Re: [kictanet] Syria shuts down Internet? How can we stop this from happening again?-application to Kenya?
Thank you walu, for your insightful comments. What do the kictanet listers think about turning off twitter, TV and radio if there is a repeat of election violence? On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 11:08 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
Rigia,
You paper/analysis does cover the the policy and technical aspects for a redundant (always on) interent service in a given economy. Basically a liberalized internet market with multiple points of connection to the Internet Backbone (read the North and increasingly Asia Pacific region) should be enough to ensure that once and as soon as one international link goes down another one takes over.
But over and above the technical redundancy above, one must have the political redundancy to allow for these redundant links to exchange information. China for example does have multiple redundant links to the Internet Backbone but can decide within a minute to block incoming and outgoing data. And they can do it in a very clever, sophisticated way (using software that provides limited/filtered internet ) as opposed to the crude way (switch off power or just vandalize the ISPs) approach that is common in African/Arabic economies.
In a seperate example, you will find that even where there is political redundancy (read democracy) the temptation to switch off the internet is never far away (ref: US vs Wikileaks?). So I think the quest for an Internet that can never be switched off is one that can never be achieved. Someone, somewhere will always be able to switch off the Net.
And beneath the ongoing ITU/WCIT negotiations (what negotiators wont put on the table, the hidden cards :-) you just have to decide whether that someone is the UN, the Government, the Private Sector, the Civil Society, the Academia or some hybrid of the above :-)
walu.
*From:* Warigia Bowman <warigia@gmail.com> *To:* jwalu@yahoo.com *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> *Sent:* Friday, November 30, 2012 5:54 AM *Subject:* [kictanet] Syria shuts down Internet? How can we stop this from happening again?
Dear Kictanet List,
Please see the work by Jean Camp and Warigia Bowman on how to "Protect the Internet from Dictators: Technical and Policy Solutions to Ensure Online Freedoms. This paper is particularly timely given today's events, since Syria is one of the countries we analyze. Can you please help us to figure out what technology we missed, or in what areas our analysis could be improved? Many thanks. * You can find and download our work here*
*http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2101677* * Here is the permalink *
*http://ssrn.com/abstract=2101677
*************************************************************************************** * Please see ISOC's statement below.
http://www.internetsociety.org/news/internet-society-syria%E2%80%99s-interne...
Sincerely, Rigia
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com
The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- Dr. Warigia Bowman Assistant Professor Clinton School of Public Service University of Arkansas wbowman@clintonschool.uasys.edu http://democratizingegypt.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------------- View my research on my SSRN Author page: http://ssrn.com/author=1479660 --------------------------------------------------
That is a very detailed and philosophical approach by Walu. Speaking for the mwananchi at the grassroots, if switching of the Internet and broadcast media can foster unity by preventing transmission of hate and unhealthy debates, then they should be switched off On 03/12/2012, Warigia Bowman <warigia@gmail.com> wrote:
Thank you walu, for your insightful comments.
What do the kictanet listers think about turning off twitter, TV and radio if there is a repeat of election violence?
On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 11:08 AM, Walubengo J <jwalu@yahoo.com> wrote:
Rigia,
You paper/analysis does cover the the policy and technical aspects for a redundant (always on) interent service in a given economy. Basically a liberalized internet market with multiple points of connection to the Internet Backbone (read the North and increasingly Asia Pacific region) should be enough to ensure that once and as soon as one international link goes down another one takes over.
But over and above the technical redundancy above, one must have the political redundancy to allow for these redundant links to exchange information. China for example does have multiple redundant links to the Internet Backbone but can decide within a minute to block incoming and outgoing data. And they can do it in a very clever, sophisticated way (using software that provides limited/filtered internet ) as opposed to the crude way (switch off power or just vandalize the ISPs) approach that is common in African/Arabic economies.
In a seperate example, you will find that even where there is political redundancy (read democracy) the temptation to switch off the internet is never far away (ref: US vs Wikileaks?). So I think the quest for an Internet that can never be switched off is one that can never be achieved. Someone, somewhere will always be able to switch off the Net.
And beneath the ongoing ITU/WCIT negotiations (what negotiators wont put on the table, the hidden cards :-) you just have to decide whether that someone is the UN, the Government, the Private Sector, the Civil Society, the Academia or some hybrid of the above :-)
walu.
*From:* Warigia Bowman <warigia@gmail.com> *To:* jwalu@yahoo.com *Cc:* KICTAnet ICT Policy Discussions <kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke> *Sent:* Friday, November 30, 2012 5:54 AM *Subject:* [kictanet] Syria shuts down Internet? How can we stop this from happening again?
Dear Kictanet List,
Please see the work by Jean Camp and Warigia Bowman on how to "Protect the Internet from Dictators: Technical and Policy Solutions to Ensure Online Freedoms. This paper is particularly timely given today's events, since Syria is one of the countries we analyze. Can you please help us to figure out what technology we missed, or in what areas our analysis could be improved? Many thanks. * You can find and download our work here*
*http://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2101677* * Here is the permalink *
*http://ssrn.com/abstract=2101677
*************************************************************************************** * Please see ISOC's statement below.
http://www.internetsociety.org/news/internet-society-syria%E2%80%99s-interne...
