THE WTO SIT-IN: PHASE 2 STARTS NOW! - the electrohippies collective

From rdom@thing.net
Date Fri, 03 Dec 1999 07:30:07 -0500
[: hacktivism :]

the electrohippies collective


===========================================
===========================================

    THE WTO SIT-IN: PHASE 2 STARTS NOW!

   Friday Dec. 3rd  to Saturday Dec. 5th

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THE THREE MOST IMPORTANT REQUESTS IN THIS EMAIL ARE:

1. PLEASE STOP USING THE WTO SIT-IN WEBSITE BY
   SATURDAY MIDDAY!

2. DURING FRIDAY AND SATURDAY START EMAILING
   THE WTO!!!

3. THE EHIPPIES@TESCO.NET EMAIL ADDRESS WILL
   DISAPPEAR INTO THE ETHER ON MONDAY



+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++
  ALSO - THIS ACTION IS ONLY BEING DISTRIBUTED VIA
  EMAIL! IF THIS IS GOING TO WORK YOU MUST FORWARD
 THIS EMAIL TO YOUR FRIENDS SO THEY CAN JOIN IN TOO!!
+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++





WHERE WE ARE NOW
----------------

Thanks everyone for your tremendous support. We've
been really stretched keeping up with events,
especially the media frenzy that's dumped itself down
on us!

For your information, the hits to the Sit-in sites
have been:

November 30th: 105,635

December 1st: 137,114


In fact, the pages has been so popular people have
had problems getting through (oops, slight backfire
there!) and we've had to negotiate with our ISP to
change servers in order to keep meting the demand.

During Wednesday we also had what could have been an
attempted hack of the site. What was most interesting
was that the IP address (143.233.73.50 in case
anyone's seen it before) does not exist! (a case for
the X Files we think).

The WTO's main server was unavailable for periods on
Tuesday, and the Conference server has been
intermittently very slow (as compared to our
measurements the previous week). Both servers have
been responding slowly and/or stalling requests on
Wednesday. In fact, I would love the WTO to give us
all a peek at their server logs - and in fact I
challenge them to release them, and the previous
weeks statistics for comparison, for us all to see!
(I presume they'll read this shortly after it goes
out, and if they don't then they're slacking).

Irrespective of the success rate of the action, we've
also learnt some very interesting facts for next
time. Of particular interest - it appears that Bill
Gates can *really* see into the future. Internet
Explorer 5 will not implement the script to run the
sit-in. We're currently working on an alternative
version that will discriminate IE5, but it won't be
ready until the next sit-in action.


THANKS FOR YOUR SUPPORT - WE NEVER BELIEVED THIS
ACTION WOULD BE SO POPULAR!

HOWEVER!!!!!!!

Please note that from 12.00 GMT on Friday December 3rd
we are winding down the sit-in. SO, PLEASE, AFTER
AROUND MIDDAY GMT ON FRIDAY PLEASE STOP USING THE
SIT-IN PAGE.

The whole action page will evaporate into the ether
on Monday, although there'll be a report page to
thank people for taking part put in its place in
about two weeks.

So, we now move to the final stage of the action...




WHERE WE GO NEXT
----------------

So far we've demonstrated that the WTO's public
information system is not immune from public
pressure. Now we move to their private information
system - their email.

WHAT WE WOULD LIKE PEOPLE TO DO IS EMAIL THE WTO WITH
PERSONAL MESSAGES EXPRESSING YOUR OWN REASONS WHY YOU
OBJECT TO THEM, AND THE SEATTLE CONFERENCE

Of course, sending a short types message will not be
that effective - so you'll also need to attach a
large file to send with it. However, you should
ensure:

A.  That you type a valid and personal message -
    illustrating your objection to the WTO and/or
    the Seattle Conference - in the body of the
    email;

B.  That the attachment you send is representative
    of your views - don't just send any old rubbish.


Email systems are basically a high-speed server using
standard software. The important aspect of the system
is the amount of online data storage capacity. The
server is usually organised as a RAID (Random Array
of Inexpensive Disks) system to build capacity of a
few tens or hundreds of gigabytes.

