Payback is a Bitch

It has been nearly 10 years since Operation Payback was launched, and with it, a new era of protest for Anonymous. Yet for some organizers who laboured to bring activism back into the zeitgeist, the consequences of previous protests still keep them awake at night, waiting for the next financial audit or knock at their door. Wade Williams is one of those activists.

Operation Payback was launched in September 2010 as a digital sit-in protest against multi-national companies, government agencies, financial institutions and individuals that were specifically targeted due to their policies of privatizing and obstructing the flow of information. What started out as a protest against these companies, grew into a wave of actions in support of Chelsea Manning, revolutionaries in the Arab Spring, and the Occupy movement. 

Thirteen of the activists involved with this digital sit-in were charged with conspiracy to intentionally cause damage to a protected computer which the court claimed inflicted “significant damage” to the targets such as MasterCard,who profited $415 million in 2010. The penalty for this included house arrest, community service, mandatory psychiatric sessions and excessive monetary restitutions for the damage the court claims the protest inflicted.

Wade Williams joined the protest weeks after two of the main companies were targeted, but the court still held him legally and financially responsible for those protests, simply because he shared links in chat rooms where topics related to the sit-ins were discussed. All of this interference and pressure has made it difficult for Wade to continue his activism and work in the community. It put a lot of pressure on him when he was a caregiver for folks with developmental delays and while unable to save up for a car, it's been hard to fit anything other than work into his schedule. 

Wade Williams has always been a valued and productive member in his local community and abroad. He organized to support Chelsea Manning through rallies, opmanningtheradio, acted as a liaison to activists in Tunisia and Egypt, and marched with both Occupy Missoula and Occupy Oakland. He was lucky enough to avoid jail time over a technicality, and he has done everything the court has required of him. It has been years since he completed the house arrest mandated by the court, as well as his community service. The courts forced him to attend psychiatric sessions, and sign paperwork to cede his right to doctor-patient confidentiality. Wade Williams has clearly paid his dues.

Yet, the consequences of this extreme Federal punishment still hold Wade Williams trapped. The Feds have garnished every spare dime he has made, leaving him with burgeoning medical debt, exorbitant legal expenses, being forced to fly back and forth across the country, depleting his savings, and forcing him to bunk with family in order to get by. Wade is forced on a yearly basis to give a full accounting of all his finances to the DOJ. They pore over his bank statements to make sure he hasn't made any purchases they deem too decadent before giving them their due pound of flesh. Despite these challenges, he managed to pay off the remainder of his restitution. He has paid $7100.00 to RIAA and MPAA, $600 in court ordered psych sessions, travel costs, and fees related to his house arrest.

We are asking for solidarity from like-minded folks to help us recoup the legal costs Wade Williams has paid over the last 10 years, and help him open a new chapter of his life.

"With enough of us, around the world, we'll not just send a strong message opposing the privatization of knowledge - we'll make it a thing of the past."