Activists Use Computers in Protests

Friday, January 19th 2001, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

WASHINGTON (AP) â€” Forget peace signs and burning draft cards. The malcontents of 2001 are tuning in with handheld computers, cell phones and Web cameras ready to broadcast any police abuses to the world.

Though disparate in their causes, the thousands of activists protesting President-elect Bush's inauguration this weekend are unified in using the latest technology to challenge the establishment.

And that means that, unlike their 1960s forebears, they may be more concerned with battery power than flower power.

Ricardo Dominguez, a supporter of the Zapatista rebels in Mexico, boasts that his role is to spread ``information about electronic civil disobedience.''

Dominguez plans to use a new Web-based bulletin board system, called Upoc, to send short messages to fellow activists in the crowd and around the world â€” who can receive them on laptops, cell phones, handheld computers and pagers.

He's also offering tools to help ``hacktivists'' disrupt or deface Web sites with anti-Bush slogans.

``I think some of the folks on this list would like the information,'' Dominguez said.

Many of the protesters cut their teeth at a major protest at world trade talks in Seattle in 1999. The technology has improved since then.

For instance, Brian Goldman, 29, a Web designer and self-described anarchist, is using his handheld Handspring Visor computer hooked to a wireless modem to track police movements, send instant electronic alerts to fellow protesters and make records of any police actions he believes violate civil rights.

His wireless modem came onto the market just a few months ago.

``I plan to spend Saturday standing in solidarity with fellow workers against the entrenchment of corporate tyranny, ... marching and documenting civil rights abuses and procedural mistakes by the various police agencies,'' said Goldman, part of a group that calls itself the Revolutionary Anti-Authoritarian Bloc.

Sarah Sloan, staff organizer at the International Action Center in New York, said her group has been using e-mail lists to coordinate nationwide inaugural protests and keep members abreast of details such as their fight with Washington authorities to get protest permits.

``It's been crucial to keep in touch with people all over the world who will come to the demonstration and support us in a public pressure campaign,'' Sloan said. ``We'll be sending updates right up until the last minute.''

The action center will be demonstrating at Washington's Freedom Plaza, on the inaugural parade route. Sloan said they also have used live chats and discussion lists to share ideas about the protest.

Several members of the Upoc ``Resistance'' list said the instant access is useful for tracking police movements and violent incidents.

``Since I plan to document the protest, I'm planning to use the Resistance list to monitor the situation around the city,'' Goldman said. ``I'm also planning to use it to keep others apprised of the situation wherever I am, should the need for a broadcast message arise.''

Upoc spokeswoman Loren Pomerantz said she knew about the list but stressed that her company neither ``condones nor condemns'' any particular group, and it caters to all interests, from sports to the latest dot-com company layoffs.

Other groups will be using their tools to keep an eye on the authorities. The Independent Media Center, a self-proclaimed ``alternative'' news service, plans live audio and video broadcasts on the Web.

The group's members will call in on cell phones or pay phones, and listeners worldwide will be able to hear their reports.

``If the police are going to arrest some people who are blocking an area, we want definitely to have crews out there,'' said staff member Eddie Becker. ``We feel it's our duty to report on what the police are reacting to and whether the use of force is an overreaction.''

In case audience members don't have the fast Internet connections capable to seeing video, Becker said the audio broadcasts will be tailored to broadcast television coverage.

On their Web site, they encourage listeners to turn the sound down on their televisions and listen to IMC broadcasts for an ``alternative sound track.''

``If you see a podium filled with powerful people, we'll talk about who's on the podium and who they get money from,'' Becker said. ``And then about the influence of money on politics.''

Becker said he knew the possible pitfalls of live broadcasts, warning his listeners that anything could happen on Saturday.

``It could be very exciting, or very boring,'' Becker said. ``Just people chanting. You never know what's going to happen.''

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On the Net: Upoc: http://www.upoc.com

International Action Center: http://www.iacenter.org

Independent Media Center: http://www.indymedia.org

Presidential Inaugural Committee 2001: http://www.inauguration-2001.com