> 'Electrohippies' set to launch massive anti-trade protest
> By LISA HOFFMAN
> Scripps Howard News Service
> April 05, 2000
>
> - Computer "hacktivists" are gearing up for an electronic
> sit-in against companies that make or sell genetically
> modified products.
>
> "Electrohippies," an Internet-based group, is organizing
> a mass computer attack that is timed to coincide with
> anti-trade protests slated for next week in Washington.
>
> Calling it an "experimental event," the group wants tens
> of thousands of people around the world to inundate companies
> involved in the genetic alteration of food crops with booby-trapped
> e-mails that would swamp the firms' computers.
>
> The electrohippies' Web site (http://www.gn.apc.org/pmhp/ehippies/)
> describes this as "applying the tactics of street campaigning to
> cyberspace."
>
> They wants to create the electronic equivalent of protesters
> blocking a company's front door. But unlike the massive "denial of
> service" attacks in February, in which anonymous hackers crippled
> such major Internet sites as Yahoo! and eBay, these would aim to show
> that huge numbers of consumers are against the development of
> genetically engineered food.
>
> "If enough people take part, the (Internet) server logs of the ...
> organizations will show those in charge how much support there
> is," the electrohippies' Web site says.
>
> Computer security expert Jerry Irvine of iDEFENSE Intelligence
> Services in Virginia said the tactic is not new, having been used
> by other groups on smaller scales.
>
> If groups find ways to conduct such mass actions successfully,
> "I anticipate more of this in the future," he noted.
>
> The e-hippies so far have not publicly singled out any targets.
> In the past, those opposed to genetic engineering have pointed
> the finger at firms ranging from chemical companies Monsanto
> and DuPont to consumer products giant Procter & Gamble.
>
> These companies and others contend that such altered crops
> and products not only are safe but are of enormous benefit to
> consumers and the environment. They have formed
> the Council for Biotechnology Information and established
> a Web site (http://www.whybiotech.com) to make their case.
>
> The electrohippies' protest is just one of dozens expected
> in cyberspace and the "real" world when the World Bank and
> International Monetary Fund hold meetings next week in
> Washington. In the crosshairs will be policies critics say
> harm the environment, exploit workers and hamstring developing
> economies in order to benefit the richest countries.
>
> The upcoming protests are organized by many of the same
> groups behind demonstrations against the World Trade Organization
> that turned violent in Seattle last fall. While most of the protesters
> were peaceful, young anarchists were blamed for starting a rock-throwing
> melee that shut the city down for several days.
>
> Electrohippies aren't seeking to cause the companies any harm,
> according to its Web site. In fact, the group is taking an online poll
> to see if those who agree with its cause approve of the planned
> computer attack, or fear it could hurt the cause.
>
> The electrohippies also plan to notify the firms in advance
> so they can take extra protective action, if possible, or turn their
> computer servers off. The "attack" would not involve viruses that
> could harm data or systems; instead, it would simply bombard Web
> pages with so many multiple requests that the sites become
> overloaded and temporarily out of commission.
>
> Even if it does no lasting harm, such a protest could be deemed
> a crime, some computer security experts said.
>
> "Laws against it are on the books," said Bill Pollak, a spokesman
> for the Computer Emergency Response Team at Pittsburgh's Carnegie
> Mellon University, which tracks such cyber-actions.
>
> But iDEFENSE's Irvine said there's no legal consensus yet on what
> constitutes illegality in actions such as the one planned by the
> electrohippies.
>
> "This is another one of those cyber-law issues that has not yet been
> resolved," Irvine said.
>
> (Contact Lisa Hoffman at HoffmanL(at)shns.com or http://www.shns.com.)