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| Porn Users Forum » Egypt blocks Internet access. |
| 1-22 of 22 Posts | Page 1 |
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| 01-28-11 04:37pm - 4983 days | Original Post - #1 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User  Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Egypt blocks Internet access. Apparently Egypt has cut its citizens off from Internet access. I didn't see any official reason given in this article, but it's obvious that Egypt feels the Internet is a dangerous source of information that could pollute the minds of its citizens and other residents. So if you are currently planning a trip to Egypt, you could be cut off from access to PU, and possibly even your favorite porn paysites. >>>>>>>>>>> <<<<<<<<<<< http://www.zdnet.com/blog/networking/the...gypt/613?tag=nl.e539 The Internet goes dark in Egypt By Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols | January 27, 2011, 8:55pm PST First, Egypt blocked social networks like Facebook and Twitter. I had no trouble believing the Egyptian government would do that. But, when I first heard that Egypt had blocked the Internet, I was inclined to doubt the stories. Since then though I’ve heard from a technically savvy source, Renesys, an Internet analytics firm, that Egypt really has blocked the vast majority of its Internet connections. In short, the Egyptian government has cut its people off from the Internet. According to James Cowie, Renesys’ CTO, “In an action unprecedented in Internet history, the Egyptian government appears to have ordered service providers to shut down all international connections to the Internet. Critical European-Asian fiber-optic routes through Egypt appear to be unaffected for now. But every Egyptian provider, every business, bank, Internet cafe, website, school, embassy, and government office that relied on the big four Egyptian ISPs for their Internet connectivity is now cut off from the rest of the world. Link Egypt, Vodafone/Raya, Telecom Egypt, Etisalat Misr, and all their customers and partners are, for the moment, off the air.” Specifically, “At 22:34 UTC (00:34am local time), Renesys observed the virtually simultaneous withdrawal of all routes to Egyptian networks in the Internet’s global routing table. Approximately 3,500 individual BGP [Border Gateway Protocol] routes were withdrawn, leaving no valid paths by which the rest of the world could continue to exchange Internet traffic with Egypt’s service providers. Virtually all of Egypt’s Internet addresses are now unreachable, worldwide.” I checked this out myself. Using miniRank’s listing of the most popular Egyptian Web sites, I was unable to reach 22 out of the 25 sites. The only sites which were responding were those of major car companies. I presume, from the pages I saw, that I was being re-directed to sites outside of Egypt. I then looked further and discovered that many of the Egyptian DNS (Domain Name System) servers are not working. For example, as I write this at 11 PM Eastern time, frcu.eun.eg, ns.mcit.gov.eg, and ns.idsc.gov.eg are all returning server failure messages. DNS servers outside of Egypt, used by Egyptian sites, are reporting that are no records for major Egyptian sites. The Egyptian government really has done it. They’ve essentially shut off their country from the Internet. There seems to be one significant exception. Cowie wrote, “One of the very few exceptions to this block has been Noor Group (AS2092  , which still has 83 out of 83 live routes to its Egyptian customers, with inbound transit from Telecom Italia as usual. Why was Noor Group apparently unaffected by the countrywide take-down order? Unknown at this point, but we observe that the Egyptian Stock Exchange is still alive at a Noor address.” When I checked, at approximately 11:30 PM Eastern time, the Egyptian Stock Exchange site was still alive.Still, for the most part, Egypt’s citizens have been cut off from the Internet. We don’t know what will happen now. This is the first time that a government has locked its population out of the world wide community of the Internet. I fear this will not end well. Steven J. Vaughan-Nichols, aka sjvn, has been writing about technology and the business of technology since CP/M-80 was the cutting edge, PC operating system | |
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| 01-28-11 04:40pm - 4983 days | #2 | |
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Capn (0)
Active User  Posts: 1,740 Registered: Sep 05, '09 Location: Near the Beer! |
His closing sentence says it all. Cap'n.  Admiral of the PU Hindenburg. 2009 PU AwardHilarious Post of the Year 2010 PU Award ( I would have preferred it to be Helpful Post of the Year for Guys who Hate 'Retail Therapy' ) :0/ Sanity is in the eye of the Beholder! | |
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| 01-28-11 04:50pm - 4983 days | #3 | |
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jberryl69 (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 1,000 Registered: Nov 27, '10 Location: neverland |
