Projects for Information Freedom:The Internet in a Suitcase

With all of the tension and uprisings against tyranny, governments have begun to start cracking down on their citizen's rights, including cutting off communications. In Egypt during the Arab Spring, former president Hosni Mubarak attempted to completely shut down Egypt's internet. China regularly censors the internet in their country to silence protestors and stop dissidents from communicating. The United States is currently providing methods to help work around completely cutting off peoples rights to communicate, on The Internet. This project is known as "Internet in a Suitcase", and it is in essence, a wifi connection to the internet, in a suitcase. Consisting of wireless antennas, multiple cell phone receivers, a laptop, and cryptography tools. this product is currently being researched by an entrepreneurial team funded by the Justice Department. These networks would be decentralized and much more difficult to take down by those in power. The networking tools would come packaged in a nondescript suitcase, which could be easily transported to areas currently undergoing denial of service. Once they are set up as a wireless network, they can provide a connection to the internet over a large surrounding area. This is just an example of new technology being used to help foster democracy and nurture free speech in autocratic countries. Older programs, such as sending in radio broadcasts through Voice of America, have been replaced by programs such as this one. Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said to the New York Times, “We see more and more people around the globe using the Internet, mobile phones and other technologies to make their voices heard as they protest against injustice and seek to realize their aspirations. There is a historic opportunity to effect positive change, change America supports,” she said. “So we’re focused on helping them do that, on helping them talk to each other, to their communities, to their governments and to the world.” Information freedom is extremely important. These oppressed individuals need freedom of speech for the world an equal perspective situation of the event. Too long has news media been manipulated for corporate or political gain; This will be a valuable tool for grass roots media, information and freedom.