Protesters Use Technology

brightpathvideo.com | Rachel Konrad

[at bay]

excerpts from... Protesters Use Technology To Organize, Socialize And Evade Police

SAN FRANICSCO (AP) ... John Parulis didn't carry an anti-war poster or wear a ""No blood for oil'' placard. Instead, he lugged more than 40 pounds of technology in his backpack, transforming himself into a mobile streaming video link to the Internet.

After finding volunteers to shoot video, the 52-year-old Web designer and peace activist camped out Thursday at a downtown Starbucks Coffee shop, intent on beaming live protest footage to the world via the Web.

Parulis then fired up a T-Mobile Internet account from his laptop and launched software for his Web camera. He transmitted images from his Sony digital video camera and two smaller Web cameras through a Yagi antenna, an 8-foot-tall series of pipes that linked the untethered video cameras to his laptop. The system transferred video to his Internet site in real time.

""People are increasingly looking to the Internet for their news,'' Parulis said. ""There's a perception, and it's based on a lot of truth, that the mainstream media has a bias of corporate values.''

Parulis, who took advantage of wireless Internet access, or WiFi, is one of thousands of people to exploit emerging technologies during anti-war protests around the world this week. Prohibitively expensive only a few years ago, technologies ranging from the cell phone to the mini digital video camera fomented and recorded anti-war protests from Brussels to Manila.

Protesters and the police charged with patrolling them in America's most wired region relied heavily on Web sites after bombs began falling on Iraq. Through these anti-war sites, San Franciscans were solicited and dispatched to sit and block traffic at numerous busy intersections. Then, they called around on cell phones to stay a step ahead of police.

The protesters' effectiveness in shutting down much of the financial district proved that the Internet and new technologies have revolutionized civil disobedience, said Pam Fielding, co-author of ""The Net Effect: How Cyberadvocacy is Changing the Political Landscape.''

""After hearing the president last night, people are on the ground the next morning ... it's only due to the fact that people can connect online to make those plans,'' Fielding said.

Associated Press Writer Ron Harris contributed to this report.

Parulis' video feed can be seen at brightpathvideo.com

[Chad Fairbanks]

Yeah, but one day they'll try that cell phone crap, and the authorities will begin 'interfering' with the cell phone signals - then what will they do? ;0)

[Sloth]

They *use* technology. If we depended on people like this to actually *produce* our technology, we'd still be beating our laundry on boulders by the creek. And they'd be carrying crude signs saying, "Stop Boulder Abuse!"

[at bay]

I have vigorously complained to TMobile Hot Spot concerning this misuse of their system. Their number is 800.981.8563 for anyone wishing to complain about this undoubtedly ILLEGAL REBROADCASTING scheme. The pisnicks plan to rebraodcast again today from Dolores Park in SF. I hope many people will complain both to Starbuck's and TMobile HotSpot concerning this operation. The FCC may be involved to, as most likely this is not what they had in mind when they set up Wireless internet hotspots.

[Support Free Republic]

Attention!

Our troops give so much of themselves, and we all benefit from their efforts.

The next time you look at your bank balance, why not find some way to take some money and put it towards supporting the members of our armed services in some way? Maybe find a family who has someone serving, and buy them dinner, or some groceries, or a gift for their children? Maybe find a way to contribute to a fund for the memory of any of those who have fallen? Our armed forces deserve our support in tangible ways.

[Timesink]

Yeah, I too was deeply amused to see this moron decrying "corporate" anything as he pulled out dozens of items from his backpack all studded with giant corporate logos.

[Drango]

The RADIO broadcasts are done by the "Public Broadcasting" Pacifica stations. It use to be and still may be, if you click on the ENEMY COMBATANT RADIO links for the indymedia sites you would get the Pacifica station.

Pacifica recieved $1.3 million in TAX dollars last year. Perhaps someone should tell Alaska Senator Ted Stevens who sees to think this is a good use of our tax money.

[Drango]

ILLEGAL REBROADCASTING

just so I understand...what's illegal about it? I don't think he's REbroadcasting. If he's using a webcam and paying for the bandwith it would seem OK to me. Is it a violation of the TOS?

I'm clueless...

[Brave New World]

Thanks for posting this.

We need to learn from the enemy. They have some good ideas on how to use technology. We need to use the techniques that work to advance our own ideas.

For example, it would be great to webcast our own feed from "anti-war" demonstrations to show the world how radical and out of the mainstream these folks really are.

[tophat9000]

Hardly that hi-tech, that Starbucks Coffee shop was surely a WiFi "hot spot"

All you need is to interface you camera to 802b WiFi... camera via firewire or usb to laptop with 802b wireless NIC logon to the Starbucks hot spot...(The trick is a better antenna … not that hard)

I was going to do the samething myself to do a live internet stream video of a rally at the La Habra 911 Memorial

They even have inexpensive 802b wireless cameras now

By the way I had been thinking of doing this for a while that maybe we could start doing live moble streams on freeper rallys to the Free republic web site?

[Paleo Conservative]

Protesters Use Technology

They seem rather selective in its use. They may use 21'st century computer technology, but they refused to use 19'th centutry sanitary plumbing technology in one of their recent protests.