On this day, June 20th, 2008, the news brings to our attention Google-bombing McCain and an introduction to Anonymous:

• Google-bombing John McCain
• Scientology and an introduction to Anonymous

And a large handful of commentaries regarding the AP and their assault on bloggers:

• AP Battles Blogs
• Duff: AP starts copyright fight but can’t handle blogger backlash
• AP pulls a Metallica
• AP Exaggerates The ‘Conversation’ It’s Having With Bloggers; Caught Copying Text From Bloggers As Well
• Michael Arrington: The AP Has Violated My Copyright, And I Demand Justice

-Filed in News

A little over four years ago, Tad Hirsch, now a doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, wrote the code for TXTmob. The service was widely used by demonstrators (as well as reporters and police officers according to the New York Times) during the 2004 Republican National Convention. Hirsch, now completing his dissertation, was subpoenaed by the New York City Law Department in February. The subpoena instructed Hirsch to produce, among a wide-range of materials, text messages sent via TXTmob, information on the senders, when the messages were sent and where they were sent to. Explaining that he has a “moral responsibility” to protect the privacy of TXTmob users, Hirsch has not complied. Here, he discusses the protest in a time of connectivity, his “when, not if” mentality regarding getting subpoenaed, and the dangers of trusting so much information so so few telecommunications service providers.

Make Something Happen: With what has happened with your case, and most recently with this 15-year-old getting summoned to court in the UK for his involvement with Anonymous, it seems that Internet action and organizing can be something of a gamble.

Tad Hirsch: How do you mean?

MSH: I mean that there seems to be no clear precedent for some of these cases and as a result, organizers end up getting in legal trouble accordingly.

Hirsch: I would disagree. These kinds of cases have been handled for a couple of decades, but without the same technology involved. The bigger problem is that there is some reasonable legislation on the books — of course it could be better — but the telecoms don’t challenge any government requests when they come in. When there is a subpoena, it’s like they’re given a date, time to comply, and they just give in. There are some laws that protect 3rd party providers like myself, but there aren’t a lot of examples of companies stepping up and defending the rights of their customers. That is a real challenge for activists.

In my case, I knew that there was the potential of getting subpoenaed; I very much anticipated this. The reason that we chose to make TXTmob was because we had recognized the track record of commercial providers. There was clearly the potential for the government to look into the records of users, so rather than having people use UPOC, we encouraged them to use us to be safe.

MSH: Is there a specific incident that comes to mind which made you wary of corporate communication providers?

Hirsch: The people involved with TXTmob each have long activist histories, myself included. Over the years, we have seen this sort of thing happen regularly. Indymedia servers have been seized all over the world. This behavior is not new. Depending on the kind of potential action that you’re involved with, you have to take precautions. Radical activists talk a great deal about security culture. If you’re planning for a large mobilization and you’re at a meeting, you’ll find that most people don’t use their full names, or even their first names. Activists aren’t naive and within this culture, there is a sometimes-jaded, realistic, hard-nosed understanding.

MSH: So here you are, four years after the convention, and the police come to you. You anticipated this, as you said, but did you expect for it to take so long to come back to you? And does dealing with this sort of thing throw a kink into your dissertation work?

Hirsch: The great irony of it all is that I was sitting in the MIT library and writing my dissertation. I had been writing specifically about TXTmob and about the notion that cops could conceivably come looking for records at some point later. While writing that sentence, my phone rings and my wife tells me that there are cops at the door looking for me. If nothing else, it had taken this theoretical construction and given it a real empirical foundation [laughs]. It hasn’t been a huge impediment. Things like this take a long time to work out. I have a couple of lawyers who are really good and doing what lawyers do. We’ll have to wait and see.

MSH: What fascinates you now about the way that people are presently using the web to organize?

Hirsch: The central tension now, it seems, results from the fact that all of the web 2.0 tools out there are so easily accessible. If you think about texting, there are now a number of organizations using Twitter as their tool of choice. There is good reason to do that, as it is cheap and it is a big, robust tool. It raises some questions, though. The user is putting sensitive data into the hands of people and forces they may not know. Some people are working on coming up with alternatives, such as taking TXTmob and redeveloping it as a Drupal module, which is one alternative. Because of the way that messaging works, there is a limit on what you can really do with the model. One should ask, though, what is really at stake when we give over all of our communication infrastructure to a small number of companies?

(Photo Credit: Duncan Davidson)

-Filed in People

On this day, June 6th, 2008, the news brings to our attention libel as a terror tactic, Scientology versus the Internet, the never-ending praise for social networks in the student rally scene, and much, much more.

• Net issues are are hot in the ‘08 elections.
• Scientology v. The Internet (and the “terrorists” who lurk there).
• Speaking of terrorists, have you ever thought of libel as a terror tactic?
• Praise for Internet, Social Networking in student rallies.
• Is the Homegrown Terror Prevention Act a threat to the First Amendment?
• Mention of a flash mob in a reenactment of earth history (what?)
• And finally, Craig Newmark weighs in on pretty much everything.

-Filed in News

On this day, May 28th, 2008, the news brings to our attention Weezer’s celebration of the meme, the NAACP’s look at new forms of community organizing, researchers’ hunt for email chainletters, Bill McKibben’s new home on the web, and more.

• Internet terrorists target—who else—My Chemical Romance.
• Weezer celebrates the Meme.
• Bill McKibben now helms a new global grassroots, internet-based campaign called.
• Relatively unknown actor and former Scientologist joins Anonymous.
• The NAACP looks at new forms of community organizing.
• Community organizing works well for security guard.
• And finally, researchers want your chain-letters! Seriously.

-Filed in News

On this day, May 22nd, 2008, the news brings to our attention South Korean web activists’ continued crusade against American beef, how an Internet “juggernaut” is expected to “crush McCain,” courtroom drama for a young member of Anonymous, the feasibility of creating “Big Brother” in the UK, Scarlett Johansson’s perceived roll in inviting YouTube jihad, and more.

• Joshua Hill adds to the discussion about creating two classes of the Internet.
• Looking for student loans? Have you considered borrowing P2P style?
• The UK Times pooh poohs the feasibility of constructing a modern day “Big Brother.“
• A 15-year-old member of Anonymous is summonsed to court in the UK.
• Surprise! The Internet was key in Sen. Obama’s victories!
• To quote “The Russian” from Rocky 4, Obama’s Internet juggernaut will reportedly “crush McCain.”
• South Korean web users/text-hounds are continuing their fight against US Beef.
• Hate is on the rise in the 2.0 universe.
• And finally, YouTube, Scarlett Johansson, and the rise of Internet terror.

-Filed in Uncategorized

On this day, May 7th, 2008, the news brings to our attention gay Russian flash mobs, the rise of “Dot Com Mompreneurs,” Anonymous’ continued crusade against a one Mr. Tom Cruise and more.

• It’s sort of an oldie, it continues to be relevant and it was recently reprinted – Barack Obama, Community Organizer in Chief?
• Are you a Mompreneur?
• Taking a look at the place of the “YouTube moment” in modern politics.
• Russian Gays flash mob for acceptance.
• And finally, Anonymous continues its battle against Scientology.

-Filed in Uncategorized