http://www.technologyreview.com/blog/editors/26718/
"Asked about the role of government in trying to block communication technologies, another organizer, Waleed Rasheed, said: 'I would like to thank Mubarak so much.... he disconnected mobile phones on Jan. 27. More people came down to the streets on the 28th of January because he disconnected.' By February 1, the protests had swelled to at least 1 million people, and Mubarak stepped down four days later."
This article also talks about a precursor to the actual revolution, the April 6th Movement. Egypt had a history before the revolution of growing protests, mostly around work and wages I think. The April 6th movement began in 2008 and took lessons from the Otpor movement in Serbia that had succeeded there earlier. And of course, Otpor had learned from Gene Sharp. And, to just keep this going, Sharp learned from Gandhi.
Internet Collective Action is people organizing in a nonhierarchical manner to accomplish a particular goal. The reward is in the doing, and how much or how little anyone participates is completely voluntary, depending on their abilities and commitment to the goal. By this process amazing things can be accomplished. ICA will grow so long as the Internet is free. http://www.lisamcpherson.org/pc.htm is an example of ICA.
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