Cyberpunk Review » We The People Will Not Be Chipped: A grassroots campaign against VeriChip

July 2, 2007

We The People Will Not Be Chipped: A grassroots campaign against VeriChip

Early this morning, Bruce Sterling blogged on Wired.com about this relatively new anti-RFID implant group based in Brisbane, Australia called We The People Will Not Be Chipped.

No VeriChip Inside

 

This is how they describe themselves and their mission:

The We the People will not be Chipped - No Verichip Inside Movement, is based on the irrefutable fact, that we believe in mankind’s inalienable human rights that are absolute and can not be debased, nor perverted. Human life can not be degraded to a 16 digit RFID chip number embedded under you skin under any circumstance. By uniting on this common ground, we can send a strong message to the IBM funded Verichip that we the people will not be chipped!

If you or your company/organization would like to get involved with the We the People will not be Chipped - No Verichip Inside Movement , we encourage you to get in contact with us. We are looking for contributors , web designers, artists in all fields , printers, multimedia experts, mailing houses, civil libertarians, financial contributors, and freedom fighters to help us take this message to the masses. We will only be treated like inventory when complacency becomes our drug of choice.

As history has a funny habit of repeating itself. Study World War II closely on how IBM backed the Nazi Regime utilizing the Hollerith Machine . The Hollerith Machine was a punch card system that aided in cataloguing the population. This IBM technology gave the fascist, totalitarian state the much needed technology boost to increase it’s rate of human data processing . The goal was simple, extreme nationalism which called for the unification of all German-speaking peoples and eradicating the enemies of the state namely the Jews and other non-compliant races.

Fast forward to the year 2006 , we have IBM funding the parent company of the Verichip namely Applied Digital Solutions [ADSX] . The VeriChip Corporation is both FDA approved and patented with the owner of patent (#6,400,338) granted recently to VeriChip’s manufacturer, Digital Angel Corporation, with worldwide patents pending.

In the re-active world’s state of affairs, we are seeing world governments tightening measures in regard to identity protection, trumpeting our need to be protected from the forces of evil. As we move into the age of paranoia and fear these ideologies, supported by propaganda campaigns, demand total conformity on the part of the people.

 

While there has been a sort of revolt by states against RFID being used in the Federal “Real ID” cards, this has to be first such NIMBY group against the implants themselves, although this seems to be more focused on VeriChip’s activities and experiments rather than the idea of such implants as a whole. For those who are looking to become DIY cyborgs, this will cause a conflict of interest as step one is getting RFID implants.

A warning about Big Brother, or just a bunch of Luddite kooks? Either way, this looks like the kind of battle that makes good cyberpunk lore.

This post has been filed under Cyberpunked living, News as Cyberpunk by Mr. Roboto.

Comments

July 2, 2007

Cadet SF said:

As long as RFID implants aren’t madatory I think it’s fine. I myself would love to get one, but I can understand not wanting to be forced to have the implantation. At the same time I’m sure people with RFID implants will probably be afforded some big benefits like access to exclusive clubs, way faster customs and whatnot when traveling and perhaps certain jobs will only hire people with RFID verifiable identity in the future. We’ll just have to wait and see and watch it unfold

July 3, 2007

Illusive Mind said:

A right to privacy is a basic human right that should be respected, does this mean mandatory driver’s licenses or picture ID for passports etc. circumvent that?

[quote]Article 12.

No one shall be subjected to arbitrary interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to attacks upon his honour and reputation. Everyone has the right to the protection of the law against such interference or attacks.[/quote]

To be rallying against the technology before it has been implemented or its use defined [b]is[/b] Ludditism. There are far more serious contraventions of Article 12 going on right now.

Malky said:

As if anyone can actually stop the chips. Or the drugs, or the cameras, or the network.

The best way, the only way, to win this is to grab it and start running ahead as fast as possible. Chip up. Broadcast yourself. Sniff the paste. And when the technology comes, hit the ground running - you might be faster than the bad guys.

