Slashdot Mirror
Man Attacked In Ohio For Providing Iran Proxies
David Hume writes "electronicmaji is reporting on the Daily Kos that the individual known as ProtesterHelp (also to be found on twitter) was attacked in Ohio for providing network security for Twitterers in Iran, setting up private networks to provide secure proxies, calling for media networks to remove the Iranians Twitterers' information from their broadcast, and providing counter-intelligence services (including Basiji and Army Locations) within the Twitter community. ProtesterHelp was allegedly attacked by a group of men while walking to class in Ohio. The men, who appeared to ProtesterHelp to be either Iranian or Lebanese, drove up beside him and threw rocks at him while shouting, 'Mousavi Fraud.' ProtesterHelp further reported that his personal information has been leaked, and is currently being spread both online and inside of Iran amongst the government." Relatedly, Wired is also reporting that Google and Facebook have rushed out support for Persian. This move has allowed many pro-democracy groups to connect and translate their message to a broader audience.
Islam hardliners see current Iran's regime as only force who can stand against 'Western corruption'. They are desperate as they influence around the world shrinks after more moderate US goverment came into power. So it propably wasn't ordered attack, just people who sees current democratical movement with Mousavi as leader as real threat for the regime.
So this fight will echo around the world. If you support those guys in Iran, be ready to take some hits. Let's hope there won't be killings or something, but it will be ugly nevertheless.
user@ubuntubox:~$ stfu This server is going down for shutdown NOW!
he's making a difference.
But then I realized the cable was blue, so I only gave it one star. I hate blue.
Anyone remember the nutjob who carved a backwards B into her face and blamed it on a black man?
I'm very skeptical of this without corroboration.
I have been on IRC (where everybody is organizing) constantly for the last 3 days or so watching the chatter on this.
Dear god. Guys, some of the people doing this have got their head fully up their ass. People are going to get banned from their ISP or worse. You've got a bunch of idiots that cannot grok how to launch a DOS window running wide open proxies on their home cable connections.
There are people running dedicated servers right now to ferry information out of the country, but some of these people are seriously going to get themselves into trouble.
If you do not have a working knowledge of routing, pf/iptables, and squid, please do not run a proxy. You are going to get yourself into more trouble than having rocks thrown at you.
Or worse, your misconfiguration is going to get people in Iran killed.
Is anyone else disturbed by the fact that, apparently, a foreign government identified an American Citizen and had operatives attack that individual? On US Soil? I wonder if there will be hit squads next, or teams of operatives attempting to sabotage servers where proxies are being hosted...
This is exactly why free speech is so critical - so that I can, for example, post a comment on Slashdot without worrying about thugs attacking me for it. Flames and trolls are one thing, angry guys throwing rocks at my car? Quite another.
Never underestimate the potential of Human stupidity. -Heinlein
They are desperate as they influence around the world shrinks after more moderate US goverment came into power.
So Democracy in Iraq, neighbors to Iran, had no influence at all on Iranians *also* wanting real elections?
I'm not saying having a more moderate U.S. president come into power. But let's not heap glory on only one side while forgetting (or trying to bury) the history that made this point possible.
And speaking of moderate administrations, if students here and abroad are willing to take hits, perhaps the President of the U.S. should be as well. And before you repeat the mistaken idea that Iran will crack down harder if the U.S. spoke in support of the protestors, jut what do you think is happening today? Just what do you think is going to happen tomorrow, as Iran ha already warned? Expressing support and best wishes for the protestors gives them a boost in spirit that they need if they are to succeed. Even the president of France has come out strongly in favor of the protestors...
I only want the best for Iranians as well, as one of my friends grew up in Iran. That is why I am so dissatisfied with the lack of upper level support to date.
"There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley
Given that Iran is operating under an authoritarian government, I would have thought that just shutting everything down would be quite possible. Cut all internet connections from the country save for a few government agencies, done. I can understand the difficulties in providing selective access across the board but I would have thought it would be simple enough for them to pull the plug. The only reason why they aren't must be because they are more reliant on the internet across their entire economy than I previously suspected -- they can't afford to pull the plug.
That even an authoritarian government run by unpleasant people have trouble with this is encouraging; I would hope censorship in western democracies would be even less successful.
Kwisatz Haderach
Sell the spice to CHOAM
This Mahdi took Shaddam's Throne
I agree that the intention is intimidation; but plausible deniability doesn't necessarily interfere with that.
Had they whacked the guy, all his twitter buddies would have come up with a conspiracy theory on the subject before he had time to cool. And which is scarier: believing that you are subject to a danger that those around you recognize, or believing that you are subject to a danger that most of those around you would laugh at you for believing in?
Assuming this story is true, I'd be concerned that this is an attempt to draw the US Government into a confrontation that will help the hard-liners in Iran. As for who would want such a thing.
Clearly the hard-liners would like to try, once again, to get people to rally behind them in the face of "the great satan." You'd also have to look at the US Neocons, many of whom would like to remove any sympathy for Iran or Iranians that gets in the way of their long-disgraced axis-of-evil BS. And then there is Israel. At least some in Israel are on the same page as the neocons, though I wouldn't want to suggest that their position is universally held.
Anyway, I'm suspicious of the motives of anyone who wants to use this as anything but a reason to get the cops and/or FBI on the case.
Meh. I'm gonna keep letting my buddy in Iran use my home server for an SSH proxy.
My blog. Good stuff (when I remember to update it). Read it.
A: How did you figure out that the attackers were agents of a foreign government? It seems that hundreds of thousands of people in Iran are demontrating - sometimes violently - for BOTH sides. Do you suppose that all of them are agents of the Iranian government? DUHHH!
B: Even if the are agents of a foreign government, who stated that it's the US' fault? I see that nowhere ahead of your post.
C: My take on the matter is, silly twits who have no conception of personal security, let alone electronic security, shouldn't be involving themselves in international affairs. People have been stalked and killed for far more frivolous matters than international politics. The idiot is lucky he has nothing worse than a couple bruises from stones being thrown at him. He COULD have been the target of a more professional asassination squad. It never ceases to amaze me that people have the balls to "get involved", but not enough brains to think matters through before doing so.
And, to think that some slashdotters have accused ME of having a high testosterone level......
"Windows is like the faint smell of piss in a subway: it's there, and there's nothing you can do about it." - Charlie Br
He's not alone (In the assault part he probably is). The concern is universal. A lot of us Tor Network admins who do not provide exit nodes have opened ports for twitter, IM, and IRC...
There's a lot of silent backing out here by us geeks. I normally do not open ports because of DCMA risks and the fact that my Tor routers run on boxes that do other things. But this is special.
If people want to help a little, throw up a Tor Network relay and open exit ports for IM and Twitter- they will get used. Even better, open up a bridge relay so those blocked in Iran can access the network. If you are not a fan of running Tor long term- no problem. Just bring it down when the crisis is over.
If you do not know networking, or cannot quickly absorb the Tor docs- take a pass on this.
Sorry for the anonymous coward status...
I advise caution in believing this story. ProtesterHelp, earlier today, was spreading false information that Mousavi had been arrested on Twitter. The combination makes me suspect attention whoring in lieu of truth.
Philip Sandifer's academic website
The Soviet Union had a beautifully crafted Constitution guaranteeing many rights, even more than the US Bill of rights and Constitution.
So yes you are correct, rights come from a peoples willingness to enforce them a piece of paper means nothing. Usually that enforcement is against their own Government, sometimes it's against other factions among them, other times it's against foreign powers.
Governments have little to do with rights, it's what the people around you think and the way they behave that matters.