Re: Jam Echelon Day [OCTOBER 21] - The Disinformation Has Begun

[James Glave <james@wired.com>]

[: hacktivism :]

The article was in error concerning hte date and has been corrected -- the
corrections will be live shortly. We regret the error.

James Glave
WIred News


At 04:56 PM 10/06/1999 -0400, Robert Kemp wrote:
>[: hacktivism :]
>
>
>
>
>----Original Message Follows----
>From: "John Doe" <wethemonitored@hotmail.com>
>
>
>PLEASE DISTRIBUTE WIDELY!!!
>
>Jam Echelon Day [OCTOBER 21] - The Disinformation Has Begun
>----------------------------------------------------------------------
>
>
>It has come to our attention that a group known as the American Justice 
>Federation has suddenly decided to sponsor an event of the same name as the 
>alert sent out last week, namely Jam Echelon Day.
>
>We would like to let it be known that the original initiators of this global 
>day of action have never corresponded with or heard from, in any manner, 
>this organization.  We take exception to the group's attempted sabotage of 
>the event which they hope to accomplish by going global, via Wired News, 
>with the date of Otober 18, instead of October 21.
>
>October 21 was carefully chosen as a date for the staging of the event to 
>preceed Stop Police Brutality Day.  Given the fact that Jam Echelon Day WILL 
>TAKE PLACE ON OCTOBER 21, we will make what would otherwise be merely an 
>exercise in futility into an event that should produce tangible results, 
>i.e. making it easier for groups to coordinate actions for Stop Police 
>Brutality Day - by sending the snoops a-huntin' for phantom subversives with 
>revolution-oriented keywords.
>
>The founder of the American Justice Federation is one Linda Thompson, the 
>famous[or infamous] producer of the corruption expose entitled Waco: The Big 
>Lie.  Though it would be easy to assume that as such, she would be sort of 
>an icon in the patriot and militia movements [not just based on that but 
>based on her supposed views - search under "Linda Thompson"+militias], she 
>has repeatedly drawn harsh criticisms from such groups.  Why?  Is it because 
>of irresponsible and detrimental actions such as the media release that her 
>group, the American Justice Federation, just unleashed?
>
>The American Justice Federation, Linda Thompson included, ought to leave 
>well enough alone.  The people have already had enough of organized 
>take-overs of grass roots movements.
>
>AJF, Linda Thompson this is for you:
>
>BACK OFF!
>
>
>from
>WE THE MONITORED.
>
>======================================================================
>
>
>GLOBAL JAM ECHELON DAY: OCTOBER 21, 1999.
>
>TO FACILITATE ONLINE PRIVACY AND THE RIGHTS OF ACTIVISTS, BE SURE TO SEND 
>OUT AN EMAIL CONTAINING SUBVERSIVE WORDS.  THIS WILL CONFUSE ECHELON'S 
>MONITORING SYSTEM BY SENDING IT OFF ON WILD GOOSE CHASES JUST IN TIME FOR 
>ONLINE ACTIVISTS TO COORDINATE "STOP POLICE BRUTALITY DAY" WITH, PERHAPS, A 
>LITTLE MORE BREATHING SPACE THAN USUAL.  THIS ALERT IS BROUGHT TO YOU BY THE 
>MONITORED.
>======================================================================
>
>
>The media release in question is below:
>
>from Wired News
>
>Hackers Ascend Upper 'Echelon'
>by James Glave
>
>3:00 a.m. 6.Oct.99.PDT
>Mossad. Bomb. Davidian. M15.
>If the hunch of a loose-knit group of cyber-activists is correct, the above 
>words will trip the keyword recognition filter on a global spy system partly 

>managed by the US National Security Agency.
>
>The near-mythical worldwide computer spy network reportedly scans all email, 
>packet traffic, telephone conversations -- and more -- around the world, in 
>an effort to ferret out potential terrorist or enemy communications.
>
>
>Once plucked from the electronic cloud, certain keywords allegedly trigger a 
>recording of the conversation or email in question.
>
>Privacy activists have used the words in their signature files for years as 
>a running schtick, but on 18 October, the American Justice Federation hopes 
>to trip up Echelon on a much wider scale.
>
>"What is [Echelon] good for?" asked Linda Thompson, a constitutional rights 
>attorney and chairman of the American Justice Federation.
>"If you want to say we can catch criminals with it, it is insane that anyone 
>should be able to snoop on anyone's conversations."
>
>"Criminals ought to be caught after they commit a crime -- but police are 
>not here to invade all our privacy to catch that two percent [of criminal 
>communications]," she said.
>
>On 18 April, Thompson, along with Doug McIntosh, a reporter for the 
>federation's news service, and members of the hacktivism mailing list 
>community, invite anyone concerned about the system to append a list of 
>intriguing words to their emails.
>
>Specifically, they suggest the following keywords:
>FBI CIA NSA IRS ATF BATF DOD WACO RUBY RIDGE OKC OKLAHOMA CITY MILITIA GUN 
>HANDGUN MILGOV ASSAULT RIFLE TERRORISM BOMB DRUG HORIUCHI KORESH DAVIDIAN 
>KAHL POSSE COMITATUS RANDY WEAVER VICKIE WEAVER SPECIAL FORCES LINDA 
>THOMPSON SPECIAL OPERATIONS GROUP SOG SOF DELTA FORCE CONSTITUTION BILL OF 
>RIGHTS WHITEWATER POM PARK ON METER ARKANSIDE IRAN CONTRAS OLIVER NORTH 
>VINCE FOSTER PROMIS MOSSAD NASA MI5 ONI CID AK47 M16 C4 MALCOLM X REVOLUTION 
>CHEROKEE HILLARY BILL CLINTON GORE GEORGE BUSH WACKENHUT TERRORIST TASK 
>FORCE 160 SPECIAL OPS 12TH GROUP 5TH GROUP SF
>
>The campaign has spread around the Net and has been translated into German. 
>Organizers hope "gag Echelon day" catches on on a global scale as a means of 
>raising awareness of the system.
>
>Neither the NSA, nor its UK equivalent -- the Government Communications 
>Headquarters -- has admitted that the system exists, although its 
>capabilities have been debated in the European Parliament.
>
>Australia's Defense Signals Directorate, an agency allegedly involved in 
>Echelon, recently admitted the existence of UKUSA, the agreement between 
>five national communications agencies that reportedly governs the system.
>
>Last fall, the Washington-based civil liberties group Free Congress 
>Foundation sent a detailed report on the system to Congress, but the system 
>was not debated.
>
>The latest effort hopes to further boost public awareness of the system.
>
>"Most people are angry about it," said Thompson. "When you find out it is 
>not some science fiction movie, most people will be outraged."
>
>But an Australian member of the activist community hopes that "jam Echelon 
>day" will be about public awareness of technologies of political control, 
>not about generating paranoia.

>
>"Public awareness should empower -- not scare people aware from using the 
>Net," the activist, who identified himself only as Sam, said.
>
>
>
>
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>In accordance with Title 17 U.S.C. section 107, this
>material is distributed without charge or profit to those
>who have expressed a prior interest in receiving this type
>of information for non-profit research and educational
>purposes only.
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>
>http://www.angelfire.com/mi/smilinks/thirdeye.html
>
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>
>"To be truly radical, one must make hope
>possible, rather than despair convincing."
>- Raymond Williams
>
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James Glave, Wired News http://www.wired.com  +1 (415) 276-8430

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