WikiLeaks Hackers Inadvertently Hurting Themselves and Others

I correctly predicted that the mayhem caused by hackers supporting WikiLeaks could result into possible regulation of the Internet, which would also be an assault on free speech. It is now being reported by ITNews that the UN is considering setting up an inter-governmental working group that would regulate the Internet. India, South Africa, China and Saudi Arabia appeared to favour a new possible over-arching inter-government body, however, Australia, US, UK, Belgium and Canada still have reservations. The entire article is here.(pop-up)

Newscast Media -- While WikiLeaks may be justified in retaliating against corporations that have frozen their funds or denied them service, their attacks on private citizens is a counter-productive measure that only re-ignites the debate as to whether the Internet should be regulated. It is reported that both Sarah Palin and Joe Lieberman's Web sites came under attack on Wednesday, and Lieberman looks at this as a self-fulfilling prophesy.

The idea of regulating the Internet was floated around by Senator Jay Rockefeller with Lieberman who eventually sponsored a bill called Protecting Cyberspace as a National Asset Act of 2010 (S. 3480). The bill passed, but originally concerns were raised about the language that gave the president the power to "authorize emergency measures to protect the nation's most critical infrastructure if a cyber vulnerability is being exploited or is about to be exploited."

Web users interpreted that as giving the president an "Internet kill switch" that would effectively allow him to "turn off" the Web if credible danger were imminent. The sponsors of the bill amended and played a little bit with the semantics, and took it back to the president's desk, which then got his signature.

However, there is inside strife going on within members of WikiLeaks who are now dumping Assange and starting their own site called Openleaks. The reason behind this is that Assange has been accused of acting like some sort of an emperor or slave trader.

One of the defectors behind Openleaks is Daniel Domschelt-Berg, who quit Wikileaks after Assange released Iraq War documents without thoroughly redacting names. He told Assange in an online chat obtained by Wired:

"You are not anyone�s king or god," wrote Domscheit-Berg in the chat. "And you are not even fulfilling your role as a leader right now. A leader communicates and cultivates trust in himself. You are doing the exact opposite. You behave like some kind of emperor or slave trader."

"You are suspended for one month, effective immediately," Assange shot back. "If you wish to appeal, you will be heard on Tuesday."

The new site, Openleaks, has been in development for awhile and will launch on Monday. Defectors said the new site will be less political: "Our long term goal is to build a strong, transparent platform to support whistleblowers--both in terms of technology and politics--while at the same time encouraging others to start similar projects. As a short-term goal, this is about completing the technical infrastructure and ensuring that the organization continues to be democratically governed by all its members, rather than limited to one group or individual."

With the recent attack on Lieberman's account, he can now say, "See, I told you that the Internet ought to be regulated so that acts like this don't happen." Politicians in Washington can now use the attacks propagated by the group Anonymous, to cleverly craft a bill that restricts or regulates Internet usage. They could even require ISPs to forward the databases of their users into a government-owned centralized database, where all our actions and keystrokes are monitored in real time. Right now you can surf anonymously using certain filters or software, but should the government decide to control the flow of information, every individual who logs onto the Internet would first have to "check in" with the government, and when they log off, they'd be checking out.

This is not far-fetched, just last year in June 2009, the government required ALL broadcasts to aired digitally even though analogue signals were just fine. TV makers prior to that started selling digital TVs telling customers that the government has mandated they switch to digital. I personally was in a television studio providing tech-support, as I helped customers make the digital switch, and saw how cumbersome the process was. Do you not think the government could do the same to Internet Service Providers just like they did to TV broadcasters?

They are already doing it with electronics manufacturers, saying if you build a fridge or freezer that is "energy efficient" you'll get a reward coupon. I live five minutes away from a Best Buy and all their equipment is energy efficient. One of these days it will be required for consumers to only purchase such equipment that is approved by the government. They cannot yet do that to the auto industry because the Saudis have a big hand in the oil business, and the Saudis always get what the Saudis want.

So Assange's supporters are only expediting the process of the US government regulating the Internet with their attacks on civilian accounts. It took one person to smuggle an explosive device in his underwear for the Feds to install the airport full-body scanners. Remember this picture of the underwear bomber?

All it will take is the continuation of WikiLeaks supporters hacking private citizens' accounts for the government to say, "We need to protect our citizens from the danger they face. We therefore require every ISP to develop a log-in protocol that forwards the logger's identity and personal information to our centralized database that is protected by an impenetrable firewall, so we can ensure that Web users are safe."

We all know that once you give the government an inch, they'll take a mile. For journalists or bloggers who write articles the government doesn't like, all they have to do is deny access to you, until you either remove or amend the material you posted that paints an unflattering picture about the government.

It would be easy for them to duplicate the credit system. For instance, if you have a derogatory item on your credit, the banks tell you to first remove that item before they can do business with you. Once you clean up your credit, it raises your beacon score, and you're back again in business. Likewise, we could all be assigned an "Internet score" the higher the score, the more access you have. This is simply a possibility. If you read this and feel I am over-extrapolating, then I'm willing to be advised. Add Comments>>

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