Beyond the hype, what does it all mean?
Mapping out the social scene could prove to be difficult. It isn’t just a dual-front of hacktivists vs. the Chinese government. Hacktivists use their skills in many other countries where they have observed injustices. They themselves hail from throughout the globe, potentially even from within the countries that bind their freedoms. Most Chinese citizens probably never will know of the existence of hacktivists. Many citizens of the US, Europe and Australia may not know that hacktivists exist within their borders. Yet, the hacktivists struggle, as well as the struggle of the journalists who write on the injustices, is no less real.
Internet Relay Chat seems to be among the strongest bonding features among hacktivists. (http:www.cultdeadcow.com) This program allows users to talk about ways of implementing projects and software. In some cases it is a place to show-off one’s skill and coding knowledge. In other cases, it’s a virtual environment wherein hacktivists can learn about countries with injustices. In another, it’s a way of feeling out potential members. Maybe someone can help with a new open-source computer program.
E-mail also appears to be an important means of contact for the hacktivist. Submissions of news stories are accepted, as are ideas for projects – software-oriented and otherwise.
It should be clear from the website descriptions of thehacktivist.com, ifex.org and cultdeadcow.com that hacktivists mean business. They may be strange, but they take their craft seriously. Other than some mildly disturbing graphics (cDc), most of their websites are plain. This really says something given how technologically-skilled most of them are. They have news stories and forums, blogs and chat rooms. Their desire: a free internet. Their means: intimate knowledge of code and hacking practices.
The Chinese government will not allow hacktivists to freely sway the public. They can’t. Their regime relies on ignorance and deceit. They will jail offenders indefinitely. China will even go so far as to execute those who have hacked financial sites for minimal gain. Everything is justifiable because while the internet may provide an opportunity for economic expansion, it also poses a threat to their relative omnipotence. They dub internet cafés as electronic heroin. To them, internet access is almost a drug, something that needs tight regulation and even bans. The public isn’t owed the internet, it isn’t a right. It’s a privilege given out on China’s terms. The hacktivists need to stop destroying China’s framework.
Hacktivists risk their lives and hundreds of hours per year. They do it for people who will never meet them. One could liken their vision of a free internet for the Chinese as the web equivalent of missionaries. The Cult of the Dead Cow is riddled with pseudo-religiousness, but this need not be the case. In general, the hacktivists see themselves as bringing enlightenment to a people that don’t know any better. Many missionaries acted in much the same way when they brought Christianity to Third Worlders. Succeed or fail, the missionaries saw their activities as wholly right and God-inspired. Many hacktivists view their own personal mission in much the same way.
In their wisdom, the hacktivists have decided that the internet was meant to be open, and that it is morally wrong to stop it. China is one of the biggest abusers censorship-wise, and therefore China finds itself as one of the worst targets of hacktivism. Even if they abhor censorship, most knew where to draw the line. In most cases they do not support child pornography. They want more internet kiosks, more internet cafés and they want them as soon as possible. And all these advancements are useless without full access. The government should not have such a tight-fisted grip on the internet that 20,000 sites are inaccessible. It’s not right.
Hopefully through the course of this project it has become clear that there is a multi-sided war going on every day. It’s being fought with cyber-bullets, by cyber-patriots and cyber-guerrillas. They are fighting against a censorship-heavy regime that must be stopped. Hacktivists want the internet free and open to everyone, even the Chinese, even the Afghans, even anybody who can access a computer. They are armed to the teeth and they are hungry for cyber-blood. Most of their warfare includes using steganographic methods and mirror sites, but there is always a need for fresh recruits. Unfortunately for some of the cyber-freedom-fighters, those scapegoats who have been jailed for internet crimes, the Chinese retaliate against cyber-attacks with brutal and decidedly real world attacks. The battle will continue on until either everyone is granted internet access or all of the hacktivists are jailed or slaughtered. Both sides mean business and won’t be overlooked.
Coming back to Clinton’s original statement, about restricting the internet as comparable to nailing Jell-O to the wall, it is interesting to know what OXblood Ruffin thinks. This statement ties the entire project together, because Ruffin very deftly describes the sense of what he, at least, is fighting for.
In an article on Findlaw.com, Ruffin says: “Hacking is a contact sport. We're trying to maintain contact with as many people as possible. The world is far too small a place to disconnect millions of people from one another. And governments that attempt to separate and divide the world rather than bring it together are on a collision course with the inevitable. There's an arrogant and misguided notion that somehow dictators will be able to exploit the Internet to improve their economies, yet put a chokehold on content they don't like. Good luck, nitwits.” (http://practice.findlaw.com/hack-0703.html)