Organised through the international activist website, indymedia.org, a range of different protesters teamed up to demonstrate against what they call a cultural war being waged against local residents by the new firms.
According to indymedia.org: "The dot.com economy has created a class of newly rich people who were in the right place at the right time. In San Francisco - ground zero for this phenomenon in the global economy - dot.com companies have decided that their young and radical corporate image is best served by locating in the Mission District, an area which is largely Latino, and home to artist co-ops, collectives and non-profit organisations.
"Capitalising on The Mission's diverse and subversive history, technology companies are waging cultural warfare against local residents and driving rent prices sky high, displacing thousands of working class people, Latino families and non-corporate organisations.
"Aside from the economic pressure, companies like Zing.com are renting housing that has been zoned for live-work residence (fought for by artists and community organisations) and illegally converting them to commercial office space."
The protesters blockaded Zing's offices this week and smashed windows at the offices of Zephyr Real Estate, branded the area's worst "slum landlord".
Visitors to the indymedia site can also view a video, called BOOM, about the effects of gentrification in The Mission.
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