First off, let me say that I don't want to teach you what it means to be a hacker or a cracker. I don't want to chastise so-called wannabees or baby hackers; I don't even care about the debate between what a cracker is and what a hacker is. It is immaterial now, regardless.

I am sure you all remember the 'Hacker Manifesto.' The bastardized version has been in movies and government reports and agendas for years now. The true version has been misused and misquoted more times than I would like to know. Many hackers today have forgotten what the manifesto is, or the message it was stating. Let me explain.

The Hacker Manifesto, at its most base level, explains everything. Even the things we are now hypocritical about. Now, whether you agree with me or not, the manifesto makes some valid points, but lets stick to the most salient things:

The hacker culture exists without bounds, without judgments, without bias--save for the arrogance that pre-dominates most hacker groups, sometimes rightfully so. The culture began this way for one very simply cause: curiosity. Freedom of information, knowledge, and in that, true power.

However, these days, flame wars ignite constantly, so called 'hacker wannabees' are taunted and ridiculed for one crime only: curiosity. They are taunted and ridiculed by the very people who, at one time, started out the same way; and supposedly believe in that same freedom: that quest for knowledge. A double standard and hypocrisy should be easily seen in that.

At the same time, however, I do not intend to defend the hundreds of baby hackers who spring up on various notorious ISPs, with all of their little progs and threats. Most aspiring hackers start out that way, save for the sysadmins and ops who have lived and breathed the electronic world and then one day decided to turn off the lights and see what glows. It is true that most beginners, before even reaching the 'newbie' level, download every program they can find and go out and wage their own personal vendetta, usually more like a power trip. It is true that they have, for the most part, no concept of what they are really doing; and it is true that they unknowingly cause damage to the true players out there. The beginners simply take the work of others and use it to their own cause: usually simple pleasure or adrenaline. But who can blame them, in reality?

You see it differently, but that is because you are on the inside. You know how society watches and views this counter-culture, the movies and the stigma revolving around the electronic pirates, the underground mythology, the anti-government-chaos-anarchy-whatever lure that the mainstream press has cast over every computer user who even slightly bends the rules. Tempting status, to be a member of that culture, wouldn't you say? If you were on the outside of the limelight, looking in, how tempted would you be?

With this mindset, it is not a society or culture without lines, without bounds. Hackers, despite the FBI and Secret Service's gross misconduct and violation of basic rights and freedoms, hackers are more of a threat to each other than any government institution or law. More on that later.

The second main point is this: Why do you think the government is doing what it is? Why the witch-hunt? It is not Kevin Mitnick's fault, nor gH battling through the raids.

For years, the American Government has dictated views and presented an ideal package of life to its people. From the 1950's forced television programming and censorship to the current de-sensitizing of information trend growing, such as the fact that the FBI and Secret Service, at this very moment, are violating several constitutional, state, local and federal laws against dozens of people, yet mainstream news services seem to barely be aware of it.

The manifesto states that we are criminals because we win, we beat the government, the powers that be. What government can handle that? Yes, we are a threat to one thing and one thing only, the status quo. We can rock the boat, through violent, illegal, world-threatening actions, or the loud booming voice of a united front of millions, although that booming voice will probably never be united enough to be heard.

Yes, the FBI has raided and attacked, they have broken laws, and they have violated privacy and, in some cases, even fabricated entire stories. Yes, the media has sensationalized everything; yes, they only report one viewpoint, the bad, and they seem to get their information only from such FBI lawbreakers. Yes, the Secret Service is far out of control with no watchers; yes, they are waging what seems to be a personal war, and we can't stop any of them.

I enjoy 2600 and their issues, the points, the letters, the editorials, but we need to be realistic. Bumper stickers, online campaigns, hacked websites, who cares, they do nothing. And at the same time, 2600 fights for what it believes to be right, doesn't matter how many agree, but they keep the battle going. At the same time, groups like gH, milw0rm and people like Israeli Ghost fight through their own methods, and none of it works.

Hacked websites only place pressure upon the authorities that be, it only makes commanders demand arrests and control methods be made, it only causes the hacker culture to take a few steps back. By hacking websites, taking down systems, Just To Make A One Paragraph Statement, gives the government the completely believable warning to the public that we need to be stopped.

You are propagating the witch-hunt.

You want to Free Kevin? You want to make the Secret Service pay attention? You want the FBI to get in line? How about getting Clinton and his inept advisors to see through the public opinion polls?

Then shut up, quit squabbling over what group did this, who can phreak, who's a newbie, who's not as good as this person, shut up and stop whining. You have a war to fight, and you aren't doing a very good job of it.

