Egypt switches off the internet The Egyptian government is restricting internet access and mobile phone coverage ahead of what are expected to be the week's largest demonstrations later today. As this blogpost from Renesys notes the website for the Egyptian Stock Exchange might be available, but little else is. European-Asian fibre-optics appear unaffected …
This mobile communications being cut happens in the UK too, probably more often than you'd think, it's usually small areas where there are specific reasons, high profile prisoner convoys, VIPs etc. The only time that I've actually seen it happen was 7/7, I worked in an office near Aldgate Tube and there was no mobile at all, all day.
Mobile comms have been restricted once in the UK and that was on 7/7 as you say when ACCOLC was invoked. They only reason they are restricted is to give priority to certain pre-authorised users (emergency services, MPs, etc) in the case of an emergency situation when they may otherwise be unable to make/receive calls due to congestion. Networks don't get restricted because a prisoner is being moved or there is a VIP in town!
Next time Obama, or whomever makes his home temporarily at 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue, comes to London try making any radio communication as his (her) entourage passes by.
The only communications that will work are Plod frequencies and other essential services.
Unless, for some strange reason, there were so many people using attempting to use their phones on 7/7 in that area that the system couldn't handle the traffic.
In which case you'd expect one of the butts of El Reg's & their readership (radio amateurs) to be involved in preparations should there be a civil disaster and other forms of communication fail. I would also imagine they'd pick, if they were British, a name like 'Raynet'. Mercans would probably use a name like RACES.
How come we don't *know* the answer to this rather than making educated guesses?
Like many people, I was near King's Cross when it was being evacuated and tried using my mobile to tell work I was going to be late, but couldn't.
I think I'd be understanding if the network was overloaded by freakishly high demand or the emergency services took priority, but I'd like to know.
Modern public communications all use Class of Service.
If you are pooh-bah who has serious connections to government your COS will be upped. Ditto with doctors, etc.
Ordinary grunts usually get the lowest COS and effectively locked out as the carriers reduce the facilities available to the lower COS.
Same with landlines.
A friend of mine lives in Cairo, and his FB page has become an interesting and scary diary of what's happening over there (those with the wherewithal to use proxies can still get access) . It certainly sounds like the country was ripe for revolution, and in his words: it's telling that most people in other countries didn't know about it until the last week. It's a shame the ordinary people who are just trying to get on with their lives are suffering because of it.
....is that the Western media don't report very often on the true situation inside these countries because a) it might scare the horses and b) it's harder than putting some reporter outside No 10 and talking about what the "Coalition government" has been up to that day.
Like many middle-eastern countries, the people in charge do not share the same views and aspirations as those they rule, and you can only keep the lid on a saucepan that's boiling over for so long. The problem for the West is that once the pro-western rulers have been overcome, it becomes significantly more difficult to keep oil prices low and to maintain intelligence links to get warning of any anti-western activity.
But it's about time that some democracy broke out, you just need to hope that having thrown off once set of despotic rulers that they are not replaced by religious governments who will be equally repressive.
Her Imperial Cluelessness hasn't been her of yet. Let the Imperial Vice President speak:
http://www.csmonitor.com/World/Backchannels/2011/0127/Joe-Biden-says-Egypt-s-Mubarak-no-dictator-he-shouldn-t-step-down
Asked if he would characterize Mubarak as a dictator Biden responded: “Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things. And he’s been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with – with Israel. … I would not refer to him as a dictator.”
(...) Mr. Biden's comments are unlikely to be well-received by regime opponents, as they fit a narrative of steadfast US support for a government they want to bring down. About eight protesters and one policeman have died this week as Egypt has sought to bring down the heavy hand of the state against opponents. Since the US provides about $1.3 billion in military aid to Egypt a year, the repressive apparatus of the state is seen by many in Egypt as hand in glove with the US.
Does he even know what the word "dictator" means I wonder?
"“Mubarak has been an ally of ours in a number of things. And he’s been very responsible on, relative to geopolitical interest in the region, the Middle East peace efforts; the actions Egypt has taken relative to normalizing relationship with – with Israel. … I would not refer to him as a dictator.”
It certainly has nothing to do with any of the things Joe appears to think prove he is not one.
Tony Blair was on the Today Programme this morning saying we should all support Mubarak as he's an important player in keeping neighbouring countries stable.
