nanog mailing list archives
Re: NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet
From: Martin Millnert <millnert () gmail com>
Date: Wed, 16 Feb 2011 14:28:22 -0500
On Wed, Feb 16, 2011 at 9:09 AM, Marshall Eubanks <tme () americafree tv> wrote:
On Feb 16, 2011, at 12:15 AM, Joly MacFie wrote:http://www.nytimes.com/2011/02/16/technology/16internet.html There has been intense debate both inside and outside Egypt on whether thecutoff at 26 Ramses Street was accomplished by surgically tampering with the software mechanism that defines how networks at the core of the Internet communicate with one another, or by a blunt approach: simply cutting off the power to the router computers that connect Egypt to the outside world.I do remember some intense debate, here and elsewhere, but I somehow don't remember those as being the primary debate parameters.
Interesting article though. There are several good pieces to take-away from that article (not really 'news', but still healthy with the occasional refresher): "Individual Internet service providers were also called on the carpet and ordered to shut down, as they are required to do by their licensing agreements if the government so decrees." "When he, too, noticed that domestic fiber-optic cables were open, he had a moment of exhilaration, remembering that he could link up servers directly and establish messaging using an older system called Internet Relay Chat. But then it dawned on him that he had always assumed he could download the necessary software via the Internet and had saved no copy." Operating local IRC networks is good, as is having local OS mirrors, such as Debian/Ubuntu and let's not forget, having a resilient DNS configuration (root zone copy hint 101: "dig @k.root-servers.net. . axfr"). A securely distributed "network-contingency-plan-autocrat-generic-all.deb" could be useful, as well. Cheers, Martin
Current thread:
- NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet Joly MacFie (Feb 15)
- Re: NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet Marshall Eubanks (Feb 16)
- Re: NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet Martin Millnert (Feb 16)
- Local root zone (Was NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet) Franck Martin (Feb 16)
- Re: Local root zone (Was NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet) Doug Barton (Feb 16)
- Re: Local root zone (Was NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet) Fred Baker (Feb 16)
- Re: Local root zone (Was NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet) Eric Brunner-Williams (Feb 16)
- Re: Local root zone (Was NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet) Steven Bellovin (Feb 16)
- Re: Local root zone (Was NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet) Eric Brunner-Williams (Feb 16)
- Re: Local root zone (Was NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet) Steve Gibbard (Feb 16)
- Re: Local root zone (Was NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet) Fred Baker (Feb 16)
- Re: Local root zone (Was NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet) Randy Bush (Feb 16)
- Re: Local root zone (Was NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet) Franck Martin (Feb 16)
- Re: NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet Martin Millnert (Feb 16)
- Re: NYTimes: Egypt Leaders Found ‘Off’ Switch for Internet Marshall Eubanks (Feb 16)