The Coming Swarm : DDoS Actions, Hacktivism, and Civil Disobedience on the Internet

This book is available as open access through the Bloomsbury Open Access programme and is available on www.bloomsburycollections.com.What is Hacktivism? In The Coming Swarm, rising star Molly Sauter examines the history, development, theory, and practice of distributed denial of service actions as a tactic of political activism. The internet is a vital arena of communication, self expression, and interpersonal organizing. When there is a message to convey, words to get out, or people to unify, many will turn to the internet as a theater for that activity. As familiar and widely accepted activist tools-petitions, fundraisers, mass letter-writing, call-in campaigns and others-find equivalent practices in the online space, is there also room for the tactics of disruption and civil disobedience that are equally familiar from the realm of street marches, occupations, and sit-ins? With a historically grounded analysis, and a focus on early deployments of activist DDOS as well as modern instances to trace its development over time, The Coming Swarm uses activist DDOS actions as the foundation of a larger analysis of the practice of disruptive civil disobedience on the internet. Title Page Cover Copyright Page Additional Praise for the Coming Swarm Contents Acknowledgments Foreword by ETHAN ZUCKERMAN Introduction: Searching for the digital street The structure of this work Technical note Legal note Notes Chapter 1 DDoS and Civil Disobedience in historical context Silence and disruption in the time of constant comment “Full and free discussion even of ideas we hate” Notes Chapter 2 Blockades and blockages: DDoS as direct action Functional metaphors of geography and physicality Shouting down your opponent: The censorship critique The Euskal Herria Journal and the IGC The “Deportation class” action Notes Chapter 3 Which way to the #press channel? DDoS as media manipulation Terrorist, hacker, artist, nuisance: The many media reflections of the EDT Allies in the toywar Anonymous and the media: Manipulation, entertainment, and readymades Shadows in the monitor:The CAE’s symbolic dissent critique What does winning look like? Notes Chapter 4 Show me what an activist looks like: DDoS as a method of biographical impact The culture of the Hive Anonymous’ hacker identity Notes Chapter 5 Identity, anonymity, and responsibility: DDoS and the personal DDoS and impure dissent Identity, anonymity, and responsibility within protest Accessibility in technologically defined tactical spaces Notes Chapter 6 LOIC will tear us apart: DDoS tool development and design The Electronic Disturbance Theater and FloodNet Anonymous, Operation Payback and LOIC A forked comparison: abatishchev and NewEraCracker Changes in the technology Notes Chapter 7 Against the man: State and corporate responses to DDoS actions Terrorism accusations and the CFAA GCHQ’s rolling thunder and the (re)militarization of the internet The internet as melded commercial/military space The avatar nature of online brand presence Notes Conclusion: The future of DDoS Note Index Biographies Foreword by: "This book examines the history, development, theory, and practice of distributed denial of service actions as a tactic of political activism. The internet is a vital arena of communication, self expression, and interpersonal organizing. When there is a message to convey, words to get out, people to organize, many will turn to the internet as a theater for that activity. As familiar and widely accepted activist tools--petitions, fundraisers, mass letter-writing, call-in campaigns and others--find equivalent practices in the online space, is there also room for the tactics of disruption and civil disobedience that are equally familiar from the realm of street marches, occupations, and sit-ins? Grounding the analysis historically, focusing on early deployments of activist DDOS as well as modern instances to trace its development over time, this book uses activist DDOS actions as the foundation of a larger analysis of the practice of disruptive civil disobedience on the internet"-- Provided by publisher Foreword / by Ethan Zuckerman Introduction : Searching for the digital street DDoS and civil disobedience in historical context Blockages and blockages: DDoS as direct action Which way to the #press channel?: DDoS as media manipulation Show me what an activist looks like: DDoS as a method of biographical impact Identity, anonymity, and responsibility: DDoS and the personal LOIC will tear us apart: DDoS tool development and design Against the man: state and corporate responses to DDoS actions Conclusion : The future of DDoS.