On electronic civil disobedience

Abstract

Civil disobedience has been part of the American political experience since the country began. Today, as we enter the next century, we are faced with the possibility and reality of a new, hybrid form of civil disobedience known as electronic civil disobedience (ECD). A fusion of computer technology with the more traditional forms of American civil disobedience has created new electronic and digital varieties of civil disobedience that take place on the net or in the matrix. It is important to explore these new forms of civil disobedience in the context of more traditional actions. We have only begun to realize the full potential of how computers will change political activism.