The American government spends millions of dollars helping activists communicate and bring down their own governments. It does so in frames of the project called Commotion Wireless, putting the fear of god into the spooks of different authoritarian regimes.
According to the local media, the project in question is aimed at undermining online filtering in such countries as Iran and Syria. Meanwhile, the biggest problem of the United States is that it receives email inquiries there which purport to be sent by pro-democracy activists from out there, but actually come from spies.
Commotion Wireless is run by Sascha Meinrath and although it gets shedloads of American money, it’s based on some of the better ideas of online community access. The project is designed in such a way that it allows a smartphone to connect with others, thus creating a “mesh network”.
Meanwhile, there are some good reasons why western governments wouldn’t like to see technology of this kind deployed in their own countries. The United Kingdom, for instance, is willing to monitor each and every email just in case it happens to relate to terrorist activities. Nevertheless, in case this sort of technology becomes available, it would mean that the only people found in the government’s database are the ordinary people.
Undoubtedly, Meinrath’s secret web will be a major headache for everyone willing to stop anything on the Internet. If this technology is enforced in Iran, Syria or China, this move will allow opposition groups to freely talk to one another. Nevertheless, it’ll also weaken regimes backed by the United States like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. You may remember that both Egypt and Libya had Internet coups, which resulted in regimes that the United States didn’t like either.
According to the local media, the project in question is aimed at undermining online filtering in such countries as Iran and Syria. Meanwhile, the biggest problem of the United States is that it receives email inquiries there which purport to be sent by pro-democracy activists from out there, but actually come from spies.
Commotion Wireless is run by Sascha Meinrath and although it gets shedloads of American money, it’s based on some of the better ideas of online community access. The project is designed in such a way that it allows a smartphone to connect with others, thus creating a “mesh network”.
Meanwhile, there are some good reasons why western governments wouldn’t like to see technology of this kind deployed in their own countries. The United Kingdom, for instance, is willing to monitor each and every email just in case it happens to relate to terrorist activities. Nevertheless, in case this sort of technology becomes available, it would mean that the only people found in the government’s database are the ordinary people.
Undoubtedly, Meinrath’s secret web will be a major headache for everyone willing to stop anything on the Internet. If this technology is enforced in Iran, Syria or China, this move will allow opposition groups to freely talk to one another. Nevertheless, it’ll also weaken regimes backed by the United States like Saudi Arabia and Bahrain. You may remember that both Egypt and Libya had Internet coups, which resulted in regimes that the United States didn’t like either.
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