Cypherpunks: Freedom and the Future of the Internet
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72. “Proposed US ACTA plurilateral intellectual property trade agreement (2007),” WikiLeaks, May 22, 2008: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Proposed_US_ACTA_multi-lateral_intellectual_property_trade_agreement_%282007%29 (accessed October 21, 2012).
73. “Massive Takedown of Anti-Scientology Videos on YouTube,” Electronic Frontier Foundation, September 5, 2008: https://www.eff.org/deeplinks/2008/09/massive-takedown-anti-scientology-videos-youtube (accessed October 16, 2012).
74. “EU-India Free Trade Agreement draft, 24 Feb 2009,” WikiLeaks, June 23, 2009: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/EU-India_Free_Trade_Agreement_draft,_24_Feb_2009 (accessed October 21, 2012).
75. Peer-to-peer, or P2P, refers to a network in which each computer can act as a client or a server for all the others (each computer can both give and receive information), allowing for the rapid sharing of content such as music, videos, documents or any kind of digital information.
76. Cloud computing refers to a situation where many of the functions traditionally performed by a computer, such as storing data (including user data for various applications), hosting and running software, and providing the processing power to run the software, is done remotely, outside of the computer itself, “in the cloud”—generally by companies offering cloud computing services via the internet. Rather than needing a full personal computer anymore, all the user needs is a device that can access the internet, and the rest is served to the user over the internet. The metaphor “in the cloud” obscures the fact that all the user’s data and metadata are actually on a remote computer somewhere in a data center, most likely controlled by a big company such as Amazon, and while users no longer have complete control over it, someone else does.
77. See the “Note on the various attempts to persecute WikiLeaks and people associated with it” preceding the discussion.
78. DIASPORA is a social network that allows each user to act as their own server by installing the DIASPORA software, enabling them to retain control of their own data. It was created as a privacy-compliant alternative to Facebook. It is non-profit and user-owned: http://diasporaproject.org
79. The original Napster (1999-2001) was a pioneering peer-to-peer service for sharing music. It was enormously popular but was soon shut down by legal action over copyright infringement from the Recording Industry Association of America. After bankruptcy the name Napster was bought and used for a separate online store selling music for money.
80. See the “Note on the various attempts to persecute WikiLeaks and people associated with it” preceding the discussion.
81. Benjamin Bayart is president of the French Data Network, the oldest active ISP in France, and an advocate of net neutrality and free software. See his Wikipedia entry (in French): http://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/Benjamin_Bayart (accessed October 15, 2012).
82. Larry Lessig is an American academic and activist best known for his views on copyright and free culture. He blogs at: http://lessig.tumblr.com (accessed October 15, 2012).
83. There is plenty of fascinating content in the US diplomatic cables released by WikiLeaks on this issue. For some interesting discussion, consult the following cables (by cable reference ID, links all accessed October 24, 2012):
07BEIRUT1301: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2007/08/07BEIRUT1301.html
08BEIRUT490: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/04/08BEIRUT490.html
08BEIRUT505: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/04/08BEIRUT505.html
08BEIRUT523: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/04/08BEIRUT523.html
84. See cable reference ID 10MOSCOW228, WikiLeaks: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2010/02/10MOSCOW228.html (accessed October 24, 2012).
85. For more on the due-process-free killing of American citizens Anwar al-Awlaki and his son Abdulrahman al-Awlaki see Glenn Greenwald, “The due-process-free assassination of U.S. citizens is now reality,” Salon, September 30, 2011: http://www.salon.com/2011/09/30/awlaki_6. And “The killing of Awlaki’s 16-year-old son,” Salon, October 20, 2011: http://www.salon.com/2011/10/20/the_killing_of_awlakis_16_year_old_son.
“It is literally impossible to imagine a more violent repudiation of the basic blueprint of the republic than the development of a secretive, totally unaccountable executive branch agency that simultaneously collects information about all citizens and then applies a “disposition matrix” to determine what punishment should be meted out. This is classic political dystopia brought to reality”—Glenn Greenwald, “Obama moves to make the War on Terror permanent,” Guardian, October 24, 2012: http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/2012/oct/24/obama-terrorism-kill-list (all links accessed October 24, 2012).
