For immediate release:
July 31, 2011
Jamie Munro
National Office Staff
212-679-5100 x12
New York:
The National Lawyers Guild (NLG) provides legal defense and educational resources to activists who are being targeted as part of the ‘Nerd Scare,’ including individuals alleged to be affiliated with “Anonymous,” LulzSec, and other activists and hacker collectives. The NLG has launched a website, www.anonlg.com, with Know Your Rights information tailored to individuals subjected to recent U.S. Department of Justice arrests, searches, seizures, harassment, and grand jury subpoenas as part of the FBI’s “Cyber Crimes” operations. Activists who have already been targeted or are concerned about their safety may call a Guild hotline—888-NLG-DANK—or access the organization by email at help@anonlg.com. National Lawyers Guild lawyers, in their continuing efforts to protect the right to dissent, are coordinating legal defense for many of these activists. “The Defense Department’s plan to treat cyberspace as an operational domain, equipping forces for cyber missions, virtually guarantees that computer activists will face increasing government scrutiny. Anonlg.com provides Know Your Rights information for those with advanced computer skills who lack experience dealing with the FBI,” said Heidi Boghosian, Executive Director of the National Lawyers Guild. The NLG advises anyone visited by the FBI to assert the right not to answer any questions, to get the agent’s business card and to state clearly and unequivocally that they will have an attorney contact the agent on their behalf. The National Lawyers Guild, founded in 1937, is the oldest and largest public interest/human rights bar organization in the United States. Its headquarters are in New York and it has chapters in every state.
