Newsgroups: alt.activism,alt.conspiracy,alt.politics.libertarian From: an257610@anon.penet.fi Date: Tue, 9 Apr 1996 19:32:58 UTC Subject: Big Brother on Internet FAQ *** Big Brother (in Cyberspace) FAQ *** by Andre Bacard, Author of "Computer Privacy Handbook" [FAQ Version October 25, 1995] [Links at http://www.well.com/user/abacard] ============================================================ This article offers an overview of the evolving relation between "Big Brother" and Cyberspace. I have written this especially for persons who have a taste for irony. You may distribute this (unaltered) FAQ for non-commercial purposes. =========================================================== Why did you write this FAQ? I'm worried about democracy's future, notably as the Internet grows explosively. Americans (I'm sure my French friends will dispute this!) are setting the tone for the Internet. However, American politics (like that in many countries) is a circus where "right-wing" and "left-wing" people play endless ego- games sparing with each other. Meanwhile, global ("apolitical") companies like Microsoft and Visa are transforming democracy in profound ways that are invisible to the circus crowd. High-tech firms are building Big Brother into the INFRASTRUCTURE of our Information Age, thus creating a global Surveillance Age! America has had virtually no serious political dissent since the 1960s (pre Computer Age). In 1994, Ross Perot convinced Americans to take a "third party" seriously. Today, G. Gordon Liddy, Rush Limbaugh, Michael Reagan (all talk-show hosts), and millions of citizens angrily denounce Big Brother's intrusion into law-abiding citizen's lives. Is this discontent the start of a much needed re-examination of democracy? Or is it merely a partisan desire to replace one Big Brother with another? What impact will today's "anti-government" sentiment have on the Internet? I'm circulating this FAQ as a wake-up call. What does Big Brother mean? The expression "Big Brother" was coined by the British author George Orwell in his satirical novel, "Nineteen Eight-Four" (published in 1949). Orwell's book describes the inner workings of Oceania, a fictitious totalitarian state. "Big Brother" was personified by a man's photo, a man with dark, penetrating eyes. His photo appeared on posters throughout Oceania with the caption: "Big Brother Is Watching You". The Party (with "Big Brother" as symbol) ran Oceania, a totally bureaucratic society, in which humans were numbers devoid of any individuality. Big Brother declared that no person should have the right to privacy. [You might want to read three parallel books: "The Iron Heel" by American Jack London, "Brave New World" by the British Aldous Huxley, and "We" by the Russian Zamyatin.] How did Big Brother maintain power? Orwell's Big Brother learned to: (1) Snoop on citizens. For example, Big Brother used the "telescreen," a two-way television, to watch and listen to all citizens. (2) Control language. Big Brother created a new language, "Newspeak," designed to cripple the public's ability to have dissenting thoughts. For example, the word "free" could only be used in the sense of "The dog is free of fleas." The word could not be used in the sense of "intellectually free," because intellectual freedom no longer existed and was nameless. One aspect of Newspeak was "doublethink," the ability to believe two contradictory ideas simultaneously. Big Brother's Party had three doublethink slogans: "War is Peace", "Freedom is Slavery", and "Ignorance is Strength." 3) Fabricate enemies. Big Brother created a devil figure named Emmanuel Goldstein ("The Enemy of the People"). All crimes against the Party, all sabotage, all heresy, all treachery were blamed on Goldstein. Oceania had a ritual called Two Minutes Hate. Goldstein's face would appear on a big telescreen, while Oceania's citizens hissed and hated Goldstein. Big Brother stated that Goldstein, once a leading Party member, had become the leader of a vile anti-government underground. Does Big Brother exist outside of novels? Yes. Orwell's book was patterned after Stalin's Russia and Hitler's Germany. However, world history is largely a history of dictatorships. Orwell described a process that has been ongoing for thousands of years. [Before electronic surveillance existed, human eyes and ears did all the snooping]. Each tyrant has told his citizens, in so many words: "Give me YOUR liberty, and I'll protect YOU from (competing) dictators who want to enslave YOU." Niccolo Machiavelli's book, "The Prince" (often called the "Handbook of Dictators"), is one timeless work that explicitly outlines this master/slave dynamic. Is Big Brother a fascist? A communist? Big Brother craves power as an end in itself. Big Brother has used capitalism, colonialism, communism, consumerism, fascism, feudalism, monarchism, occultism and theism. Big Brother is adaptable. He will use whatever "ism" delivers power to him! What about Big Brother in today's world? Big Brother wears a designer mask that looks different in America, in Italy, in Russia, and in Singapore. This flexible mask fools many people, just as magician David Copperfield's illusions bewilder his audiences. Most people reading this FAQ live in computerized societies. For us, Big Brother is a web of corporations and government agencies that rule "our" technological INFRASTRUCTURE: for instance, the telephone companies; the credit bureaus; the mass media; the surveillance agencies, etc. These groups have the power to 1) Snoop on citizens, 2) Control language, and 3) Fabricate enemies. "The