It is my understanding that the Egyptian government has shut down ALL telecommunications in the country to try and limit organized street demonstrations. This means no telephone, cell, internet, or TV. Nada. Zip. Zero. All gone. If it ain't grits, it must be a Yankee. If you're going to lay her head over the pool table and fuck her throat, get your fucking hand off her throat! | |
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| 01-28-11 05:16pm - 4983 days | #4 | |
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turboshaft (0)
Active User Posts: 1,958 Registered: Apr 01, '08 |
No offense but is this really that much of a surprise? I mean did anyone seriously think Egypt was that free of a country? If you want access to as much of the 'net as you can get the Middle East is not the most ideal area of the world. As my typically cynical mood sways me I bet this gives some politicians in the U.S. some real power boners. Not to sound like a conspiracy nut, but can you imagine how giddy it would make some political actors feel if they could shut down MoveOn.org or WorldNetDaily, depending on their politics, if they could somehow declare them as national security threats? I understand their are legitimate cybersecurity threats out there but somehow bullshit like this always ends up causing more trouble than it prevents (who knew people in positions of power could be so corrupt?!  ). Suddenly "war on terrorism" is transformed into "culture wars" and I can't watch Eastern Euro girls play with themselves because their porn sites pose security threats and the State Dept. is full of too many prudes to grant them Visas.  See, I am so not paranoid about this.  "It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hardcore Commie works." - Gen. Jack D. Rippper, Dr. Stranglove | |
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| 01-28-11 05:36pm - 4983 days | #5 | |
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pat362 (0)
Active User  Posts: 3,575 Registered: Jan 23, '07 Location: canada |
The more they try to silence these people. The more will join their cause. The writing is on the wall for the Egyptian Government. Leave while you can with what you can because sooner or later you will leave. The problem is that if they wait too long. They might fly away on the wings of an angel and not on an airplane. Long live the Brown Coats. Edited on Jan 28, 2011, 05:39pm | |
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| 01-28-11 06:07pm - 4983 days | #6 | |
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Yariana (0)
Suspended Webmaster  Posts: 56 Registered: Mar 10, '10 Location: Salem Oregon |
Any thoughts? http://www.infowars.com/egypts-internet-...h-coming-to-america/ | |
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| 01-28-11 11:07pm - 4983 days | #7 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
http://www.infowars.com/egypts-internet-...h-coming-to-america/ I used to think it was just rabid Republicans under the Bush administration that were anti free Internet. But now it appears that the Democrats under Obama are just as bad. I honestly would not have believed it. But in the name of security, the civil rights of people are being ignored, or legislated out of existence. In America, the land of the "free". Americans (the U.S) are supposed to follow China's lead for Internet control? China, which had the Tiananmen Square Massacre? China, which can jail non-violent protesters for protesting government policies? Edited on Jan 29, 2011, 12:52am | |
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| 01-29-11 12:11am - 4983 days | #8 | |
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hodayathink (0)
Active User Posts: 312 Registered: Mar 27, '09 Location: Illinois |
Here's a little secret that most people don't seem to know when talking about this: The President already has the power to shut off the internet in case of a National Emergency. He got the power to control all telecommunications in times of crisis when the FCC was created in the 1930s. | |
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| 01-29-11 12:15am - 4983 days | #9 | |
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Yariana (0)
Suspended Webmaster Posts: 56 Registered: Mar 10, '10 Location: Salem Oregon |
Recently, Amercian citizens here in the US have been arrested for exercising their freedom of speech, sited as no longer having that right. Politicians have been noted as stating the Constitution no longer applies, and China who planted their flag on our soil during their visit, sang their anti-American song to us. Our President has praised China's dictatorship and Biden has stated Eqypts ousted dictator is "Not a dictator" and should not step down. I am not a conspiracy nut either, but it appears America is heading for some real trouble! Edited on Jan 29, 2011, 02:48am | |
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| 01-29-11 12:17am - 4983 days | #10 | |
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Yariana (0)
Suspended Webmaster Posts: 56 Registered: Mar 10, '10 Location: Salem Oregon |
Very true. EXECUTIVE ORDER 10995- Allows the government to seize and control communications media. They are just easing us into accepting its implementation in the very near future. More Executive Orders many don't know about: http://www.sianews.com/modules.php?name=...article&sid=1062 Edited on Jan 29, 2011, 01:57am | |