July 4, 2007

Ghostface said:

Wow Malky. Well said.
That could have been a paragraph in a cyberpunk novel :-p

July 5, 2007

Hugo said:

Proudly a resident of Brisbane, Australian for ten years, and a ‘dinky dye Aussie’.

The VeriChips is a very, very, VERY new concept. Less than a month old, in fact. I’m half surprised there’s a group of ‘We The People Will Not Be Chipped’ already all-things-considered and half not surprised at all.

Australians have rejected the idea of a national ID card for the past fifteen years already (one card to act as passport, driver’s license, credit card etc.) and this is only the next logical step.

I wouldn’t mind be chipped. If it’s as harmless as it is to pets and helps identify my bloated and grossly mutilated body (have been mauled to death by ‘We The People…’ for saying this) after being dredged from the Brisbane River than so-be-it.

The government can already keep track of me. Everytime I log onto the internet, every time I take money out of the bank, every time I arrive at work (civil servant - go figure :P), every time I walk into a public place. It’s hardly a new thing.

I say, bring it on. Let us be chipped and chipped alike.

Kovacs said:

Grr. I’ve already a chip ON my shoulder, don’t need one IN my shoulder too.

July 6, 2007

Mr. Roboto said:

We could have a little (sick) fun with such a chip.

There’s a Bible passage in the Book of Revelations that goes “And he causeth all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand, or in their foreheads: And that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark,…”

I’d like the chip to be in my left middle finger, and have it wired to my brain so I can decide what message it would “transmit” when scanned. Imagine some poor security drone wondering why his chip reader says “F****K YOU” while I’m flipping the bird.

True, Malky. If you can’t beat them. Join them. Or, at least, make them think you did, and hit back when they least expect it ;-)

July 9, 2007

Dead Impulse said:

I’ll be waiting for hackable home brew chips thank you very much. Regardless of whether or not the government can keep track of you externally via machines and ID card or not, there is a vast difference in being forced to modify your body. I’m for human/technology integration for positive uses but I’d rather see it distributed through the private sector. And I am sure wide spread use of those types of technologies will begin in the electronics stores where they are already so far ahead of the what our government can grasp.

But anyone who thinks they’ll be forced to receive a chip anytime soon, whether they are for or against it is a nutbag. Us Americans are currently under a paranoid theocracy. The nation is 80% Christian, a good chunk of whom are fundamentalists.

caprison said:

I’m thinking that this will go towards another way to divide and classify us. Bring on the lawsuits from people being discriminated against because you have one or the other direction.. you don’t have one. Either way I’m trying to see how the good out weights the bad in this situation and I’m having a hard time seeing enough good for this to be implemented. Just think about the costs of having to setup the infrastructure alone. Huge.

This will most likely be a problem my child will have to solve and debate. I’m not sure how much of it is going to hit mainstream before I turn old and senile.

July 16, 2007

tecwiz said:

I was not born chipped, so I refuse one now. All that is needed is built-in.

The problem of the world, is that humankind has strayed from universal love and truth. It would solve all the problems, and there would be no need for such things as “chips” or any other similar “gidgets”.
Universal Love and Truth are already built-in, to get to it though we need to clean the Hate, Greed, Laziness, etc. off of our “BEING”

Burnt_Lombard said:

I don’t know I think we like hate and greed a lot more, or maybe it’s simply cause they’re just easier to obtain.

Some grim stuff.

August 4, 2007

dusty said:

Joking aside here i think the rfid chip is terrible idea as a blatant and truely evil extension of the class system. what we need is solidarity to fight this shit.
perhaps the cruel joke is natures desire for death and the destruction of civilization.. like W.Burroughs said ‘Death needs time for what it kills to grow in’ - it also needs plenty of compostible matter. tough shit eh?
I guess what we need to do is somehow harness nature.. not easy. What i liked about ~Blade Runner was the idea of portable technology away from central control.
lets all jet off to Clone Zone and knock one off boys. Before they cycle so much eostroregen through the plastic industry into water table that males dont grow anymore. It’s a conspiracy of women by men.
The class system is the cunt system dont you think?!

