Egypt leaves internet.

Surprised I didnt find a discussion about it here. I'd been out of the loop for the past couple days, I did hear something like "poor egypt" or "i'll miss u" (to egyptian friends + gamers) but it didn't connect till today when I had time to look it up.

So here we are..

Reports are emerging that Internet has gone down in Cairo and throughout Egypt, only hours before the largest planned protests yet.

According to a report from The Arabist, "Egypt has shut off the internet."

Multiple Internet Service Providers are affected according to the report, which states:

I just received a call from a friend in Cairo (I won't say who it is now because he's a prominent activist) telling me neither his DSL nor his USB internet service is working. I've just checked with two other friends in different parts of Cairo and their internet is not working either.
The news of the Internet outage came minutes after the Associated Press published a video of an Egyptian protestor being shot.

CNN reporter Ben Wedeman confirmed Internet is down in Cairo and writes, "No internet, no SMS, what is next? Mobile phones and land lines? So much for stability. #Jan25 #Egypt"

The Los Angeles Times is also reporting that BlackBerry Internet has been taken offline in Egypt.

http://www.renesys.com/blog/2011/01/egyp...rnet.shtml
http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/01/27...15156.html

Pretty extreme move. I wish I'd taken the time to look it up n leave "last" words to people i know who were cut off. =\

Yea i got 2 friends in egypt .-.
Wish i could get into contact with them.

That's the way to go. Entire country is mad, so you piss them off and make a big international spectacle of it.

That's the way to go. Entire country is mad, so you piss them off and make a big international spectacle of it.

It's their way of saying, lolrevolution? lolnointernetfordu!

And now we see a very tangible proof of why this was a terrible terrible idea.

And now we see a very tangible proof of why this was a terrible terrible idea.

Did that bill ever go through?

*sigh*
The revolution must be televised.

Did that bill ever go through?

http://www.opencongress.org/bill/111-s3480/actions

The most recent source I saw after a quick search states that the internet kill switch bill has been revived in the senate, but no it has not been passed yet.
http://story.malaysiasun.com/index.php/c...gislation/

Anyway, I need to make this quick because I have business to attend to.

The internet isnt the only issue in Egypt. It is also an issue of famine, low living conditions, the government paying off bankers and not helping the people, etc. The internet being shut down was a result of anti-government rederict and communication and only helped fuel the fire in Egypt.
My hope is that the government caves in and gives the people what they want so that this issue can end asap.

*sigh*
The revolution must be televised.

Al jazzera says hi.

I think now is a good time for Eos to point out all of the Egyptian Southperrians. We could make "Welcome back" cards/images and decorate them with hearts and unicorns and other things to help them take their minds off of the unfortunate events currently taking place.

Well this is preety.... extreme, not only are they afecting those who want the revolution but the whole population as well.

Let's see how this turns out in the end.

I think now is a good time for Eos to point out all of the Egyptian Southperrians. We could make "Welcome back" cards/images and decorate them with hearts and unicorns and other things to help them take their minds off of the unfortunate events currently taking place.

I support this. But I don't think they'd care/notice.

I support this. But I don't think they'd care/notice.

And we don't have any.

Quote from Eosian's link

We witnessed another example of this on Monday when establishment Congressman Bob Etheridge was publicly shamed after he was shown on video assaulting two college students who asked him a question. Two kids with a flip cam and a You Tube account could very well have changed the course of a state election, another startling reminder of the power of the Internet and independent media, and why the establishment is desperate to take that power away.

Well retard... if you didn't try to assault the 2 college students then you wouldn't be in deep sh*t eh? The government wants to the power to silence stuff like that which I think is wrong. It's a get out of jail free card when getting yourself in jail was your own fault to begin with.

http://www.infowars.net/articles/april20...ternet.htm

fking ridiculous. Wanting to fine the owners of blogs for their users posting material that blasts at political figures.

lol Was reading papers today on my way home. Saw that the Canadian government plans to send out charter flights to rescue 6,500 (i think) Canadians who were stranded in Egypt (judging by the photo on the front cover, it was full of asians o_oa). Flight was scheduled but then cancelled yesterday, they're trying to fly them out as early as today though. The catch?

1. You're paying for the charter flight.
2. They strand you in paris london and somewhere else I'm not remembering. From there, you're on your own.


