Week 6 / From Hacktivism to Cyberwar

Topic 11

Find and blog about an illustrative case of hacktivism.
How would you draw the line between civil disobedience over Internet and hacktivism?

The type of hacktivism which could be seen as a virtual strike against something... really similar to civil disobedience out of keyboard, so it is the line. For example in Czech constitution, there is the right to strike... i find this two phenomenons very similar, therefore i think there should be also right to strike virtually, we can call it right for cyberstrike.

I was really glad this spring to find the pure example of cyberactivism/strike/war. Some students of Tel Aviv university have developed a program that makes it easy for just about anyone to actively support some policy, to join the cyber struggle against cyber symbols (websites) of enemy. It seems to men very similar to make a demonstrations in front of embassies, or similar to any boycott. boycott is also coordinated stop using, buying, or dealing with someone, and the coordinated sending request to some server is not so different. I find problematic/iligal using the computers against will of their owners. But when people download and install the software for DDoS attack alone, and want to participate - it´s clear. More about in wired..

Second example, at this time is in Czech republic next political crisis. So it could be two weeks back, when someone make a webpage, where you can choose the text which you want to send to politicians via mail, you choose also throw some form the politics which you want to contact. fill your email and name and this system send the fill email to your email account with the chosen addresses and text. It makes the protest and process of civil complaint really simple and time free.

There was something similar with sms. In Czech republic have citizens right to make suggestions to some types of law or different strategic plans of development. And the authority have the function, they have to negotiate each suggestion. There was some filthy project of building some new industry and the NGo interesting to it spread the information about the right of each citizen make own suggestion against it. What i find most important in this case for topic of this lesson is the special mechanism of participative sms, which was used by this NGO to keep the process of making suggestions as simple as posible. More about.

Ministry for Regional Development received (because of this application) around 9000 comments by public (citizens, their associations and communities) on the policies, which became a record amount of comments per concept.

I think, that these three examples have common principle. Active citizens/NGo create system, which simplified the process of civil disobedience and strengthen civil society, or pass the complicate process of bureaucratic obstructions of suggestions by automatizing of this process. Therefore it increase the participation of public so it reinforce the democracy. It is also possible call it e-democracy. "E-democracy suggests greater and more active citizen participation enabled by the Internet, mobile communications, and other technologies in today’s representative democracy as well as through more participatory or direct forms of citizen involvement in addressing public challenges"