Out of curiosity, were you saying the same thing five years ago? -- Sent from my Palm Pre On Jun 12, 2011 5:46 PM, Julian Cain <jul...@junglecat.org> wrote:
On Jun 12, 2011, at 8:26 PM, David Barrett <dbarr...@quinthar.com> wrote: > > Anyway, interesting challenge to consider. Especially since as Julian > claims we'll all be using it ourselves shortly enough. > You may trust our government but I don't. I also do not trust corporations as they are one in the same. Remember I said this and look back in five years. They have the headstart. Prepare. > -david > > On 06/12/2011 04:56 PM, Julian Cain wrote: >> Yes. If we don't do this same activity in the USA we will find ourselves unable to speak one day. The Internet isn't free anymore. It's corporate controlled. If your asleep wake up. :-) >> >> >> >> On Jun 12, 2011, at 7:25 PM, David Barrett<dbarr...@quinthar.com> wrote: >> >>> Thanks Julian, care to comment on the technology elements or any of the >>> factual items in the article? >>> >>> -david >>> >>> On 06/12/2011 04:11 PM, Julian Cain wrote: >>>> 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 >>> _______________________________________________ >>> 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 > _______________________________________________ > 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
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