June 12, 2011 04:18 pm EDT

US funds shadow networks, builds 'internet in a suitcase' for repressed protesters

Whether a repressive government, a buggy DNS server or a little old lady is behind your internet outage, it can't be much fun, but the US government sympathizes with your plight if you're dealing with reason number one. The New York Times reports that the US State Department will have spent upwards of $70 million on "shadow networks" which would allow protesters to communicate even if powers that be pull the traditional plug -- so far, it's spent at least $50 million on a independent cell phone network for Afghanistan, and given a $2 million grant to members of the New America Foundation creating the "internet in a suitcase" pictured above. It's a batch of mesh networking equipment designed to be spirited into a country to set up a private network. Last we'd heard, US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had pledged $25 million for just this sort of internet freedom, and the New America Foundation had applied for some of those bucks -- see our more coverage links below -- but it sounds like the money is flowing fast, and in multiple directions now.

US funds shadow networks, builds 'internet in a suitcase' for repressed protesters originally appeared on Engadget on Sun, 12 Jun 2011 12:18:00 EDT. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Permalink | New York Times ||Comments

Original Link: http://www.engadget.com/2011/06/12/us-funds-shadow-networks-builds-internet-in-a-suitcase-for-re/

View Full Article

Engadget

Engadget is a web magazine with obsessive daily coverage of everything new in gadgets and consumer electronics. Engadget was launched in March of 2004 in partnership with the Weblogs, Inc. Network (WI

More About this Source Visit Engadget