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Department of Communication Arts and Sciences DEMOCRACY and the HACKER MOVEMENT The Pennsylvania State University The Graduate School Department of Communication Arts and Sciences DEMOCRACY AND THE HACKER MOVEMENT: INFORMATION TECHNOLOGIES AND POLITICAL ACTION A Thesis in Communication Arts and Sciences by Brett Lance Lunceford © 2006 Brett Lance Lunceford Submitted in Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy December 2006 ii The thesis of Brett Lance Lunceford was reviewed and approved* by the following: Thomas W. Benson Edwin Erle Sparks Professor of Rhetoric Thesis Advisor Chair of Committee J. Michael Hogan Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Stephen H. Browne Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Jorge Reina Schement Distinguished Professor of Communications James P. Dillard Professor of Communication Arts and Sciences Head of the Department of Communication Arts and Sciences *Signatures are on file in the Graduate School iii ABSTRACT In order to understand how technology may influence democratic practice, it is necessary to understand the values of those who are creating and shaping technology because those who create technology instill within those technologies particular values. Hackers comprise one group that has a significant role in the creation and shaping of technology. As the United States moves closer toward becoming an information society, the hacker is a figure that embodies both peril and promise. If technology is to revolutionize democratic practice, citizens must begin to use technology in revolutionary ways. Hackers, through acts of “hacktivism” (politically motivated hacking), are using technology in inventive ways for political ends. Living in an information society places constraints upon democratic practice. Because hackers are actively creating and shaping these constraints, they are likely to successfully negotiate these constraints. Hackers have evolved from a loose collective to a politically oriented social movement with a strong collective identity. Hackers are using their skills for political ends through acts of hacktivism. These politically motivated hacks provide clues concerning the prospects for a technologically enhanced democratic society. Core tenets of hacker collective identity are embedded within hacker texts, manifestoes, and hacked Web pages. “The Conscience of a Hacker,” also known as the hacker manifesto, provided a rallying cry for the nascent movement and began to articulate a collective identity for hackers. Instances of hacktivism demonstrate how this collective identity is enacted. An examination of a politically motivated hack of the New iv York Times website reveals that the action served more to reinforce hacker collective identity and to confirm in/out group distinctions between hackers and the rest of society than to incite political action or foster support for their cause, fulfilling what Richard Gregg calls the “ego function of protest rhetoric.” Because hacker collective identity is at odds with essential attributes of democracy, hackers are not likely to create a more democratic society. This conclusion casts doubt on the potential for new technologies to revolutionize democratic practice but there is still hope for a technologically enhanced form of democracy. The greatest potential for technology to positively influence democratic practice can be found in citizens using technology in unintended and inventive ways rather than through hackers and acts of hacktivism. v TABLE OF CONTENTS LIST OF FIGURES .....................................................................................................vii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS.........................................................................................viii Chapter 1 Social Movements: It’s Not Just Marching Anymore................................1 Questions of Definition: What is a Social Movement..........................................5 The New Social Movement Approach .................................................................10 Outline of Chapters...............................................................................................13 Chapter 2 Democratic Practice in an Information Society .........................................16 What is Democracy?.............................................................................................18 Voice..............................................................................................................19 Citizenship.....................................................................................................23 Limitation of Governmental Power...............................................................26 What Does an Information Society Look Like?...................................................30 The Commodification of Information in an Information Society .................33 Access to Information Technologies.............................................................39 The Interconnection of Individuals and Institutions in an Information Society....................................................................................................42 Identity and Citizenship in an Information Society.......................................49 Protest and Democracy in an Information Society...............................................57 Chapter 3 Building a Hacker Collective Identity........................................................63 The Rhetorical Construction of the Hacker as Terrorist.......................................67 The Hacker and the Creation of the National Information Infrastructure .....69 Information Society / Panoptic Society.........................................................70 From Nerd to Nemesis: Constructing the Hacker as Terrorist......................76 The Consequences of Constructing the Hacker as Terrorist .........................86 The Creation of a Hacker Movement ...................................................................92 In the Beginning There Was Phrack .............................................................94 Operation Sundevil and the Galvanization of the Hacker Movement...........102 Kevin Mitnick and the Myth of the Superhacker ..........................................107 The Death of Phrack .....................................................................................115 Entering the World of the Hacker: The Hacker Manifesto...................................118 A Shift in the Text .........................................................................................141 What Does the Hacker Manifesto Reveal About Hacker Collective Identity?..................................................................................................158 Conclusion ............................................................................................................163 Chapter 4 Hacktivism as Rhetorical Action................................................................164 vi What is Hacktivism?.............................................................................................165 How is Hacktivism Done?.............................................................................170 Social Engineering .................................................................................171 Website Defacement ..............................................................................172 Email Bombs..........................................................................................173 Electronic Sit-ins / Denial of Service Attacks........................................173 What’s New and Different about Hacktivism?.....................................................175 A Brief History of Hacktivism ......................................................................175 The Question of Means and Ends in Hacktivism ..........................................179 Limitations of Traditional Protest Activity ...................................................191 Hacktivism Versus Culture Jamming............................................................195 Case Study: The New York Times Hack..............................................................199 Interpretations of the Action..........................................................................220 Ego Function of Protest Rhetoric ..................................................................230 Hacktivism and Democracy..................................................................................243 Chapter 5 Conclusion: What are the Prospects for a Technologically Mediated Democracy? ..........................................................................................................246 Identity in an Information Society and Identity as Citizen...................................248 The Creators of Technology and Their Values: What Kind of Democracy Would Hackers Create?.................................................................................255 New Means of Protest...........................................................................................260 The Potential Efficacy of Hacktivism...................................................................268 The Potential for Democratic Practice in an Information Society........................272 Bibliography ................................................................................................................277 vii LIST OF FIGURES Figure 1: Hacking For Girliez Logo ............................................................................202 Figure 2: HFG Certified! Logo....................................................................................202
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