Iran cuts 95% of Internet traffic

Mon Nov 18 17:41:01 UTC 2019

On Mon, Nov 18, 2019 at 11:29 AM Scott Weeks <surfer at mauigateway.com> wrote:

>
>
> --- sean at donelan.com wrote:
> From: Sean Donelan <sean at 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.
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