Support for Ricardo Dominguez and CALIT2 bang.lab.

To the President, Chancellors, and Regents of the University of California:

We are writing as an international group of concerned students and faculty
in regard to the series of investigations currently directed
against Professor Ricardo Dominguez and his collaborators in the CALIT2
bang.lab. More specifically, we wish to address the following events:

1) On March 21, 2010, a bang.lab colleague at the University of California,
Riverside, received notice that he is under investigation in relation to the
establishment of the website  http://MarkYudof.com, an art protest piece in
which the artist expressed an alternate version of the future in which
University of California President Mark Yudof publicly resigned his position
by acknowledging that his "service as president is detrimental to the future
of public education in the state of California." Despite its obviously
unrealistic message on behalf of President Yudof and the multiple links on
the site indicating its connection to various student protest groups, both
of which clearly identify the site's political intent and its desire not to
defraud its visitors, this artist action has directly resulted in the
ensuing investigation.

2) On March 4th, the bang.lab website hosted a virtual sit-in against the
website of the University of California Office of the President as part of
the system-wide student and faculty protests against the policies of the
University of California administration. The virtual sit-in action provided
a means for anyone sympathetic to the cause to remotely join the protesters
in solidarity. As a direct result of the sit-in action, the University of
California, San Diego's Office of Information Technology Security shut down
the bang.lab server's access to the Internet for eight consecutive days.

3) Following the virtual sit-in, the bang.lab was informed that they were
under investigation by the University of California at San Diego Senior Vice
Chancellor for Academic Affairs, Paul Drake, who was also attempting to
determine the legal grounds necessary to file criminal charges against
Professor Dominguez. If successful, these university and criminal charges
would directly threaten the revocation of Professor Dominguez's tenure at
UCSD. Despite already established international legal precedents that
virtual sit-ins are considered electronic civil disobedience (ECD) and are
therefore not denial-of-service (DoS) or distributed denial-of-service
(DDoS) attacks (most recently in the First Penal Senate of the Higher
Regional Court of Frankfurt ruling 1 Ss 319/05 in 2005), these publicly
unjustified investigations and charges continue.

As academic colleagues of both Professor Dominguez and his collaborators at
the bang.lab, we ask that you cease these seemingly politically motivated
investigations. Since initiating his digital protests over ten years ago,
Professor Dominguez's activities with the Electronic Disturbance Theater and
the bang.lab have served as unflinchingly courageous examples of
intellectual integrity and academic engagement within their wider
sociopolitical communities. Professor Dominguez's tireless efforts to bring
awareness to underserved and underrepresented causes through the artful
mastery of technologies that so often seek to marginalize such groups has
inspired multiple generations of artists, activists, and critical thinkers.
His recent bang.lab projects have received numerous international
humanitarian awards and funding support in both the U.S. and Mexico. We
believe these recent actions against him and the bang.lab threaten the
academic freedoms and rights to free speech of all artists and academics
everywhere. We recommend that rather than criminalizing legitimate protest
activity by members of its own community the University of California would
be better served by opening up substantive public dialogues with protesters
regarding their concerns. For these reasons, we firmly but respectfully call
for increased accountability of this process and an end to the bureaucratic
and legal harassment of Professor Dominguez and his colleagues.

Sincerely,

Zach Blas, PhD Student, Literature, Duke University, Graduate of
Design|Media Arts, UCLA '08

Casey Alt, Visiting Professor of the Practice, Department of Art, Art
History & Visual Studies, Duke University, Graduate of Design|Media Arts,
UCLA '08

Sean Dockray, Artist, graduate of Design|Media Arts, UCLA '05

Patrick LeMieux, MFA Candidate, Digital Media Art, School of Art and Art
History, University of Florida

Stephanie Boluk, PhD Candidate, Department of English, University of Florida

Jussi Parikka, Director of CoDE: The Cultures of the Digital
Economy-institute, Reader in Media Theory & History, Co-Director of Anglia
Research Centre in Digital Culture (ArcDigital), Anglia Ruskin University,
Cambridge (UK)

