Hosni Mubarak feels the double edged sword of the Internet in Egypt

Any repressive regime is damned if they have the internet, and damned if they don't...

Egypt cuts off the Internet Service Provider Noor during the Revolution...too late...

"So why did Hosni Mubarak give up on the government’s total information blackout? The answer should be a lesson for other Internet-unfriendly regimes: 


In any modern country, argues Lucie Morillon, the head of the Internet desk for Reporters Without Borders, (RSF) keeping millions of people offline simply isn’t a sustainable approach to quelling dissent. “There are very few countries in the worlds that can be cut off from the world’s economy for this long,” she says.


...Ultimately Egypt faces the same problem as any repressive regime in the digital era, one that University of Maryland Sociology professor Zeynep Tufekci calls the “Dictator’s Dilemma.” 


As she summarizes it, 'If they allow Internet to spread within the country, it poses a threat to their regime. If they don’t, they are cut off from the world–economically and socially.'"


From Forbes magazine blog, read on.

Truth will out...quote of the day with comment, 2/1

From Shakespeare's The Merchant of Venice, 1596:

LAUNCELOT: Nay, indeed, if you had your eyes, you might fail of
the knowing me: it is a wise father that knows his
own child. Well, old man, I will tell you news of
your son: give me your blessing: truth will come
to light; murder cannot be hid long; a man's son
may, but at the length truth will out.

...the original quote from which we get the expression "Truth will out".


Whether it is a site like lewrockwell.com or mises.org showing that Statism and Keynesianism are among the worst current enemies of Liberty and Prosperity, 
Wikileaks showing the Emperor has no clothes,
Mike V. and David Codrea getting the word out on the ATF's malfeasance in the Project Gunwalker case (and many other ATF transgressions),
The "Twitter" revolutions in Tunisia and Egypt,


...the internet has become the single most important tool in the ongoing struggle between individual liberty and government power.


When any government declares it's ability to "shut down" the internet, and creates legislative rationalization for doing so, it has crossed a red line. 


Any legislation against internet freedom is an Intolerable Act.

Using Tor, surfing anonymously

So I downloaded Tor, and tried it today.

It is slower than direct connection, as it uses several connected encrypted servers on the way to the destination.

Using the browser directly, I went to my own blog.  The tracking program I have recorded the pageview as if it originated from Hamburg, Germany.

You cannot use it on websites for streaming video like adobe flashplayer.  This is a vulnerability for security, according to the information provided by the developers.

It will be good for arriving at and viewing specific content containing websites without the point of origin being known.

Email security should probably be covered by 256 bit encryption, like PGP.

Still learning the ropes here.

Comments and recommendations from those in the know are appreciated.

Tor project sees spike in usage in Tunisia during "Jasmine Revolution"

It has been reported that the Tunisian President has stopped the Internet censorship in the country. We have confirmation from a few Tunisians that Tor works from within the country, without requiring bridges. And that Youtube and some other sites are no longer censored. There is cautious optimism that this is real, however many continue to use Tor to protect their Internet traffic as a safeguard.

blogpost here

Anon Ops latest: Operation Paper Storm

Slideshow here: 

http://picasaweb.google.com/anonopss/OperationPaperStorm?feat=flashalbum#5552037432253041938

Curious about Anon Ops?

http://anonops.blogspot.com/