The Obama administration helping dissidents? That's a lie. He's doing the opposite. Sheeple
On Jun 12, 2011, at 5:47 PM, David Barrett <dbarr...@quinthar.com> wrote: > Anybody know anything about this? Sounds cool! > > -david > > http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/world/12internet.html?_r=1 > > The Obama administration is leading a global effort to deploy “shadow” > Internet and mobile phone systems that dissidents can use to undermine > repressive governments that seek to silence them by censoring or > shutting down telecommunications networks. > Multimedia > > Slide Show > Technology for ‘Shadow’ Internet Networks > > Graphic > Creating a Stealth Internet > The effort includes secretive projects to create independent cellphone > networks inside foreign countries, as well as one operation out of a spy > novel in a fifth-floor shop on L Street in Washington, where a group of > young entrepreneurs who look as if they could be in a garage band are > fitting deceptively innocent-looking hardware into a prototype “Internet > in a suitcase.” > > Financed with a $2 million State Department grant, the suitcase could be > secreted across a border and quickly set up to allow wireless > communication over a wide area with a link to the global Internet. > > The American effort, revealed in dozens of interviews, planning > documents and classified diplomatic cables obtained by The New York > Times, ranges in scale, cost and sophistication. > > Some projects involve technology that the United States is developing; > others pull together tools that have already been created by hackers in > a so-called liberation-technology movement sweeping the globe. > > The State Department, for example, is financing the creation of stealth > wireless networks that would enable activists to communicate outside the > reach of governments in countries like Iran, Syria and Libya, according > to participants in the projects. > > In one of the most ambitious efforts, United States officials say, the > State Department and Pentagon have spent at least $50 million to create > an independent cellphone network in Afghanistan using towers on > protected military bases inside the country. It is intended to offset > the Taliban’s ability to shut down the official Afghan services, > seemingly at will. > > The effort has picked up momentum since the government of President > Hosni Mubarak shut down the Egyptian Internet in the last days of his > rule. In recent days, the Syrian government also temporarily disabled > much of that country’s Internet, which had helped protesters mobilize. > > The Obama administration’s initiative is in one sense a new front in a > longstanding diplomatic push to defend free speech and nurture > democracy. For decades, the United States has sent radio broadcasts into > autocratic countries through Voice of America and other means. More > recently, Washington has supported the development of software that > preserves the anonymity of users in places like China, and training for > citizens who want to pass information along the government-owned > Internet without getting caught. > > But the latest initiative depends on creating entirely separate pathways > for communication. It has brought together an improbable alliance of > diplomats and military engineers, young programmers and dissidents from > at least a dozen countries, many of whom variously describe the new > approach as more audacious and clever and, yes, cooler. > > Sometimes the State Department is simply taking advantage of > enterprising dissidents who have found ways to get around government > censorship. American diplomats are meeting with operatives who have been > burying Chinese cellphones in the hills near the border with North > Korea, where they can be dug up and used to make furtive calls, > according to interviews and the diplomatic cables. > > The new initiatives have found a champion in Secretary of State Hillary > Rodham Clinton, whose department is spearheading the American effort. > “We see more and more people around the globe using the Internet, mobile > phones and other technologies to make their voices heard as they protest > against injustice and seek to realize their aspirations,” Mrs. Clinton > said in an e-mail response to a query on the topic. “There is a historic > opportunity to effect positive change, change America supports,” she > said. “So we’re focused on helping them do that, on helping them talk to > each other, to their communities, to their governments and to the world.” > > Developers caution that independent networks come with downsides: > repressive governments could use surveillance to pinpoint and arrest > activists who use the technology or simply catch them bringing hardware > across the border. But others believe that the risks are outweighed by > the potential impact. “We’re going to build a separate infrastructure > where the technology is nearly impossible to shut down, to control, to > surveil,” said Sascha Meinrath, who is leading the “Internet in a > suitcase” project as director of the Open Technology Initiative at the > New America Foundation, a nonpartisan research group. > > “The implication is that this disempowers central authorities from > infringing on people’s fundamental human right to communicate,” Mr. > Meinrath added. > > The Invisible Web > > In an anonymous