In the years of the oppressive Government Information Control (GIC) lasting from 2175-2335, residents of high tech cities had become virtual slaves, their brains connected to gigantic computer mainframes that told them exactly what to buy, think, and believe. Those who controlled the flow of information controlled the lives of the people. They became masters in a new era of social inequality where position was determined not by race or wealth, but by control of basic information vital to everyday life. The Egalitarian Act was created as the climax to a social revolution that ultimately overthrew this corrupt system in many parts of the world. The proclamation guaranteed every citizen equality on the basis of race, gender, religion, and, for the first time, access to information, creating the first true utopia at the height of the computer age.