Josh On, Artist & Web Designer, San Francisco, CA

Whitney Anne Trettien, PhD student, English, Duke University, Researcher,
HyperStudio Digital Humanities Lab, MIT

Kency Cornejo, PhD Student, Latin American, Latino and Chicano Art,
Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies, Duke University, Graduate
of UCLA, BA

Michael Kontopoulos, Artist, Graduate of Design|Media Arts, UCLA '09

Robert Summers, Lecturer, Art History, Liberal Arts & Sciences Department,
Otis College of Art, Graduate of Art History PhD, UCLA, Cota Robles Fellow,
Dickson Fellow, and UCHRI-UCCSC Fellow, 2009-2010

Patrick Jagoda, PhD Candidate, Department of English, Duke University

Amy Franceschini, Professor, Art + Architecture, University of San
Francisco, Visiting Artist, California College of the Arts Fine Arts
Graduate Program

Tara McPherson, Professor, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern
California

Jessie Hock, Graduate Student, Department of Comparative Literature, UC
Berkeley

Laura-Anne Minkoff-Zern, PhD Candidate, Department of Geography, UC Berkeley

Munira Lokhandwala, Graduate Student, Department of Rhetoric - Program in
Film, UC Berkeley

Paul Nadal, PhD Student, Department of Rhetoric, UC Berkeley

Felipe Ziga, MFA, Visual Arts Department, UCSD, 2008

Minoo Moallem, Professor, Gender and Women's Studies Department, UC Berkeley

Sharon Daniel, Professor, Film & Digital Media Studies, Chair, Digital Arts
& New Media MFA Program, UC Santa Cruz

Ashley Ferro-Murray, Graduate Student, Graduate Program in Performance
Studies, UC Berkeley

Judith Halberstam, Professor of English, Gender Studies and American Studies
and Ethnicity, USC | Former Professor of Literature at UCSD, 1991-2004

Toby Miller, Professor and Chair, Department of Media & Cultural Studies, UC
Riverside

Berbank Green, MA, BSc. affiliated with Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge

Marie-Pier Boucher, PhD student, Art, Art History & Visual Studies, Duke
University

Nasrin Himada, PhD Student, Interdisciplinary Studies in Society and
Culture, Concordia University

Caren Kaplan, Chair, Cultural Studies Graduate Group, Professor, Women &
Gender Studies, Affiliated Faculty, Science and Technology Studies, UC Davis

Caitlin Marshall, PhD Student in Performance Studies, Department of Theatre,
Dance and Performance Studies, University of California Berkeley

Curtis Marez, Associate Professor, Ethnic Studies Department, University of
California San Diego, Graduate of UC Berkley BA (1985), UC Berkley PhD
(1993)

A. Joan Saab, Associate Professor of Art History, Director, Graduate Program
in Visual and Cultural Studies, University of Rochester

Marc Steinberg, PhD, Assistant Professor, Film Studies, Mel Hoppenheim
School of Cinema, Concordia University

Magali Rabasa, PhD Candidate, Graduate Group in Cultural Studies, UC Davis

Michelle Yates, PhD Candidate, Graduate Group in Cultural Studies, UC Davis

Jacob Tonski, Visiting Assistant Professor, Department of Art, Miami
University, Ohio, Graduate of Design|Media Arts, UCLA '08

Roberto Alvarez, Director, Center for Global California Studies, Professor,
Ethnic Studies, University of California, San Diego

Nitin Govil, Assistant Professor, Department of Communication, University of
California, San Diego

Camilo Ontiveros, Artist, Graduate of UCLA Art MFA 2009, UCSD BFA 2006

Eric Smoodin, Director, Program in American Studies, Professor, Programs in
American Studies and Film Studies, University of California, Davis

Dr. Holly Unruh, Associate Director, UC Institute for Research in the Arts,
University of California, Santa Barbara

Benjamin H. Bratton, Associate Professor of Visual Arts, Director, Design
Policy Program, University of California, San Diego

