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Startup Provides Secure Calls For Egypt
An anonymous reader writes "As the technology used to fuel democracy protests in Egypt continues to evolve, Whisper Systems, the company founded by well-known security researcher Moxie Marlinspike, just released encrypted calling and text messaging applications into Egypt to help keep protesters safe from surveillance."
In the places you need to use this the most just using this app will be grounds for a head kicking. The classic "You're trying to maintain your own privacy/secrecy, you must be up to something bad."
An odd story. The company (Whisper Systems) makes software (for Android systems only, apparently) that supports VoIP and SMS encryption. But it also has a history of rolling over for repressive governments, providing them with user data, and allowing them (well, Egypt's government, anyway) to send propaganda messages via their systems. It sounds like this "beta" software is also available in the US. But what good does it do to use software from a company that will just rat you out to whatever government snaps its fingers?
Great men are almost always bad men--Lord Acton's Corollary
When a governmental regime is on the verge of collapse, they tend to apply their laws a lot more loosely. Especially with a state security apparatus such as what exists in Egypt (since they've been doing things like this for the past 30 years) they won't even bother trying to break into communications. All you have to do is download it, or have your traffic intercepted. If they are able to tell you are using it (doesn't matter if you are calling your friends to plan a protest, asking how your mom's operation went, or even just voting for American Idol) they will pick you up. And if they do pick you up, it takes a lot less technological know-how to break a person than it does breaking an encryption.
The only thing necessary for evil to triumph is for it to be pitted against a slightly greater evil
The subtext of all this ubiquitous commentary is that technology invented in the USA is helping these poor plebs in less advanced countries to win their freedom and hence become more American-like.
It is, of course, a load of bollox.
The role of new media has been picked up by the mainstream western press and held up as if it would never have happened without this technology and hence allows the west to take credit for this uprising. The fact that the era of cheap food has come to an end, the demographics of the Arab world and the middle east has produced a massive generation of young people, and people are willing to organise by any means available including good old fashioned word-of-mouth doesn't have the same soundbite-friendly ring to it.
Drill baby drill - on Mars
are allowing this. It wouldn't be hard at all to put this down with a modern military (which Egypt more or less has). Maybe there's just be too much attention from the rest of the world & they're afraid of being 'liberated' by the US.
Iran was on the verge of that, but they got lucky and Micheal Jackson died. The distraction was enough for them to go back to oppressing their people, but unless the Pope buys it I don't think there's anyone else in the world now important enough to distract the entire planet at once.
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Has he also released this for the people of Cuba?
"The average reporter we talk to is 27 years old......They literally know nothing." - Ben Rhodes
Here's the transcript of mubarack speech tonight:
You know the rules and so do I
A full commitment's what I'm thinking of
You wouldn't get this from any other guy
I just wanna tell you how I'm feeling
Gotta make you understand
Never gonna give you up
Never gonna let you down
Never gonna run around and desert you
Never gonna make you cry
Never gonna say goodbye
Never gonna tell a lie and hurt you
We've known each other for so long
Your heart's been aching but
You're too shy to say it
Inside we both know what's been going on
We know the game and we're gonna play it
http://tinyurl.com/2g9mqh
Some drink at the fountain of knowledge. Others just gargle.