huridocs-tech Electronic Civil Disobedience

Edited/Distributed by HURINet - The Human Rights Information Network
---------------------------------------------------------------------
## author     : aiindex@mnet.fr
## date       : 22.10.99
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Internet users try to clog spy network

Associated Press

October 22, 1999

WASHINGTON -- Defying an ultra-secret spy network believed
to be scanning overseas e-mails for subversive messages,
Internet protesters tried to overwhelm U.S. government
eavesdroppers by flooding the system with fabricated
messages about terrorist plots and bombs.

But even supporters of Thursday's electronic civil
disobedience campaign acknowledged that the effort likely
caused "a lot of laughter," not consternation, at America's
super-secret National Security Agency.

Organizers urged Internet users on dozens of Web sites and
in discussion groups to send millions of e-mails with
subversive-sounding language. "Give the (NSA) their
keywords!" one person wrote.

The intent was clear: Flood the powerful NSA computers with
enough suspicious traffic to crash them and disrupt the
mysterious high-tech listening system, code-named "Echelon."

A 1997 report commissioned by the European Parliament
described "routine and indiscriminate" monitoring of faxes,
e-mails and telephone messages in Europe by the global spy
network, which it said was coordinated by the NSA with the
help of other nations' security organizations. Another study
for the European Union this year brought out new details.

Rep. Bob Barr, R-Ga., has said he supports congressional
hearings to determine the scope of the spy network's
capabilities and to prevent abuses. The network is said to
include a listening station in Sugar Grove, W.Va., about 250
miles from Washington.

The NSA is prohibited from spying within the United States.
But it's unclear how those prohibitions are respected with
e-mail, which can travel outside U.S. borders on a zigzag
path across the Internet even when sent by one American to
another.

The agency declined to comment Thursday on its network or
the potential impact of the day's e-mail campaign.

"The agency doesn't discuss alleged intelligence
operations," NSA spokeswoman Judith Emmel said. "It doesn't
confirm or deny any Echelon-type technology."

But even supporters of the jamming campaign were pessimistic
that their efforts would have much impact. They suggested
the spy network was smart enough to ignore e-mails typically
sent with lists of random words, especially since many of
the messages were in plain English and not in foreign
languages or code.

"I think it will cause a lot of laughter up at NSA, to tell
the truth," said Wayne Madsen of the Washington-based
Electronic Privacy Information Center, who tracks news about
Echelon. "If they seriously think they're going to bring the
computers at the NSA to a grinding halt, they're going to be
seriously disappointed."

"It will not, in fact, have any effect on their operations,"
agreed Duncan Campbell of Edinburgh, Scotland, who wrote the
most recent report about Echelon for the EU. "They're used
to electronic warfare and screening out noise put up by
enemies. This is noise from dissenting citizens."

Supporters said even if their e-mail campaign didn't cause
the NSA's computers to crash, it was important at raising
awareness of the spy network's rumored abilities.

On the Internet, where conspiracy theorists flourish, it was
impossible to know for sure precisely who thought up "Jam
Echelon Day," as it was called in one message from an
Australia-based Web site. It was also impossible to count
how many e-mails protesters might actually have sent, much
less determine their effectiveness.

"I don't think we'll ever know," said Simon Davies, who
heads London-based Privacy International, a human rights
organization. "I would guess maybe it will be 10 years
before we understand the ramifications of any civil
disobedience campaign."






----------------------------------
Send mail for the 'huridocs-tech' list to 'huridocs-tech@hrea.org'.
Mail administrative requests to 'majordomo@hrea.org'.
For additional assistance, send mail to: 'owner-huridocs-tech@hrea.org'.
Archives of previous messages posted to the list can be found at:
http://www.hrea.org/lists/huridocs-tech/markup/maillist.html