86. For further information please consult The Anonymity Bibliography, Selected Papers in Anonymity, curated by Roger Dingledine and Nick Mathewson: http://freehaven.net/anonbib (accessed October 24, 2012).
Chaumian currencies are centrally issued, but use cryptography to ensure anonymous transactions. Chaumian currencies contrast with Bitcoin, another electronic currency discussed extensively below, where all transactions are public but the currency has no central authority.
87. For more on the banking blockade of WikiLeaks see the “Note on the various attempts to persecute WikiLeaks and people associated with it” preceding the discussion.
88. Julian is here referring to UK government plans to increase the use of electronic tags. See, “Over 100,000 offenders to be electronically tagged,” Guardian, March 25, 2012: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/mar/25/prisons-and-probation-criminal-justice (accessed October 22, 2012).
At the time of the discussion Julian was under house arrest pending the outcome of his extradition case. After his solitary confinement without charge in December 2010, Julian’s detention was converted to house arrest after providing bail moneys of over £300,000. As a condition of his bail he was confined to a specified address between certain hours, and this regime was enforced by an electronic tag fixed to his ankle, operated by a private security firm on contract to the UK government. Julian’s movements were controlled to the extent that he was compelled to check in with the police daily, by a particular time, for over 550 days. At the time of publication, Julian is confined to the Ecuadorian embassy in London, which is surrounded at all times by the London Metropolitan Police. In June 2012 Julian entered the embassy seeking political asylum from persecution by the United States government and its allies. He received asylum in August 2012.
89. “Is CCA Trying to Take Over the World?” American Civil Liberties Union, February 21, 2012: http://www.aclu.org/blog/prisoners-rights/cca-trying-take-over-world.
“Passing House Bill will worsen already pressing civil rights issue,” ANNARBOR.com, August 2, 2012: http://annarbor.com/news/opinion/passing-house-bill-will-worsen-already-pressing-civil-rights-issue.
See also “Goldman Sachs to invest $9.6m in New York inmate rehabilitation,” Guardian, August 2, 2012: http://www.guardian.co.uk/society/2012/aug/02/goldman-sachs-invest-new-york-jail (all links accessed October 24, 2012).
90. Bitcoin (http://bitcoin.org) is the first truly successful implementation of a classic cypherpunk concept: the cryptographic digital currency. Bitcoin is discussed extensively below, but an excellent introductory explanation on the technology and philosophy behind it can be found in, “Understanding Bitcoin,” Al Jazeera, June 9, 2012: http://www.aljazeera.com/indepth/opinion/2012/05/20125309437931677.html (accessed October 22, 2012).
91. e-gold was a digital currency and business started in 1996. The owners and proprietors were indicted by the US Department of Justice for “conspiracy to engage in money laundering.” They pleaded guilty, and were given sentences of probation, home detention and community services. The sentencing judge claimed they deserved lenient sentences because they had not intended to engage in illegal activity. See, “Bullion and Bandits: The Improbable Rise and Fall of E-Gold,” Wired, June 9, 2009: http://www.wired.com/threatlevel/2009/06/e-gold (accessed October 22, 2012).
92. Before the Internet, the X.25 network was the major global network for
data exchange existing in parallel to the telephone network. The billing on X.25 was based on the amount of data sent and received, not on the length of a connection as with the telephone network. Gateways (so called PADs) allowed connection to the X.25 network from the telephone network with modems or acoustic couplers. For more details see Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/X.25 (accessed October 24, 2012).
93. David Chaum is a cryptographer and inventor of cryptographic protocols. He is a pioneer of digital currency technologies and introduced eCash, one of the first anonymous cryptographic electronic currencies.
94. On the effect of the negative press see, “Bitcoin implodes, falls more than 90 percent from June peak,” arstechnica, October 18, 2011: http://arstechnica.com/tech-policy/2011/10/bitcoin-implodes-down-more-than-90-percent-from-june-peak (accessed October 22, 2012).
95. See, for example, “The Underground Website Where You Can Buy Any Drug Imaginable,” Gawker, June 1, 2011: http://gawker.com/5805928/the-underground-website-where-you-can-buy-any-drug-imaginable (accessed October 22, 2012).
