No. The economy is just fine though. The US dollar isn't going to collapse. The US is not bankrupt. LOL
On Jun 12, 2011, at 9:04 PM, "David Barrett" <dbarr...@quinthar.com> wrote: > 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 > _______________________________________________ > p2p-hackers mailing list > p2p-hackers@lists.zooko.com > http://lists.zooko.com/mailman/listinfo/p2p-hackers
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