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Rebuilding Iraq's Internet
Anselm writes "According to this article at Wired.com, "The war has left Iraq's Internet infrastructure in shambles. Now, a British ISP hopes to fund the reconstruction through sales of domain names ending in .iq." While I have no use for an IQ domain, the article does make me wonder: Should geeks around the world take the lead in getting Iraq back online?"
Try and feed them first.
Boo freakady who. Iraq has so many other problems right now. Why dont geeks send MONEY, FOOD to local companies like CARE that help the people of Iraq. By providing food, 100% of the people can use it. how many iraq's have a computer much less have ever been online? Yeah, in a year or two from now, when people are feed and they are dying for disesases, then worry abou rebuilding the internet systems...
Yes, because, God knows, getting on the 'Net is every Iraqi's first priority at the moment.
How does this help the Iraqi people? All this does is give the rest of the world more domain space, while not giving Iraq the full value of their "property".
Why couldn't it be an Iraqi company that sells the domains? This would allow the country to keep all of the proceeds, instead of only getting some of the value.
I'm not against the UK, the US, France or anybody, but I think this might be one area where this company is being opportunistic.
An online Starcraft RPG? Only at
In soviet Russia, all your us are belong to base!
Online Starcraft RPG? At
Dietary fiber is like asynchronous IO-- Non-blocking!
Doesn't rebuilding the Internet in Iraq require other critical resources first?
You know.... like ELECTRICITY?
Seriously, this is pathetic! Basically some company trying to profit off selling country code domain names to sites not in the country, while there's still too much chaos for anyone inside the country to take notice!
Because it was so absolutely fantastic even before the first cruise missile was launched at Baghdad.
Typical leftie FUD.
Just like Afghanistan, except that over there at least they managed to dig out their C64's and connect over a 2400 baud modem and email Katz with alacrity.
In any case, I'm sure Iraq has bigger problems right now, like, oh, food and water.
Should geeks around the world take the lead in getting Iraq back online
Before Gulf war 1 Iraq wasn't that badly off. 2 episodes of having the stuffing knocked out of them by the USA, with a decade of brutal sanctions in-between have reduced them to poverty. I'd say that the USA owes the ordinary people of Iraq big time.
Is food, water, electricity, abcense of falling bombs and no armed bandits or looters more important? Well duh. But if and when you get past rebuilding those, the Internet is a marvelous communications mechanism. Communications aid free speech and democracy, or so I'm told.
My Karma: ran over your Dogma
StrawberryFrog
No one said they should spend the money they receive for food and health instead on Internet access. They simply want to build the Internet infrastructure in Iraq into something that can be used by the masses. I would say freedom of information coincides quite nicely with the coalitions effort to build Iraq into a land free people. Pulling these people out of the knowldege embargo imposed by Saddam Hussein and his regime will help freedom survive in an area of the world that is known for it's denial of free information to citizens. Knowledge _IS_ power. When Iraqi citizens can get equal acess to information they can see other side of the coin, instead of the state controlled side only. Why do you think so many totalitarian governments want to control the Internet access to their countries (CHINA)? So it does coincide with the freedom initiative quite well.
Besides you have to start the plans now to rebuild if you want to get it done later. This type of rebuilding is going to last a lifetime and take a tremendous amount of planning and effort.
If people in the US and the UK value their lives, they will resist the impulse to try to turn Iraq into a colony that is run for corporate profit. (And yes, that's what this is, even though these guys are masquerading as a charity: they intend to take a cut from selling the "high.iq" domain). Iraq's domain namespace belongs to the Iraqi people, not to a clever British IT consultancy. Similarly, the decision as to whether to deploy GSM or CDMA belongs to the future Iraqi government, not to a congressman in the pocket of Qualcomm. Next, we'll see a bunch of Midwestern farmers clamor to get the government to buy up their grain and dump it on Iraq, thereby setting back efforts to rebuild Iraqi agriculture (which employs far more Iraqis than the oil industry does).
We're now at a tipping point: we can either insist that Iraq be run in the interest of Iraqis, or we can allow it to be taken over by a bunch of cronies and lobbyists. If the latter happens, we'll generate so much hate that it will be unsafe for Americans and Brits to travel abroad.
The .iq TLD should belong to the people of Iraq. They should have the final say as to who gets access to it. Selling it off like .tv and .cx today would basicly mean that this ISP is taking advantage of these people because their government is in shambles. Shame on them.
