-----BEGIN PGP SIGNED MESSAGE----- Eugene wrote:

Brush painted a grim picture of "Internet martial law" being imposed in a vain attempt to capture distributed terrorist groups. Terrorists' style of "Net war," a term coined earlier by experts at the RAND policy think tank, would prove elusive to counter by the lumbering centralized government, she said.

Actually the term of art is "NETWAR", one word, first used by John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt in their essay, "Cyberwar is Coming!" available at www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR880/MR880.ch2.pdf . So what is netwar? "Netwar is an emerging mode of conflict in which the protagonists--ranging from terrorist and criminal organizations on the dark side, to militant social activists on the bright side--use network forms of organization, doctrine, strategy, and technology attuned to the information age. The practice of netwar is well ahead of theory, as both civil and uncivil society actors are increasingly engaging in this new way of fighting. We suggest how the theory of netwar may be improved by drawing on academic perspectives on networks, especially those about organizational network analysis. As for practice, strategists and policymakers in Washington and elsewhere have begun to discern the dark side of the network phenomenon--especially in the wake of the "attack on America" perpetrated apparently by Osama bin Laden's terror network. But they still have much work to do to begin harnessing the bright side, by formulating strategies that will enable state and civil-society actors to work together better." If you are interested in this topic, THE books (free online pdfs)to read are: Networks and Netwars: The Future of Terror, Crime, and Militancy John Arquilla, David Ronfeldt (editors) http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1382/ Strategic Appraisal: The Changing Role of Information in Warfare Zalmay Khalilzad, John P. White, Andrew W. Marshall http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR1016/ and... In Athena's Camp: Preparing for Conflict in the Information Age John Arquilla and David Ronfeldt, editors http://www.rand.org/publications/MR/MR880/ Hope that helps! ~F. *** Say what you know, do what you must, come what may. - --[Sofia Kovalevskaya, motto on her paper "On the Problem of the Rotation of a Solid Body about a Fixed Point."] -----BEGIN PGP SIGNATURE----- Version: Hush 2.0 wl8EARECAB8FAjvTLxkYHGF1dG8zMDEwOTRAaHVzaG1haWwuY29tAAoJEKadvsVlUK4P yKcAn2M00jjHu6+TvGN7eLi+NOpAT1U2AJ4v1iXr/Rc76pAc3UULT3CEUczbCg== =fDKb -----END PGP SIGNATURE-----