August 10, 2007

Super Neon Metal Pirate said:

I think unless it was compulsory (in which case I’d go to a country where it wasn’t) I definitely wouldn’t get one unless it gave real advantages like enabling automated shopping through a direct line to my bank account, instant access to the net, eternal life, and so on. Unless it did something for me I think I wouldn’t want a chunk of metal, no matter how small, in my shoulder or anywhere else. I wouldn’t feel comfortable with the govenment or anyone else knowing where I was at any time.
I also don’t see how they could guarantee security. How can I be sure that some psycho isn’t going to break into the database and learn everything about me.
I know that the chips can’t actually trace you’re whereabouts at the moment but you can be sure it’ll go that way.

August 22, 2007

akyriin said:

you’re not kidding… I know eventually that is the way it is going to be, we had better be ready for it! I think some are deluded on how people think that they won’t be able to trace you moment by moment, but already I know of sites that can see your house and your street, and READ THE NUMBERS PAINTED ON THE SIDE, OR THE NEWSPAPER OVER YOUR SHOULDER OR SEE THE PEOPLE WALKING! I have done this! They CAN track you, if they want to, this is the new world, we better get used to it! I have a virus that has already taken much of my personal informtion, and used it against me, this is the future, and we better be ready to fight back, not just government, but others who are attacking for their own gain, as well. ANYBODY with enough brains will be able to get this information, as far as I know, there IS no unhackable computers, so guess what, they chip you, they put YOUR info in a computer, that info is accessable to ANYONE with enough knowledge. I know it sounds like a rant, but there it is, it is true.

September 7, 2007

jim sadler said:

The problem is that people will be pressured into acceptance of RFID implants. When pressure is applied there is nothing voluntary at all about acceptance. If people are free to reject such implants without any fear of negative consequences that is another thing completely. But you can be sure that pressure will be applied.
This is quite troublesome as our government is no longer a champion of freedom. We are already off the scale as far as the way we lock up criminals and neglect large portions of our population. Picture a nation that makes zero effort to protect New Orleans from a class V hurricane but decides to spend billions on chip implants. That’s a pretty evil scene to me.

Jamie said:

There will be a worldwide protest on 22 september against the excessive surveillance from business and governments on the unkowingly public. One of the main concerns is the RFID Verichip and the support it is receiving from the currently forming one world government. Civil liberties groups are calling for every man, woman and child to march the streets under the motto Freedom not Fear. The 22nd of september is an international no more slavery day and we as free people, refuse to be enslaved. Everyone is advised to set up their own demonstrations as mass education on the topic is the key. There are many good videos which can be found on youtube and google which cover all the topics on the RFID Verichip. We must stop this now before it gets too late. I hope you all stand up with me, so far there will be 100.000+ people in Berlin, more groups in Austria, Canada, Portugal, Brazil, Australia, Netherlands, UK and US. This is a global concern, let us all stand up together and say NO! I wish you all the best…

Evan T. said:

I dont know how you could be into anything cyberpunk and be AGAINST mandatory chipping. Don’t you like the idea of someone being able to hack you. The idea of having something bigger than you to rebel against, to break out of? Don’t you like the idea od sitting in a dark alleyway between some neon streetsigns picking the chip out of your arm with a rusty knife, and breaking it between your fingers, freeing yourslef from the system. I say bring it on!

September 9, 2007

Dusty said:

Evan .T you sound like some comic book gazing freak.
Life is Hieronymus Bosch already and there would be no pleasure to be gained by things getting worse in your own backyard.
Look around you its bad enough already! Stop gazing at Barbie dolls and get a real new age vision boy.

February 13, 2008

mark said:

please send some info to my e-mail address thanks

MAK said:

I think Evan T. never understood the Cyberpunk concept in his entire life…. Cyberpunk is about characters fighting “against” the system (call it totalitarian governments, multinational corporations, or whatever you like…)

I said NO to the chip… but anyway… I’m a pessimist, I think important decisions are being take by very few people, and the point of view of the rest of us doesn’t matter any more..

