Zapatista Tactical Floodnet
A software to orchestrate a new form of protest through digital media
Initiator(s)
Electronic Disturbance Theater
Description
FloodNet was a tool for empowered net citizens to participate in electronic civil disobedience (non-violent digital action) in solidarity with the Zapatistas. Electronic Disturbance Teather combined politics and performative ways of protest with digital media. Floodned was developed as a device, a software to orchestrate collective electronic civil disobedience, disrupting access to the targeted website by flooding the host server with requests for that site. On April 10, 1998, there was the first global digital action: it took the form of a virtual sit-in generating a disturbance, to hack the websites of President Zedillo; U.S. government and Pentagon. The FloodNet Tactical Version 1.0 was showcased during an electronic civil disobedience action against Mexican President Zedillo's website.
Goals
To foster new forms of protest through digital media
Beneficial outcomes
With the free version software, everyone could Download EDT's Public Version of the Zapatista FloodNet, and use it to protest with any website, creating new campaigns of protest.
Location
United States
Users
Electronic Disturbance Theater (Ricardo Dominguez, Carmin Karasic, Stefan Wray, Brett Stalbaum), Zapatistas, Netizens, hacktivists.
Maintained by
Electronic Disturbance Theater
Duration
1998
Category
Scientific
Pedagogical
Politics
Urban Development
Economy
Environment
Social