Electronic Disturbance Theatre
«FloodNet»

Since April 1998, the EDT and others have used their «Flutnetz» (FloodNet) software to wage targeted attacks on the web site of the Mexican government, protesting the measures taken against the Zapatistas. « Flutnetz » is a distribution system based on mass participation. It automatically retrieves the web site meant to be attacked. When enough people participate in such « Flutnetz »-attacks, the server becomes flooded with a deluge of inquiries that it finds impossible to process. The web site is subsequently blocked for all other inquiries and remains temporarily unreachable. The objective of a « Flutnetz »-attack is therefore a virtual sit-in before the web site under attack.
(Source: Inke Arns, «Soziale Technologien», in: Die Offene Stadt—Anwendungsmodelle. Jahresprogramm der Kokerei Zollverein, Essen, 2003.)