Website Descriptions
The following descriptions of websites are meant to be able to stand alone from the project, but are also interesting and useful to the story. Ifex.org, thehacktivist.com and cultdeadcow.com are three websites on the hacktivist side. China isn’t represented here, but it should be clear how they feel. There are currently many hacktivists, journalists and citizens who are imprisoned over cyber-violations. These websites attack China’s policies and suggest ways to help the struggle.
See:
This is not a man, these are not ideas
Scott McCloud's Comic book about comic books makes it clear
that comic books are not merely just for kids.
A web site is far more than juxtaposed sequential visual art. Yet, people could
conceive of it that way. Blogspot.com is not just a white B inside an orange
rectangle, with white on two shades of blue lettering. The site is more than the
words Blogger, Posting, Create New Post, Manage Posts, Publish Status, View Blog.
Dautcher - Politics of Asia represents something slightly closer to what this
site means to the members of Anthropology 320, but not exactly. The title box
and the post box, with my letters being spread about the page is not the whole
story. These letters themselves are even icons. As McCloud draws, "This is not a
man" under a representative picture of a man. He scrawls, “These are not ideas,”
under words that represent ideas to us. Words like liberty and truth may be
ideas in our minds, but on the page they are merely representations of those.
In the world of mass media an image may be the most recognizable and
identifiable way of presenting data. GEICO uses a gecko. BMW uses a modified
peace sign. AT&T uses an ampersand (&). These are all means of expressing their
product and showing people what they can expect: a big corporate symbol.
What about web sites which aren't targeted towards consumers of cars, insurance
and phones? Those interested in deriding the restrictions in the internet,
promoting hacktivism and the mass consumption of “digital heroin” (access to the
internet, via internet cafes) all have their own symbols and messages. These are
more subdued, however. They need not be big flashy symbols attracting millions
of people to take “15 minutes to save 15% on your car insurance.” To keep with
the animal trend, the symbol need not be three frogs sitting on a log,
ribbitting the company's name a la Budweiser. And their symbols shouldn’t have
to be flashy, the message speaks for itself.
Those who are seeking out hacktivism online are already attracted to the concept
or idea. Some individual sites, like this one:
http://www.collusion.org/Article.cfm?ID=109 do feature an interesting
graphical symbol. Most feature text very similar to the one below it. “As
hackers become politicized and as activists become computerized, we are going to
see an increase in the number of cyber-activists who engage in what will become
more widely known as Electronic Civil Disobedience.” (Stefan Wray, 1998
Socialist Scholars Conference , March 20-22, NYC). Even back in 1998,
hacktivists were well-documented, so it’s not necessary to use a gimmick to pull
people in. People who think electronic civil disobedience is worthwhile will
google-search “hacktivism” and will find the necessary sites and contacts.
Those who despise the actions of hacktivists call them cyberterrorists, and
therefore sites which describe their actions with that negative connotation
would not attract anyone who felt strongly for their cause. They are probably
government sites and they would have the markings that would distinguish
themselves from sites like thehacktivist.com or ifex.org.
McCloud's book can put any websites presentation in a different context: “All
media of communication are a by-product of our sad inability to communicate
directly from mind to mind.” (McCloud 194) For me, the web sites do their best
to convey - possibly through subtext, but mostly upfront - that those who
practice electronic civil disobedience are not fooling around. They are serious,
hard-nosed and willing to spend years rotting in prison for what they believe
in. The internet should be open to everyone and nothing but iron bars can stop
them. Hacktivists like Bronc Buster internalize this ideal every time they began
work on a new project.