Sunday, January 30, 2011

Egypt - Technology Kill Switch

Tonight on CNN we discussed the crisis in Egypt. While its important to stay informed across the boards I want to focus specifically on what’s happening on the technology front as Internet and mobile services were cut off completely early Thursday morning.

There are only four main Internet Service Providers in Egypt and on Thursday morning they were all ordered by the government to shut down. This came without warning to the 23 million Egyptians, a quarter of the population that uses the Internet.

In an effort to create more order and keep people off the street it only magnified the chaos – people were not able to communicate with friends and family and not able to book flights out. From a operational standpoint banks, businesses and schools were completely off the grid.

It is worth nothing that one ISP The Noor Group (which has about 8% of the market) was left on (many feel its because its tied to the Egyptian Stock Exchange is still operating live on this address)

The government also put the kill switch on major mobile carriers. No calls in or out and no text messaging. Cell services were back on Saturday.

We have seen China and Iran block access to certain sites but the idea of shutting down the internet in its entirety is unprecedented in the history of digital communication and at the same time also speaks to how dependent we are on this communication medium.

So what are people doing to get online?

People are using low tech ways to do some pretty hi tech things.

Back to dial up. Activist groups like We Rebuild are scrambling to provide international numbers to users. To use this you have to have an international calling service.

Once users are online they are worried about being tracked so they are using anonymous browsing with software to conceal identities. (One software is Tor which saw a huge spike in Egypt shortly after Internet access was cut). Tor was getting up to 3000 requests per second rooting from Egypt.

Others are turning to things like faxing, ham radios or just plain calling overseas to relay messages to be posted online.

Overall, it brings up a question as to whether not it’s a human right to have access to the internet? Is the Internet the one place to exercise freedom of speech?


  1. Oh, no dear Katie, I don't think it can be termed a human right to have access the Internet, but it certainly is a fast way for someone to express one's self. The one place to exercise freedom of speech? There again, I think not, although while we see print publications either shutting down, or facing dwindling distribution due to the Internet, you can still write a note on a piece of paper, fold it up like an airplane, and send a message via air mail... It is a powerful tool for communicating, as evidenced by the fact that the Egyptian government has shut it down, but a human right it is not. The greater statement is made when the people gathered together in the streets in protest. More significant than an email, or a website, it is when people come together, and that they did. Granted they probably used the Internet to form that protest, but their statement was seen by the world by their showing up in the streets. It seems that a just government is more the human right; something people have cried out for forever, well before the advent of the web, but I'm just a BLAHGGER with an opinion. I could be wrong...

  2. The number of protesters in contrast to the population of Egypt is VERY small... the government's action to shut off Internet access is going to rally more people to join the protesters. Frankly what bothers me the most is the looting and destruction of museums, have these people no regard for their own history?

    Side note, as I write this you're on TV pitching a 7" nook. :)

  3. Thanks for the insights and opinions guys. Such a fascinating topic.

  4. Well, I've learned a few things since my post. Finally, news reports became a little more detailed with the revelation of the push driven by the Muslim Brotherhood. CNN reported this morning that this group at the maximum can only influence 30% of the vote, and that, of course, they are a moderate Muslim group adopting a non-violent approach to things over thirty years ago. The presence of so many at once conveys the idea they have more influence than 30%, but that's what the Man said. What's even more impressive is that everyone showed up in droves without the Internet being available, although I think access has been restored now. Basically, while I'm certainly not a Muslim, I stand by my previous post. I suppose it is "will" that is more important than the "means" by which that "will" is communicated. Yes, truly fascinating times... with or without cell phones and the "Interwebs". I really don't use that term, but I just felt like putting one more thing in quotation marks!



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