The weak points on this system are therefore:

i.   The capacity of the incoming Internet
     connection;

ii.  The speed of the server in handling incoming
     data and storing it - but unless the surge in
     data is extreme this will not be a problem
     because the source of the emails will queue the
     data until it can be sent;

iii. The capacity of the server/online RAID to accept
     the data.


It is impractical so send large manually-written text
emails. Therefore, the only way this action can have
effect is with emailed attachments. When sending
email attachments these are, as part of the encoding
process, compressed. A plain text email would
compress by up to 80%. It is also usual to compress
the information on the server too. Therefore,
although you might send 100 kilobytes of data, you
only impact by 20 kilobytes on both the bandwidth of
the Internet connection and on disk storage.

To counteract compression we have to use files that
are not easily compressed. That means using
compressed file formats. THERE IS AN APPENDIX AT THE
END OF THE EMAIL THAT GIVES MORE INFORMATION, AND THE
LOCATION OF SOME LARGE INCOMPRESSIBLE FILES IF YOU'RE
STUCK FOR SOMETHING TO SEND.


Of course, you need to know where to send it to.
After some research we have produced a short list -
included in the next section. Note this list also
include Mike Moore's address (you might want to use
this at a later date - if it's not disconnected!).


All you have to do is:

1. Open a new email. Copy the list of addresses from
the text of this email and paste it into the 'Bcc:'
box of your mail program.

2. Write your personal message in the body of the
email, and make up a suitable title for the email;

3. Attach your large incompressible file;

4. Send the email.


PLEASE NOTE THERE IS A RISK THAT THE SERVER MIGHT
BOUNCE THE EMAIL, AND IN SOME CASES THIS MIGHT
INCLUDE THE ATTACHMENT. IF YOU ARE UNSURE DON'T SEND
A VERY BIG ATTACHMENT. OR, IF YOU KNOW HOW, SET UP AN
UNVERIFIED/UNREGISTERED ADDRESS SO THERE'S NOTHING TO
BOUNCE BACK TO.

You can, if you wish, send the email more then once.
However, in terms of your time, it's just as
effective to paste the list of names more then once
into the 'Bcc' box. Each extra paste is the
equivalent of sending the email again. But beware, if
you do multiple postings and the mail bounces you'll
be left with lots of emails in your in-tray.


If all works, then you should find that the mail
bounces with an error report stating that the 'mail
could not be sent' or some such message.


Happy mailing!


"the electrohippies collective"





THE EMAIL LIST
==============

enquiries@wto.org, publications@wto.org, mike.moore@wto.org,
patrick.low@wto.org, lidia.carlos@wto.org, aishah.colautti@wto.org,
houda.khattabi@wto.org, marc.bacchetta@wto.org, zdenek.drabek@wto.org,
michael.finger@wto.org, francois@cvo.few.eur.nl, henrik.horn@wto.org,
mukela.luanga@wto.org, hakan.nordstrom@wto.org,
ludger.schuknecht@wto.org, media@wto.org, adp.notif@wto.org,
ag.notif@wto.org, bop.notif@wto.org, gats.notif@wto.org,
idb.notif@wto.org,
lic.notif@wto.org, tar.notif@wto.org, qrntm.notif@wto.org,
psi.notif@wto.org,
reg.notif@wto.org, ro.notif@wto.org, scm.notif@wto.org,
sg.notif@wto.org,
sps.notif@wto.org, str.notif@wto.org, tbt.notif@wto.org,
tex.notif@wto.org,
tpr.notif@wto.org, trims.notif@wto.org, trips.notif@wto.org,
val.notif@wto.org, serafino.marchese@wto.org, notifications.crn@wto.org,

marinette.comte@wto.org






APPENDIX - FINDING YOUR INCOMPRESSIBLE FILE
-------------------------------------------

To avoid compression you have to select an attachment
that is already compressed. This limits your options
to:

# Compressed files  - files compressed with
                      PKZIP or Stuffit;

# High colour images - JPEG/high colour images are
                       very good attachments because
                       they are very well compressed;

# Routinely compressed files - perhaps the best
                       example of this is Adobe
                       Acrobat files which are
                       intended for transmission over
                       the Net.


