Shaun Dewberry was not impressed by the National Lottery. According to his calculations, operator Uthingo was sitting on more than one billion rand in unspent lottery income, money he believed could be better spent elsewhere. He started boycotting the lottery and called on others to do the same.

Known by the handle LowVoltage, Dewberry operates 2600.co.za, a website for the local chapter of an organisation based around an American hacker magazine by the same name. As a webmaster, it was a relatively easy for him to publish his opinion on the 2600 site.

Nearly a year later he received a letter from Uthingo threatening legal action.