The Electronic Disturbance Theater (EDT) is a small group of cyberactivists and artists developing the theory and practice of Electronic Civil Disobedience (ECD). The group has focused its electronic actions against the Mexican and U.S. governments to draw attention to the war against the Zapatistas and others in Mexico. ECD tactics borrow the tactics of trespass and blockade from earlier social movements and apply them to the Internet.
A typical civil disobedience tactic involves physically blockading entrances or occupying offices. Electronic Civil Disobedience utilizes virtual blockades and virtual sit-ins, allowing participants to act from home, work, or university against opponents thousands of miles away. The Electronic Disturbance Theater has produced an ECD device called Flood Net, URL based software used to flood and block an opponent's web site.
The Zapatistas in Chiapas, Mexico entered the global stage just after January 1, 1994 when their communiques signed by Subcommandante Marcos were distributed across the Net. The Internet became a vital means for transmitting information from inside the conflict zone in Chiapas to points beyond Mexico's physical borders. Since the Acteal Massacre in Chiapas at the end of last year, the Internet has increasingly been seen as a site for direct action and Electronic Civil Disobedience.
Flood Net was used in January when the Anonymous Digital Coalition from Italy circulated a proposal for a virtual sit-in against five Mexico City financial institution websites.
Source: Hacker News · Summarized by HeadlinesBriefing