Alec Empire at Atari Teenage Riot tells us the news that he supports the cause at Freeanons, and the story of how this came to be, on the ATR website. We are not going to try to improve on his words, but it is an incredible gesture, that we appreciate with all our hearts.

This past week, we received news that arrests had occurred in Greece. Additionally, there were Interpol coordinated arrests in Spain, Chile, Argentina, and Columbia, against Anonymous. Many of those arrested were juveniles.

In Turkey and Romania, we know that there are aggressive investigations proceeding against Anonymous who dare to confront their governments with evidence of their hypocrisy and corruption.

And in the U.K. and United States, the court trials against our brothers and sisters continue, unabated.

At Freeanons, we have united to stand against these investigations and prosecutions. Everyday, we return to do a little bit more. But today, in the midst of all the determination, fear, and obstacles, we received another kind message of support. To ATR, Alec Empire, our friend Homocarnula, and all the donors and supporters who managed, by whatever means necessary, to commit to us, Freeanons offers heartfelt thanks.

 

Frequently Asked Questions of FreeAnons Solidarity Network:

What is FreeAnons Solidarity Network (FSN)?

FSN is a group of people who have come together under the rubric of Anonymous,
in order to support comrades who have been arrested in their pursuit of
activities associated with Anonymous. We provide both moral and financial support to
the Anonymous members facing LE harassment and exposure. Also, we exist as an
information network to disseminate news and information about arrested
Anonymous, wherever they might be.

How is FSN organized, and why is it organized like that?

FSN is organized as a Florida C Corporation in the name Freeanons Solidarity,
Inc. It is incorporated in Florida because one of its supporters is a Florida
lawyer. It is a C corporation, rather than a 501(c)(3) non-profit, because the
process of becoming a non-profit is lengthy and expensive, and requires IRS
oversight.

Can I still make a non-profit donation?

FSN has contacted Media Island International about fiscal sponsorship, which
would allow us to be able to accept donations that are tax-deductible in the
United States. Please advise us if you would like to commit to this option.

How is the money collected?

Thus far, we have utilized www.wepay.com and bitcoins for donations. WePay
keeps a public tally of the money we have collected, here:
https://www.wepay.com/donations/173363. People may also send donations to the registered address of
FSN.

We maintain a bank account at Wells Fargo that is administered by the
corporation.

How is the money used?

The money has been collected to assist arrested Anonymous with any
prosecution-related expense, such as travel. Everybody’s legal expenses differ. For
instance, the some of the 14 PayPal defendants have court-appointed counsel, and some
are paying for their own lawyers. Some lawyers are doing the work pro-bono, or
at their own expense. But for each of the defendants, it is an extraordinary
burden to be prosecuted by the U.S. government, and some must travel long
distances in order to attend hearings.

We are intended to be a need-based service of last resort. In other words,
Anonymous members or their lawyers can apply to us if they truly feel they need
our assistance, and we will help if we have the funds to do so, and can reach
consensus on distribution.

If you wish to donate directed to any particular Anon, or their lawyer, you
should contact that lawyer directly for advice on how to do so.

Do you spend donations on anything else?

All services and fees connected with the Freeanons Solidarity, Inc. have been
donated, except for bank fees. We do not have any overhead, including website
costs or administration, hosting, legal, or any other other expenses, at this
time. However, if we continue to raise funds, we will need to retain a certified
accountant, or CPA, to administer funds, unless one volunteers.

This letter went to each of the lawyers for the Anonymous 14. It was identical cc.

From: freeanons@hushmail.com Add contact
To: paleeming@sbcglobal.net
Date: Thu, 27 Oct 2011 20:57:48 -0500
This message is not encrypted, and is digitally signed by “freeanons@hushmail.com” .
Dear Mr. Leeming:

Anonymous collective members have established a support fund in
connection with the prosecution of your client Dennis Collins, in
U.S. v. Collins, et al. The support network is in its initial
phases, and plans to coordinate funds for defendants’ legal and
travel expenses related to the case, and provide, if requested,
technical and theoretical feedback on discovery or evidentiary
issues that may arise. Also, we maintain the website
www.freeanons.org to disseminate news about the case.

Please advise us if your client has incurred any financial burden
related to the case, in order that we disperse funds to them, if
available, according to need. To accommodate donations, we have set
up FreeAnons Solidarity Network Inc., as a Florida corporation, and
we hope to offer a tax-deductible donation option through fiscal
sponsorship at Media Island International soon. We have received
some donations to date.

If I can answer any questions regarding our project, please do not
hesitate to contact me, below.

Very truly yours,
Nancy Norelli
Attorney-at-Law
Freeanons Solidarity Network
3370 Northeast 190th Street #1102
Aventura, Florida 33180
305.926.8245

By Hannibal.

Dennis Collins
Christopher Wayne Cooper
Joshua John Covelli
Keth Wilson Downey
Mercedes Renee Haefer
Donald Husband
Vincent Charles Kershaw
Ethan Miles
James C. Murphy
Drew Alan Phillips
Jefferey Puglisi
Daniel Sullivan
Tracy Ann Valenzuela
Christopher Quang Vo

Read that list of names. Now read it again. These are the people who are going to be brought before an American judge and have their fates determined by a jury of their American peers for using their American, constitutionally granted, and judicially defended right to free speech. At the present time, The United States of America has decided that it is  willing to prosecute these defendants on behalf of PayPal, a corporation that handles
financial transactions across state lines (in turn qualifying api.paypal.com as a Protected Computer under 18 U.S.C. § 1030) for an “attack” that took place against their servers. With this, the United States government, in conjunction with PayPal, has chosen a
few members of the Anonymous Legion to scapegoat, in the name of…law and order? Of course not. More likely to send a message to Anonymous and to any other would be digital activists.

