US Government financing 'internet in a box' suitcase to help dissidents avoid censors, newspaper reports | Information, Gadgets, Mobile Phones News & Reviews | News.com.au
The US government is financing an 'internet in a box' for rebels and dissidents in countries that have internet controls. As of now, the US government has financed 2M USD for this sort of operation, and this is only what is being disclosed. I am sure that other avenues have been explored previously. There is even talk of a seperate mobile phone communication network withing those countries.
sheesh.
I'll be the first here to say, that out of the lot of you, i hate censorship more than any other person here. I live in a country where the internet is censored. Porn although accessible is harder to come by, as are sites critical of the government, or websites that do not conform to the cultural, religious and moral fabric of the country. I really do hate censorship with a passion.
However, i dont think that the US has a right to set up telecommunication network systems in other sovereign states in order to carry out covert operations in order to topple a government or give its dissidents access to information against its government. It'd be illegal to start with.
I know some of you may think that it may be worth it, but what if the shoe was on the other foot?
what if China decided to set up the same technology in the USA? it would be deemed illegal to set this sort of thing up, the americans setting this up would be locked up, branded terrorists and would be burnt at the stake. Real wars could start over this, and im afraid that diplomacy would go out the door. It could be a case of the chook coming home to roost.
Does the US have a right to undermine and destabilize other nations? if its ok to do it to other countries, is it ok to do it in the USA?
Its well known that the CIA has undermined many nations in the past, and i see this as just another attempt at doing just that - just with new technology. As much as i hate censorship, i also despise underhandedness.
This can get messy. really messy. I dont see how the US can control this thing. If it gets in the wrong hands, its dangerous, if its copied, its dangerous for the entire world.
Information is freedom, but the 'internet in a box' could be Pandoras box.
Thoughts?
Quote:
US Government financing 'internet in a box' suitcase to help dissidents avoid censors, newspaper reports
THE US Government is reportedly financing the development of "shadow" internet systems to enable dissidents abroad to get around government censors.
The New York Times said today the covert effort also includes attempts to create independent cellphone networks inside foreign countries.
The operation involves a fifth-floor shop on L Street in Washington, where a group of young entrepreneurs are fitting deceptively innocent-looking hardware into a prototype "internet in a suitcase", the report said.
Financed with a $US2 million ($1.9 million) State Department grant, the suitcase could be secreted across a border and quickly set up to allow wireless communications over a wide area with a link to the global internet.
The Times said some projects involve technology being developed in the US while others pull together tools that have already been created by hackers from the so-called liberation technology movement.
The State Department is financing the creation of stealth wireless networks that would enable activists to communicate outside the reach of governments in countries like Iran, Syria and Libya.
The US Government has also spent at least $US50 million ($47.2 million) to create an independent mobile phone network in Afghanistan using towers on protected military bases inside the country, according to the newspaper.
It is intended to offset the Taliban's ability to shut down the official Afghan services, the report said.
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