Lawful civil disobediance?

How in the world can you have "lawful civil disobediance?" Civil obediance is following (or notbreaking the law), civil disobediance is breaking the law - so how can breaking the law be "lawful?"

Maybe I should read the story first...

ONLINE VANDAL OR ONLINE ACTIVIST: NO DIFFERENCE IN EU LAWS

New laws enacted by the 15-member European Union requiring member states to
make it a crime to illegally access or interfere with an information system
are intended to punish vandalism and deter viruses, and those laws give no
special dispensation for hackers whose motives are social or political
protest rather than pure vandalism. Attorney Leon de Costa in London says
that the new code "criminalizes behavior which, until now, has been seen as
lawful civil disobedience." ( New York Times 5 Mar 2003)