It may not be feasible, but at the very least, it is true:

Unite, stop the infighting, make a concerted effort, raise your voices, make people see, give groups like 2600, Hacker News Network (and as many others as you can find) all the support you can. Every hacked website is a new validation for the government. Every hacked website is another news flash the public gets to swallow with the All Is Well message on the evening news, and another reason for them to go along with whatever the government says.

So, the FBI is raiding people? Too bad, so you decide to DoS their web servers, ouch, that must hurt the FBI something horrible. What are they losing off of that? Billions of dollars of E-commerce? No. Public image? Maybe slightly, but not really. And is it getting the FBI to release the people they have brought into custody? Never.

Unless you hold a poisoned blade to the throat of the world, you won't get effective results this way.

The government can do whatever they want to us, they always will be able to until we all grow up just a little bit more, until we all stand up and never back down. You are not a viable political entity, you are not a threat to a re-election, you are not a threat to the sun rising tomorrow. But you are a threat to control, and that is a deadly sin. Because of the very nature of a hacker, we will never exactly be mainstream public heroes. The government knows this, and they capitalize upon it. They make us look bad in the press, they play us against each other, because we are weak and disorganized, we are wide-open, despite the elitism and pseudo-paranoia. And every reprisal launched against the governing bodies and powers that be, every internal power-play between groups using external company property, it just gives the government more ammunition.

Remember this, the manifesto says it all, grow up and go back to the beginning, the answers are all there. At this rate, we cannot win, we will constantly be raped by the government because we cannot strike back. Think about it, you DoS a server, or even mass-virus the entire DARPA network, oh well, they'll be back up right after you're arrested, and all of your hacker group, and all of the people in your data files. The current methodologies are dismal failures, even the noble efforts of 2600 and other groups promoting awareness, when compared to the entire scope.

You see, the government has made a few mistakes, such as Kevin Mitnick, he is nearing the status of martyr, and that is exactly what they do not want. A united hacker movement, brought on by just the right spark to ignite the world.

No war in history, no political movement, has ever been as far-reaching and drastic as a united hacker movement could be. A civil rights clash for the intangible world.

Now, I am not saying to wage an information war against the world, although I personally think it would be quite a sight. I hope it doesn't happen, at least not soon. The world isn't ready for it, wait a few years, then you can do more damage, if it comes to it.

But until then, just think about this, sitting at your computer and typing away at a newsletter, or a personal email, or offering bumper stickers, or putting banners on your website, defacing external websites, world-wide faxes, is passive, in reality. Think about the movements of the past, it took a lot of work, the Feminist movement, the Civil Rights movement, that is what this is going to come to, it is unavoidable. But this time there is an advantage, those past movements benefited a certain group of people in some way or another. It was their fight, with our fight, we are fighting for everyone, the entire world, even those who would prosecute us.

Force the government's hand, they will stall and stall and stall, for decades if they can, on the laws of the internet and virtual world. At some point, that strategy will fail. For now, they can get away with leaving it untouched, for the most part, because the problems they allow by their lack of laws now, and the arrests they make in response, it is only giving them more control in the future. Perspective, tomorrow, every single website in the world is taken down and replaced by the same exact message, at the same exact time. Powerful, right? Long-lasting? No. The effects? They will last for decades, the governments will turn around and say, 'See what happened? We gave you a nice place to play, but it got fucked up. Want us to fix it?' The world screams yes and then some of the strictest laws in history are locked down, worldwide.

It might be hard to believe, the way things are now, but, if just maybe, just maybe one day we all stood together, with the clearest goal, the perfection of unity, the balance of one agenda, how could they not listen? It doesn't matter which groups you like, who you think can crack or hack, it doesn't matter which OS you like, VPN slices or firewall cracks, who cares, you aren't looking at the picture, the big one you have been hiding from since the beginning.

Open your eyes and remember the point, freedom of information, for the world, not just for us. The government is getting more afraid of us, day by day. They see the threat, they see our anger and (sometimes) hatred. They know we can shake the world, but they have been content to let us go for the last few years, we are too disorganized to be a true threat, other than the few mosquitoes here and there. Maybe that is changing, it doesn't matter, because the government is no longer content to let us play in their world.

It is time we changed playgrounds, it is time to make a stand and stop the gaming for now. You see it looming in the future, a technologically enslaved society, spoon-fed facts and information, hidden from the truth. Despite democracy's ideals, communism, or any other government system, a government that can control information can generally keep its peace more, more control, better quality of life, but at a huge cost to the people who are brain-washed and mushroomed. Every government would like that, make their jobs much easier. And they are taking the steps towards that end, possibly.

But this is the beginning of the game, they are only now making a few feints, testing, and their probes aren't meeting any resistance.

Resist.

(NOTE: This was originally written in mid-1999, no comments about the current state of affairs)