Things Can BreakTech Women Crashing Computers and Preconceptions

Free Space, Free Access, Free Software

Sometime around the mid-1990s electronic communication was discovered as a useful tool for activism and organizing among leftist, progressive, alternative groups. The first hurdle was to gain access to this useful tool, but at the same time there was also a strong awareness of a need to maintain control, as concerns were voiced in various discussions about the danger of electronic communication being monitored. For people with academic affiliations, it was possible to get an email address through a university, but that usually meant only being able to read email at the university. With the growing popularity of email, this increasingly meant reading email with the next person in line breathing down one's neck and reading over one's shoulder. Free services like Hotmail initially provided a welcome alternative and independence from university facilities, and Internet cafes started springing up in cities all over the world. However, this still limited access to those who already had some familiarity with email and could afford the fees charged by Internet cafes.