riddle@woton.UUCP (Prentiss Riddle ) (10/15/87)
[Article from RISKS-FORUM Digest, 13 October 1987, Volume 5, Issue 43] We've heard much about computer crime for personal gain, about vandalism committed by crackers out for kicks, and now "software warfare" in which a superpower might attempt to undermine an opponent's warfighting capability by sabotaging its software. But has there been any discussion of real or hypothetical civil disobedience by computer? A loose definition of "civil disobedience" might be nonviolent lawbreaking by morally motivated individuals, often in what they perceive as obedience to a "higher law" (e.g. constitutional or international law or a religious or ethical principle). A few famous examples of CD in the non-computer world include Rosa Parks' refusal to move to the back of a bus, occupation of power plants and weapons facilities by anti-nuclear protesters, and "Plowshares" actions in which priests and nuns have destroyed components of nuclear weapons. It seems to me that as the computerization of society continues, the idea of engaging in civil disobedience via computer is bound to come up more often. Some computer CD might resemble ordinary computer crime and sabotage except for the motivation of the individuals carrying it out. I've heard folklore about politically motivated crackers for years now; do RISKS readers know of any actual examples? Other forms of civil disobedience might be engaged in by members of the general public with no special expertise in computers, especially as computerized communications systems become more pervasive. For example, rather than physically occupy a street or building, protesters might clog up a computer network by engaging in bogus transactions. (This has already been done with telephone systems: reputedly some fundamentalist right organizations have had to abandon their toll-free numbers after it became a common pastime in certain gay and countercultural circles to call them up and waste their money. This was known as "the Falwell game.") Like all civil disobedience, computer CD raises many ethical and tactical questions. Can anyone out there think of any particularly frightening or promising scenarios for computer CD looming on the horizon? Prentiss Riddle