96. Lawrence Lessig’s early work on copyright and culture (for example in his book Free Culture (2004)) has been supplanted in recent years by an interest in the corruption of American democracy through congressional lobbying. See The Lessig Wiki: http://wiki.lessig.org
97. The California Correctional Peace Officers Association is an influential special interest group in California that routinely donates seven-figure totals in state elections, although it is not, year for year, the single largest campaign donor. See “California reelin,” The Economist, March 17, 2011: http://www.economist.com/node/18359882. And “The Golden State’s Iron Bars,” Reason, July 2011: http://reason.com/archives/2011/06/23/the-golden-states-iron-bars. See also the California Correctional Peace Officers Association entry on the Follow The Money website of the National Institute for Money in State Politics: http://www.followthemoney.org/database/topcontributor.phtml?u=3286&y=0 (all links accessed October 22, 2012).
98. Heinz von Foerster (1911-2002) was an Austrian-American scientist and an architect of cybernetics. His so-called “ethical imperative” or common motto is: “Act always so as to increase the number of choices,” or in German, “Handle stets so, daß die Anzahl der Wahlmöglichkeiten größer wird.”
99. Jacob attributes this observation to John Gilmore.
100. For more on the harassment of Jacob and other people associated with WikiLeaks see the “Note on the various attempts to persecute WikiLeaks and people associated with it” preceding the discussion.
101. Isaac Mao is a Chinese blogger, software architect and venture capitalist. He is a co-founder of CNBlog.org and board member to the Tor Project.
102. See the WikiLeaks page on Nadhmi Auchi: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Nadhmi_Auchi (accessed October 24, 2012).
103. The stories can be found at WikiLeaks here: http://wikileaks.org/wiki/Eight_stories_on_Obama_linked_billionaire_Nadhmi_Auchi_censored_from_the_Guardian,_Observer,_Telegraph_and_New_Statesman (accessed October 24, 2012).
104. As a general note both http://cables.mrkva.eu/ and http://cablegatesearch.net provide excellent ways of comparing redacted versions of cables with full versions, in order to see what WikiLeaks’ media partners redacted.
105. “Qaddafi’s Son Is Bisexual and Other Things the New York Times Doesn’t Want You to Know,” Gawker, September 16, 2011: http://gawker.com/5840809/qaddafis-son-is-bisexual-and-other-things-the-new-york-times-doesnt-want-you-to-know-about.
The specific example cited refers to cable reference ID 06TRIPOLI198, WikiLeaks: https://wikileaks.org/cable/2006/05/06TRIPOLI198.html.
The redactions can be seen visually on the Cablegatesearch website which shows the revision history, with the redactions shaded in pink: http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=06TRIPOLI198&version=1291757400 (all links accessed October 22, 2012).
106. For the original cable see cable reference ID 10STATE17263, WikiLeaks: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2010/02/10STATE17263.html.
For the New York Times story see, “Iran Fortifies Its Arsenal With the Aid of North Korea,” New York Times, November 29, 2010: http://www.nytimes.com/2010/11/29/world/middleeast/29missiles.html?_r=0.
The same cable was also used by David Leigh of the Guardian for his story, “WikiLeaks cables expose Pakistan nuclear fears,” Guardian, November 30, 2010: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/nov/30/wikileaks-cables-pakistan-nuclear-fears. The redacted version of the cable published by the Guardian, without a cable reference number, reduced it to just two paragraphs relating to Pakistan. “US embassy cables: XXXXXXXXXXXX,” Guardian, November 30, 2010: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/250573.
The extent of the redaction can be seen visually on the Cablegatesearch website which shows the revision history, with the redaction of nearly the whole document shaded in pink: http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=10STATE17263&version=1291486260 (all links accessed October 22, 2012).
107. For the original cable see cable reference ID 08KYIV2414, WikiLeaks: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2008/12/08KYIV2414.html.
For the Guardian redacted version see, “US embassy cables: Gas supplies linked to Russian mafia,” December 1, 2010: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/182121?INTCMP=SRCH.
The redaction can be seen visually on the Cablegatesearch website which shows the revision history, with the redactions shaded in pink: http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=08KYIV2414&version=1291255260 (all links accessed October 22, 2012).
108. For the original cable see cable reference ID 10ASTANA72, WikiLeaks: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2010/01/10ASTANA72.html.
