Title:
US Seeks 'Shadow' Internet, Mobile Networks in
Repressive Countries
Description: This is
a VOA Special English Technology Report.
See text below
Text:
The Obama administration is leading an effort to
deploy what some people call liberation technology
in repressive countries. The New York Times reported
that these efforts include "shadow" Internet and
mobile phone systems. These are secret networks
designed to operate independently of a government's
control.
Dissidents in the Middle East, North Africa and
other countries are increasingly using the Internet,
social media and mobile phones. Some governments
have taken steps to block or spy on their
communications.
Officials in Egypt shut down Internet connections in
February in a failed attempt to stop democracy
protests. The Syrian government recently took
similar action.
Ken Berman is the director of information security
at the Broadcasting Board of Governors, the parent
agency of Voice of America. He says the State
Department is looking at ways for cyber dissidents
and activists to communicate among themselves using
independent networks.
The New York Times reported that one of these
projects is known as "Internet in a suitcase." The
idea is to put equipment in a suitcase that could be
secretly transported across a border. Then it could
be used to quickly establish a wireless Internet
connection over a wide area.
Another project seeks to avoid Taliban interference
with cellphone networks in Afghanistan by using
towers on American bases.
VOA has its own anti-censorship programs, led by Ken
Berman. He says, "What we're trying to do is give
tools to allow people in countries that have hostile
regimes to circumvent, to go around, the blockage or
the filtering that their own governments do."
During a speech in February, Secretary of State
Hillary Clinton called Internet freedom "one of the
grand challenges of our time." The State Department
says its efforts are aimed at supporting free speech
and human rights, not overthrowing governments.
Ken Berman says whether or not these two things can
be separated is a source of continuing debate. "An
educated population is what I think these tools
strive for. Whether that will lead to government
change, whether that will lead to internal reform,
it depends on the country. There are so many
dynamics in play in so many different countries,
it's hard to know what effect open information has."
For VOA Special English, I'm Alex Villarreal. You
can download MP3s of our programs and get podcasts
at voaspecialenglish.com.
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Hi. I
personally reviewed this video and found it appropriate for
the news section of English Global Group. This
is a Voice of America video which covers an interesting
topic in Special English. I would appreciate some feedback from both
students and teachers about this video. You can comment in
the window below using any of a number of different services
including Facebook, Yahoo, AOL, and Hotmail.