December 31, 2008

Walter said:

If you wear one in you, you are condemed and a fool…When the bombs are detonated and radiation is moving around the world, and you have that implant in you, you will break out in boiled and burn intensely. If this was predicted over two thousand years ago, and today we have the technology, who do you think is right, and who do you think is the more foolish, the fool (Anti Christ) or the fool who follows (Anyone who where’s the chip)?

January 3, 2009

Motoko said:

“The System” isnt merely in place to control us, we put it in place so we could trade freedom for security.
No where is this more evident than in the US, where the idea of increased security (i.e tracking tags on bail suspects and the Patriot act) is widely believed to lead to greater and lasting freedoms.
The people wont be forced into accepting somthing like chip-implants, that is unless they are made to feel threatened. One day we’ll wander into a prison cell simply because we had been coerced into thinking that its safer, by then we will have forgotten the meaning of the word ‘free’, and yet we will become happier for it.

March 20, 2009

kurt said:

I was drugged and chipped by the police. How do I get rid of it, help please

March 28, 2009

REBEL said:

It doesn’t come much worse than seeing humans tagged like livestock.

They have already slowly & systematically introduced our dependence/addiction to RFID Chips as we are now to Mobile Phones.

Resist the Global Power Elite/One World Government/New World Order. Bring them to their knees…Or our birthright & basic human freedoms lost forever.

April 10, 2009

AMY said:

PARDEN ME FOR BURSTING YOUR BUBBLE ABOUT YOUR VIP STATUS CHIP FANTASY….BUT IT CANT BE TAKEN THAT LIGHTLY AND SOME PEOPLE CANT GET IT WHILE OTHERS DONT…THIS WILL JEAPORDIZE THE PEOPLE WHO DONT WANT IT BECAUSE HALF OF THE PEOPLE THAT DO GET IT WILL BE ABLE TO BUY AND SELL AND THE OITHERS WONT WE ALL HAVE TO STICK TOGETHER ON THIS.. LOOK PAST THE B.S THAT IS BEING FED TO YOU IN ORDER TO GET YOU TO TAKE THE CHIP..AND SEE THAT ONCE THE CHIP IS IN..ITS NOT COMING OUT…ONCE THE GOVERNMENT HAS EVERYTHING ABOUT YOU IN THEIR SUPER COMPUTER…YOUR A HUMAN SLAVE AND CAN BE TRACKED, WATCHED, LISTENED TO, AND EVEN CONTROLLED. THEY CAN INDUCE ILLNESS, AND STOP YOUR SEX DRIVE, THEY CAN MAKE YOU DEPRESSED AND ANGRY AND SEND THOUGHT WAVES TO THE CHIP JUST LIKE YOU ARE A REMOTE CONTROLLED TV SET…YES YOUR NERVOUS SYSTEM IS ELECTRICITY AND YOUR BRAIN HAS ELECTRIC PULSE SIGNALS

October 7, 2009

chantel said:

its the mark of the beast stand up for your freedom the govenment just wants to control you i would rather die than have the mark of the beast on my body. I dont care what they say its not going to happen to me

November 12, 2011

native said:

Thanks for the insight and headlight , we are unfortunately the tag behing continent ” Africa” , i cant believe this has been on since 2009 and we are only hearing about this in 2011. In spite of that we are building into a force to be reckoned with as great talents are rising in different field , lets speak up louder and protect all those that are ready to yield to wise words.

native said:

Thanks for the insight and headlight , we are unfortunately the tag behind continent ” Africa” , i cant believe this has been on since 2009 and we are only hearing about this in 2011. In spite of this, we are gradually building into a force to be reckoned with as great talents are rising in different fields. lets speak up louder and protect all those that are ready to yield to wise words. No Verichip Inside

May 23, 2012

blayne said:

they should not chip anyone at all

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