Wednesday, October 1, 2014

Hong Kong Protesters Use Smart Phones to Outsmart Their Overlords

A friend emails:
Bob,
Might be useful for EPJ. With that caveat about democracy and the outcome of protests, this is good news for those in the liberty movement:
Protesters in Hong Kong are using an app called Firechat to bypass the government-controlled cell phone networks. The app uses wifi and Bluetooth to create a "mesh network" that doesn't need cell tower connectivity to allow communication with other Firechat app users. The app has been downloaded by over 100,000 users in Hong Kong alone in recent days.
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This app is helping Hong Kong protesters organize withou...
Pro-democracy protesters in Hong Kong are using FireChat to improve communication and organize.
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This is doubtless spurred on by the reports out of various countries over the past several years detailing government shut downs of communications networks in an effort to stifle mass protests. This happened in EgyptSan Francisco , and even Nevada during the Bundy Ranch protest. So at the moment, the we mundanes may have a bit of the upper hand in one small aspect against the state. Only time will tell what measures they'll take to regain the advantage.
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How Egypt shut down the internet - Telegraph
Virtually all internet access in Egypt is cut off today as the government battles to contain the street protests that threaten to topple President Hosni Mubarak.
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BART Protests Go On Without Cell Phone Service Shutdowns
SAN FRANCISCO — The idea to cut wireless communications to quell a brewing protest – a tactic that has put San Francisco's subway system in the middle of a global f...
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Bundy Ranch: Cell Towers Shut Down According To Rep...
By Susan Duclos [Update] Bundyranch17 has updates: 3 hrs ago they Tweeted “If you are headed to #BundyRanch and can get satellite phones, they are very much ne...
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2 comments:

  1. Grasping at straws. The HG protestors apparently want democracy! This is not what made HG great. It was a relatively strict adherence to property rights and voluntary exchange that allowed the development of human wealth and well being. NOT democracy. Whether they get to run their own candidates or not, democracy is just another rendition of might makes right and could be easily co-opted by the Chinese leadership. Technology does not lead to freedom and is often used to simply hide the chains.

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    1. Good, Brian. Your theme ought to appear on the marquee.

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