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Egypt Shuts Off All Internet Access
h00manist writes "Several sources are reporting Egypt has shut off all Internet access. There is still no official confirmation. Blackberry, twitter and SMS seem confirmed off. So, if you were there, what would you do to get communications for everyone? Do you still have a POTS modem?"
Seems like this is the moment the HAM radio folks always shine. I don't know what kind of following they've got in Egypt but I imagine it'd be pretty useful. That and texting.
I live in constant fear of the Coming of the Red Spiders.
This works until the soldiers come for you.
We still had revolutions before the internet. What do they really think this will accomplish? If anything depriving these good people of essential services will just be like throwing petrol on a fire...
It happened immediately after this was posted: http://video.ap.org/?f=None&pid=oT7qj_wiVHTbYae3scwok4_irYjJ2R8Z (warning: disturbing)
Doesn't this make you want to have an internet kill switch in the US?
There's no -1 for "I don't get it."
According to the LA Times, they've blocked the Blackberries, too.
http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/technology/2011/01/blackberry-internet-blocked-in-egypt.html
you wouldn't be reading Slashdot, and thus wouldn't be able to answer the question of "what would you do if you were there"...
The question wasn't: "If you were there, how would you answer this question."
It was: What would you do if you were in Egypt and found that your connection had been cut off.
Me, I'd shout the packets.
-Taylor
Worldwide Military budgets: $2100 billion. Worldwide Space Exploration budgets: $38 billion. Really, world? Really?
The U.K. isn't so bad.
I'm sure that nobody will be angry or suspicious about the internet going dark. I expect nothing but butterflies and rainbows from this.
Is it just my observation, or are there way too many stupid people in the world?
Satellite ISPs may be expansive, but they are the only solution in extreme cases such as this one.
Egypt is somewhat progressive for a muslim state, but that's not saying much. That said, make sure you don't confuse America friendly with progressive. The two do not go hand in hand, at least in the muslim world.
That said, Egypt has a decent sized Christian minority (15%) that I think does OK which again is rare for a muslim state
Just keep in mind, President Obama is now seeking additional powers to give him the ability to shut off the Internet in the United States in the event of an "emergency".
We seem to be getting closer to States such as Egypt faster than they are becoming like us.
More 9/11 hijackers were from Egypt than from Afghanistan and Iraq combined.
(but of course one shouldn't extrapolate too much from a sample of 1 data point)
I wrote the following back in 2006. At the time, I was mostly writing about the invasion of Iraq, and the saber-rattling with Iran, but it turns out to say a lot about other places too.
==================
Suppose, for the moment, that spreading American values — by which I mean democracy, freedom of expression, and social mobility — throughout the globe is a good idea. How do we achieve that?
Let’s take a look at our enemies, and see what they fear about the U.S. Yes, our military might is kinda scary, but we’ve shown again and again that as a nation we lack the commitment (by which I mean “tyrannical jack-booted disregard for human life”) to use it effectively. What else have we got? A giant market economy focusing mostly on communication, entertainment, personal expression, and self-improvement, which the world’s dictators, religious fanatics, and thugs see as hedonistic, socially disruptive, and downright insidious.
Damn right it’s insidious. And we ought to be insidiating like crazy. The requirements for democracy and social mobility are communication, a sense of personal self-worth, and an active free-market economy. Our pop culture, and the stuff we sell, are our best tools for sneaking these values into societies, under the noses of the dictators and the zealots.
What better tools for personal expression than the cell phone and the Internet blog? What better way to get uncensored information about the world than the satellite dish? What better tools for demonstrating the joy of self-determination than the hit TV show and the Hollywood blockbuster? What better role model for oppressed women than the stars of CSI and ER? Hell, what better role model for what a police force should be than CSI? And what better motivation for starting your own business (black-market or legit), for getting a leg up, than the need to pay for all this crap?
Maybe the Cold War wasn’t won by geopolitics. Maybe it was won by black-market Levi’s blue jeans and bootleg copies of “Born in the USA” by Bruce Springsteen. Maybe our best hope for eliminating the Iranian nuclear threat isn’t B-2s dropping bombs, but FedEx cargo planes dropping cell phones and laptops. Actually, the world is doing a pretty good job in bombing Iran’s youth with pop culture; maybe all we need to do is sit back, sell more phones, and wait for their oppressive government to be swept aside, or simply ignored and rendered obsolete, by the new Coke generation.
*That’s* what they fear about us. Not that we’ll bomb them into oblivion, but that their own kids, raised on our pop culture, will vote them off the island.
