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."

Comments

What color is that hat?

[DrVomact]

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?

Re:What color is that hat?

[0x000000]

Whisper Systems is an US based company that has never provided user data to Egypts government, nor has it allowed them to send messages through their system. You are thinking about Vodafone which was forced to do so by the government.

Overstating the role of new media

[fiannaFailMan]

...the technology used to fuel democracy protests in Egypt...

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.

Mubarak Speech transcript plagiarized!

[goombah99]

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