Economist" [April 29, 1995, page 92] provides a chilling, though commonplace example: "... Equifax, America's biggest consumer-credit reporting firm, said in March that it was teaming up with AT&T, America's largest long-distance telephone company, to computerise millions of medical records." This accord may give the Equifax-AT&T team YOUR credit records, phone records, and medical records. Needless to say, AT&T also works closely with government agencies around the globe. Did YOUR political party campaign to encourage or stop Equifax-AT&T from serving as Big Brother? Why not? I'm reminded of a cartoon that shows two KGB agents sitting next to a crumbling Kremlin. One agent says, "What will we do for a living?" The other agent answered, "No problem. We'll open a credit agency." As we approach the 21st century, the trend is to create one international Big Brother, described as the "new world order." This order will be maintained, in part, by global electronic surveillance. America, the European Union, Japan, and the multi-national corporations are leading the charge towards this globalism, the chic "ism" on the block. So what about Big Brother and the Internet? Let us define the "Internet" broadly as all the computer networks (including online services and telephone companies) that allow us to exchange e-mail, read newsgroups, visit chat rooms, etc. Big Brother is very interested in the Internet for two reasons. First, the Internet allows YOU an inexpensive, interactive medium to express political dissent. Big Brother wants to regulate "dissent." Second, the Internet is the most pro-surveillance technology ever invented. It is trivial for Big Brother to read and archive (store) YOUR incoming and outgoing e-mail. It is easy for online services to monitor what YOU read. For these reasons, Big Brother wants to move quickly to control the Internet the way it already rules military, banking, law-enforcement, and other "nets". Compare the Internet with another technology. Television pioneers vowed that TV would nurture an educated, cultured citizenry. In reality, TV molded a Consumer Society of couch potatoes. Today, Internet promoters like America On Line, CompuServe, and Prodigy speak ecstatically about bringing the "news" and the Louvre museum into every home. Hmm... Maybe so. But, unless we change courses, the Internet will also usher Big Brother into YOUR home quietly and efficiently. How might Big Brother take over the Internet? The same way Big Brother has always controlled Little Citizens. 1) Snoop on citizens. The Internet already allows Big Brother to read YOUR e-mail and monitor all YOUR online activity, including YOUR banking and investment records. In some countries, Big Brother has already outlawed encryption, such as PGP [see end of this FAQ], to stop YOU from asserting any online privacy. 2) Control language. Big Brother is already trying to censor YOUR Internet language (and pictures) that are "abusive," "obscene," or "politically incorrect." 3) Fabricate enemies. Big Brother is already trying to frighten Internet users that hackers, pedophiles, and terrorists are hiding behind every computer screen. The goal of the propaganda campaign is to generate support for a NetPolice force. Why does this threaten freedom? Intellectual and political freedom exist only if sincere people can openly say "The Emperor has no clothes" and advocate a wardrobe. This freedom is chilled, if not squashed, when people realize that Big Brother is always looking over their shoulders. How would you summarize this FAQ? Most political rhetoric is, to borrow a phrase from William Shakespeare, "sound and fury that signify nothing." I urge YOU, if YOU care about personal freedom, to reflect more about the Big Brother(s) in YOUR life. If YOU are a Conservative, Democrat, Liberal, Libertarian, Monarchist, Republican, ... or member of any other party, ask yourself whether YOUR leaders really oppose or support Big Brother!! What about YOU? What about YOUR vision of a future Internet? Anything else I should know? YOUR privacy and safety could be in danger! Prolific bank, credit and medical databases, e-mail monitoring, and computer matching programs are just a few factors that threaten every law-abiding citizen. In short, our anti-privacy society can serve criminals and snoops computer data about YOU on a silver platter. If you want to PROTECT your privacy, I urge you to support groups such as the Electronic Frontier Foundation and the Electronic Privacy Information Center . Andre, have you written other privacy-related FAQs? I'm circulating an (1) Anonymous Remailer FAQ, (2) E-Mail Privacy FAQ, (3) (Non-Technical) PGP FAQ for Novices, and (4) ALPHA.C2.ORG Remailer FAQ. To get these FAQs, Visit my WEB site: http://www.well.com/user/abacard Or send me this e-mail: To: abacard@well.com Subject: Help Message: [Ignored] See you in the future, Andre Bacard ====================================================================== abacard@well.com Bacard wrote "The Computer Privacy Stanford, California Handbook" [Intro by Mitchell Kapor]. "Playboy" Interview (See Below) Published by Peachpit Press, (800) http://www.well.com/user/abacard 283-9444, ISBN # 1-56609-171-3. ======================================================================= --****ATTENTION****--****ATTENTION****--****ATTENTION****--***ATTENTION*** Your e-mail reply to this message WILL be *automatically* ANONYMIZED. Please, report inappropriate use to abuse@anon.penet.fi For information (incl. non-anon reply) write to help@anon.penet.fi If you have any problems, address them to admin@anon.penet.fi