-molo
Using your sig line to advertise for friends is lame.
Why should "geeks around the world" take the lead on this? Why shouldn't we let the Iraqis do this? Granted, the present owner is having issues...one of the technical contacts for .iq is presently being held by the feds for contact with Hamas, but I really think that this would be better handled by the Iraqis themselves.
If they want help, we should absolutely offer it, but I don't like the implied statement of "Let's take this thing of the Iraqis, make something that we think is cool out of it, and then claim we're helping them with it."
FOOD/ELECTRICITY FIRST!
Well, duh. But Iraq is no third or fourth world country. This is a fairly rich country with a pretty educated work force. Do they need Internet first? No, but will internet infastructure improve life? YES.
Internet access is very much like phone lines. It's not just for leisure anymore-it moves information REALLY efficiently.
Anyone who suggests otherwise should get their heads out of the 90s.
So close and yet so far from the world's perfect ID number
I'm quite sure that people are aware of the fact that damn near all of the Iraqi infrastructure is pretty well hosed.
We're not that dumb.
Instead of pissing and moaning about a company that seems to be acting like vultures circling over roadkill, perhaps consider the possibility that they might be looking into the long term?
Yes the Iraqi people need food and water, that's a given. Yes they need stable power before the 'net can be rebuilt (that qualifies as a "no shit Sherlock"). But these are short term goals. If you want stability in the area you need to build (or in this case help build) a stable government and you need an economic foundation.
It's a wonderful thing that SoDamn Insane is either dead or so far in hiding that they have to import sunlight. It's the greatest thing in the Iraqi world since sliced bread that the regime is falling down under the "Rolling Victory" of the US/UK troops. It's a blessed thing that food, water and other humanitarian aid is starting to trickle in as areas get cleared out.
But without some way to build an economy, then it's all for naught. The Iraqi love us now. If we left them as a bombed out huck of a country then the attitude would change, they would hate us and we would probally end up once again with another warlord like Saddam and more terrorist acts against us.
Frankly I'd like to think that by helping them re-build and to become a player in the global economy (for which the internet is a damn handy tool), then the goodwill for the US/UK will grow and we'll have another ally in the middle east.
Or did you think that we'd just go over there, blow a whole lot of shit up for fun and oil profits then bugger back home in time for the summer trips to Disney World?
Phoenix
-- Wiccan Army, 13th Airborne Division "We will not fly silently into the night"
Let's not forget that Iraq is not Afghanistan. It is a "modern" country that had a scumbag for a leader.
--Joey
I am using modern in the context of the Middle East, it is not modern by Western European or American standards.
I mean, really.
First of all, the war is not over. Yet.
Second, what the hell kind of question is Should geeks around the world take the lead in getting Iraq back online? "Take the lead"? Yeah, let's all go to Home Depot and pick up spools of cat5e cable and get on one of those "human shield" buses that aren't needed any longer and get to stringing. Not only are there many other priorities as others have pointed out but more likely than not you're calling on people that don't do volunteer work in their own communities to do some unspecified good deeds far far away.
You don't need to ask slashdot if there are things to be done. If you want to help, then help, but you're asking the wrong people. You need to ask the Iraqis what they want and need (see above link on human shields). Perhaps you can contact the Iraqi Forum for Democracy or take a look at iraqipages.com for other contacts. If you are of a mind to do good works, help in your local community, which probably needs it since international attention is not focused on it and there are no lucrative contracts to be had.
I'm not knocking your willingness to help. I think it's great. I think posting here is barking up the wrong tree though. Perhaps you can find out what really needs to be done and make a page for others to visit and contribute what they can.
The true needs of the Iraqi people, like food and water, are what's most important right now. But things like Internet cafes seems like something we should be pushing for. The more that anybody knows about how the rest of the world works, the less likely it is that they will want to destroy it.
If Iraqi's knew, for example, how peaceful life is in America, even for people like them, perhaps the few who hate us would be more likely to want to bring the same peace to Iraq, rather than deprive us of it.
I don't understand the sentiment of posters who complain that this is a dumb idea because they need help with food/water first, etc... blah.
/. readers wouldn't be able to physically help deliver meal packets or dig wells (ay least not as ably as the Red Cross or United Way could), so why not do something else that you CAN do?
The best way to help the Iraqi's is to contribute whatever you can the best you can. If you're a skilled IT professional who can donate time to help rebuild their IT infrastructure.. GREAT! Why should anybody be complaining about that?