The alleged crime is use of a traffic generation tool in order to disrupt service for PayPal, or in legal speak “to commit Intentional Damage to a Protected Computer.” While this particular charge being levied is laughable to anyone with a basic understanding of networking, the type of tool used, and an idea of what damage to a computer actually consists of, it is a felony charge and carries up to 15 years of jail time and up to a half a million dollar fine. Surprisingly, in the indictment itself, the Grand Jury acknowledges that the “attack” itself was a direct response to the actions taken by PayPal’s effort to, in the words of the community, economically strangle WikiLeaks. Even in this statement, it demonstrates that this response from Anonymous is most definitely a form of digital activism. So this begs the question, can this form of digital activism be considered protected speech? To understand protected speech we must first understand
that there has been an evolution of free speech, from flying red flags, to wearing black armbands. Texas v. Johnson, 491 U.S. 397 (1989) burns the brightest in recent history, pun intended.

Justice Brennan articulates how the First Amendment is always
evolving:

The First Amendment literally forbids the abridgment only of “speech,” but we have long recognized that its protection does not end at the spoken or written word. While we have rejected “the view that an apparently limitless variety of conduct can be labeled ‘speech’ whenever the person engaging in the conduct intends thereby to express an idea,” we have acknowledged that conduct may be “sufficiently imbued with elements of communication to fall
within the scope of the First and Fourteenth Amendments.”

In deciding whether particular conduct possesses sufficient
communicative elements to bring the First Amendment into play, we have asked whether “[a]n intent to convey a particularized message was present, and [whether] the likelihood was great that the message would be understood by those who viewed it.” Hence, we have recognized the expressive nature of students’ wearing of black
armbands to protest American military involvement in Vietnam, Tinker v. Des Moines Independent Community School Dist., 393 U.S. 503, 505 (1969); of a sit-in by blacks in a “whites only” area to protest segregation, Brown v. Louisiana, 383 U.S. 131, 141-142 (1966); and of the wearing of American military uniforms in a dramatic presentation criticizing American involvement in Vietnam, Schacht v. United States, 398 U.S. 58 (1970).

People everyday are called on by interest groups and President Obama to flood the switchboard at Congress, in order to be heard, to participate, to ensure that every person has a method of expressing themselves and their beliefs to their elected leaders without fear of repression by their government. When was the last time you heard of someone getting arrested for flooding the congressional switchboard?

In an age where we have all become nameless, and our main form of identification is a dotted quad and a handle, what does it mean to speak in the 21st century? What better form of communication than TCP/IP. The protocol itself was created to ensure messages are somewhat reliably transmitted around the nation, even during a nuclear strike. But are we limited to emails, forums, and blog posts? Or are our voices evolving into to something more? These defendants were not spreading malware, hacking servers, or even damaging the systems themselves. They simply were expressing an opinion as loudly as any protester in a park, signer of a petition, or our beloved congressional switchboard caller. While the speech that was used in this particular instance might be slightly different than the examples above, it just shows how speech on the internet is evolving and how right Justice Brennan was when describing this metamorphosis. These members of Anonymous clearly were making a statement and publicly shaming PayPal in front of their shareholders and the world on behalf of those of us who value the freedom of information.

This shaming message appears to have been heard loud and clear by PayPal while events were unfolding as well. PayPal itself has conceded there was no damage and minimal delays in service (https://www.thepaypalblog.com/2010/12/update-on-paypal-site-
status/) and while they refuse to admit Anonymous had anything to do with it, in the end they were convinced that they should release the funds to WikiLeaks https://www.thepaypalblog.com/2010/12/updated-statement-about-
wikileaks-from-paypal-general-counsel-john-muller/). Not only did PayPal and WikiLeaks hear them – we all did.

In more recent history, nearly unanimous Supreme Court decisions have determined that there is very little online that is not protected by free speech. So that leaves us only with “Damaging a Protected Computer System.” But the question is, why are these 14
activists being held and charged if no systems were actually damaged according to PayPal themselves? Some might say that we need to make an example out of them. Why? For making their voices heard in a scream of protest against suppression of information? It is an embarrassment that we are barely allowed to gather in public
without being, at best, herded like cattle into controlled areas for peaceful protest, or at worst beaten, zip-tied, and then jailed. What other forms of protest are we left with? The best tool we have right now to influence change is right in front of us. Voluntary distributed denial of service is the new digital sit-in.

Those of us who understand how the digital age is modernizing law can see where these battles are going and can see how this battle will be won…in the courtrooms of the United States of America.

Liberty is to faction what air is to fire, an aliment without which it instantly expires. But it could not be a less folly to abolish liberty, which is essential to political life, because it nourishes faction than it would be to wish the annihilation of air, which is essential to animal life, because it imparts to fire its destructive agency.” — JS Mill

We are Anonymous.
We are Legion.
We do not Forgive.
We do not Forget.
Expect us.

Thanks to everyone for their generosity and support in getting our site up and running. We now have a bank account to assist in collecting donations for the arrested anons, and will use the wepay system to support collections. We will also offer a tax-deductible donation option in the coming days. We will focus first on the travel expenses for the Anonymous arrested in connected with the PayPal indictments, as their next hearing is a status conference on November 1st. We are in the process of assembling a list of all arrested Anonymous, and contacting each of their lawyers to offer whatever assistance we are able. If you can help us help them, please contact us to coordinate information sharing, offer suggestions, or be part of our support network.