The Institute for Applied Autonomy was an activist group of anonymous artists known for employing technology in protest. The group focused on dissemination of knowledge, autonomy, and methods of self-determination through artistic expression and application of military-like technology to the topics of Criminal Mischief, decentralized systems and individual autonomy.[1]
The Institute for Applied Autonomy was founded in 1998 as an informal research collective around the central theme of contestational robotics.[2] [3] [4]
Its Mission statement was to "study the forces and structures which affect self-determination and to provide technologies which extend the autonomy of human activists."[5]
One of its better known initiatives was i-See, a decentralized CCTV map distribution software containing user-generated data including positioning of surveillance cameras in New York City, as well as several other international city centers, in protest of privacy violations on the general public.[6] [7]
In 2003 they took part in the Cartographic Congress organised by the University of Openess in London[8]
Their project TXTMob, a registration system for cell phones to allow protest groups rapid, anonymous communication,[9] was used during the 2004 Republican National Convention.[10] TXTMob allowed users to subscribe to groups of like-minded persons via a web interface. Once subscribed, messages sent to the group would be passed from the web to the group members' cell phones.[11] In February 2008, the New York City Law Department issued a subpoena directed to the programmer of TXTMob, asking him to reveal users of the service and contents of messages sent during the convention.[12]
Other IAA projects included the Graffiti writer and Terminal air.
All IAA artwork has been copylefted, with permission for use as long as it is attributed.