<nettime> [RRE] I-Bomb

[t byfield <tbyfield@panix.com>]

     date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 22:24:55 -0800 (PST)
     from: Phil Agre <pagre@alpha.oac.ucla.edu>
     to: "Red Rock Eater News Service" <rre@lists.gseis.ucla.edu>
     subject: [RRE]I-Bomb


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Date: Fri, 15 Jan 1999 18:28:43 -0800
From: Eric Paulos <paulos@CS.berkeley.edu>
Subject: I-Bomb

[...]

	      Inevitable Dilemmas of the Human Condition

		    Experimental Interaction Unit
			  http://www.eiu.org

			 Information Warfare
	     Development of the Information-Bomb (I-Bomb)

The rapidly approaching ubiquity of technology and its inevitable but
rarely discussed terroristic use demand for immediate exploration and
development of technology disruption devices.  In the ensuing world
dominated by technology and information, the true culmination of power
will rest not with the institution controlling the information but the
organization, group, or individual capable of disabling, altering, or
destroying the underlying support structure of information:
electricity, telecommunications, and computers.

The efficient execution of an Information War (I-War) campaign
against a modern industrial or post-industrial opponent will require
the use of specialized tools designed to destroy information systems.
Electro-magnetic Information Bombs or I-Bombs built for this purpose
can provide a very effective tool for conducting an information
warfare campaign.

The Experimental Interaction Unit (EIU) has researched and constructed
a fully functional I-Bomb that is the first stage in the evolution
of future information warfare devices.  This device was shown and
publicly operated repeatedly over the course of several weeks in an
abandoned warehouse in San Francisco in November of 1998.

The device is only one of several such I-Bombs.  The system allows
for the disruption and/or disabling of electronic devices and systems
within a limited range and without physical contact.  It will also
corrupt and/or erase any magnetic storage medium such as floppy disks,
credit cards, etc.  The result is the creation of a physical space
guaranteed to be devoid of technology, a Technology Free Zone (TFZ).

These spaces are unique in that they allow direct human-human
interaction to flourish while disabling or destroying any and every
technological element and/or device within the zone.  The ensuing
result is the forceful removal of all technology from a pre-defined
space.  Individuals that choose to enter or cross into this region are
forced to acknowledge all personally carried or worn technology and
remove such devices.  Failure to do so will result in the automatic
disabling of the surreptitiously concealed equipment.

TFZ systems are very selective.  They do not affect organic or
non-technological systems and are therefore safe for most humans.
A TFZ abhors and strikes directly back at any technology within its
range, leaving humans unaffected.  Of course the irony is that these
zones are themselves actually monitored by sophisticated mechanical
and electrical systems that ensure a constant and continued state,
devoid of technology.

This device is a true information warfare machine and as such almost
all commercial electronics devices within its range (about 1-2 meters
with current low power settings) that lack protection against
electro-magnetic pulse disturbances will be completely vulnerable
to electronic disruption and/or destruction.  Several devices and
technological artifacts have been used for demonstration purposes.

Results, including images, video, additional information, and
technical specifications are available online at http://www.eiu.org

Let the warfare begin...
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