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Message: <blockquote data-quote="ibnanv" data-source="post: 10376240" data-attributes="member: 218596">U.S. Funds Secret Internet for Dissidents in Repressive CountriesA recurring event in the Arab Spring was the <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=1362ptlm9/*http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/06/syria-unplugs-internet-childrens-freedom-friday/38476/" target="_blank">shutting</a> <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=13a5u6eop/*http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/01/how-the-egyptian-government-turned-off-the-internet/21324/" target="_blank">down</a>  of the internet by incumbent regimes, acts which were met with such  outrage by the global community that they in part led the U.N. to <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=1398v404c/*http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/06/united-nations-wikileaks-internet-human-rights/38526/" target="_blank">declare</a>  internet access a basic human right. The Obama administration is now  leading an effort to create a “shadow” internet and mobile phone systems  that dissidents can use in the event that their government shuts down  web access, as Hosni Mubarak's regime did in <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=13a5u6eop/*http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/01/how-the-egyptian-government-turned-off-the-internet/21324/" target="_blank">Egypt,</a> and President Bashar al-Assad recently did in <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=1362ptlm9/*http://www.theatlanticwire.com/global/2011/06/syria-unplugs-internet-childrens-freedom-friday/38476/" target="_blank">Syria</a>. The New York Times <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=126mv60kn/*http://www.nytimes.com/2011/06/12/world/12internet.html?pagewanted=1" target="_blank">describes</a>  the State Department's efforts, which vary from developing James  Bond-worthy high-tech gadgets to uncovering cell phones hidden by  borders. Here are some of the ways the U.S. is looking to safeguard  internet access across the world.                  Related: <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=12jcqagbn/*http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/05/netflix-winning-internet/37821/" target="_blank">Netflix Is Winning the Internet</a>                       Internet in a Suitcase. A $2 million State Department grant is being used to develop a prototype "Internet in a suitcase," that the Times  notes is like something "out of a spy novel." The suitcase project will  rely on a version of “mesh network” technology, which can connect  devices like cellphones or computers, creating a web without a  centralized hub. Thus, each innocuous-looking suitcase acts as a  mini-tower that can bypass the official network. “We’re going to build a  separate infrastructure where the technology is nearly impossible to  shut down, to control, to surveil,” said Sascha Meinrath, who is leading  the “Internet in a suitcase” project.                  Related: <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=136ht7jfb/*http://www.theatlanticwire.com/business/2011/05/what-weve-learned-so-far-radical-transparency/37935/" target="_blank">What We've Learned So Far from Radical Transparency</a>     Independent cellphone networks.  This effort includes secretive projects to create independent cellphone  networks inside foreign countries, like Iran, Syria, and Libya. In  Afghanistan, the State Department and Pentagon have spent at least $50  million creating a network outside of the control of the Taliban, which  could shut down Afghan services at will, according to the Times.  Details of the network are scarce, but military and civilian officials  said it relied in part on cell towers placed on protected American  bases.                  Related: <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=138svu6bk/*http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/05/new-filter-can-tell-porn-non-porn-based-audio/37997/" target="_blank">A New Filter Can Tell Porn from Non-Porn Based on the Audio</a>     Bluetooth beaming.  Mehdi Yahyanejad, an Iranian expatriate and technology developer, said  that in more closed societies, Bluetooth is used to discreetly beam  information, or even video, directly from one cellphone to another. He  said he and his research colleagues are slated to receive State  Department financing for a project that would modify Bluetooth so that a  file could automatically jump from phone to phone within a “trusted  network” of citizens.                  Related: <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=12oohgeeb/*http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/03/push-protect-privacy-internet/35867/" target="_blank">The Bill the Administration Wants to See Protecting Internet Users</a>     Buried cell phones.  American diplomats have even met with a North Korean defector who  explained that communication across the border was possible from burying  Chinese cellphones in the hills near the border with North Korea, where  they could be dug up and used to make secret calls.                  Related: <a href="http://us.rd.yahoo.com/dailynews/atlantic/tc_atlantic/storytext/usfundssecretinternetdissidentsrepressivecountries38743/41833485/SIG=12jo047a9/*http://www.theatlanticwire.com/technology/2011/06/seven-ways-draw-internet/38736/" target="_blank">Seven Ways to Draw the Internet</a>     Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton called these circumvention  technologies “a historic opportunity to effect positive change, change  America supports.” However, there is the concern that the State  Department's actions will be viewed not just as promoting free speech  and protecting human rights, but as targeting foreign governments. Clay  Shirky told the Times  that the U.S. could particularly expose itself to charges of hypocrisy  if the State Department outwardly supported regimes like Saudi Arabia or  Bahrain, while at the same time building tools that would likely be  used to destabilize them</blockquote>

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