Slashdot Mirror


Internet Shutdown Adds To Venezuela's Woes

Slashgear reports that many state-run internet links in Venezuela have been shut down by that country's government, as censorship efforts there step up along with widespread turmoil, partly in the form of widespread anti-government protests. The article begins: "Don’t expect one whole heck of a lot of tweets coming out of Venezuela in the immediate future as President Nicolas Maduro’s government has shut down the internet and select TV channels. Having shut down Twitter access for the area this past week, Venezuela’s state-run ISP CANTV has been cut in areas such as San Cristobal. This area is a regional capital in the west of the country and CANTV controls the vast majority of internet connectivity in the area. The Electronic Frontier Foundation made note that Venezuelans working with several different ISPs lost all connectivity on Thursday of this past week. Users lost connectivity to the major content delivery network Edgecast and the IP address which provides access to Twitter’s image hosting service while another block stopped Venezuelan access to the text-based site Pastebin."

11 of 194 comments (clear)

  1. Re:The Internet cannot be shut down. by cold+fjord · · Score: 5, Insightful

    That doesn't really work for you if you are in the damaged / isolated area.

    --
    much of left-wing thought is a kind of playing with fire by people who don't even know that fire is hot - George Orwell
  2. Communists by snilloc · · Score: 1, Insightful

    They're Communists. This is their bag. Don't put communists in power. Full stop.

  3. a very bad decision by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I don't know why incumbent governments ever think this is a valid why to curb public sentiment. In every single situation where they try to do this to control the population it does the exact opposite and incites them to get off their lazy bottoms and rebel. They must not realize that cutting off internet access also cuts off pornography which means you have a lot of angry frustrated men with some serious aggression to work out roaming the streets. It is the worst move I can imagine.

  4. Re:Follow the money by esaulgd7195 · · Score: 3, Insightful
    The Venezuelan regime treats every problem as a nail to be hammered, so it THINKS the Internet shutdown will help them. And if the OAS and the rest of the Latin American governments don't see this as "crossing the line" and start treating Maduro like the tyrant he is, the regime might as well be right.

    I have no idea of what other party are you implying might benefit? Is Google expanding Fiber to South America?

  5. Re:He's s shill probably by lgw · · Score: 3, Insightful

    Welcome to Communism. Totalitarian leader. Oppressive regime. Total economic collapse. Continuous propaganda internal and external.

    --
    Socialism: a lie told by totalitarians and believed by fools.
  6. Re:He's s shill probably by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 2, Insightful

    Under capitalism, man exploits man.

    Under Communism, man exploits man, and they censor the Internet.

  7. Re:Follow the money by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 3, Insightful

    The rest of the latin american governments, except Chile and maybe Paraguay are controlled by "socialists".

    Colombia and Mexico are both run by right-of-center governments (at least by Latin American standards). Both are firmly anti-Maduro, especially Colombia, since Venezuela has actively supported the FARC guerrillas operating inside Colombia.

  8. Re:The Internet cannot be shut down. by Opportunist · · Score: 2, Insightful

    ...like the US?

    --
    We used to have a Bill of Rights. Now, with the rights gone, all we have left is the bill.
  9. Re:He's s shill probably by TheGratefulNet · · Score: 2, Insightful

    join the club!

    at this point in the US's history, I can't tell the diff between capitalism and corruption.

    --

    --
    "It is now safe to switch off your computer."
  10. Re:He's s shill probably by DarkOx · · Score: 3, Insightful

    People never seem to understand is Communism just exchanges one currency for another, instead of trading gold or dollars of people just trade political influence and favors. Naturally favors and influence are much harder to account for the dollars, so the tendency is going to be of course toward corruption as transparency becomes nearly impossible.

    --
    Repeal the 17th Amendment TODAY! Also Please Read http://www.gnu.org/philosophy/right-to-read.html
  11. Re:He's s shill probably by SuperKendall · · Score: 2, Insightful

    In capitalism, corruption lasts until someone comes along with something better.

    In Communism, corruption lasts until the corrupt are unable to kill everyone with a better idea.

    With any luck, you can learn to see the difference before one becomes the other.

    --
    "There is more worth loving than we have strength to love." - Brian Jay Stanley