as in the real world, civil disobedience is sometimes necessary.  However, these need to be the last resort.  Above all, they need to form a coherent part of a long-term strategy, not just for the Internet but also to transform the way our societies are governed.