================
I want to emphasize that this is about spreading American *values*, not American hegemony. The Egyptian riots are a problem for America as an empire, but if we play it right it can be a huge win for American ideals.
If I was in Egypt, I'd be pretty pissed at them canceling my circuses and would probably go out and break stuff.
If I have been able to see further than others, it is because I bought a pair of binoculars.
Well...you can just use Skype to dial in to AOL and then you can avoid the long distance charg...oh, wait.
Or in today's language: the revolution will not be tweeted.
Does anyone think it is still a good idea to give the President an "Internet Kill Switch"?
Really, those in power tend to cling to it even if their forms are outmoded for the population they rule. I think our democracies only grow stronger through a little unrest and political replacement every once in a while. What do you think?
Shh.
See what happens when you download too many copies of "The Mummy" ?
"Computers are a lot like Air Conditioners" "They both work great until you start opening Windows"
There's a couple options here. POTS modem is a decent choice for data, until it gets blocked. Satellite internet should work also, but could be subject to jamming. Shortwave radio to listen to international broadcasts (BBC World Service, VOA, Deutsche Welle, etc.) is a good option for receiving information and news. They could still jam broadcasters that they don't like (but hard to get all of them).
Ham radio would be the best option, as it doesn't depend on anyone else's infrastructure, and equipment can be run from 12V batteries. Many frequency bands to choose from to avoid interference or jamming. Many digital modes can be used to relay articles, some with forward error correction. Voice modes are available for those without digital interfaces. Can be short range to arrange local protests if needed (VHF/UHF), possibly with a handheld transceiver. It can be long range on the HF bands (shortwave), potentially communicating over thousands of miles and across borders.
-molo
Using your sig line to advertise for friends is lame.
Parent poster is handing out two, that's TWO generalizations for the price of one.
If you comment now, he'll throw in FIIIIIVE unfounded accusations of your choice - PLUS "the works". Where else are you gonna get a deal like that?
Coming up next - all Catholics are secretly pedophiles, Jews are stingy, blacks are lazy and women can't drive.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
You overlooked Turkey which wants to become a State of the EU, and has to prove itself to be tolerant of other religions and basic human rights (as required by the Lisbon Treaty).
And YES I have a POTS modem, but it isn't much good without the internet. It would connect to my ISP and then have no website to access. And of course all the old BBSes I used to call directly have disappeared.
Some of the old Usenet and Fidonet newsgroup BBSes might still be alive, but I have no idea what their phone numbers are.
My AC stalker: " I personally agree with your posts most of the time, but that won't keep me from modding you troll"
There. Is no such thing as a progressive muslim state. They are all horrendous in one form or another. Human rights, crime, despotism, corruption, justice, the works.
The reality of Egypt is that the choices are grim and grimmer; support Mubarek, and you support an oppressive regime. It may be an iron fist in a velvet glove, but the fist is still made of iron. However, if you support real democratic elections in Egypt, then you're almost certainly going to get an Iranian-style theocracy that'll never have real elections again. And that's the way the vast majority of Egyptians want it. Take away the secular despot, and you're almost guaranteed to get a country run by the Muslim Brotherhood.
Life is hard, and the world is cruel
you wouldn't be reading Slashdot, and thus wouldn't be able to answer the question of "what would you do if you were there"...
"what would you do if you were there."
You see it's the 'if' that makes the assumption that you are *not* there - which obviously can be made given that if you were there you likely wouldn't be reading this - therefore making this a hypothetical question.
This is why we need a real media, instead of following the current trend of bloggers covering news while the established media cover entertainment and punditry. Because without real reporters over there, there's no way to figure out what happened during a blackout. Local bloggers can be cut off, and when the lights come back on, who's to say what happened? Whereas disappearing a reporter for the NY Times would just invite more scrutiny.
Of course, it's all contingent on the established media putting aside their profit margins for a moment. Reporters are expensive, and don't get the ratings that star watches and manufactured controversy pull in.
They do have sham elections, torture people for the USA even and have secret prisons.
Nice try though.
video news guidance
Two of my imaginary friends reproduced once
They could patch into a Gibson, use that uplink to tunnel into the global GPS satellite network and then beam the (enhanced) signal down into the internet and thus successfully hack the plant.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
I love hearing this. In fact, I hope more countries undergoing political unrest opt to shut off 'net access. Specifically I'm hoping for similar occurrences in places like Syria, Pakistan. Go ahead and try getting your internet kill switch bill passed then ya jackasses. Every political talking head will blaze up a nice firestorm while the chickenshits dive for cover.