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| 01-29-11 10:03am - 4982 days | #11 | |
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anyonebutme (0)
Active User  Posts: 294 Registered: Aug 23, '09 |
I read through this thread and wonder if you still don't know what is going on in Egypt right now... If one of us were currently planning a trip to Egypt, I *guarantee* the least of our concern is access to PU. Their capital Cairo is basically in a state of Anarchy, violence and protests all throughout the streets, the government has nearly collapsed, the President is in hiding, though he did come out with a speech yesterday. And this all began *before* the internet was shut off to the country. Internet access is an afterthought, there are far more serious topics at hand. It was shut down to try and stop the spread of the violence & protests. Cell phone services were also cut, again to prevent communication between the protesters. I'm not taking sides in this topic, just grasp the entire situation first, instead of focusing solely on one little aspect. One of the worries is that Islamic fundamentalist groups are in part using these protests to install their control in the regions, potentially full control over the governments of these countries. It's a very complicated situation, with people dying in the streets, and potential serious consequences for the future stability and freedoms in the region for years or even decades to come. Access to porn is damn near the least of concern of anyone at the moment. Yes, it is good that the protesters are wanting Democracy over an Autocracy. But like I said, it's complicated. To quote Winston Churchill "Democracy is the worst form of government except for all those others that have been tried." Edited on Jan 29, 2011, 10:30am | |
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| 01-29-11 10:30am - 4982 days | #12 | |
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Ed2009 (0)
Suspended Webmaster  Posts: 509 Registered: Sep 12, '09 Location: Wales, UK |
I think porn has been illegal on the Internet in Egypt for a while now anyway. Webmaster of StripGameCentral and A Measure of Curiosity. | |
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| 01-29-11 11:34am - 4982 days | #13 | |
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turboshaft (0)
Active User Posts: 1,958 Registered: Apr 01, '08 |
Maybe not, but you had a link to an Alex Jones site, who is about as loony as anyone I can think of right now. (I respect your opinion, just not Jones'--he's long since gone off the deep end.) China "planted their flag" the same way all countries do when they have a big diplomatic visit, regardless of the politics (real or imagined) involved. As far as Biden saying Egypt is not ruled by a dictator, it's not that different from the way the U.S. has recognized a lot of other non-democratic allies around the world while keeping quiet about their forms of government. The U.S. has historically allied or supported dictatorships for decades if it can someone help U.S. government interests (public opinion never seems to apply here). In fact despite being Egypt's only president since the first Reagan administration, I would still rather live there than, say, in Saudi Arabia, another close U.S. ally. Okay, I really wouldn't want to live anywhere in the Middle East (again), not even Israel, but people shouldn't be surprised that the U.S. has shitty, autocratic bedfellows in the region. "It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hardcore Commie works." - Gen. Jack D. Rippper, Dr. Stranglove | |
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| 01-29-11 12:36pm - 4982 days | #14 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
You give a very nice summary of the situation in Egypt. But isn't Internet access (and other forms of communication such as cell phone services) a part of what many people regard as a basic right (as long as you have paid for the service)? Governments take the position they control access for "the good of the people", without asking what the people want. This is true in Egypt, Russia, and even the United States. The rulers (President, Congress, Parliament, whoever, for the good of the people in the name of security, trample on the rights of people to communicate. I posted that Internet access was cut off. At the same time, I was trying to use irony to inject a little humor into a grim topic. It seems that many people at PU are blind to irony, and take whatever is written as the literal truth of what is written. Yes, I said access to porn is being cut off in Egypt. That was a byproduct of civil unrest. This site has porn as its main focus, and I was trying to make the situation in Egypt (and in China, and in the United States) topical to porn. If you don't believe that porn should be mentioned as a "freedom" in relation to civil unrest, that it's making the situation trivial instead of important, that's your opinion. I do believe people have the right to have differing opinions. I also realize many people either don't understand my attempts at irony/humor, or don't appreciate my irony/humor. Whatever. I do believe that a government that restricts/cuts off Internet access and/or telephone service is attacking the right of people to communicate. And that is an important freedom. Edited on Jan 29, 2011, 12:41pm | |