Mara Teresa Cesea, PhD Candidate 2010, Department of Ethnic Studies,
University of California, San Diego | M.A. Graduate of Ethnic Studies, UCSD
2004

Michelle Dizon, PhD Candidate, UC Berkeley, Graduate of Art MFA, UCLA '08

Kate Levitt, PhD student, Department of Communication, UCSD

Alexandria Wright, Doctoral Student, Department of Rhetoric, University of
California, Berkeley

Brian Goldfarb, Associate Professor, Department of Communication, UCSD

Adair Rounthwaite, PhD student, Department of Art History, University of
Minnesota

Igor Vamos, Associate Professor, Arts Department, Rensselaer Polytechnic
Institute

Heather Davis, Candidate in the Joint Ph.D. in Communication, Concordia
University

Rita Gonzalez, Assistant Curator, Contemporary Art, Los Angeles County
Museum of Art

Selene Preciado, Visual Arts, UCSD, Earl Warren College alumna, 2005

Rama Hoetzlein, Ph.D Candidate (6th year), Department of Media Arts &
Technology, UCSB

Jennifer Donovan, Adjunct Instructor, Southwestern College, UCSD Graduate,
MFA in Visual Arts 2006

Ginna Rodriguez, MFA Student, USD

Jaime Romero Robledo, M.A. in Spanish (New Mexico State University), author
of *Los cuentos de la mujer perdida *and *El mundo de ocho espacios, libro
primero*

Luz Mena, Assistant Professor, Women and Gender Studies, UC Davis

Steve Fagin, Professor, Visual Arts Department, University of California,
San Diego

Megan Bayles, PhD Student, Cultural Studies Graduate Group, University of
California, Davis

Norma Rojas, Undergraduate Student, University of San Diego

Leon Baham, B.A., Study of Religion, UCSD

Claudia Salamanca, PhD Candidate, Rhetoric Department, UC Berkeley

Heriberto Ypez, Mexican Writer and Professor, School of Arts (Escuela de
Artes), Universidad Autonoma de Baja California, Tijuana, Mexico

Gabriel Garcia, Undergraduate Student, Earl Warren College, UC San Diego

Nicole Agusti, Doctoral Candidate, Environmental Psychology, University of
Surrey

K. Wayne Yang, Assistant Professor of Ethnic Studies, Affiliated faculty,
Urban Studies & Planning Program, UCSD

B. Ruby Rich, Professor and Chair, Department of Community Studies,
University of California, Santa Cruz

Xrene Eskandar, PhD student, Media Arts and Technology, UC Santa Barbara,
Graduate of Design|Media Arts, UCLA '08

Elizabeth Ernst, Undergraduate Student, International Agricultural
Development, UC Davis

Lynn Hershman, Professor Emeritus, University of California, Davis

Ross Frank, Associate Professor, Department of Ethnic Studies, UCSD

Mark Hansen, Professor, Program in Literature, Art, Art History, and Visual
Studies, Duke University; PhD, University of California, Irvine (1994)

Benjamin D'Harlingue, PhD Candidate, Cultural Studies Graduate Group, UC
Davis

Agustin Palacios, Professor/Program Coordinator La Raza Studies, Contra
Costa Community College, Doctoral Candidate, Department of Comparative
Ethnic Studies, University of California, Berkeley

Lilly Irani, PhD Candidate, Department of Informatics, UC Irvine

Ingrid Lagos, PhD Student, Cultural Studies Graduate Group, UC Davis

Kuan Hwa, Graduate of B.A. / B.A., UCLA (2007)

Steve Anderson, Professor, School of Cinematic Arts; Director, Media Arts
and Practice PhD Program, USC

Tim Lenoir, University Professor & Kimberly Jenkins Chair for New
Technologies in Society; Professor, Art, Art History & Visual Studies, the
Program in Literature, and Department of Computer Science; Faculty Director,
Program in Information Science + Information Studies, Duke University

Kathleen Williams, PhD Candidate, Culture & Performance, Dept. of World Arts
& Cultures, UCLA