For the Guardian redacted version see, “US embassy cables: Kazakhstan - the big four,” Guardian, November 29, 2010: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/245167?INTCMP=SRCH.
The redaction can be seen visually on the Cablegatesearch website which shows the revision history, with the redactions shaded in pink: http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=10ASTANA72&version=1291113360 (all links accessed October 22, 2012).
109. See, for example, cable reference ID 09TRIPOLI413 about Western energy companies operating in Libya. The visual representation on the Cablegatesearch website, with the Guardian’s redactions shaded in pink, shows that the Guardian removed all references to the names of energy companies and their executives, except for references to Russian energy company Gazprom. Even though some of the content is somewhat mitigating for the Western companies, the redactions are elaborate, and the redacted version gives quite a different picture: http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09TRIPOLI413&version=1296509820 (accessed October 22, 2012).
110. In this example the original cable contained 5,226 words. The redacted version published by the Guardian had only 1,406 words.
For the original cable see cable reference ID 05SOFIA1207, WikiLeaks: http://wikileaks.org/cable/2005/07/05SOFIA1207.html.
For the Guardian redacted version see, “US embassy cables: Organised crime in Bulgaria,” December 1, 2010: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/us-embassy-cables-documents/36013.
For the Guardian news story based on the cable see, “WikiLeaks cables: Russian government “using mafia for its dirty work”,” Guardian, December 1, 2010: http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2010/dec/01/wikileaks-cable-spain-russian-mafia.
The extent of the redaction can be seen visually on the Cablegatesearch website which shows the revision history, with the redactions shaded in pink: http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=05SOFIA1207&version=1291757400.
This Bulgarian example is discussed by WikiLeaks’ Bulgarian media partner Bivol in, “Unedited cable from Sofia shows the total invasion of the state by organized crime (Update: Cable Comparison),” WL Central, March 18, 2011: http://wlcentral.org/node/1480. In addition see, “The Guardian: Redacting, censoring or lying?” WL Central, March 19, 2012: http://wlcentral.org/node/1490. Also of note below both WL Central stories is the comment from Guardian jou
rnalist David Leigh and the responses (all links accessed October 22, 2012).
111. This refers to cable reference ID 09BERLIN1108. The redactions can be seen visually on the Cablegatesearch website which shows the revision history, with the redactions shaded in pink: http://www.cablegatesearch.net/cable.php?id=09BERLIN1108&version=1291380660 (accessed October 22, 2012).
112. For more examples, see the cabledrum website: www.cabledrum.net/pages/censorship.php
113. “Interception of telecommunications. The Presidency provided information on the state of play... It recalled the negative press that this issue has received in the media... Against this background, the Presidency thus recognized that progress in this matter is being very slow... Several delegations expressed some caution as regards the preparation of a press release, noting that this could provoke a chain reaction and further negative press in the media. The Commission, whilst noting that its position has not changed, informed delegations that a possible way to break the deadlock could be following a similar strategy as that followed in tackling the issue of child pornography in the Internet. Although acknowledging that this was a different topic it also has an interception dimension”—European Commission, Police Co-operation Working Group meeting on interception of telecommunications, October 13-14, 1999. Full document at: http://www.quintessenz.at/doqs/000100002292/1999_10_13,Police%20Cooperation%20Working%20Group%20mixed%20committee%20meeting.pdf (accessed October 24, 2012).
114. See the “Note on the various attempts to persecute WikiLeaks and people associated with it” preceding the discussion.
115. Jacob is referring to Gilmore v. Gonzales, 435 F.3d 1125 (9th Cir. 2006). John Gilmore, an original cypherpunk, took a case as far as the US Supreme Court to disclose the contents of a secret law—a Security Directive—restricting citizens’ rights to travel on an airplane without identification. Besides challenging the constitutionality of such a provision, Gilmore was challenging the fact that the provision itself was secret and could not be disclosed, even though it has binding effects on US citizens. The court consulted the Security Directive in camera, and ruled against Gilmore on the Directive’s constitutionality. The contents of the law were, however, never disclosed during the course of the proceedings. See Gilmore v Gonzales at PapersPlease.org: http://papersplease.org/gilmore/facts.html (accessed October 22, 2012).