Hacktivismo is an offshoot of CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc), whose beliefs include access to information as a basic human right. It was founded in 1999. The group's beliefs are described fully in The Hacktivismo Declaration, which seeks to apply the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights to the Internet. Oxblood Ruffin, the director of Hacktivismo, has argued forcefully against definitions of hacktivism that include web defacements or denial-of-service attacks. Hacktivismo has also authored its own software license agreement, the Hacktivismo Enhanced-Source Software License Agreement (HESSLA). The HESSLA prohibits use or modification that would violate human rights or introduce features that spy on the user. Connection to cDc In 1999 CULT OF THE DEAD COW (cDc), a loose network of individuals, announced the formation of Hacktivismo. The group set to explore ways of preventing censorship of the Internet. In particular Hacktivismo focused on firewalls or censoring mechanisms of national governments. Press releases made it clear that cDc and Hacktivismo were different groups; however Hacktivismo was also described as "special operations group" of cDc. A press release in early 2002 described Hacktivismo as "an international cadre of hackers founded by the cDc's Oxblood Ruffin". The Hacktivismo Declaration The group's beliefs are described fully in the "Hacktivismo Declaration" which is a list of "assertions of liberty in support of an uncensored internet" and seeks to apply the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) to the Internet. The Declaration recalls the duty of member states to the ICCPR to protect the right to freedom of expression with regards to the internet and in this context what is called the "freedom of information". The Hacktivismo Declaration states: "...such member states continue to willfully suppress wide-ranging access to lawfully published information on the Internet, despite the clear language of the ICCPR that freedom of expression exists in all media," "...that transnational corporations continue to sell information technologies to the world's most repressive regimes knowing full well that they will be used to track and control an already harried citizenry," "...that the Internet is fast becoming a method of repression rather than an instrument of liberation," "...that in some countries it is a crime to demand the right to access lawfully published information, and of other basic human rights," "...that denying access to information could lead to spiritual,