I just wish there was a way to help.
There are some people that if they don't know, you can't tell 'em.
It doesn't work like in the movies. Triangulating a transmitter takes time, coordination, and experience. (I consider myself one of the better foxhunters in my state) And if the person doesn't want to be found, they can make it extremely difficult to pin down.
Both german-controlled france and russia took the same novel approach trying to find spies transmitting in WW2... they'd cut power to parts of the city a chunk at a time until the signal went off the air, then tear apart that area. Shows just how difficult it can be. Nowadays though with dopplars and haddock arrays they don't have to shut down the grids, but finding the actual transmitter remains very difficult. (I've been foxhunting for just about 20 yrs)
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
This has nothing to do with "religion" per se and everything to do with political power. They aren't cutting off the internet to prevent "Draw Muhammed Day", they are cutting it off to try to prevent a Tunisia style rebellion.
Monstar L
Turkey is a secular state. Religious political parties are banned in their constitution.
>There. Is no such thing as a progressive muslim state. Qatar. i lived there for a few years. less human rights violations, crime, despotism, corruption, justice irregularities than the USA under george w. bush. the facts are hard to swallow, but there you are.
How do you figure an ABSOLUTE MONARCHY has less despotism than a country under a freely elected president (along with with a freely elected legislative branch) who peacefully gave up office when his term was over. I'm not sure if you're familiar with the actual concept of absolute power despotism requires but it generally doesn't involve being beholden to elections, term limits and an elected legislative branch but instead all power is concentrated in a single unopposed entity sort of like....Qatar? I know everyone hates bush and all, but more then 50% of the voters voted for him in 2004 and voters choosing the "wrong" choice does not despotism make. I know that fact is hard to swallow but there you are.
The thing is that Turkey is not a Muslim state in the way that Saudi Arabia or even Egypt is. Its a state that is mostly Muslims, but even with their somewhat more religious leaning government recently, Turkey took its cues from France and under Mustapha Kemal Ataturk made the state a secular state with its own form of laicite.
It wasn't the West that abolished the Caliphate, it was the Turkish government that did that. Other initiatives included insisting on western apparel for everyone and even developing a Turkish alphabet based on Latin characters instead of using Arabic characters. A very big change for the state that used to be the center of the Ottoman Empire, and the Islamic Caliphate.
Turkey, of course, has its own issues with human rights, and no one wants to be in a Turkish prison, but religion isn't the largest, by far. Their bigger problems are more of the ethnic variety, like with the Greeks on Cyprus and the Kurds they have in their own country. When it comes to those issues, the Turkish do have a fairly big problem on their hands.
We should find out which companies bowed before the dictators. Looks like Vodaphoe is one of them.
When a truckload of soldiers show up at your NOC with automatic weapons and politely ask you to pull the plug, you do
You can't blame the ISPs for this. In cases like this the soldiers usually have orders to turn their weapons on the racks if the ISP refuses to cooperate. One way or another, you will cooperate.
I work for the Department of Redundancy Department.
All Americans are fat and stupid. There. Can I please have my post modded up again now?
Or do I have to make a stupid generalization about someone else? Like Chinese? Brits? Zie Germans?
COME ON!
I too want to be modded +5 Insightful for being a generalizing asshole who pigeonholes millions of people and their cultures into degrading *caricatures of themselves.
*caricatures are like an exaggerated cartoon of someone, where he looks funny... and then we laugh at him cause he is funny looking.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
There are major outages, but the entire country of Egypt is not off line. Cairo is hard to reach, but Alexandria seems to be up via some routes. Delay on the last link to the Alexandria gateway is about 70ms.
Sorry... an 'e' got away from me.
You don't need all that to hack a plant. You can hack a plant simply by hitting it repeatedly with an axe.
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
There is a quick look BGP level analysis available from BGPMon. Except for Noor Data Networks, the number of announced address blocks is way down. This means that most Egyptian IP addresses are now not reachable from the rest of the world.
Here is BGPMon on the dating of the outage :
At this point egypt.gov.eg is offline. This network, 81.21.104.0/24 was withdrawn at January 27th at 22:28 UTC . Another example is www.ahram.org.eg an Egyptian news paper. This network 196.219.246.0/24, became unreachable at the exact same time, January 27th at 22:28 UTC.
I think that it is safe to assume that this outage is related to the big protests planned for tomorrow.