As noted above, we'd like you to send personal
messages. The best option would be to send a JPEG
image of something important to you. Otherwise take
some text or report that is important to you,
compress it if it is not already compressed, and send
that. BUT REMEMBER, THE FILE SIZE NEEDS TO BE AT
LEAST 200 KILOBYTES, OR HIGHER IF YOU HAVE THE
ABILITY TO SEND IT.

If you have an interesting personal image, but it's
not very big, you can always enlarge the image with a
graphics program until it reaches the right file
size.


You ability to send a compressed file depends upon
your hardware. If you have a slow (<28,800 baud
modem) connection then 250 kilobytes is getting to
the top limit of what you can comfortably send. If
you have a higher speed modem then anything from 250
to 1,000 kilobytes is easily possible. But if you
have a fixed line - such as universities or
businesses - then you should aim to send a truly
weighty attachment, perhaps 1,000 to 3,000 kilobytes.


If you cannot find a suitable attachment, below are a
list of relevant reports you might like to send the
WTO instead. The smallest is 149 kilobytes. The
largest weighs in at 2,125 kilobytes. To use a
report:

1. DOWNLOAD IT ONTO YOUR OWN COMPUTER. You can open
the file at the 'location' given, but I find the most
efficient method - particularly with Acrobat file -
is to go to the 'index page', press SHIFT on your
keyboard, and then click on the link. You can then
save directly to disk. If you want to make things
more elaborate you could always send more then one
file, or send a file more than once. (Attaching the
file twice usually results in it being sent twice,
although it's better to copy it on your hard disk
with a different name and send the two versions).

2. CHANGE THE FILE NAME. This is important to prevent
the WTO simply deleting all the files with name
'XXXXXXXX' from the server.

3. ATTACH AND SEND - not forgetting to include your
own personal epistle in the body of the email.


Here's the list of files:


OECD - "TRANSPARENCY AND CONSULTATION ON TRADE AND
ENVIRONMENT: NATIONAL CASE STUDIES" -
file size -  251 kilobyte Adobe Acrobat file
location -
http://www.oecd.org/env/docs/comtdenv9926.pdf
index page - http://www.oecd.org/env/online-eco.htm


US EPA SAB - "REVIEW OF THE US EPA'S REPORT TO
CONGRESS ON RESIDUAL RISK" -
file size -  368 kilobyte Adobe Acrobat file
location -   http://www.epa.gov/science1/ec9813.pdf
index page - http://www.epa.gov/science1/fiscal98.htm


UNCED - "AGENDA 21" AND THE "RIO DECLARATION" -
file size -  513 kilobyte PKZIP file
location -
http://www.igc.apc.org/habitat/agenda21/a21-en.zip
index page -
http://www.igc.apc.org/habitat/agenda21/index.html


THE KYOTO CONVENTION ON CLIMATE CHANGE -
file size -  632 kilobyte Adobe Acrobat file
location -
http://www.unfccc.de/resource/docs/cop3/07a01.pdf
index page -
http://www.unfccc.de/resource/protintr.html


THE WORLD HEALTH ORGANISATION'S "WORLD HEALTH REPORT
1999" -
file size  - 2,135 kilobyte Adobe Acrobat file
location  -
http://www.who.int/whr/1999/en/pdf/whr99.pdf
index page -
http://www.who.int/whr/1999/en/report.htm



================
      END




====================================================

from the electrohippies - ehippies@tesco.net

visit the Electronic Activism and Civil Disobedience website:

http://www.gn.apc.org/pmhp/ehippies/

====================================================





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