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| 01-29-11 12:56pm - 4982 days | #15 | |
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messmer (0)
Disabled User  Posts: 2,582 Registered: Sep 12, '07 Location: Canada |
I got it first time around, lk2fireone!  | |
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| 01-29-11 02:07pm - 4982 days | #16 | |
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fatboll (0)
Suspended Posts: 9 Registered: Jan 27, '11 Location: usa |
One of the most funny stories I heard in my life!! no porn for them? Got a mobile phone? try [spam SIG URL Removed by PU Admin] - you'll like it  | |
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| 01-29-11 05:01pm - 4982 days | #17 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
Thanks, messmer. Sometimes (often-times) I wonder if my humor is really that obscure.  | |
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| 01-29-11 07:03pm - 4982 days | #18 | |
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Tree Rodent (0)
Active User  Posts: 708 Registered: Oct 29, '08 Location: UK |
Naturally I enjoy irony being British, but some Americans just don't do irony. I have found the better educated and more intelligent ones appreciate irony more than the rest, although that is a big generalisation. I found the same thing applied to my accent. Wherever I went in America, I found the better educated and more intelligent ones tended to understand what I was saying. They also recognised I was from England, not Australia or Ireland. | |
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| 02-01-11 01:57pm - 4979 days | #19 | |
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Wittyguy (0)
Active User  Posts: 1,138 Registered: Feb 04, '08 Location: Left Coast, USA |
I find this story interesting because it shows the ingenuity of how people adapt to technology in information suppressive societies. The initial source of all this unrest started in Tunisia (a local Egyptian neighbor) where Facebook and other social media helped coordinate the protests that lead to them ousting their dictator. Egypt saw that and said "Hey, cut the lines and we keep our jobs" but to now avail. Why? Because 1) They were too late (sort of like Western governments having the authority to pull the plug in the event of a cyberattack: once you realize it's happening it's too late); 2) There are too many work arounds so that unless you can shut down all communications you're screwed; and 3) Once you shut down the system it shows how desperate you are which is a bad signal to the rest of the world and the people you're trying to repress. There's an interesting article here about how people from around the world have come together to work on apps that allow for micro networks, posting internet posts via voice phone and other novel solutions. So long as some influential people have access to the technology and the work arounds you can still organize large protests even with the government shutting down ISP's. If nothing else, these events should serve as a warning sign to those who propose blocking the internet for political or social (anti-porn) purposes. Having the levels of control where you can readily pull the plug or edit online discourse available in your country either means you have an autocratic ruling class (a generally unstable form of government anyway) or have to allocate large amounts of money and man power to control what's available. The fact that in times of crises people can readily work around these barriers should serve as warning that you're just wasting time, money and political capital if you think no one is doing this to get around censorship blocks in "normal" times. | |
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| 02-01-11 05:56pm - 4979 days | #20 | |
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lk2fireone (0)
Active User Posts: 3,618 Registered: Nov 14, '08 Location: CA |
It doesn't sound like you have to allocate large amounts of money or manpower to shut down or reduce Internet access in countries like Egypt or China. The people in power tell the Internet providers to shut down or follow certain restrictions, and the Internet providers obey. It appears to be that simple. If you, as a person working in Egypt or China, were operating an Internet Service Provider, are you going to be so brave or stupid to tell a government official, who has the force of that country's law behind him, that you are going to refuse a legal order? You want to go to jail, or possibly be shot, for refusing a legal order, for conspiracy for treason or some other serious crime? >>>>>>> <<<<<<< http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/wor...frg6so-1225997672702 February 01, 2011 12:00AM Fearful of revolution, China blocks news of Egypt protests CHINA'S powerful propaganda department is trying to block non-official news about the bloody riots shaking Egypt. The Government has stopped the use of the country's name across a popular Twitter-like blogging site and restricting the reporting of events there. Authorities have blocked the Chinese characters for Egypt on Sina.com's Weibo site, used by more than 50 million of China's 400 