History of AnonOps
Let's pick up the story in October 2010. Operation:Payback, an anticopyright operation by the internet collective Anonymous was under full sail. At that time, the group was aboard the IRC of skidsr.us. Everything was OK until their network came under counterattack. This made the IRC operators RAGE and after much drama they made us walk the plank and kicked #savethepiratebay from their ship. The future of Operation: Payback looked bleak. Nothing of value was about to be lost.
Our SOS answered
We were rescued by the crew of the ChatNPlay. They offered to host the chat portion of Anonymous' operation but nothing else and we still had a battle to fight. So although happy to have somewhere to talk we all knew the peace couldn't last as we were at cross purposes with that network. This made a few nervous and the search began for alternatives.Then a cunning plan came to mind. What about a ship for Anons, by Anons? A safe place where free speech groups like Anonymous wouldn't have to fear that the captains didn't have the balls to stand up to a bit of cannon fire and kick them off. Surely this small group of 12 year olds could crew their own vessel?
We build a new ship
It was settled. We had many oceans to cross and skeptics to convince but this plan was the only logical solution. The new ship was christened AnonOps, as in Anonymous Operation:Payback. The name would also work as Anonymous' Operations should Operation:Payback furl it's sails and new Ops hoist their flags. The keel was laid and construction began with carefully selected officers and crew.
On the 28th of October, Anonymous was tossed overboard from ChatNPlay by an accidental ChanKill. Yeah. Sure. Whatever.
A few days later, on November 3, 2010 this new ship and crew weighed anchor and set sail for open waters, in search of the fleet.
The voyage begins
Since that day, it has been a wild ride. This network was the chosen base of many, many operations that were conducted by various groups against their targets of interest. One of the largest was AvengeAssange and featured a huge flood of users all supporting actions against Paypal, Mastercard and others who were trying to stop the release of the Manning documents. The extensive counterattacks launched against us in return were very damaging to our infrastructure. Servers confiscated, melted, domains stripped. But that did not sway our resolve: it only served to increase it.
We rebuilt the network again and added some stronger defenses and new features such as full time radio. It was around this time that some of our admins became targets of law enforcement, with raids and arrests conducted against us in various countries. As those arrested were forced from the internet, new admins rose in their place and we were fully operational when the Arab Spring began. Our network served to support operations in such places as Egypt, Tunisia and Iran. The affect of these operations were seen around the world and gained support from many who previously had dismissed us as a nuisance.
We continued forward, facing constant challenges from many sides. Attacks against us became commonplace. Adjustments were made, lessons learned and we continued, always forward. The operations that followed were many, some small, some very large such as Megaupload which brought almost 7000 users to our net.
We continue to be available to support any individual or group who chooses to stand up and fight for their rights, for their freedoms no matter who or where they are. The current admins are a dedicated group who remain committed to the original concept of a place where people can express their ideas and find support against the tyrannies of governments and the intrusion of private companies who still seek to control the internet for their own nefarious purposes.
Many of our warriors have fallen, unjustly persecuted and jailed by corrupt governments and judiciaries at the behest of the multinational companies who own them. We remain united in our support for them and we will be here to welcome them home when they return.
