On Mon, Nov 18, 2019 at 11:29 AM Scott Weeks <surfer@mauigateway.com> wrote:
--- sean@donelan.com wrote: From: Sean Donelan <sean@donelan.com>
Its very practical for a country to cut 95%+ of its Internet connectivity. Its not a complete cut-off, there is some limited connectivity. But for most ordinary individuals, their communication channels are cut-off.
https://twitter.com/netblocks/status/1196366347938271232 ------------------------------------------
Does anyone know the network mechanics of how this happens? For example, do all fiber connections go through a governmant choke point for suppression? If so, what's to stop ubiquity-style microwave over the border to sympathetic folks on the other side?
scott
Implementation specifics vary. Most rely on state control of consumer ISPs and implement a variety of systems at that layer. Many also have chokepoints for international connectivity as well. Penalties for evading the censorship regime? I don't know specifically what those entail, but probably at the very least fines and confiscation of equipment, possibly imprisonment, or even worse in some places? Scanning for RF emissions on common communications frequencies isn't particularly difficult, nor is police just looking around their jurisdictions for such antennas on the exterior of buildings. Of course, there will always be ways around these sorts of things for people who have the means/resources/technical capability to do so, and some will be much harder to get caught with than others. But the 0.01% of people who have the means and resources aren't the real target anyway, as many people with the means are people who already have a lot to lose and hence tend to remain loyal to the state to begin with. The 0.01% who have the technical capability to do something like build a unidirectional transceiver from parts and deploy it in a way that it won't easily be detected are a small enough group that they can be written off. It's the other 99.8% whom they're worried about and against whom censorship regimes have the best overall efficacy.