-Caveat Lector- >From Christian Science Monitor > FRIDAY, JUNE 18, 1999 > > <Picture>e-mail this story to a friend > > > USA > > Newest tool for social protest: the Internet > > Crashing Web sites, known as 'hactivism,' gains popularity, angers > traditional activists > > Paul Van Slambrouck > Staff writer of The Christian Science Monitor > > SAN FRANCISCO > > <Picture: TRENDS> > > When the industrial powers and Russia start their annual summit in > Cologne, Germany, today, protesters will ride bikes in London, perform > street theater in Chile, and manipulate a giant puppet in San > Francisco. > > Pretty much the usual stuff when the G-8 gathers. But on the fringes > of this worldwide protest against the forces of "corporate > globalization" is something new. > > It's the fledgling field of "hactivism," which blends Internet > technology with the social protest producing new tools and methods > that are not only annoying their targets - usually government and > institutional Web sites - but also the ranks of traditional activists. > > Ricardo Dominguez is a leading proponent of hactivism and his New > York-based Electronic Disturbance Theater plans to conduct what he > calls a "virtual sit-in" today at the same as the global protests > against the G-8. > > Mr. Dominguez's target is the Mexican government and its treatment of > the people of Chiapas. Those who want to join the sit-in are > encouraged to download free software that allows computers to > repeatedly call up a Mexican government Web site, thus overloading its > server and impairing its ability to function. > > <Picture>CHIAPAS: Hactivists, protesting Mexico's treatment of > Zapatistas (shown), are overloading the government Web site. SCOTT > SADY/AP/FILE > ---------------------------------------------------------------------- > -- > > > In addition, the theater's "electronic civil disobedience" will > include a function so participants can ask the government Web site to > do a search for "truth," presumably to tie it up further and make the > symbolic point that the government is lying about the Zapatistas. > > "Our intent is disturbance. We want to slow [the Web site] down and > make them aware that there is a large community worldwide that knows > what they're doing," says Dominguez. > > Hactivists are a different breed from pure hackers, who invade > computer systems usually out of mischief or to demonstrate > vulnerabilities. But as the tools of hackers become more widely > available, people with political objectives are increasingly using > them and the Internet to attack their enemies. > > The backdrop to this activism is an exploding use of the Internet by > social movements. Because it can reach more people, more rapidly and > less expensively than other forms of communication, the Internet is > revolutionizing the way activists organize campaigns. > > But hactivists like Dominguez are continually searching for more > potent uses of today's technology to make a statement. He's an actor > and artist and sees his form of electronic civil disobedience as akin > to traditional uses of street theater to call attention to social > problems. > > However, many social activists are either ambivalent or downright > hostile toward this new form of protest. > > "I think it's idiotic," says Ted Lewis, director of the Mexico program > at the Global Exchange, a social-justice group based in San Francisco. > "The problem with this tool, this use of the Internet, is that it's > not constructive. To simply close down a Web site is not good Internet > etiquette and if it gets turned around, it'll hurt free speech on the > Internet." > > The Electronic Disturbance Theater is not alone in disrupting Web > sites. During the height of NATO's attacks on Yugoslavia, for > instance, the official NATO Web site was bombarded with requests meant > to overload it. Dominguez says a group of Serbs and Albanians used EDT > software for attacks on the NATO site. > > David Ronfeldt, a Rand specialist in the use of technology to support > the Zapatistas in Mexico, says the flooding and defacing of Web sites > is clearly on the rise. But it is difficult to know which are truly > organized political acts and which are just lone acts of vandalism. > > Further, he says, "it remains to be seen whether they become an > effective or divisive force" within leftist protest circles. > > Harry Cleaver at the University of Texas in Austin has studied the use > of the Internet and social movements and concludes that the kind of > actions espoused by EDT have been widely shunned by social activists > of all stripes. Though it has gained some favor in Italy, attacking > Web sites is not generally being embraced as a legitimate protest > tactic, he says. > > Some activists see room for attacks on Web sites, but only when it's > part of a strategy with a clear purpose. "Who does it support? That's > the key question," says Bob Schmitt, a manager of the Technology > Project in Helena, Mont. > > Dominguez says his group organized 15 virtual sit-ins last year, > though this is the first time he's coordinated one with protests > against the G-8 meeting. He says last year's activities drew about > 90,000 participants and he's working on a program that will turn > virtual sit-ins into marches by allowing more interactivity between > participants. > > Today's worldwide protests against the G-8 are flying under the banner > "Reclaim the Streets" and are a loose affiliation of groups and > individuals from all over the world. Protests are slated in over 40 > countries. > > One of the organizers of the G-8 protests in San Francisco, Juliette > Beck, says the Internet has made it vastly easier and cheaper to > coordinate such widespread protests. But despite those gains, > attacking Web sites with the click of a computer mouse can never > substitute for more traditional actions. "Nothing replaces people on > the streets," she says. > > > > <Picture: bullet>Before bookmarking this page in your browser, click > here. > > <Picture: bullet>The URL for this page is: > http://www.csmonitor.com/durable/1999/06/18/fp3s1-csm.shtml A<>E<>R ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ The only real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new landscapes but in having new eyes. -Marcel Proust + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + A merely fallen enemy may rise again, but the reconciled one is truly vanquished. -Johann Christoph Schiller, German Writer (1759-1805) + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + It is preoccupation with possessions, more than anything else, that prevents us from living freely and nobly. -Bertrand Russell + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + + "Everyone has the right...to seek, receive and impart information and ideas through any media and regardless of frontiers." 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