Virgin – Dark Nights

The digital slave-system of the Fourth Industrial Repression is being imposed on us by stealth.

Various aspects of the sinister technology have gradually crept in over the years under the excuse of fighting crime or terrorism or, more recently, of combating the spread of a so-called pandemic.

As we saw in our recent article on “15 Minute Cities”, we are now being told that it is all about urban planning and making life generally more pleasant for everyone by reducing traffic congestion and pollution.

Anyone who sees through this greenwashing attempt is dismissed as a paranoid fool or as a dangerous conspiracy theorist spreading fear and disinformation.

And yet the whole premise of this official spin is blown out of the water by the fact that smart infrastructure (Self-Monitoring, Analysis, and Reporting Technology) is being rolled out in contexts that have nothing to do with private vehicle use.

We have got hold of a very interesting document from Transport for London on the current testing of smart surveillance at Willesden Green tube station, which is due to continue until March 31, 2023.

If this project were really about “providing the best possible service” to passengers on the British capital’s underground railway network, as claimed, then you would think that it would be loudly and proudly announced and discussed, with information widely available in a democratic public consultation.

But the fact that the document, entitled “Smart Station Proof Concept”, is marked “restricted” for internal TfL use reveals the secrecy being deployed to sneak through this new stage of the incremental theft of our freedom.

In the public interest, we have decided to publicise its contents.

The “exciting” project for the Jubilee Line station combines existing CCTV cameras with “visual analytics technology” to provide 24-hour real-time monitoring, via a “Smart Stations Dashboard”.

As well as counting everyone entering and leaving the station, the smart spies will be issuing “notifications” for a range of “triggers” including not just gate-jumping or smoking, but also “loitering” or a “person sat on a bench (Excessive Time)”, which turns out to be anything more than ten minutes! Continue reading “UK: London’s secretive “smart stations” roll-out” →

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An Invitation to Deflate the System

As the walls of control close in its hard not to feel a sense of despair. As an anarchist inside the Great British Prison Island, with apathy and inaction the main pillars of the anarchist ghetto, its hard not to feel deflated. Daily humiliations tend to extinguish your burning desire to attack the system. Every time you try to get a fire going another excuse puts it out. Too much risk for that action This action is inconsequential The atmosphere of trepidation is paralyzing.

You end up stuck between a fantasy of burning the whole edifice down and the reality of your limited abilities which seem to you to offer very little. But this is where you are wrong. You already have everything you need to begin. Besides, you can’t do anything with what you haven’t got. You can only do something with what you have got. Inabilities become abilities along the way but only if you take that first step.

Be realistic about your situation! The targets for attack are everywhere and within reach. The simple weapons needed can be found in shops on every high street. Alone or with others, all you need is the will to put one foot in front of the other. So what if you can’t get your hands on an Amazon server or some other privileged target yet? The infrastructure of control is also sustained by simple and unguarded technology.

As well as wanting to demonstrate this point, we are sick of feeling deflated. So over the last few days we went out and deflated the system instead. More than 30 vans that maintain the network of online communication, surveillance and data mining were put out of action. These vans are necessary to service the system and to fix glitches in the matrix of control. Without these vans, disconnection proliferates. These vans are parked in streets up and down the country, unguarded and easy to attack. You can identify them by the various corporate logos (Virgin, Vodaphone, BT, etc.) that have been conveniently painted as targets.

We invite you to join us in deflating the system.

How many decommissioned vans would it take to seriously disrupt the system? We have seen recently how power outages, downed servers and broken apps can have unpredictable and detrimental effects on the system. When disconnection is liberation, its not just about financial losses but also about a loss of control. What if, in a particular area, the internet connection goes down the same night a significant number of vans are put out of use? How many hours in delayed repairs equals how many millions wiped off the stock market? What chain reactions can be set off by the most modest of actions? The answers are unclear but that’s not the point: the joy is in discovering and overcoming the limits of the questions.

Insurrection never happens tomorrow. Neither is it something done by others. It is what you do tonight before the dawn. It is a journey into the unknown, a journey that begins right now where you are. There is no such thing as a predetermined future and there are no limits that can’t be overcome. There is no need to calculate outcomes. When every thing is increasingly connected to everything else, every attack reverberates beyond itself. As you watch the sun rise you know yourself a little deeper. The quality of your affinity with your co-conspirators is richer. As old limits are overcome, new possibilities emerge organically. There is no need to worry about what you don’t know or can’t do. Start simple and the rest will follow.

Anarchists.

Tag: Virgin

London, UK: An Invitation to Deflate the System