“Mobile phone networks have reportedly been disrupted, leaving millions without access to text messaging or phone calls,” Olson reports. “The country’s key Internet Service Providers are also off the air, says James Cowie, the chief technology officer of Internet monitoring firm Renesys on his blog. ‘Virtually all of Egypt’s Internet addresses are now unreachable, worldwide.'”
Olson reports, “Activists have taken to Twitter to report on the situation while the local dialup network NOOR appears to still be online. One tweet that has been doing the rounds recommends that locals who have NOOR access or a working Wifi router remove their passwords in order to share access with neighbors.”
Full article here.
MacDailyNews Take: This ought to make thinking, freedom-loving people very wary of granting any government the power of an “Internet kill switch.” This is a clarion reminder that things that one day might sound prudent and rational to some can sound completely misguided and crazy the next. You never know who will gain power or how they’ll abuse it until it’s too late.
Those who would give up essential liberty to purchase a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety. – Benjamin Franklin, Historical Review of Pennsylvania, 1759
[Thanks to MacDailyNews Readers too numerous to mention individually for the heads up.]
Government will use any means at it’s disposal to remain in power…
It’s kind of funny that “The worlds greatest democracy” has helped to keep a lot of brutal dictators in power for decades.
Joe
I never thought that a kill switch is prudent or rational.
Phew! At least America’s safe from such silly government controls, right Mr. Lieberman?
http://dns.tmcnet.com/topics/internet-security/articles/137941-internet-kill-switch-act-back-senates-agenda.htm
Let’s just hope the internet switch is all that gets killed. I fear that won’t be the case though.
”If your government shuts down the internet, shut down your government.” From earlier in the Twitter trend.
The only dictators the US don’t like are ones who aren’t subservient and who won’t enslave their obedient masses to corporate America.
Your free to do as we tell you.
“A government big enough to give you everything you want is a government big enough to take from you everything you have.”
– Gerald Ford (14 July 1913 – 26 December 2006) , the 38th President of the United States.
Welcome to Barry the destroyer’s elite agenda. It will all be done in the name of your safety…
@Wandering Joe
The US hasn’t just KEPT dictators in power, we’ve PUT them in Power.
The Shah of Iran. Saddam Hussein. We built the Taliban.
There’s an excellent new iPad app that was adapted from a graphic novel, which was adapted from a book about the CIA sponsored assassination of Mohammad Mossedegh a popular leader who wanted Iran to control their oil. Needless to say the US and Britain took steps…
Anyway, it’s called Operation Ajax. It’s extremely well done and I is an incredible eye-opener.
@john smith
I know that’s a thinly veiled reference to the current administration but it applies both ways. Take an objective look at all the privacy and rights you had to give up under the last administration under the guise of “security from evildoers”.
You quickly come to realize that people need to stop looking at the (D) and (R) behind everyone’s name and look at issues objectively.
What never ceases to fascinate me is that Americans are so often proud of their democracy. Whenever there is a discussion on democracy in the world, Americans tend to declare, often with great pride, how theirs is about the best, most open, transparent and free. What I cannot understand, then, is, since this statement means that every single elected official in the government is elected by his/her constituents and is directly representing the interests of those who elected them, how is it possible that Americans (especially conservative ones, those most proud of their democracy) tend to be most fearful of the very government they themselves elected?
If it is such a true and transparent democracy, can’t you just vote your representative out if he votes for something that you don’t agree with?
…”You never know who will gain power or how they’ll abuse it until it’s too late.” (MDN’t take)
That sentence is applicable to single-party dictatorships and such. Surely, it can’t possibly happen in a transparent democracy, where every tiny little detail is dug up about every candidate, then regular people go and vote for them? Not to mention that the same people get to vote them out if even a tiny thing goes wrong…?
@ Predrag
Every tiny detail of a candidate’s personal life, religion, and sexual history is dug up only to distract from their corporate sponsorship.
I really dont understand how killing the Internet could help the government in a “modern Internet economy.” Shouldn’t it just leave everyone competely unable to either work or entertain themselves, and if so, what better thing could there be to do than go outside and fight the police over it?
Can’t happen here. I’m sure we can trust the FCC. The DNC. The RNC. The EPA. Bush. Obama.
Give the FCC an official foot in the door and it’s over, and it is probably over already.
Fredo,
Developed world has built their economies on the back of the internet over the last ten years or so. The developing world, not so. Almost no mission-critical solutions require internet access or communication. Landlines are pretty much by far the dominant way for conducting business there. Dictatorship economies are fairly safe from any harm due to any disabling of internet, or even mobile telephony.
Didn’t the Obamanable say reading too much info on the Internet was not good for people?
I think the government of Egypt listened.
“If it is such a true and transparent democracy, can’t you just vote your representative out if he votes for something that you don’t agree with?”
Yes, we can. but unlike other areas of the world, we do not tend to kill off all the government officials to change laws. BUT, we do have to wait for new elections, can’t just say we are going to vote next Thursday to replace xx because xx voted a way we don’t like. We grumble, scream, criticize, and blow a lot of hot air, but in the end, as for 200+ years, we peacefully change governments as to the will of the people. And if something really bad happens, we group together regardless of who is in office. Don’t confuse the arguing in USA politics with the protests you see around the world, we argue because it is our freedom to argue.
Obama wants the same thing here.
That is why we still also need HF radio on Shortwave, internet radio is great no doubt, but can always be filtered or like here we take it all down.
The thing is a “kill switch” is a double-edged sword.
Given the behaviour of some countries (name no names, but the US owes one of them a trillion dollars), a kill switch that protects the US from cyber-attack is absolutely necessary as it is in any developed economy that can be destabilised by a determined act of economic terrorism.
All of the fear-mongering about Obama abusing his powers is, quite frankly, the kind of nonsense one would expect from Michele Bachmann, Steve King, Sarah Palin or Glenn Beck. But I guess there’s the answer.
The Dems and Repubs are both sides of the same coin. We need a strong third party.
Doesn’t sound like a “kill-switch”, more like a manual turnoff of ISPs, which any country can try to do.
Jan 28, 11 – 11:15 amComment from: Mark S.
Obama wants the same thing here.
That is because he is one of them and not a true American.