million netizens. The Egyptian news has been played down in the Chinese media, being relegated to the second page of the country's major website and portals. Newspapers all carry the state-run Xinhua version of the story. The Chinese authorities are sensitive to offshore revolutions against authoritarian governments, fearing such movements might spread to China. Local street protests have been swelling over corruption, the income gap between rich and poor, and heavy-handed security operations such as evictions to make way for development projects. The internet has been a key tool in spreading the protest messages from Iran, Tunisia and now Egypt. China largely blamed the use of Twitter and other social networking sites for helping to foment the deadly riots during July 2009 in the ethnic Muslim province of Xinjiang, when 197 people were killed and thousands injured. Following the unrest, China pioneered the wholesale blocking of the internet, leaving Xinjiang province -- home to 23 million people -- cut off for eight months. Egypt has followed this lead, shutting down the internet last Thursday just after midnight, as well as mobile phone access. Jim Cowie, co-founder and chief technology officer of Renesys, a company that analyses how the internet is performing around the world, said the notion that Egypt had an internet "kill switch" was not realistic. He told Digits magazine he was not aware how Egypt shut down the web, but outlined a possible scenario based on his knowledge of how the internet is structured. "Somebody in the government gives a phone call to a small number of people and says, 'Turn it off'. And then one engineer at each service provider logs into the equipment and changes the configuration of how the traffic should flow." Mr Cowie said Egypt's internet providers shut down their networks at intervals of minutes, beginning with Telecom Egypt at 12.12.43am. This suggests the decision to shut down was made about midnight and each operator was notified in succession. Internet providers pay international carriers to transmit internet data via undersea cables. Ordinarily, the large providers announce via computer code that they will accept and send transmissions. But late Thursday, the code simply switched to denial mode, blocking communications. | |
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| 02-02-11 09:53pm - 4978 days | #21 | |
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turboshaft (0)
Active User Posts: 1,958 Registered: Apr 01, '08 |
That reminds me how I'm always amused by those in the "English-only movement" in the U.S. (essentially immigrant haters) who don't exactly have the firmest grasp on the language to begin with, never mind those strange accents foreigners such as yourself have. (Of course, you should be glad if we Americans can even correctly point out where the UK is on a map, instead of just saying "Uh...over there?") "It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hardcore Commie works." - Gen. Jack D. Rippper, Dr. Stranglove | |
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| 02-02-11 10:28pm - 4978 days | #22 | |
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turboshaft (0)
Active User Posts: 1,958 Registered: Apr 01, '08 |
This is pretty much why I took lk2fireone's original post somewhat seriously--it's really quite easy for governments (even "democratic" ones) to erode civil rights in the digital era. Though the technology will always outpace the passage of new laws--at least until we replace Congress with some sort of lawmaking cyborgs, which can't be any worse than what we have now--the extralegal actions political leaders could do in times of supposed crisis/security threats sound scarier everyday. I don't want to sound like another Alex Jones zombie here--because frankly I think he's always about one rant away from shitting his pants and then going off to stockpile weapons at a compound somewhere, or simply having a massive heart attack--but I do hate the pick-and-choose libertarianism of so many in power. No, porn is not much of a yardstick for a free society; in fact you could probably live under a fairly tyrannical dictatorship with no laws regarding age of consent, rape, porn, or prostitution, but still get your skull bashed in for even attempting to protest against whatever asshole was in charge. But look at some of the most restrictive societies around the world (particularly in the Middle East) and their legal take on sex and porn and the laws doesn't sound very open. So, I do get pissed when some "small government" dickhead starts screeching and screaming about the existence of an income tax while having no similar qualms about the restrictions of speech on TV and the Internet. Sorry, but a free society isn't from some religious-based set of "morals" or a very narrow political perspective. In other words, give me porn--uh, I mean liberty, give me liberty, or give me death!  End of rant transmission. "It's incredibly obvious, isn't it? A foreign substance is introduced into our precious bodily fluids without the knowledge of the individual. Certainly without any choice. That's the way your hardcore Commie works." - Gen. Jack D. Rippper, Dr. Stranglove | |
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