Ha - we got there first! There was an interview with IAA in the first
ever issue of S&S too, back in 2002...

The subpoena looks ridiculous - I can't see how it will suceed, but it
is probably more about "warning" protestors rather than being a
realistic legal bid - however US or NY legal specialists will be able to
tell us more...

David.

-----Original Message-----
From: Research and teaching on surveillance
[mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Torin Monahan
Sent: Sunday, March 30, 2008 8:45 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: IAA under attack

Colleagues,

Some of you might recall the wonderful chapter by the Institute for
Applied Autonomy in my Surveillance & Security book, in which they
describe the use of a text-messaging system for organizing protesters at
the Republican National Convention in New York City in 2004.  It now
appears as if these "defensive surveillance" tactics are under legal
attack by NYC, which is subpoenaing IAA for their data on those who used
the TXTmob system during the protest.  I'll paste a New York Times story
about this below.  I'll also inquire as to whether IAA has a legal
defense fund set up; if they do, I'll pass that information on to you.

Best wishes,
Torin

Torin Monahan, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor
School of Justice & Social Inquiry
Arizona State University
[log in to unmask]
www.torinmonahan.com <http://www.torinmonahan.com/> __________ The New
York Times

March 30, 2008
City Subpoenas Creator of Text Messaging Code By COLIN MOYNIHAN

When delegates to the Republican National Convention assembled in New
York in August 2004, the streets and sidewalks near Union Square and
Madison Square Garden filled with demonstrators. Police officers in
helmets formed barriers by stretching orange netting across
intersections. Hordes of bicyclists participated in rolling protests
through nighttime streets, and helicopters hovered overhead.

These tableaus and others were described as they happened in text
messages that spread from mobile phone to mobile phone in New York City
and beyond. The people sending and receiving the messages were using
technology, developed by an anonymous group of artists and activists
called the Institute for Applied Autonomy, that allowed users to form
networks and transmit messages to hundreds or thousands of telephones.

Although the service, called TXTmob, was widely used by demonstrators,
reporters and possibly even police officers, little was known about its
inventors. Last month, however, the New York City Law Department issued
a subpoena to Tad Hirsch, a doctoral candidate at the Massachusetts
Institute of Technology who wrote the code that created TXTmob.

Lawyers representing the city in lawsuits filed by hundreds of people
arrested during the convention asked Mr. Hirsch to hand over voluminous
records revealing the content of messages exchanged on his service and
identifying people who sent and received messages. Mr. Hirsch says that
some of the subpoenaed material no longer exists and that he believes he
has the right to keep other information secret.

"There's a principle at stake here," he said recently by telephone. "I
think I have a moral responsibility to the people who use my service to
protect their privacy."

The subpoena, which was issued Feb. 4, instructed Mr. Hirsch, who is
completing his dissertation at M.I.T., to produce a wide range of
material, including all text messages sent via TXTmob during the
convention, the date and time of the messages, information about people
who sent and received messages, and lists of people who used the
service.

In a letter to the Law Department, David B. Rankin, a lawyer for Mr.
Hirsch, called the subpoena "vague" and "overbroad," and wrote that
seeking information about TXTmob users who have nothing to do with
lawsuits against the city would violate their First Amendment and
privacy rights.

Lawyers for the city declined to comment.

The subpoena is connected to a group of 62 lawsuits against the city
that stem from arrests during the convention and have been consolidated
in Federal District Court in Manhattan. About 1,800 people were arrested
and charged, but 90 percent of them ultimately walked away from court
without pleading guilty or being convicted.

Many people complained that they were arrested unjustly, and a State
Supreme Court justice chastised the city after hundreds of people were
held by the police for more than 24 hours without a hearing.

The police commissioner, Raymond W. Kelly, has called the convention a
success for his department, which he credited with preventing major
disruptions during a turbulent week. He has countered complaints about
police tactics by saying that nearly a million people peacefully
expressed their political opinions, while the convention and the city
functioned smoothly.

Mr. Hirsch said that the idea for TXTmob evolved from conversations
about how police departments were adopting strategies to counter
large-scale marches that converged at a single spot.

While preparing for the 2004 political conventions in New York and
Boston, some demonstrators decided to plan decentralized protests in
which small, mobile groups held rallies and roamed the streets.

"The idea was to create a very dynamic, fluid environment," Mr. Hirsch
said. "We wanted to transform areas around the entire city into theaters
of dissent."

Organizers wanted to enable people in different areas to spread word of
what they were seeing in each spot and to coordinate their movements.
Mr. Hirsch said that he wrote the TXTmob code over about two weeks.
After a trial run in Boston during the Democratic National Convention,
the service was in wide use during the Republican convention in New
York. Hundreds of people went to the TXTmob Web site and joined user
groups at no charge.

As a result, when members of the War Resisters League were arrested
after starting to march up Broadway, or when Republican delegates
attended a performance of "The Lion King" on West 42nd Street, a server
under a desk in Cambridge, Mass., transmitted messages detailing the
action, often while scenes on the streets were still unfolding.

Messages were exchanged by self-organized first-aid volunteers,
demonstrators urging each other on and even by people in far-flung
cities who simply wanted to trade thoughts or opinions with those on the
streets of New York. Reporters began monitoring the messages too,
looking for word of breaking news and rushing to spots where mass
arrests were said to be taking place.

And Mr. Hirsch said he thought it likely that police officers were among
those receiving TXTmob messages on their phones.

It is difficult to know for sure who received messages, but an
examination of police surveillance documents prepared in 2003 and 2004,
and unsealed by a federal magistrate last year, makes it clear that the
authorities were aware of TXTmob at least a month before the Republican
convention began.

A document marked "N.Y.P.D. SECRET" and dated July 26, 2004, included
the address of the TXTmob Web site and stated, "It is anticipated that
text messaging is one of several different communications systems that
will be utilized to organize the upcoming RNC protests."
**************************************************** This is a message
from the SURVEILLANCE listserv for research and teaching in surveillance
studies. To unsubscribe, please send the following message to :
UNSUBSCRIBE SURVEILLANCE For further help, please visit:
http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help
**************************************************** 

****************************************************
This is a message from the SURVEILLANCE listserv
for research and teaching in surveillance studies.

To unsubscribe, please send the following message to
<[log in to unmask]>:

UNSUBSCRIBE SURVEILLANCE

For further help, please visit:

http://www.jiscmail.ac.uk/help
****************************************************