Blessing/curse? lol On the upside, its an extended unplanned vacation. Downside: extra money spent + probably paying another to re-book another flight back to Canada. Not sure if the states are planning some such thing as well.

lol Was reading papers today on my way home. Saw that the Canadian government plans to send out charter flights to rescue 6,500 (i think) Canadians who were stranded in Egypt (judging by the photo on the front cover, it was full of asians o_oa). Flight was scheduled but then cancelled yesterday, they're trying to fly them out as early as today though. The catch?

1. You're paying for the charter flight.
2. They strand you in paris london and somewhere else I'm not remembering. From there, you're on your own.


Blessing/curse? lol On the upside, its an extended unplanned vacation. Downside: extra money spent + probably paying another to re-book another flight back to Canada. Not sure if the states are planning some such thing as well.

Personally, I think it is a good idea both mentally and politically. Mentally, because it is showing that we want to get them out of there so they won't get hurt (but I hope they wouldn't anyways, if they are smart enough to stay out of the way), but also politically because it shows that this "disaster" rivals that of some natural ones (hurricanes, earthquakes, etc.)

That being said, I wouldn't mind if it was both A) an option, and B) was perhaps half-paid by the canadian government, because they kind of have more pressing matters than airline fares.

Quote from Eosian's link

Well retard... if you didn't try to assault the 2 college students then you wouldn't be in deep sh*t eh? The government wants to the power to silence stuff like that which I think is wrong. It's a get out of jail free card when getting yourself in jail was your own fault to begin with.

http://www.infowars.net/articles/april20...ternet.htm

fking ridiculous. Wanting to fine the owners of blogs for their users posting material that blasts at political figures.

The TSA and Police for a few years have been calling for limitations on bans on cameras and the internet for the same reasons. Cameras (especially those that are in your phone) and the internet (communication tool) are both making it far harder for police and politicians to be corrupt and maintain their celebrity status in society.

A police chief said "I hate the internet" and blamed the internet for a certain video of police terrorizing a family and shooting their dogs (unprovoked). Why did they do all this? For less than a joint of pot.
http://reason.com/blog/2010/05/12/columb...lice-chief
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RbwSwvUaR...r_embedded (warning, the content is worse than Cops).
Edit: Its been a while since I've watched this video, and it's worse than the first time I saw it... All the police involved in these activities need to be stripped of their badges and thrown in jail to rot. Its a damn search warrent not a license to kill.

And of course the police are taking action against cameras: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jpCSfPUyf..._embedded#
Although I dont have a link right now, TSA and Police will harrass you and threaten to arrest you for video taping them at TSA check points. And this is regardless of the fact that TSA policy specifically welcomes cameras. I'm guessing they are just too lazy to revise the policy.
Edit: the video references the case of Oscar Grant, who was pinned to the ground, hand cuffed, and then finally shot in the back. The cop got off on manslaughter (when it should have been murder) by claiming he was trying to grab his taser. Although, I have to ask two things. How the hell does a cop mistake a gun for a taser? Both weapons feel much different when you wield them, and how did he mistake his gun holster for his taser holster? Also, why the hell would you feel the need to taser or shoot a man that is handcuffed and pinned to the ground?

For polititians, the internet has made it far easier to share the polititians activities and voting records. In the past, you didnt have an easy to acess database to constantly remind you of how much of a fraud most polititians are. Not only that but, the internet has made it far easier to share dirt on politicians that the normal news would not often pick up.

So I can se why both parties would want to shut down the internet, but I think most people understant that the internet isnt just some social tool. Its also a tool used by industry and businesses. Shut down the internet, and communication between and within businesses could halt or be completely halted, and our economy will take another massie hit it cannot take.

Edit: The Canadian governement is a bunch of pricks if that is the case. I dont know what Canadian morals tend to be, but any government that would even consider forcing its own citizens to pay for the rescue when it is their job to protect their citizens from such disasters needs to be reformed. Then on top of that, it isnt even a full trip. They are just dropping refugees in England. Its immoral and a rip off.

Whole mass endeavor will bring revolution.It is end of their endurance................lets see what way the wind blow.

http://www.cnn.com/video/data/2.0/video/...d.cnn.html

I don't understand this. On an issue like this, the media isn't being exploitative -- why attack them? If anything, they're gaining support for the Egyptians cause.