Sure they need food. But there are PLENTY of agencies that can help with that and if you can donate some money to that cause, wonderful. It shouldn't stop you from contributing your niche knowledge too.
When it comes to hands on skill I'll bet the vast majority of the
As a community the readership does have a skill in a particular industry and to suggest that the Iraqis won't need that kind of help because of other problems is nonsense. The sooner everyone does what they can according to their abilities the sooner we'll all be better off.
Sure, they need food and safe water first, but there is a future in Iraq that people can think and talk about. There's already huge aid packages being put together.
Iraq needs an economy in order to become self-sufficient. Things like this ARE going to be important. Let's try to make Iraq into a prosperous country.
Sticking feathers up your butt does not make you a chicken - Tyler Durden
Just last night I was listening to the shopping list of problems at Baghdad hospitals right now and thought to myself "well, I'm no help with that, but if they've got IT problems, I'd go help."
I realize there are far bigger issues in the conflict, and the world; but as another poster said, I'm a lot better at fixing technology then at fixing people or giving away food.
I'm not sure if there really is a requirement for an IT Peace Corp, but it's a nice idea. Post-war nerd squad to setup communications infrastructure. Internet, TV, radio, cell phones, we can do all that stuff.
Geeks Without Borders. Attractive idea.
I'm not sure if you were being sarcastic or not. But, YES. The US acted on the will of its people through their represented officials. It is the people who drilled themselves into this dillema; they financed an unneeded war out of their own pockets causing an astounding debt to accumulate. Surely they would have anticipated that Iraq will need money once the war is over and have taken that into account! The responsibility for re-building Iraq to a state equal to, or better than it's previous state is the sole responsibility of the United States and it's allies that joined the war. Everyone who had nothing-to-do-with it has already absolved themselves of both the guilt associated with the unneeded deaths, the financial requirements of war, and responsibility of the betterment of that country's future. It's simple common sense and fairness.
... in an area where children die from drinking water from the local river. Get the "life support" infrastructure back to "up and running" state, then think about getting the internet up.
Because, you know, the most efficient way for water engineers, doctors, and all the other people who make "life support" infrastructure work involves communication via messengers in jeeps. Get real! There are massive challenges facing the people trying to rebuild that infrastructure, and they're going to need access to information and expertise from outside of their local area. Setting up an improved telecommunications infrastructure could help get those water treatment plants, hospitals, etc up and running again faster than would otherwise be possible.
0 1 - just my two bits
This is absolutely disgusting. These people are clearly taking advantage of someone else's (Iraq's) misfortune to try and make a buck. This group does not already control the .iq domain, but they know that if they can steal it, it'll be like having a licence to print money. Absolutely nothing is being said on their website about how much of this money they're collecting would actually be going to Iraq, and frankly, I suspect that "paying big salaries at Citri" will somehow also be considered to be an important part of the general welfare of Iraq's IT infrastructure.
Let's see, there's also the small matter of it's not necessarily the desire of the Iraqi people that their domain space be sold off to people outside Iraq. For all we know, they could want a more conservative approach to be taken with it, and have it only be allowed for use by companies and organizations that reside within Iraq.
From their web page:
"The auction is set to continue over an intense two month period, after which funds will be called upon from the winners of each bid, and registrations formalised."
Translation:
s/auction/looting/;
"In the case that a registration is not successful, no funds will be charged, unless the individual wishes to make a donation to the fund."
Translation:
"If the piles of money offered for domains doesn't change the minds of the people in the IANA and get us Iraq's domain, then you won't be out a penny."
is that the Iraqi people need a lot of other things before they need the internet. Why don't we start from the ground up. CLEAN WATER, FOOD, WORKING HOSPITALS, HOMES, FUNCTIONAL GOVERNMENT, AN ECONOMY, POWER, EDUCATION.... and then when we get everything they need to live and take care of themselves, let the Iraqi's, with the help of the rest of the world if they want, build THEIR corner of the internet.
In his weekly spiel, Bob Cringely commented on the Compaq computers that were being removed from government buildings, wondering in comment where they came from since apparently Iraq had none in 1991 and they were supposed to be under an embargo.
I don't know if those facts are right, but Cringely usually checks things out.
Jan Theodore Galkowski, (Oo) http://www.smalltalkidiom.net/ MySQL,PHP,ETL,SQL,MinGW C, and plucking the Web