office building on L Street in Washington, four unlikely > State Department contractors sat around a table. Josh King, sporting > multiple ear piercings and a studded leather wristband, taught himself > programming while working as a barista. Thomas Gideon was an > accomplished hacker. Dan Meredith, a bicycle polo enthusiast, helped > companies protect their digital secrets. > > Then there was Mr. Meinrath, wearing a tie as the dean of the group at > age 37. He has a master’s degree in psychology and helped set up > wireless networks in underserved communities in Detroit and Philadelphia. > > The group’s suitcase project will rely on a version of “mesh network” > technology, which can transform devices like cellphones or personal > computers to create an invisible wireless web without a centralized hub. > In other words, a voice, picture or e-mail message could hop directly > between the modified wireless devices — each one acting as a mini cell > “tower” and phone — and bypass the official network. > > Mr. Meinrath said that the suitcase would include small wireless > antennas, which could increase the area of coverage; a laptop to > administer the system; thumb drives and CDs to spread the software to > more devices and encrypt the communications; and other components like > Ethernet cables. > > The project will also rely on the innovations of independent Internet > and telecommunications developers. > > “The cool thing in this political context is that you cannot easily > control it,” said Aaron Kaplan, an Austrian cybersecurity expert whose > work will be used in the suitcase project. Mr. Kaplan has set up a > functioning mesh network in Vienna and says related systems have > operated in Venezuela, Indonesia and elsewhere. > > Mr. Meinrath said his team was focused on fitting the system into the > bland-looking suitcase and making it simple to implement — by, say, > using “pictograms” in the how-to manual. > > In addition to the Obama administration’s initiatives, there are almost > a dozen independent ventures that also aim to make it possible for > unskilled users to employ existing devices like laptops or smartphones > to build a wireless network. One mesh network was created around > Jalalabad, Afghanistan, as early as five years ago, using technology > developed at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. > > Creating simple lines of communication outside official ones is crucial, > said Collin Anderson, a 26-year-old liberation-technology researcher > from North Dakota who specializes in Iran, where the government all but > shut down the Internet during protests in 2009. The slowdown made most > “circumvention” technologies — the software legerdemain that helps > dissidents sneak data along the state-controlled networks — nearly > useless, he said. > > “No matter how much circumvention the protesters use, if the government > slows the network down to a crawl, you can’t upload YouTube videos or > Facebook postings,” Mr. Anderson said. “They need alternative ways of > sharing information or alternative ways of getting it out of the country.” > > That need is so urgent, citizens are finding their own ways to set up > rudimentary networks. Mehdi Yahyanejad, an Iranian expatriate and > technology developer who co-founded a popular Persian-language Web site, > estimates that nearly half the people who visit the site from inside > Iran share files using Bluetooth — which is best known in the West for > running wireless headsets and the like. In more closed societies, > however, Bluetooth is used to discreetly beam information — a video, an > electronic business card — directly from one cellphone to another. > > Mr. Yahyanejad said he and his research colleagues were also slated to > receive State Department financing for a project that would modify > Bluetooth so that a file containing, say, a video of a protester being > beaten, could automatically jump from phone to phone within a “trusted > network” of citizens. The system would be more limited than the suitcase > but would only require the software modification on ordinary phones. > > By the end of 2011, the State Department will have spent some $70 > million on circumvention efforts and related technologies, according to > department figures. > > Mrs. Clinton has made Internet freedom into a signature cause. But the > State Department has carefully framed its support as promoting free > speech and human rights for their own sake, not as a policy aimed at > destabilizing autocratic governments. > > That distinction is difficult to maintain, said Clay Shirky, an > assistant professor at New York University who studies the Internet and > social media. “You can’t say, ‘All we want is for people to speak their > minds, not bring down autocratic regimes’ — they’re the same thing,” Mr. > Shirky said. > > He added that the United States could expose itself to charges of > hypocrisy if the State Department maintained its support, tacit or > otherwise, for autocratic governments running countries like Saudi > Arabia or Bahrain while deploying technology that was likely to > undermine them. > > Shadow Cellphone System > > In February 2009, Richard C. Holbrooke and Lt. Gen. John R. Allen were > taking a helicopter tour over southern Afghanistan and getting a > panoramic view of the cellphone towers dotting the remote