Sincerely, Rigia
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/jwalu%40yahoo.com
The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- Dr. Warigia Bowman Assistant Professor Clinton School of Public Service University of Arkansas wbowman@clintonschool.uasys.edu http://democratizingegypt.blogspot.com ------------------------------------------------- View my research on my SSRN Author page: http://ssrn.com/author=1479660 --------------------------------------------------
-- ______________________ Mwendwa Kivuva For Business Development Transworld Computer Channels Cel: 0722402248 twitter.com/lordmwesh transworldAfrica.com | Fluent in computing kenya.or.ke | The Kenya we know
Kivuva, On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 2:30 PM, Kivuva <Kivuva@transworldafrica.com> wrote:
That is a very detailed and philosophical approach by Walu.
Speaking for the mwananchi at the grassroots, if switching of the Internet and broadcast media can foster unity by preventing transmission of hate and unhealthy debates, then they should be switched off
Perhaps you should ask the mwananchi how they feel about having their right to communicate taken away from them in the name of "security". As Benjamin Franklin once said: “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.” -- Cheers, McTim "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how we get there." Jon Postel
On 3 December 2012 16:11, McTim <dogwallah@gmail.com> wrote:
Kivuva,
On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 2:30 PM, Kivuva <Kivuva@transworldafrica.com> wrote:
That is a very detailed and philosophical approach by Walu.
Speaking for the mwananchi at the grassroots, if switching of the Internet and broadcast media can foster unity by preventing transmission of hate and unhealthy debates, then they should be switched off
Perhaps you should ask the mwananchi how they feel about having their right to communicate taken away from them in the name of "security".
As Benjamin Franklin once said: “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
On the one hand I agree with that quotation with all my heart, yet at the same I think it is true that if someone had managed to shut down the radio transmitters in 1994 in Rwanda millions of lives might have been saved. The Internet is an extremely powerful tool and as more and more people have affordable access to it, it becomes even more so. Ben Franklin's good friend Voltaire said "Avec le grand pouvoir vient le grand devoir" (With great power comes great responsibility). Figuring this out is going to be a long and complex discussion and I think it is unlikely that absolutes are the answer. To me it feels like we need some kind of damping mechanisms for the Internet that slow down a technological decision whether it be censorship or otherwise so that humans can catch up with the implications, so that they can be dealt with in a process, democratic, negotiated, or otherwise. It does feel like technology has run ahead of nation states and that more than anything we need more effective social and political systems that can cope with our multiple allegiances and identities these days. -Steve
-- Cheers,
McTim "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how we get there." Jon Postel
_______________________________________________ kictanet mailing list kictanet@lists.kictanet.or.ke https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/listinfo/kictanet
Unsubscribe or change your options at https://lists.kictanet.or.ke/mailman/options/kictanet/stephen.song%40gmail.c...
The Kenya ICT Action Network (KICTANet) is a multi-stakeholder platform for people and institutions interested and involved in ICT policy and regulation. The network aims to act as a catalyst for reform in the ICT sector in support of the national aim of ICT enabled growth and development.
KICTANetiquette : Adhere to the same standards of acceptable behaviors online that you follow in real life: respect people's times and bandwidth, share knowledge, don't flame or abuse or personalize, respect privacy, do not spam, do not market your wares or qualifications.
-- Steve Song +1 902 529 0046 +27 83 482 2088 (SMS only) http://manypossibilities.net http://villagetelco.org
Thanks McTim, I think this is a highly emotive topic. These issues are emotional to us who have been affected by negative politics and ethnicity that is propagated throug the various communication channels. I happen to have lived my entire life in a volatile province especially on election period and witnessed carnage and horrors from 1991,1992,1994,1997, and 2008. I have seen whole villages burned down, had friends loose their entire livelihoods, classmates made orphans, neighbours mad beggars, and communities live in fear. After each cycle, many residents migrate to safer places, and those that believe in the unwavering spirit of humanity reconstruct and restart their lives and start afresh in the affected areas. When you talk about freedom of communication, over fear of the lives of my loved ones, I just hear zzzzzzzz. On 03/12/2012, McTim <dogwallah@gmail.com> wrote:
Kivuva,
On Mon, Dec 3, 2012 at 2:30 PM, Kivuva <Kivuva@transworldafrica.com> wrote:
That is a very detailed and philosophical approach by Walu.
Speaking for the mwananchi at the grassroots, if switching of the Internet and broadcast media can foster unity by preventing transmission of hate and unhealthy debates, then they should be switched off
Perhaps you should ask the mwananchi how they feel about having their right to communicate taken away from them in the name of "security".
As Benjamin Franklin once said: “They that can give up essential liberty to obtain a little temporary safety deserve neither liberty nor safety.”
-- Cheers,
McTim "A name indicates what we seek. An address indicates where it is. A route indicates how we get there." Jon Postel
-- ______________________ Mwendwa Kivuva For Business Development Transworld Computer Channels Cel: 0722402248 twitter.com/lordmwesh transworldAfrica.com | Fluent in computing kenya.or.ke | The Kenya we know
participants (4)
-
Kivuva -
McTim -
Song, Stephen -
Warigia Bowman