Angela Morrill, Ph.D. Candidate, Ethnic Studies, UC San Diego

Kevin Escudero, Doctoral Student, Department of Comparative Ethnic Studies,
University of California, Berkeley

Dr Michael Goddard, Lecturer in Media Studies, University of Salford

Clarissa Lee, PhD Student, Program in Literature, Duke University

Natalia Molina, Associate Professor, Ethnic Studies Department; Director of
Graduate Studies, Urban Studies Program, University of California, San Diego

Charis Thompson, Associate Professor, Gender & Women's Studies, UC Berkeley,
PhD UCSD

Rihan Yeh, Ph.D., Postdoctoral Fellow, Center for U.S.-Mexican Studies,
University of California, San Diego

Ethan A White, MA Visual and Critical Studies / MFA Performance, The School
of the Art Institute of Chicago

Christina Chia, PhD Duke 2004

Genevieve Mount, Undergrad Student, Department of Evolution, Ecology, and
Biodiversity, UC Davis

Brett Story, PhD student, Department of Geography and Program in Planning,
University of Toronto

Veronica Riglick, PhD Student, Program in Culture and Theory, UC Irvine

Pinar Yoldas, Graduate of Design|Media Arts '08, UCLA

Jung Eun Choi, PhD Student, Department of Art, Art History & Visual Studies;
Editor, Aliceon.net

Victoria Szabo, Assistant Research Professor, Department of Art, Art
History, & Visual Studies; Program Director, Information Science +
Information Studies,
Duke University

Yen Le Espiritu, Professor and Chair, Department of Ethnic Studies,
University of California, San Diego

Ellen Seiter, Professor of Critical Studies, Nenno Chair of Television
Studies, School of Cinematic Arts, University of Southern California, BA
UCLA '76

Sondra Hale, Professor, Anthropology and Women's Studies, UCLA

Alanna Thain, Professor, Department of English, McGill University, Montreal,
Canada

Kristin Koster, Graduate of Ph.D. (2008), French Literature, University of
California, Davis

Andrew Weiner, Ph.D Candidate, Department of Rhetoric, University of
California, Berkeley

Carole H. Browner, Professor, Department of Anthropology, Department of
Women's Studies, & Center for Culture and Health, Semel Institute for
Neuroscience and Human Behavior, University of California, Los Angeles

Briselda Hernandez, Undergraduate Student, University of San Diego

Cristel Cueto-Boutet , Undergraduate Student, University of San Diego

Victoria Marks, Professor, World Arts & Cultures, UCLA

Nicholas Knouf, PhD Student, Program in Information Science, Cornell
University

Scott Kepford, M. Arch I Student, Architecture and Urban Design, UCLA

Tine Trujillo, Undergraduate, Women and Gender Studies, Education, &
Sociology, UC Davis

Suzanne Li Puma, Phd candidate, Rhetoric Department, University of
California, Berkeley

Jennifer Rhee, Graduate Student, Program in Literature, Duke University

Margaret Rhee, Doctoral Student,  Comparative Ethnic Studies, University of
California, Berkeley

Laura L. Powell, Doctoral Candidate, English Department, University of
Nevada, Las Vegas

Adam Trowbridge, Adjunct Professor, Photo + Media Art, University of
Tennessee at Chattanooga

Steven Sewell, MFA Student, Department of Art, University of North Carolina,
Chapel Hill

Pedro Lasch, Board Member, N.C. Arts Council  (2007-2010), Visual Artist &
Assistant Research Professor, Department of Art, Art History & Visual
Studies & Latino/a Studies in the Global South, Duke University

Esther Gabara, Associate Professor of Romance Studies, and Art, Art History
& Visual Studies, Duke University

Jocelyn Olcott, Associate Professor, Department of History, Duke University

Roberto Sifuentes, Founding member, La Pocha Nostra performance group,
Assistant Professor, School of the Art Institute of Chicago

Sherry Millner, Professor, Cinema Studies/Media Production, City University
of New York, Staten Island, MFA, Visual Arts Department, UCSD (1983)

