
U.S. Has Secret Tools to Force Internet on Dictators | Danger Room | Wired.com - svjunkie
http://www.wired.com/dangerroom/2011/02/secret-tools-force-net/?utm_source=feedburner&utm_medium=feed&utm_campaign=Feed%3A+wired%2Findex+%28Wired%3A+Index+3+%28Top+Stories+2%29%29
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mahmud
This is nothing but propaganda to repair the U.S' image after it was caught
with its pants down for supporting Mubarak and opposing the democratic
movement.

The whole article is phrased with the assumption that the U.S. government is
unquestionably on the side of democracy and free speech: it's benevolence
implicit and accepted.

But that's hardly true, specially in light of recent events: when it comes to
dictatorships and internet freedom, the U.S. is the first to hand them pliers
and wire cutters.

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iwwr
Dictators also have access to radio jamming tools. The relatively narrow 2.4
and 5GHz bands would be easy to jam.

Alternatively, one could transmit GSM and G3/GPRS signals, masquerading as
legitimate mobile providers.

What's interesting is that the US didn't use radio jamming during the Iraq or
Afghanistan campaigns. Have capabilities improved to such a point that an
entire country could be blanketed by radio-frequency jamming signals?

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bhousel
While technically possible to blanket an area with RF jamming signals, I think
both sides depend on the signals so much that the nuisance of jamming the
signals outweighs the benefits.

Kind of like with GPS signals - our military could (and occasionally does) jam
those signals during a conflict, but we rely on it so much that it's more
useful to keep it working.

