Diebold Targeted With Electronic Civil Disobedience

For Immediate Release: Tuesday, October 21, 2003

DIEBOLD TARGETED WITH ELECTRONIC CIVIL DISOBEDIENCE

Swarthmore, Pa. -- Defending the right of a fair, democratic election, Why War? and the Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons (SCDC) announced today that they are rejecting Diebold Elections Systems' cease and desist orders and are initiating an electronic civil disobedience campaign that will ensure permanent public access to the controversial leaked memos.

Earlier this week, the Electronic Frontier Foundation announced that it will defend the right of Online Privacy Group, the Internet service provider for San Francisco Indymedia, to host links to the controversial memos. Going one step further, Why War? and SCDC members are the first to publicly refuse to comply with Diebold's cease and desist order by continually providing access to the documents.

"These memos indicate that Diebold, which counts the votes in 37 states, knowingly created an electronic system which allows anyone with access to the machines to add and delete votes without detection," Why War? member Micah explained.

Although the reasons for individual engagement in the civil disobedience vary, the consensus between the two groups is that the public availability of these documents must be protected at any cost.

Thus, through active electronic civil disobedience, Why War? and SCDC will bring to light the usually silent acts of suppression and censorship. The result will be a permanent and public mirror of the memos: documents whose public existence challenges the assumed presence of democracy in America.

The documents are currently available here:

http://why-war.com/memos/

More information about the campaign of electronic civil disobedience:

http://why-war.com/features/2003/10/diebold.html

Electronic Frontier Foundation press release:

http://www.eff.org/Legal/ISP_liability/20031016_eff_pr.php

Media contacts:
Andrew Main, media@why-war.com, 610.690.3538, http://why-war.com/
Luke Smith, lsmith1@swarthmore.edu, 610.690.5546, http://scdc.emegaweb.net/

About Why War?:

Why War? is an incorporated educational nonprofit organization in the commonwealth of Pennsylvania. Formed over two years ago by Swarthmore College students, Why War? is one of the most innovative new-movement organizations on the Internet. Why War's members and writings have appeared in the Los Angeles Times, the Guardian (UK), the San Francisco Chronicle, the Philadelphia Inquirer, and the Nation, among other places. It can be reached online at why- war.com.

About the Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons:

The Swarthmore Coalition for the Digital Commons is a digital freedom group dedicated to preserving the free and open exchange of information both on and off the campus of Swarthmore College. It has been written about by the Seattle Times and other news media, and can be reached online at scdc.emegaweb.net.

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