Ashley Lucas, Assistant Professor of Dramatic Art, University of North
Carolina, Chapel Hill; PhD in Ethnic Studies, UCSD (2006)

Nicholas O'Brien, Adjunct Faculty, Interactive Arts and Media, Columbia
College Chicago, Board Member Nightingale Cinema

Jesal Kapadia, Artist, New School University and International Center of
Photography, New York City

Walter D. Mignolo, William H. Wannamaker Distinguished Professor and
Director, Center for Global Studies and the Humanities, Duke University

Beatriz Llenn-Figueroa, Graduate Student, Program in Literature, Duke
University

Cathy N. Davidson, Ruth F. DeVarney Professor of English and John Hope
Franklin Humanities Institute Professor of Interdisciplinary Studies, Duke
University

Cristina Molina, MFA Candidate 2012, School of Art + Art History, University
of Florida

Jessye McDowell, MA (2007), New School University, MFA (2011), UNC-Chapel
Hill

Rebeca Mndez, Professor, Department of Design | Media Arts, UCLA

Adam Eeuwens, Designer and Writer, Los Angeles, CA

Gregory Sholette, Assistant Professor of Art, Queens College, CUNY

Paco Farias, Filmmaker, Los Angeles, CA, BA, Stanford University (1994)

Megan Skanse, MA Student, CUNY Graduate Center

Priscilla Wald, Professor of English, Duke University

Allison M. Rittmayer, Ph.D. Student, Film and Media Studies Program,
Department of English, University of Florida

Damon Young, Graduate Student, Rhetoric - Film Program, UC Berkeley

Nato Thompson, Chief Curator, Creative Time

Judith Butler, Maxine Elliot Professor, Departments of Rhetoric and
Comparative Literature, University of California, Berkeley

Jonathan M Hall, Assistant Professor, Department of Media Studies, Pomona
College

Roshanank Kheshti, Assistant Professor, Ethnic Studies, UCSD

Myriam Moscona, Mexican Poet and Translator, Guggenheim Award recipient
(2006), Member, Mexican National System of Art Creators

Gabriela Torres Olivares, Writer and Co-Director of the Derramadora Press,
Tijuana, Mexico

Patrick McHenry, Department of English, University of Florida

Bishnupriya Ghosh, Professor of English, University of Santa Barbara

Jorge Omar Ramrez Pimienta, Graduate of MFA, Visual Arts, UCSD (2009)

David Theo Goldberg, Professor, Comparative Literature, School of
Humanities, UC Irvine

Rita Raley, English Department, Associate Professor, UC Santa Barbara

Katharine Westaway Ph.D. Candidate, University of Florida

Charles Roberts, Doctoral Student, UC Santa Barbara

Kristin Reeves, MFA Candidate 2012, University of Florida

David Lloyd, Professor, Department of English, University of Southern
California, Former UCSD Faculty in Literature and in Ethnic Studies 1996 &
UC Berkeley 1983-1998

Federica Timeto, Ph.D Candidate, University of Plymouth, UK

Katherine Callen King, Professor, Comparative Literature and Classics, UCLA

Lisa Rofel, Professor, Department of Anthropology, University of California,
Santa Cruz

Nicole Ramos, Student, University of San Diego, McNair Scholar, Research
Assistant, Border Angels, Board Member

Natalia Chousou-Polydouri, PhD Candidate, Department of Environmental
Science, Policy & Management, UC Berkeley

Shaun Duke, MA Candidate, University of Florida

Diana E. Velazquez, Student, University of San Diego

Rebecca Garcia, Student, University of San Diego

Jessica Capaldi, Student, University of San Diego

Laura Nellen, Student, University of San Diego

Terry Harpold, Assoc. Professor of English, Film & Media Studies, University
of Florida

Jessica Hoffman, BA Boston University, MSc University College London, UCLA
M.Ed. 2012

Cristina Urista, Undergraduate Student, UC Berkeley

Omnia El Shakry, Associate Professor, Department of History, University of
California

Michael P. Hardt, Professor of Literature and Italian, Duke University