Yes, by the very definition of despot. Despot != human rights violations. Despot != atrocities. Despot means a single ruler with absolute power. An elected official sharing power with 2 other branches of government and whom gives up their office after their term is up because they don't have the power or authority to stay in charge is by definition is not a despot no matter how much you may not like them or the choices they made.
Mubark is Muslim and the government is mostly Muslim. Please get your facts right before saying something completely ridiculous.
One where there are many Muslims?
Well, is a Germany a Muslim state? Plenty of Turkish Muslims there? How 'bout France with all them Algerians?
Or all those Muslims don't really count, cause they are not TRUE Muslims?
Or are you talking about countries run by sharia law?
Egypt is a "semi-presidential republic" where religious parties are illegal.
Or let's turn that around... Which western countries (excluding Vatican) are Christian? And please, specify which denomination.
Or how about simply - is America Catholic, Protestant or Mormon? Come on... we all know that all that secular bullshit is just for show.
Come on... Who's their Cloud Daddy?
Mit der Dummheit kämpfen Götter selbst vergebens
Here is what I wrote earlier today Views from an Egyptian.
Mod it up if you think it is informative.
2bits.com, Inc: Drupal, WordPress, and LAMP performance tuning.
Every Egyptian has been spared the possibility of reading that moronic post.
Boffoonery - downloadable Comedy Benefit for Bletchley Park
Is he? There's a bunch of security-crazy congressmen who want to give him that power, but I haven't seen any statement by the White House asking for this power.
"And if the person doesn't want to be found, they can make it extremely difficult to pin down."
Not any longer. You start with a sensitive radio that picks up the signal from afar, and you switch to far less sensitive devices until even a REALLY strong signal can't be picked up/won't register until you're on top of it. Several layers of shielding around your detection device can help with this.
That's how I've been tracking down various stray signals that occasionally make it into my house - baby monitors, over-powered wireless routers (modified past allowable TX spec,) unencrypted wireless, non-licensed GMRS operators, etc.
Makes for good practice in observing radio traffic and separating out the layers.
Still waiting on Serviscope_minor to wake up to fucking reality and realize that Jessica Price isn't going to fuck him.
You could have just said 'When next President wants an "Internet Kill Switch"' but you had to make it about your political views and not the larger, more important issue. This is a real problem with discourse in the U.S. these days. It is about "which side you are on" and not the discussion of the big issues. I think most citizens agree that an "Internet Kill Switch" is a very bad idea. But our problems keep getting worse because we are constantly distracted by political nonsense and polarizing language and cannot focus on the issue at hand. Let's focus on what's important.
the growth in cynicism and rebellion has not been without cause
The Egyptian authorities have the ability to shut down free speech in 2011, but turning off the Internet is not enough - they must completely halt modern commerce.
Since they are not, as far as I can imagine, performing mass jamming of the 2.4ghz spectrum, anyone with a laptop and "wi-fi" connectivity has everything they need to conduct insurrection. This concept is known as "Free Speech or Stone Age":
http://blog.kozubik.com/john_kozubik/2009/06/free-speech-or-stone-age.html
Unless you remove the general purpose tools of modern commerce, filtering (or even disabling) the Internet will not stop speech.
You might be too young to know, but modems are good for more than connecting to ISPs. You can create data connections to other persons, forming a shadow network.
Something like Fidonet with its node/point structure could be made pretty much unkillable even in such a situation unless the state would kill ALL communications.
HI O WISE PRINCE. WHT TOOK U SO DAM LONG?
I've always considered Egypt to be on of the more progressive muslim states
Whaaaaat? Egypt is ruled by a dictator that tolerates no dissent. There has been a state of emergency there for 44 years! Let's see, where to start. In 2009, the U.S. Department of State Human Rights report had this to say:
Police, security personnel, and prison guards often tortured and abused prisoners and detainees, sometimes in cases of detentions under the Emergency Law, which authorizes incommunicado detention indefinitely, subject to a judge's ruling.
and
Police and the SSIS reportedly employed torture methods such as stripping and blindfolding victims; suspending victims by the wrists and ankles in contorted positions or from a ceiling or door frame with feet just touching the floor; beating victims with fists, whips, metal rods, or other objects; using electric shocks; dousing victims with cold water; sleep deprivation; and sexual abuse, including sodomy. There was evidence that security officials sexually assaulted some victims or threatened to rape them or their family members. Human rights groups reported that the lack of legally required written police records often effectively blocked investigations.
It just goes on and on. And, keep in mind, the U.S. DOS reports tend to be very conservative, so when this stuff ends up in a DOS report, things on the ground are much, much worse.