When asked by the interviewer if Blair was suggesting that the local populace should just shut up and put up with it so that we in the West have an easier time of it, he started on with his usual arrogant, self-righteous smugness.
Egypt was a great place for a holiday - went there about 10 years ago. The Egyptian people are a generous and welcoming nation, certainly far more so than some other countries; I would go again any time.
Most of the population are vegetarians - not by choice, they just can't afford to buy meat as it is so expensive. They see tourists (like me) eating in one sitting, more meat or fish than they could afford in a month; no wonder they are not happy. Even more so when they see people eat half of a burger and throw the rest away, or send back a piece of fish because it is not cooked quite the way they want.
As another example, I got the minibus driver to drop me off at the airport, rather than wait for a taxi. I gave him 15 Egyptian pounds (then it was about £3) this doubled his wages for the week.
Sometimes, we don't realise how lucky we are.
... that the President should have a similar kill-the-internet switch? Only to be used in case of a national crisis!
any way, if the internet is turned-off in Egypt, doesn't this mean that Today marks the 1st time in history that a country have turned off its own* internet in fear of the internet and the freedom it brings? (don't real watch the news much, but I never heard of such an action being taken before).
* this is different from a country losing internet access due to an accident. I am currently living in Tanzania, and the country did go offline few times due to an accident.
Burma/Myanmar did it back in 2007, when their own local proto-rebellion was being beaten down by the military, and too many photos of the violence were getting out that might have embarrassed the government.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2007_Burmese_anti-government_protests#Internet_control
Maybe we are just too lazy or to spoiled by internet services or mobile phones and tend to think that people will not find a way to express themselves.
But that is obviously a mistake. May be communications will be a bit more cumbersome or slow, but that will not stop people from protesting. And trying to silence media is always a sign that the government does not have very good intentions.
Protests that topple governments will always happen, internet or not.
If Mr. Mubarak is so sure to be in the "right" side of things, this attempt to silence his own people surely probes otherwise.
R
Along with the Uganda ( Gov advocating executing homosexuals ) and Tunisia episodes, will the US charge in to ensure freedom of speech and democracy for all just like Iraq and Afghanistan?
They might if they can find enough natural resources like oil and shiny stones, to make it worthwhile I suppose
When you consider cell telephones amongst all the other paraphernalia that crosses international borders they are rarely the subject of intense interest - unless the carrier is flagged.
Governments have total control of cell services which have limited distance communications, are subject to network control, provide positive identification and pretty accurate location.
There are very few governments that deny cell service as a policy, Burma comes to mind, as the benefits that accrue to authorities are as great as those for cell subscribers.
The recent world-wide crackdown on pre-paid SIM cards was an attempt to tighten up one weakness but I find any bell hop will be happy to procure a SIM card in his name for you to use! Cambodia forbids foreigners to purchase SIM cards but most every traveller has one.
The best portable phones are the satellite ones but the dorky antennae are a dead give away to any border post personnel and are outright banned because local governments have no control of their use.
A) Buy a cheap cellphone
B) buy a cheap, registered and prepaid SIM card
C) use for a day
D) swap with somebody else
E) reload SIM card account
Note: Phones can be tracked,too.
Leave your number on a protected weblog for all your friends as soon as your Phone Number has changed.
In Sri Lanka, the government first expelled all foreign reporters, and then their troops began massacres of the minority Tamil people.
The U.S., therefore, should not make the same mistake twice. While it seems that the government is concerned about the protesters, and that the protesters are seeking liberalization of Egypt, and are not Islamists, there are Coptic Christians in Egypt who have suffered persecution in the past.
So, the United States should respond to the Internet blackout with an immediate invasion of Egypt, to bring about regime change, and to guarantee and ensure the safety of the Coptic Christian minority.
The most effective way to guarantee the safety of a minority is to empower the minority to defend itself, as the relative safety of the Jews of Israel, compared to the continuous attacks on religious minorities in Iraq, demonstrates. So Egypt should be partitioned.
and Hosni Mubarak is clearly a visionary leader. He's just showing that "meatspace rules rule" and moving his country to the "closed network" that El Reg's Bill Thompson advocated in his great polemic of 2002: http://www.theregister.co.uk/2002/08/09/damn_the_constitution_europe_must/
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