countryside, > according to two officials on the flight. By then, millions of Afghans > were using cellphones, compared with a few thousand after the 2001 > invasion. Towers built by private companies had sprung up across the > country. The United States had promoted the network as a way to > cultivate good will and encourage local businesses in a country that in > other ways looked as if it had not changed much in centuries. > > There was just one problem, General Allen told Mr. Holbrooke, who only > weeks before had been appointed special envoy to the region. With a > combination of threats to phone company officials and attacks on the > towers, the Taliban was able to shut down the main network in the > countryside virtually at will. Local residents report that the networks > are often out from 6 p.m. until 6 a.m., presumably to enable the Taliban > to carry out operations without being reported to security forces. > > The Pentagon and State Department were soon collaborating on the project > to build a “shadow” cellphone system in a country where repressive > forces exert control over the official network. > > Details of the network, which the military named the Palisades project, > are scarce, but current and former military and civilian officials said > it relied in part on cell towers placed on protected American bases. A > large tower on the Kandahar air base serves as a base station or data > collection point for the network, officials said. > > A senior United States official said the towers were close to being up > and running in the south and described the effort as a kind of 911 > system that would be available to anyone with a cellphone. > > By shutting down cellphone service, the Taliban had found a potent > strategic tool in its asymmetric battle with American and Afghan > security forces. > > The United States is widely understood to use cellphone networks in > Afghanistan, Iraq and other countries for intelligence gathering. And > the ability to silence the network was also a powerful reminder to the > local populace that the Taliban retained control over some of the most > vital organs of the nation. > > When asked about the system, Lt. Col. John Dorrian, a spokesman for the > American-led International Security Assistance Force, or ISAF, would > only confirm the existence of a project to create what he called an > “expeditionary cellular communication service” in Afghanistan. He said > the project was being carried out in collaboration with the Afghan > government in order to “restore 24/7 cellular access.” > > “As of yet the program is not fully operational, so it would be > premature to go into details,” Colonel Dorrian said. > > Colonel Dorrian declined to release cost figures. Estimates by United > States military and civilian officials ranged widely, from $50 million > to $250 million. A senior official said that Afghan officials, who > anticipate taking over American bases when troops pull out, have > insisted on an elaborate system. “The Afghans wanted the Cadillac plan, > which is pretty expensive,” the official said. > > Broad Subversive Effort > > In May 2009, a North Korean defector named Kim met with officials at the > American Consulate in Shenyang, a Chinese city about 120 miles from > North Korea, according to a diplomatic cable. Officials wanted to know > how Mr. Kim, who was active in smuggling others out of the country, > communicated across the border. “Kim would not go into much detail,” the > cable says, but did mention the burying of Chinese cellphones “on > hillsides for people to dig up at night.” Mr. Kim said Dandong, China, > and the surrounding Jilin Province “were natural gathering points for > cross-border cellphone communication and for meeting sources.” The > cellphones are able to pick up signals from towers in China, said Libby > Liu, head of Radio Free Asia, the United States-financed broadcaster, > who confirmed their existence and said her organization uses the calls > to collect information for broadcasts as well. > > The effort, in what is perhaps the world’s most closed nation, suggests > just how many independent actors are involved in the subversive efforts. > From the activist geeks on L Street in Washington to the military > engineers in Afghanistan, the global appeal of the technology hints at > the craving for open communication. > > In a chat with a Times reporter via Facebook, Malik Ibrahim Sahad, the > son of Libyan dissidents who largely grew up in suburban Virginia, said > he was tapping into the Internet using a commercial satellite connection > in Benghazi. “Internet is in dire need here. The people are cut off in > that respect,” wrote Mr. Sahad, who had never been to Libya before the > uprising and is now working in support of rebel authorities. Even so, he > said, “I don’t think this revolution could have taken place without the > existence of the World Wide Web.” > > > Reporting was contributed by Richard A. Oppel Jr. and Andrew W. Lehren > from New York, and Alissa J. Rubin and Sangar Rahimi from Kabul, > Afghanistan. > _______________________________________________ > p2p-hackers mailing list > p2p-hackers@lists.zooko.com > http://lists.zooko.com/mailman/listinfo/p2p-hackers _______________________________________________ p2p-hackers mailing list p2p-hackers@lists.zooko.com http://lists.zooko.com/mailman/listinfo/p2p-hackers
