To answer your question - Why is this different then a street protest in front of a store? Protesting in front of a store doesn't stop others from going in. WH

To answer your question - Why is this different then a street protest in front of a store? Protesting in front of a store doesn't stop others from going in. WHen you take part in a Distributed Denial of Service attack, you are denying access to that resource for others. This is not an expression of speech, more a case of vandalism (or at least picketing and blocking people from getting through). For businesses that solely exist on the web, DDoS attacks can cause massive amounts of financial impact. While for the ideologically motivated this can be a big draw (as it may well encourage change in behaviour if picked up if enough financial damage is caused) the fact remains that there is a substantial difference between expressing your disagreement in volume and deliberately causing damage. The former should be absolutely protected. The latter should be (and is at least in the UK) absolutely criminal.