Is Libya Next? Anonymous Debates New Operation

January 18, 2011 by admin

From a message board important to the hacker group Anonymous last night:

Libya seems to be a cloudy subject full of uncertainty. So here's a thread to discuss and gather information. I know many anons have been calling for an Operation Libya in the hopes that the protests there could escalate to the revolution status Tunisia's did, but we don't have enough information to see if that's possible... yet. If we want an Operation Libya, step 1 is to GATHER INFORMATION. Here's what anon has so far:
http://piratenpad.de/T5LLW8zwfI

The post comes with this Leakspin informational video from YouTube:

anonvish17 continues:

Essentially: the people are sick of their governments shit. They saw what happened in Tunisia, and some people seem to be encouraged. Libya has responded by completely blocking YouTube which is why there's been such a slow out-pour of information. No mainstream media outlet has really covered what's going on in Libya right now. Videos are hard to find, and the ones found are disappearing off YouTube, fast. I'm not gonna summerize the point again, just read the shit our watch the Leakspinner video. I've been mirroring videos from protests in Libya and I will post them along with download links here. I encourage you all to download and mirror. Lets spread this shit and make sure it doesn't disappear off the interwebs.

Actually it does look like an IRC channel has already been setup for opLibya but as of last night, it merely advised:

[Operation Libya | #OpTunisia is still running! |

here are the chat links if you want to follow the blow by blow:
http://irc.lc/AnonOps/opTunisia
http://irc.lc/AnonOps/opLibya

Also last night this was posted:

Some other useful links from the group's postings:
Wikileaks cables from Libya: http://wikileaks.ch/origin/20_0.html
Wikileaks cables tagged Libya: http://wikileaks.ch/tag/LY_0.html

Other considerations in their tactical decisions might be gleamed by this information on Libya from the forum:

Political Pressure Groups and Leaders:
other: anti-QADHAFI Libyan exile movement; Islamic elements

Unemployment Rate: 30% (2004, est.)
Pop. below poverty line: 7,4 % (2005, est.)

TLD: .ly
Internetuser: 353,900 (2009)
inernet users (% of population) 5.5 (for comparision Tunisia has about 35%!!!)
Telephones: 1.101 million (2009)
International Calling Code: +218
Cellphones: 5.004 million (2009)

------------------------------------------------
Since cell phones are much more important, SMS may be an important distributor of info: http://googlemobile.blogspot.com/2009/06/designing-sms-apps-for-mobile-a...

Libya's one and only ISP is likely to be a target. The forum already links to an I hate Libya Telecom and Technology (LTT) Facebook page.

They have posted a number of recent YouTube videos from Libyan, but noted
"They can be taken down. Lets make a stronger archive of Libyan protest videos HERE."

مظاهرات درنه امام مديرية الآمن 16 1 2011 Protests in Dernah Libya

مظاهرات في البيضاء15-1-2011 Clashes in Al Baitha Housing Crisis

UPDATES:
This is one of the few reports I have been able to find in Tuesday morning's news, from Reuters Africa:
Libyans occupy, loot homes amid shortage: report

Here is a recap of my other DKos dairies on this subject:
Tunis: This Photo was Taken 66 Minutes Ago
The WikiLeaks Revolution: Anonymous Strikes Tunisia
EMERGENCY: DKos Must Act Now to Protect Tunisian Bloggers!
Free Software & Internet Show Communism is Possible
BREAKING - Digital Sit-Ins: The Internet Strikes Back!
Cyber War Report: New Front Opens Against Internet Coup d'état
Operation PayBack: 1st Cyber War Begins over WikiLeaks
The Internet Takeover: Why Google is Next
BREAKING: Goodbye Internet Freedom as Wikileaks is Taken Down
BREAKING NEWS: Obama Admin Takes Control of Internet Domains!
Things Even Keith Olbermann Won't Cover - UPDATE: VICTORY!!!
Stop Internet Blacklist Bill Now!
Sweet Victory on Internet Censorship: Senate Backs Off!
Internet Engineers tell the Senate to Back Off!
Why is Net Neutrality advocate Free Press MIA?
Obama's Internet Coup d'état
Julian Assange on Threat to Internet Freedom