Lawful civil disobedience?

How in the world can you have "lawful civil disobedience?" Civil obediance is following (or not breaking the law), civil disobedience is breaking the law - so how can breaking the law be "lawful?"

Maybe I should read the story first...

ONLINE VANDAL OR ONLINE ACTIVIST: NO DIFFERENCE IN EU LAWS

New laws enacted by the 15-member European Union requiring member states to make it a crime to illegally access or interfere with an information system are intended to punish vandalism and deter viruses, and those laws give no special dispensation for hackers whose motives are social or political protest rather than pure vandalism. Attorney Leon de Costa in London says that the new code "criminalizes behavior which, until now, has been seen as lawful civil disobedience." ( New York Times 5 Mar 2003)


Written by Andrew Ittner in misc on Wed 05 March 2003. Tags: commentary, news